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Basic Constitutional Concepts
ecutive power, on the other hand, is ‘‘restrained within a narrower compass,’’ and the judiciary’s powers are even more uncertain. ‘‘Projects of
usurpation by either of these departments would immediately betray
and defeat themselves.’’ Not to be overlooked, added Madison, is the fact
that ‘‘the legislative department alone has access to the pockets of the
people,’’ which gives it the power to reward and punish those who serve
in the other branches.
In theory, at least, Congress has the constitutional authority to lord
over the other branches. An angry House and Senate might, if it wished,
reduce the entire Federal Judiciary down to one Supreme Court, with
only the Chief Justice, exercising only limited, original jurisdiction. A legislative assault on the executive branch would be equally devastating,
leaving the President with no cabinet, no departments, no army or navy,
and no funds. All of this is possible because the other branches rely almost exclusively on Congressional statutes for their operation.
There are numerous examples of legislative encroachment, as witnessed, for example, by the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.
There have also been periods of legislative ascendancy, which Woodrow
Wilson complained of in his book, Congressional Government. Throughout
most of American history, however, Congress has probably exercised
more restraint than the Framers anticipated. That an unruly Congress always has the potential of tyrannizing over other branches is a factor that
should always be kept in mind, however; and it should also be emphasized that the main reason for the separation of powers and checks and
balances system, as the Framers saw the problem, was to protect the executive and judicial branches against the legislative. This is not to say
that the Framers overlooked the possibility that the President or the Supreme Court might also abuse their powers, but merely that in 1787 they
seemed to lack the inclination and capacity.
It is true, of course, that all three branches have become far more powerful in the twentieth century than the Framers ever thought possible.
The growth of Federal power, however, has been largely at the expense
of the States, and the growth of presidential and judicial power has come
about through the acquiescence or approval of Congress. The Congress
is still the fountainhead of power, and the hub of the system. In the final
analysis, there is practically no constitutional controversy or problem