People vote to select a slate of electors, and each elector pledges to cast his or her vote for the candidate who gets the most votes from the people they represent. Unlike members of Congress, the president and vice president are not elected directly by the people every four years, but through the electoral college system. In addition to the president, who is the commander in chief of the armed forces and head of state, the executive branch includes the vice president and the Cabinet the State Department, Defense Department and 13 other executive departments and various other federal agencies, commissions and committees. Executive BranchĪrticle II of the Constitution states that the executive branch, with the president as its head, has the power to enforce or carry out the laws of the nation. Both the veto power and Congress’ ability to override a veto are examples of the system of checks and balances intended by the Constitution to prevent any one branch from gaining too much power. In the case of a regular veto, Congress can override the veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses. Once that happens, the bill goes to the president, who can either sign it into law or reject it using the veto power assigned in the Constitution. In order to pass an act of legislation, both houses must pass the same version of a bill by majority vote. Therefore, while there are 100 senators, there are 435 elected members of the House, plus an additional six non-voting delegates who represent the District of Columbia as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. While each state gets the same number of senators (two) to represent it, the number of representatives for each state is based on the state’s population. Members of Congress are elected by the people of the United States. This legislative power is divided further into the two chambers, or houses, of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Congress) has the primary power to make the country’s laws. According to Article I of the Constitution, the legislative branch (the U.S.
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