The Legislative Branch
The legislative branch includes the House of Representatives and the Senate. Together they are
the lawmaking body of the United States called Congress. Article I of the Constitution discusses
the powers and organization of Congress. The main job of Congressmen/Congresswomen is to
make laws. The Vice President is the head of the Senate but the President Pro Tempore is in
charge if the Vice President is absent. The Speaker of the House is the head of the House of
Representatives.
At the federal level, the process of how a bill becomes a law can be difficult. Each bill begins as
an idea. An idea for a law can come from U.S. Representatives, Senators, the president, or even
ordinary citizens.
An idea for a law is called a bill. Bills can be proposed in either chamber (house) of Congress (the
House of Representatives or the Senate). Depending on which chamber of Congress proposes the
bill, it will be sent to the appropriate committee that deals with the topic of the bill. That
committee will do research on the bill. There are many committees in Congress, and every
member of Congress serves on one or more committees.
After the committee does its research and discusses the bill, the committee decides if the bill
should move to the next step in becoming a law. If the committee agrees to move the bill ahead,
the bill moves to the full chamber of Congress where the bill was first introduced (either the
House of Representatives or the Senate) so that it can be debated and then voted on. If that
chamber of Congress votes for the bill (for example, the U.S. House of Representatives), the bill
then moves to the other chamber of Congress (for example, the U.S. Senate) for more debate
and discussion. Finally, the other chamber of Congress will vote on the bill. If members of that
chamber vote for the bill, the president will then be asked to sign the bill and make it become a
law.
If there are more than 10 days left in the congressional session, the president may take one of
three actions: 1) The president may choose to sign the bill into law, 2) the president may choose
to veto (reject) the bill, or 3) the president may choose to take no action on the bill. A bill
becomes law if the president takes no action on the bill and there are at least 10 days left in the
congressional session. When the president takes no action with fewer than 10 days left in the
congressional session, this is called a pocket veto.
If the president vetoes a bill, Congress has one final chance to save it. Members of Congress can
override the veto with a two-thirds vote of each house. This is not an easy task, though. From
1789 through July 2010, Congress overturned only 109 out of 2,560 vetoes.
The Executive Branch
Directions: Work with your group to read each passage from Article II and answer the questions
on your guided notes.
Section. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.
He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President,
chosen for the same Term, be elected,
Who is in charge of the executive branch and how long is their term?
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person
be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been
fourteen Years a Resident within the United States
What are the qualifications to be President?
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of
the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may
require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments,
upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to
grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of
Impeachment. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make
Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;
What powers are outlined in this section?
and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other
Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and
which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such
inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads
of Departments.
According to this passage of Article II, Section 2, which positions can the
president appoint?
Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be
removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors.
How can the President or Vice President be removed from office?
Directions: Use the reading to complete your guided notes.
If the president does not agree with a particular bill that Congress has passed, the Constitution
gives the president the power to veto the bill. This is an important part of the system of checks
and balances to make sure that no branch of government has too much power over the others. If
a bill does become law, the president as chief executive of the nation must make sure that laws
passed by Congress are enforced.
The president also has the power to issue executive orders, which are decisions that have the
force of law. For example, an executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942
allowed the forced internment of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. Executive
orders do not have to be approved by Congress, although the U.S. Supreme Court may find them
to be unconstitutional and strike them down. This is another example of checks and balances.
The president has the power to nominate (choose) people to serve in different government
positions. These are known as presidential appointments. Examples of presidential appointments
include the presidents cabinet, U.S. Supreme Court justices, and ambassadors to different
countries. The presidents cabinet is people appointed by the president to head executive
departments of government and act as official advisers to the president. As a part of the checks
and balances system, the Senate must approve presidential appointments. This is a check on the
presidents power to nominate people who may not be qualified for a certain position or who may
have problems that would keep them from being effective in their position.
Legislative Branch #4-5
The U.S. federal system (federalism) allows the national and state governments to share
powers and responsibilities. Lawmaking is a power that is shared at each level of
government local, state, and federal.
At the local level, depending on how the local government is organized, lawmakers could
be called city commissioners, city council members, county commissioners, or mayors.
The number of commissioners and/or council members depends on how the city or
county government is organized. These local government officials pass ordinances that
govern the people who live in villages, towns, cities, and counties.
Florida state government is organized like the federal government. There is a state
house of representatives and a state senate made up of state representatives and state
senators. They are all called state legislators. State representatives are elected for twoyear terms, and state senators are elected for four-year terms. State legislators create
state laws (statutes) that govern the people who live in the state.
At the federal level, each state has a certain number of U.S. Representatives based on
the states population. Each state also has two U.S. Senators. U.S. Representatives serve
two year terms and have no term limits. U.S. Senators serve six-year terms and have no
term limits. Together, U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators make up the Congress.
Congress enacts federal laws, called acts, which govern the people of the entire nation.
