Legislative veto
Encyclopedia
History
Starting in the 1930s, the concurrent resolutionConcurrent resolution
A concurrent resolution is a resolution adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law and does not require the approval of the chief executive.-United States Congress:...
(as well as the simple resolution
Simple resolution
In the United States, a simple resolution is a legislative measure passed by only either the Senate or the House. As they have been passed by only one house, simple resolutions are not presented to the President, and do not have the force of law. The resolution is used for matters such as...
) was put to a new use—serving as the instrument to terminate powers delegated to
the Chief Executive
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
or to disapprove particular exercises of power by him or his agents. The legislative veto or "gerrymandering" was first developed in context of the delegation to the Executive of power to reorganize governmental agencies and was first authorized by the Reorganization Act of 1939
Reorganization Act of 1939
The Reorganization Act of 1939, Pub. L. No. 76-19, 53 Stat. 561, 5 USC 133 , is an American Act of Congress which became law on April 3, 1939, and which gave the President of the United States the authority to hire additional confidential staff and reorganize the executive branch for two years...
. It was furthered by the necessities of providing for national security and foreign affairs immediately prior to and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The proliferation of congressional veto provisions in legislation over the years raised a series of interrelated constitutional questions. Congress until relatively recently had applied the veto provisions to some action taken by the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
or another executive officer—such as a reorganization of an agency, the lowering or raising of tariff rates, the disposal of federal property—then began expanding the device to give itself a veto over regulations issued by executive branch agencies, and proposals were made to give Congress a veto over all regulations issued by executive branch independent agencies.
INS v. Chadha
In Immigration and Naturalization Service v. ChadhaImmigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 , was a United States Supreme Court case ruling in 1983 that the one-house legislative veto violated the constitutional separation of powers.-Parties:...
, 462 U.S. 919 (1983), the Supreme Court held a one-House congressional veto to be unconstitutional as violating both the bicameralism
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....
principles reflected in Article I
Article One of the United States Constitution
Article One of the United States Constitution describes the powers of Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. The Article establishes the powers of and limitations on the Congress, consisting of a House of Representatives composed of Representatives, with each state gaining or...
, in Section 1 and Section 7, and the presentment
Presentment Clause
The Presentment Clause of the United States Constitution outlines federal legislative procedure by which bills originating in Congress become federal law in the United States.-Text:...
provisions of Clauses 2 and 3 of Section 7. The Court's analysis of the presentment issue made clear, however, that two-House veto provisions, despite their compliance with bicameralism, and committee veto provisions suffer the same constitutional infirmity. In the words of dissenting Justice White, the Court in Chadha "sound[ed] the death knell for nearly 200 other statutory provisions in which Congress has reserved a 'legislative veto.'"
See also
- VetoVetoA veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
- INS v. ChadhaImmigration and Naturalization Service v. ChadhaImmigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 , was a United States Supreme Court case ruling in 1983 that the one-house legislative veto violated the constitutional separation of powers.-Parties:...
- United States ConstitutionUnited States ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...