Functions of congress: Oversight

Question 1

Define oversight

Answer 1

Oversight is the congressional review and investigation of the activities of the executive

Question 2

How is oversight usually exercised?

Answer 2

Largely exercised through the checks and balances in the presidential topic. However, other factors can also influence the relationship between congress and president

Question 3

List the factors influencing the relationship between congress and the presidency

Answer 3

• Party control
• Party polarisation
• Policy area
• Election cycle
• Presidential approval rating
• Congressional approval rating
• National events

Question 4

What is the only time that oversight is really effective?

Answer 4

There is a general consensus, and a lot of evidence to support this consensus, that oversight is only really effective when congress is controlled by the party that is not the president’s

Question 5

Substantiate the idea that oversight is only really effective during times of divided government

Answer 5

Almost all modern day examples of senate rejections of presidential appointments have come when the president’s party has not controlled the senate. A D senate rejected Reagan’s nomination of Bork to the SC in 1987. This was true when the Senate rejected GHWB’s nomination of John Tower for Secretary of Defense

The R Senate did this to Clinton in 1999 with his nomination of Ronnie White to be a federal trial court judge and over his Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Question 6

When is oversight likely to be weak?

Answer 6

Oversight can drop considerably in times of unified government, as happened during the first 6 years of GWB’s time as president.

Question 7

Make the case that the lack of oversight enjoyed by GWB during his periods of unfied government were somewhat extreme

Answer 7

When the Ds controlled congress for the first two years of Clinton’s reign, there were 135 oversight hearings, whereas there were only 37 in the 2003-4 congressional session

Question 8

How did things become more difficult for GWB when the Ds took control of congress?

Answer 8

GWB found himself facing some very feisty committee chairs after the Ds took control of congress. The Senate Appropriations Committee chair Robert Byrd told the secretaries of state and defense, and the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2007: ‘Congress is not a rubber stamp or a presidential lapdog, obedient and unquestioning. Oversight is among our most important responsibilities and has been neglected for too long

Question 9

What has party polarisation seen the main parties do in relation to one another?

Answer 9

This has seen the parties grow ideologically further apart since the 1980s

Question 10

What does party polarisation do to the relationship between congress and the president?

Answer 10

This often causes a strain in relations between parties and the president

Question 11

When is the strain party polarisation causes between congress and the president most evident?

Answer 11

This is exacerbated during divided government, but it would be a mistake to say that it stops congress and the president from cooperating on occasion

Question 12

Give some recent examples of legislation that shows bipartisanship

Answer 12

The 2012 Jobs Act, 2013 Bipartisan Budget Act, 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, 2016 21st Century Cures Act and 2020 CARES Act

Question 13

Describe the frequency of bipartisan cooperation

Answer 13

Infrequent

Question 14

What does party polarisation mean that congress will often do to presidential legislation?

Answer 14

Party polarisation means that parties will usually oppose the opposing president’s policy programme, inevitably souring relations between the two branches

Question 15

In which kind of policy area is congress most influential?

Answer 15

Congress can influence the president more in domestic policy than in foreign policy

Question 16

Why is congress not so influential in terms of foreign policy?

Answer 16

In foreign policy, presidents can use executive agreements to circumvent congress, as Obama did with his 2015 JCPOA and as Trump did when abandoning the Iran nuclear deal in 2018

Question 17

Give an example of congress frustrating the president in terms of domestic policy

Answer 17

Obama was frustrated by congress thwarting his attempts to pass legislation on gun control and immigration, while Trump also struggled to pass immigration policy and failed to repeal Obamacare

Question 18

How does the election cycle influence the relationship between congress and president?

Answer 18

Members are much more likely to be concerned with pleasing their district or state than the president in the lead up to an election. This is especially true if the president in unpopular or a lame duck

Question 19

Give an example of congress giving the president greater pushback than they might otherwise have because an election was imminent

Answer 19

An example of this was when Congress overrode Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act in 2016 – while many Ds shared Obama’s concerns about the efficacy of the legislation they feared appearing soft on terrorism in the lead up to the 2016 elections. As an outgoing president, there was nothing Obama could do to get people to support his stance

Question 20

What influence do presidential approval ratings have on the relations between president and congress?

Answer 20

Congress can exert less influence on a president who has high approval ratings

Question 21

Give an example of congress being able to thwart legislation due to a low presidential approval rating?

