The federal government has a Legislative Branch, and that is known as the US Congress. There are two bodies in there. The Senate is responsible for electing two different officials from every single state. There is the house of Representatives as well that provides memberships on the basis of the population of the states. These are the two houses that offer balance and check. The Senate ensures equal representation of the states and the House of Representation provides a more prominent voice to the people.
Ever since the existence of the First Congress which was in the year 1789, all of the other Congresses have an order that goes by the number. The session has a time duration from January 3rd to July 31st. However, there are some special cases where it lasted a bit longer as well.
There are 435 Representatives selected every year along with a 3rd of the Senators as well in November. However, these officials do not have their works until January. This period of the gap is the Lame Duck Session.
The Support Services in Congress
Five different support services are present in Congress. There is the Government Printing Office which is responsible for preparing all the different documents. There is the Library of Congress which helps in cataloging the documents. There is the Architect of Capitol that sees the building of the house on Congress. Apart from that, there is also the Congressional Budget Office which is there for analyzing the annual budget of the President. Apart from that, the functions of the Congressional Budget Office are to review the large programs such as the Department of Defense, Social Security, and the Navy Shipbuilding Plan as well.
The Congressional Budget Office also played a crucial role in the 2008 financial crisis resolving. It analyzed the Troubled Asset Relief.
Also, there is the General Accounting Office which is responsible for providing advice to the Congress in wasteful spending. It also includes the areas of duplication and the reforming of issues. The General Accounting Office is also responsible for the outright of different programs and agencies that have high-risk.
There is the Joint Economic Committee which has about 10 Representatives and 10 Senators, and it is a permanent one. The job of this committee is to provide advice to the Congress regarding the economy.
The Powers of Congress
The Constitution of the U.S. provides Congress with the ability to create different laws. The houses will write and debate on the bills before passing them. However, both the houses have to agree on the bills before it passes and the President signs on it.
There are some ways for the bills to become laws even if the President doesn’t agree to sign on it. The President’s veto would send the bill right back to the Congress. However, the Veto can be overridden with the consent of both houses passing the bill. There is a chance for a pocket veto in case the President doesn’t do it. However, after staying in the session for about ten days straight, Congress will be able to override the pocket veto as well.
The bills are of two different types. One is for the public, and these have the general questions. These bills turn out to be Public Acts and Laws. There are also private bills, and they are mostly about individual matters. The claims that are made against immigration, the federal government come under these bills.
Congress also has the power to enact the laws that create the annual federal budget as well. The President will be able to start the budget by providing a proposal to Congress. In this way, the President’s estimates and priorities are highlighted.
Congress also sets the debt ceiling. It decides how much amount of debt the US will be able to owe.
Apart from that, Congress is also responsible for framing trade and policy as well. So, the president gets the promotion authority of the trade and can negotiate all the agreements. Congress can also declare the war if required.
The Effect of Congress On Economy
We all know that Congress has the power to set the annual budget and create the laws as well. So, it also has the authority to set the fiscal policy as well. So, when the taxes are decreased, and the spending is increased, it explains the fiscal policy expansion. It results in the growth of the economy.
The Fiscal Policy Contradiction is the opposite. In case there is a disagreement with Congress about the budget, the government will shut down. It happened in the years 1995 and 2013. Apart from that, there will also be a situation of default debt payments for the US if Congress doesn’t take part in the raising of debt ceiling.
