The three branches of the US government

So you want to understand how the US government actually works.

Yeah. People keep saying there are “three branches.” What does that mean?

The government is split into three parts: the legislative branch (Congress), the executive branch (the President), and the judicial branch (the courts).

Splitting the power up this way keeps any single person from controlling everything.

I think I know about the president

What does Congress do?

Congress is the legislative branch, and its job is to make the laws. It writes the bills and votes on them. Congress is actually made of two parts, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The House has 435 members, divided between the states by population. The Senate has 100 members, two from every state no matter how big it is.

Actually, what exactly is the President’s role?

The President leads the executive branch. Congress passes the laws, and the executive branch carries them out and runs the country day to day.

It is not just the President either. It also includes the Vice President, the Cabinet, and all the federal agencies.

Wait, so the President can’t just make laws?

No. The President can sign a bill into law or reject it, but Congress is the one that writes it in the first place.

Rejecting a bill is called a veto. Even then it is not the final word, because Congress can override a veto if enough members vote for it.

Got it. What about the courts?

The courts are the judicial branch, and their job is to interpret the laws and decide what they actually mean.

The Supreme Court is the highest one, sitting above all the lower federal courts. If a law goes against the Constitution, the courts have the power to strike it down.

Wait, isn’t the President basically in charge of everything?

No, and that is the whole point of the design. Each branch can limit the other two, which is called checks and balances.

For example, Congress writes a law, the President can veto it, and then Congress can override that veto.

On top of that, the courts can throw the law out if it breaks the Constitution.

Power keeps moving between them so that no single branch can take over.

That makes sense. Who actually works in these branches?

People you have probably heard of. Senators and representatives sit in Congress. The President and the state governors run the executive side.

Judges sit in the courts. Most of them belong to a political party, which is why you see so much of the red and blue back and forth in the news.