Answer 21

When GWB tried to pass social security reform in 2005, congress was able to stop this due to his low approval ratings, with a gallup poll saying that 65% of Americans disapproved of how Bush was handling social security reform

Question 22

Give an example of a president becoming extremely powerful in relation to congress due to high approval ratings

Answer 22

Things were completely different following 9/11, when GWB enjoyed the highest approval ratings of any president ever. Congress was almost subservient to Bush with his 90% approval rating, allowing him to pass the 2001 Patriot Act and start the war on terror

Question 23

How did Trump’s low approval ratings allow congress to dominate him?

Answer 23

Trump’s approval ratings have been the lowest of any president since WWII, averaging 41% and never exceeding 49%. This consistent lack of popularity has made it easier for congress to defy Trump, with the fracture between congress and Trump symbolised by Speaker Pelosi tearing up his State of the Union Address Speech in 2020

The D controlled house from 2019 was emboldened by his lack of popularity and mounted consistent opposition to his policies on things like tax reform, immigration and healthcare

Question 24

What has happened to congressional approval ratings in recent years?

Answer 24

In recent years, congress’ public standing has reached historic lows

Question 25

What is the reason for low congressional approval ratings in the modern era?

Answer 25

Data from Pew Research Centre says that this low is linked to a long standing trend of low trust in government , starting with Vietnam and Watergate Americans see congress as self interested and unproductive, given that only passes 2-3% of legislation

Question 26

Why do congressional approval ratings limit congress' ability to influence the president?

Answer 26

While presidential approval ratings have dropped, they are still higher than congress’ and congress therefore sometimes struggles to influence the president

Question 27

Give an example of how low congressional approval ratings made it difficult for congress to influence the president

Answer 27

Even in 2019-20, the most difficult period of the Trump presidency, he was still more personally popular than congress. After a July 2020, gallup poll, occuring after Trump had faced an impeachment trial and mismanaged COVID and the BLM protests, his approval rating dropped to 41%, but this was still much higher than congress at 18%. It was therefore difficult for congress to claim greater legitimacy than the president when they criticised his policies

Question 28

What do national events do to the relationship between the president and congress?

Answer 28

Congress will often defer to the president during times of national emergency, at least in the short term, like with Bush following 9/11

Question 29

Give an example an example of congress' breaking the trend and not deferring to the president during a time of national emergency

Answer 29

Although congress helped Trump pass the CARES Act, it was also extremely critical of his policies to handle COVID

Question 30

Why is oversight seen as one of the main responsibilities of congress even though it is not constitutionally enumerated?

Answer 30

The constitution does not explicitly grant the responsibility of oversight, but members of the executive have come to see it as an implied power over the years. Members of congress have to know what is going on in order to make laws, check that the laws they have passed are being carried out properly and amend laws

Question 31

List the powers that congress has given itself to help it carry out its function of oversight

Answer 31

subpoenaing documents and testimonies, holding individuals to contempt if they fail to cooperate with congress’ demands for information and making it illegal to lie to congress

Question 32

Why does oversight mainly take place in committee rooms?

Answer 32

Oversight mainly takes place in the committee rooms of congress, as it is only in committee rooms, not legislative chambers, that members of the executive can be questioned

Question 33

What are standing committees?

Answer 33

Standing committees are the permanent policy specialist bodies and can wield significant clout

Question 34

What are most standing committees divided up into?

Answer 34

Subcommittees

Question 35

How many members will standing committees typically have?

Answer 35

A typical senate standing committee is made up of 18 members, while a typical house standing committee has around 30-40 members

Question 36

How are the party balance of standing committees determined?

Answer 36

The party balance in the committee is proportional to the party balance in the chamber

Question 37

What functions to standing committees have in the house and senate?

Answer 37

- Conducting the committee stage of bills - Conducting investigations within the committees policy area

Question 38

What extra function do standing committees have just in the senate?

Answer 38

To begin the confirmation of numerous presidential appointments

Question 39

Describe the function of conducting the committee stage of bills

Answer 39

This involves holding hearings on the bills in which witnesses will appear. Witnesses can be members of the executive, congress or the public. Witnesses make prepared statements infront of the committee and will then be subject to questioning. The length of the hearing is determined by the length of the bill and the level of controversy is engenders. At the conclusion of the hearing, a vote will be taken by the committee on whether to pass the bill onto the whole chamber for debate and vote

Question 40

Describe the function of conducting investigations in the committee's policy area

Answer 40

This enables congress to fulfil its oversight function. Such investigations are often launched into perceived problems, crises or policy failures

Question 41

Which two senate standing committees will be particularly busy in terms of starting of the confirmation process for presidential appointments?

