The Legislative and Executive Powers in the United States

This article discusses the challenges faced by the US President when they come from a party with a minority Congress representation. It highlights the clashes between the executive and the Congress during the period of 2002-2008, when George W. Bush was the President from the Republican Party, but the majority Democrats controlled both houses.

Running head: THE US CONSTITUTION 1
The Legislative and Executive Powers in the United States
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation

THE US CONSTITUTION 2
The Legislative and Executive Powers in the United States
According to the constitution of the United States, the country holds presidential
elections after every six years. During such elections, the president has always been from
either of the two dominant political parties in the country; Democrats or Republicans. The
president can be from a party with a majority congress representation, in which case the party
controls both the executive and the legislature ("Composition of Congress by Party 1855–
2017," 2017). However, there may be a time when the president is from a party with
minority representation in the Congress, in this case, one of the dominant parties control the
executive while the other party controls the executive. There are challenges associated with
such kind of situation, as observed in the period from 2002 to 2008. During this period,
George W. Bush was the president from Republican Party, but the majority Democrats
controlled both houses.
During this period when Bush was the president, there existed several clashes
between the executive and the Congress. For instance, there was a showdown over the firing
of the federal prosecutors in March 20th of 2007. In this case, the Congress demanded some
internal white house documents and required testimony from some president's top advisors
(Sheryl Gay Stolberg, 2007). The executive led by President Bush suggested that members of
the Congressional committee to interview the president's top aide, Karl Rove, an offer that
was remorsefully rejected by the Democrats controlled Congress on the basis that it was not
constructive.
On another occasion, the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives voted
against the White House veto threat regarding Homeland Security. In this case, the
legislatures voted to increase the funding of the Homeland Security as opposed to the
President Bush suggestions. According to a publication, ("Democrats, White House clash on

THE US CONSTITUTION 3
homeland security," 2007), The Republican members complained that the Democrats
distorted the bill before approving it on their favor, but this proved a challenge the president
faced as Congress overturned his veto threat.
Based on the above, it is clear that when a president of the United States comes from a
party with a minority Congress representation, he or she faces challenges in passing some of
the administrative policies ("Presidential Election History from 1789 to 2012 - 2012
Presidential Election - ProCon.org," n.d.).

THE US CONSTITUTION 4
References
Composition of Congress by Party 1855–2017. (2017, February 28). Retrieved from
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774721.html
Democrats, White House clash on homeland security. (2007, May 10). Retrieved
from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-security-
idUSN0933304020070510
Presidential Election History from 1789 to 2012 - 2012 Presidential Election -
ProCon.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://2012election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004332
Sheryl Gay Stolberg. (2007, March 21). Bush Clashes With Congress on Prosecutors.
Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/us/politics/21attorneys.html