Article 1: The Legislative BranchArticle 2: The Executive BranchArticle 3: The Judicial Branch

The House of Representatives

Each state has a number of representatives based on population

2 year term At least 25 years old U. S. citizen for 7

years Only group allowed to

impeach No term limits

The Senate Each state has 2

Senators 6 year term At least 30 years old U. S. citizen for 9 years Presides over

impeachment trials Approves Presidential

appointments No term limits

To impose taxesTo borrow money for the United StatesTo regulate tradeTo declare warTo decide how to spend moneyTo make lawsTo coin moneySuspend habeas corpus (right to be told

why you are being imprisoned) in times of war

Page 227-228 in your book

Most of work in Congress is done in committees

This is where a bill really startsSome Congressional Committees are

Transportation, Defense, Taxation, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Science

President and Vice PresidentMust be a natural born citizenMust be 35 years oldLived within the United States for the last 14

years2 term limit (4 years each)

Framers intended Congress to be the most powerful branch of the government

As a result the Constitution offers few details about the powers of the President

Presidents have often handled this lack of detail by taking actions they believed were necessary in doing their job

Once a President committed one of the acts it became ok for following Presidents to do the same

Called setting a precedentEx. Washington’s Cabinet

Commander and chief of the armed forcesMaking treaties and nominationsTemporary appointmentsThe President may veto a bill

Give a “State of the Union” address to Congress once a year

He shall receive foreign ambassadors and other public ministers

Enforce the laws Negotiate treaties with foreign nations

The President is elected by the Electoral College, not the votes of each individual citizen

Each state has the same # of electoral votes as they do representatives

The electoral votes in each state should follow the popular vote (majority). For example, if the majority of Illinois voted for President Obama, then all the electoral votes for Illinois should go to President Obama.

Consists of the Supreme Court and other, lesser federal courts

Duty is to interpret the lawsCan declare laws unconstitutionalCan declare executive actions (actions

done by the President or Vice President) unconstitutional

Once appointed Supreme Court Justices cannot be removed from office unless they break the law

Most federal cases begin in district courtsIf a party disagrees with a decision made in a

district court they may appeal the decisionThe case then goes to the Appellate or Court

of AppealCourt cases can be filed under federal or

state jurisdictions.Most trials are filed under state jurisdictions

b/c they involve state laws.

The Chief Justice and 8 Associate JusticesNo term; serve until retirement or deathSupreme Court Justices can be impeachedNation’s final court of appealMajority Vote decides casesMajority Opinion: document that explains

Constitutional reasons for decisionsMinority Opinions: optional but may be

submitted by dissenting justice given reason why they disagree

Established in 1803 in Marbury vs. MadisonDeclare acts of the President or laws created

by Congress to be UnconstitutionalNot allowed under the Constitution