Answer 41

The two committees that are particularly busy in this regard are the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees, with them confirming federal judicial and ambassadorial appointments respectively. It was the R controlled SJC that refused to hold hearings for Obama’s SC nominee, Merrick Garland, in 2016. Other senate standing committees oversee appointments in their own policy areas

Question 42

What is the significance of the standing committee voting on presidential appointments?

Answer 42

An overwhelming or unanimous ‘yes’ vote by the committee indicates that the nominee will pass relatively easily on the floor vote, while a close vote indicates problems ahead. If the majority of the committee votes no, they are almost bound to be defeated, even if they reach the senate floor

Question 43

Which three presidents has the house impeached?

Answer 43

The House has impeached three presidents, Andrew Johnson (1868), Bill Clinton (1997) and Donald Trump twice (2019 and 2021), with the senate acquitting on all four occasions

Question 44

What have critics said about the fact that no president has been successfully impeached and what is the counter to this?

Answer 44

Critics have argued that the failure to successfully impeach any president means that it is an ineffective check, but it is possible to argue that this is not the case. In the 4 examples of impeachment, the process has worked exactly as it should have done: the house brought the charge, then the senate held the trial and duly (in accordance with the proper procedure) delivered its judgement

Question 45

What is the best arguement that impeachment is an effective check

Answer 45

The fact that Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment shows that it is an effective check

Question 46

Why was the 2021 impeachment trial controversial?

Answer 46

Controversy arose in 2021 about whether the senate has the power to impeach a president, as by the time they conducted the trial, Trump was no longer president. Many Senate Rs argued that the senate no longer had the jurisdiction to try the impeachment

Question 47

Explain the Watergate Scandal

Answer 47

The Watergate Scandal concerned the activities of Nixon’s 1972 presidential campaign, including a break in at Democratic HQ at the Watergate offices. In 1973, the Senate Watergate Committee began an investigation in which it was revealed that Nixon had authorised the break in and planned a cover up. He resigned to avoid impeachment and was controversially pardoned by his VP, Gerald Ford

Question 48

What do Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann say about the effectiveness of congressional oversight of the executive?

Answer 48

According to congressional scholars Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann (2007), ‘while the constitutional arsenal of congress is powerful, it has limited ability to quickly reverse the course set upon by a determined president’

Question 49

Give some examples of how the president can circumvent congressional checks?

Answer 49

he president can veto laws, as Trump did with the 2020 Iran War Powers Resolution, and the president can get around the need for senate ratification of treaties by signing executive agreements, like Obama did with the JCPOA

Question 50

What purpose do Ornstein and Mann say oversight serves?

Answer 50

Ornstein and Mann go on to argue that ‘oversight keeps an administration on its toes; the lack of oversight, and the expectation that there will be none, leads to complacency, arrogance and maladministration’

Question 51

Why has congress been criticised for how it uses its impeachment powers?

Answer 51

Congress has been criticised for being unsuccessful in utilising its impeachment powers. With all three impeached presidents being acquitted and Nixon being able to resign and then be pardoned by his successor to avoid criminal prosecution

Question 52

What must we consider when analysing the effectiveness of impeachment?

Answer 52

Party polarisation

Question 53

What does Buckner F Melton Jr say about impeachment

Answer 53

Buckner F Melton Jr argues that in both recent cases the justifications for impeachment were politically motivated: the opposition party viewed the president as morally reprehensible individual who did not deserve to hold office. There was no broad agreement on whether the president should have been impeached as neither case was anywhere near as clear as Nixon’s transgressions

Question 54

Why do Clinton and Trump's impeachments back up the idea that impeachments have become politically motivated?

Answer 54

Clinton and Trump were both acquitted by a partisan senate, while both were impeached by a house controlled by the opposite party, who argued that their actions were a matter of principle, but cynics would argue that they were motivated by an attempt to energise their party base before an election

Question 55

What is the problem with impeachment become a political weapon?

Answer 55

If impeachment becomes a regular political weapon, as many commentators have begun to fear, then congress will be failing in its constitutional responsibility

Question 56

What can we conclude about congress' use of impeachment at this time?

Answer 56

At this time, however, congress should be seen as successful in its use of impeachment

Question 57

What must happen for a president to be impeached in the future?

Answer 57

For any future president there must be a strong consensus that the president is guilty of something serious enough to warrant impeachment and supersede party loyalty – this consensus did not exist in previous cases

Question 58

Why are presidents more likely to face impeachment in the modern era?

