In fear of abuse of power the United States created three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Each branch has some authority over the other two which prevents abuse of power. This aids in nobody having too much power so American rights are not taken away.
The Executive Branch consists of the president, vice president, and 15 cabinet members. They are responsible for implementing the laws created by Congress. The President can sign the legislation into law or veto bills; however, Congress may override a Presidential veto (2015). The first veto override took place on March 3, 1845 when President John Tyler vetoed the Congressional bill that would deny him the power to appropriate federal funds to build revenue-cutter ships without Congress’ approval; as it was overridden, the executive branch would be required to obtain legislative approval to commission new military craft (History.com Staff). …show more content…
Both the Senate and House of Representatives are part of the Legislative Branch; there are 100 Senators and 435 Representatives. The Legislative Branch can start investigations and they exercised this right in the McGrain v. Daughterty case. The case to challenge Mally Daugherty’s contempt conviction was held on January 17, 1927 before the Supreme Court. Daugherty failed to appear before a Senate committee during the investigation of Attorney General Harry Daugherty’s prosecution in the Teapot Dome Scandal (McGrain v. Daugherty). It was argued if it was off limits for the Senate to issue its contempt order as the purpose of the investigation did not relate to the committee’s legislative purpose. It was decided the investigation had a legislative