🗽 US History · A New Nation

Checks and Balances practice questions

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Answer key with explanations

1. Which branch of the federal government makes laws?

   Answer: The legislative branch. Congress, the legislative branch, makes laws. The executive branch carries out laws, and the judicial branch decides cases about them. The Cabinet is made up of department heads who work in the executive branch.

2. Which of these is a check that the President has on Congress?

   Answer: Vetoing a bill. The President can veto a bill that Congress has passed. Overriding a veto is a power of Congress. Confirming judges is done by the Senate. The President has no power to impeach a senator.

3. After the House impeaches a federal official, which body votes on whether to convict?

   Answer: The Senate. The House brings the charges, and the Senate holds the trial and votes. Conviction needs two-thirds of the senators present. The Supreme Court, the President and the Cabinet do not vote on conviction.

4. Which action requires a two-thirds vote of the senators present?

   Answer: Convicting an impeached official. Conviction in an impeachment trial needs two-thirds of the senators present. Confirmations do not need two-thirds. Starting an impeachment is done by the House, not the Senate.

5. Which statement best describes Congress's power of the purse?

   Answer: Congress decides how federal money is raised and spent. Federal money can be spent only if Congress provides it by law. The President can propose a budget but does not decide spending alone. Courts do not set the budget, and the states do not set the national government's spending.

6. Which situation is an example of judicial review?

   Answer: A federal court rules that a law passed by Congress violates the Constitution, so the law cannot be enforced. Judicial review is the courts' power to decide that a law or government action violates the Constitution. Refusing a nominee is a Senate check, a veto is a presidential check, and impeaching a judge is a House check.

7. Which pairing of a power and the branch or house that uses it is correct?

   Answer: Confirming federal judges: the Senate. The Senate confirms federal judges. Congress, not the Supreme Court, overrides vetoes. The House starts an impeachment, not the Senate. The President, not the House, issues a veto.

8. A made-up bill about public pools passes both houses, and the President vetoes it. All 435 representatives and all 100 senators vote on an override. The House votes 300 to 135 to override. The Senate votes 60 to 40 to override. What happens?

   Answer: The veto stands, because the Senate did not reach two-thirds. An override needs two-thirds in each house. The House needs 290 votes, and 300 is enough. The Senate needs 67 votes, and 60 is not enough. Both houses must reach two-thirds, so the veto stands. A simple majority is not enough, and the Supreme Court does not decide an override.

9. A student says: “Because the Senate can reject the President's nominees, the Senate is the boss of the President.” What is the best response?

   Answer: Checks run in several directions: the President can also veto bills passed by Congress, so neither one is the boss. Each branch has powers over the others in different areas. The Senate confirms nominees, but the President can veto Congress's bills, and Congress can override a veto. The Senate does have power over nominees, and the courts are not the boss of both. The President does not control the Senate.

10. A Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of the Constitution is unpopular with many people. Which method, described in the Constitution itself, can change the result?

    Answer: A constitutional amendment, proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states. An amendment changes what the Constitution says, so it can change the result of a decision about it. A President cannot cancel a ruling by order, an ordinary law cannot override the Constitution, and justices can be removed only by impeachment and conviction, which is not a way to undo a ruling.