Answer 58

Given the fact that scrutiny has never been as high as it is now in the modern era, presidents know that if they do anything that can be considered worthy of impeachment they are likely to be impeached, especially during times of divided government

Question 59

What does the fact that a supermajority is needed to try impeachment mean for impeachment?

Answer 59

The fact that a supermajority is needed to try impeachment means that unless guilt in clear and unambiguous, a guilty verdict is unlikely

Question 60

How is the presidential mandate an important factor in governing relations between president and congress?

Answer 60

The size of the president’s mandate is another important factor. A president who wins in a landslide, like Reagan in 1984, is much less vulnerable than one who wins on less than half of the popular vote, like Trump In 2016

Question 61

List the checks by congress on the judiciary

Answer 61

- Constitutional amendments - Impeachment - Size of the court

Question 62

How can congress overturn an SC ruling?

Answer 62

By passing a constitutional amendment

Question 63

What is the counter arguement to the idea that constitutional amendments can be an effective check on SC rulings?

Answer 63

Because they are difficult to achieve - there have only been 26 in history

Question 64

What is the one example of a SC justice being put on trial for impeachment?

Answer 64

Only ever been one SC justice put on trial, when justice Samuel Chase was acquitted by the senate in 1804

Question 65

Which SC justice resigned rather than facing impeachment?

Answer 65

Abe Fortas resigned from the SC rather than face impeachment in 1968

Question 66

What does Professor David Mckay say about the composition of the SC?

Answer 66

Although the constitution doesn’t specify this, Professor David Mckay says that the structure of one Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices has almost become part of the constitution, given that this has remained the case since 1869

Question 67

What does article III give congress the power to do?

Answer 67

Change the composition of the SC

Question 68

What is the problem with the fact that congress can change the composition of the SC?

Answer 68

Under article III, congress has the power to change the composition of the court. While this seems unlikely at present, it could be dangerous if used in the future as it could be used to change the ideological composition of the SC

Question 69

Give an example of a president trying to change the composition of the SC to change its ideological position?

Answer 69

FDR tried to make the court more liberal to pass New Deal legislation by packing the court with more liberal justices

Question 70

What did Biden promise to create to help answer the question about whether the composition of the SC should be changed?

Answer 70

Biden has promised to create a bipartisan commission to determine whether the SC should be expanded

Question 71

List the reasons why congress' effectiveness in providing oversight on the judicial branch is limited?

Answer 71

While the ability to pass constitutional amendments gives it the power to overturn SC rulings, this is incredibly unlikely. The vast majority of SC rulings are not subject to an amendment attempt, while most amendment attempts are unsuccessful The 1996 Defence of Marriage Act was struck down by US v Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v Hodges (2015), effectively legalising same-sex marriage against the will of congress Congress has been reluctant to use its power to change the composition of the court to help the president achieve their aims

Question 72

Why impeachment be seen as an effective congressional check on the judiciary?

Answer 72

Congressional impeachment attempts of the judicial branch are rare but almost always successful when deserved. When distirct judge Thomas Porteous was impeached in 2010 there was no doubt that he had broken the law and congress duly did its duty

Question 73

Why does the power exist despite not being laid out in the constitution?

Answer 73

Implied because they can make laws. Congress gives itself powers of oversight to carry out this function

Question 74

I'll say a way congress can provide oversight and you say the counter the president can have

Question 75

Committees

Answer 75

Presidents can refuse to give information by claiming that doing so would pose a national security risk

Question 76

Legislative vetoes

Answer 76

Presidential vetoes

Question 77

War Powers Act

Answer 77

Still gives the president 60 days to withdraw troops

Question 78

Ratifying treaties

Answer 78

Executive agreements

Question 79

Approving appointments

Answer 79

Recess appointments

Question 80

Impeachment

Answer 80

Nixon resigned to avoid it. 2/3 majority needed in the senate

Question 81

Power of purse

Answer 81

Can impound funds

Question 82

Explain why there are so many of these checks between the branches

Answer 82

The FF did this on purpose to prevent the accumulation of powers into the same powers

Question 83

When will party control limit scrutiny

Answer 83

During periods of unified government, as congress will be less willing to go after a member of their own party. This will especially be the case if the president is popular, as it is clear that the president has the support of the people. Coattails effect.

Question 84

When will party control enhance scrutiny?

Answer 84

Presidents traditionally lose ground in the mid terms, which will lead to greater oversight. Obama is an example of this

Question 85

Why will congress by light on oversight during the first 100 days of a presidency?

Answer 85

Because this is generally when presidents are most personally popular and also because too much scrutiny during this time makes congress appear obstructionist

Question 86

Why does congress have less influence over foreign policy?

