The Legislative Branch Essay

Legislative Branch The Legislative Branch is one out of the three branches of the government. All of the Legislative Branches rights and powers are defined in the U.S Constitution. However the Legislative Branch is the most powerful branch. The Legislative Branch is the most powerful branch because they make laws, declare war, and override presidential veto, and many more. One of the Legislative branches power is to declare war. The founders of US Constitution didn’t want to give the president too much power so they gave it to Congress for a group to decide. It’s shown in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution says “The Congress shall have the power … To declare war…”1 Congress also declared war on Great Britain in 1812 because the U.S. Congress made an attempt to reclaim its power “to declare” war with the War Powers Resolution Act of 1973.2 Congress declared war on Spain in 1898 because of imperialism, this caused the U.S.S battleship to explode and sink in the Havana River.3 World War 2 took place in 1939 in Europe. World War 2 was caused by the German invasion. On September 3, 1939 Congress declared war on Germany.4 Having the power to declare war is one of the reasons why the Legislative Branch is powerful. One more power of the Legislative branch is the power to make laws. According to the Constitution, “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”5 Finally the Civil Rights Act in 1964 is the nation’s standard civil rights legislation, and it remains to resonate in America. The Civil rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination by ones race, color, religion sec or national origin.6 The Voting Rights Acts in 1965 is another example of when Congress made a law. The Voting Rights Act bans national discrimination in voting by the government.7 For instance, Congress created the bill known as the No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013. It