🗽 US History · A New Nation
Checks and Balances cheat sheet
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The three branches
- Legislative (Congress, Article I): makes laws, raises taxes, spends money.
- Executive (President, Article II): carries out laws, negotiates treaties.
- Judicial (federal courts, Article III): decide cases, say what the law means.
Checks to remember
- President: veto, nominate judges and officials, pardon federal offenses.
- Congress: override a veto, power of the purse, impeach, propose amendments. The Senate confirms nominees and approves treaties.
- Courts: judicial review of laws and executive actions.
Votes
- Override: two-thirds of the members voting in each house.
- Treaty: two-thirds of the senators present.
- Convict in an impeachment trial: two-thirds of the senators present.
- Amendment: two-thirds of both houses propose, three-fourths of the states ratify.
Two ideas, not one
- Checks and balances: power divided among branches of the national government.
- Federalism: power shared between the national government and the states.
Watch out
- President signs or vetoes; Congress makes the laws.
- Courts need a real case.
- Impeached is not the same as removed.
Checks and Balances cheat sheet from HighSchoolQ.com, for personal study use.