Answer 86

The president's commander in chief role gives them greater scope to act unilaterally. Immediate action is often required in terms of big foreign policy decisions, which does not lend itself to proper scrutiny. Congresspeople will often back foreign policy initiatives so as to not appear unpatriotic, especially in the lead up to elections, like with the 2016 JASPA

Question 87

Why are congress much more keen to scrutinise domestic policy?

Answer 87

Because this is what will affect constituents and effect their chances of being re-elected

Question 88

Why might congresspeople actually be more assertive than is perhaps even necessary towards lame duck presidents

Answer 88

Because going after a president allows congresspeople to look authoritative and enhance their reputation in the lead up to their own elections

Question 89

Why will pleasing the president take a back seat for congresspeople in the lead up to an election?

Answer 89

Because they will be concentrating on pleasing their constituency

Question 90

Describe the relationship between congressional and presidential approval ratings

Answer 90

Inversely proportional

Question 91

Give an example to illustrate this

Answer 91

Congressional approval ratings leaped 10-15% during the Trump COVID years because he was so bad Americans wanted congress to go after him

Question 92

What type of president will congress be more willing to take on?

Answer 92

Unpopular presidents

Question 93

Why is it wrong to say that congress will always defer to a president in the wake of a national crisis?

Answer 93

They will only defer to a president that is trying to be statesmenlike. This explains why congress deferred to GWB following 9/11 but not Trump following COVID

Question 94

Why is the way the impeachment process is worded unfairly damaging to presidents

Answer 94

After the house impeaches – it creates the impression of guilt, but it actually just means the process has began. For instance, both Trump and Clinton faced headlined saying 'Trump/Clinton impeached'. This suggests guilt to those not up to date with the political terminology, unfairly creating a false impression of guilt

Question 95

How does Trump's response to his 2020 impeachment proceedings show how it is a limited check on the president?

Answer 95

Because he was incredibly nonchalant, knowing he would simply be acquitted by a partisan senate anyway

Question 96

What can the Senate do during the trial to make the process politically damaging for a president, even if they will eventually be acquitted anyway?

Answer 96

bring forward documents and witnesses to try and damage their reputation

Question 97

What has oversight become a polite term for in receny years?

Answer 97

Trying to embarrass the president

Question 98

What has oversight become rather than a tool for scrutiny in recent years?

Answer 98

A partisan tool

Question 99

What did Senator Jim DeMint say oversight was?

Answer 99

Senator Jim DeMint called it posturing that doesn’t change anything. They were trying to demagogue GWB

Question 100

How did the Rs use oversight as a partisan tool in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election?

Answer 100

Rs only decided to set up committees to investigate a terrorist attack that occurred in 2012 in 2016, when Clinton was running for president. They were trying to politically embarrass the D nominee for president by digging up something that had happened years before while Clinton was Secretary of State. Didn’t find her guilty, but did manage to wear down her reputation

Question 101

What does English say about oversight?

Answer 101

English describes congress as having too many firefighters, obstacle to good government

Question 102

What does Hart say about oversight?

Answer 102

Hart says they have neither had the will nor interest for over half a century

Question 103

What does Woll say?

Answer 103

Woll says congress doesn’t care about oversight because it doesn’t help with re-election

Question 104

Describe the extent of the oversight at the Clinton Benghazi hearing

Answer 104

Clinton Benghazi hearing, 6 house committees, 2 senate, 252 witnesses, 3000 questions

Question 105

What does Ford pardoning Nixon suggest about impeachment?

Answer 105

Ford pardoning Nixon suggests impeachment doesn’t work as presidents can do what they want

Question 106

How are subcommittees a double edged sword in terms of oversight?

Answer 106

Subcommittees can kill bills because it gives legislation an extra hoop to jump through but it also improves scrutiny

Question 107

What does it mean to pigeon hole a bill?

Answer 107

This is where a committee refuses to pass a bill on to the chamber floor

Question 108

What is the discharge process?

Answer 108

This is where the chamber can force a committee to release a bill - it requires a simple majority

Question 109

Why does the party balance of committees inhibit oversight?

Answer 109

It reflects the party balance in the chamber as a whole

Question 110

How do committees differ between the US and the UK?

Answer 110

In the US they are permanent, specialist bodies, but in the UK the committee will be disbanded after the legislation has been passed or rejected

Question 111

What did Woodrow Wilson say about the importance of committees for congress?

Answer 111

‘Congress in session is congress on public exhibition, whilst congress in committee rooms is congress at work’