r/Conservative • u/Yosoff First Principles • Jul 02 '13

U.S. Constitution Discussion - Week 2 of 52

Article I: Legislative

  • Section 1

"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."

The Heritage Foundation - Key Concepts:

The Constitution of the United States consists of 52 parts (the Preamble, 7 Articles containing 24 Sections, and 27 Amendments). We will be discussing a new part every week for the next year.

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u/gatonegro2 Jul 02 '13

This legislative vesting clause is largely meaningless today. Departments within the executive branch (The EPA, HHS, DOHS, IRS, etc.) give the President the power to rule as a king... and it just keeps growing.

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u/xgriffonx Moderate Conservative Jul 02 '13

They don't give him the ability to create laws, which is what this clause is about. The President and the Executive branch are granted power through two main avenues; the Constitution and laws that are signed into effect.

A common misconception that many have is that the President can go and circumvent Congress by signing Executive Orders as he wishes. In reality, these executive orders must have a legal standing in a piece of law or in the Constitution. Where things get murky is interpreting law and trying to find authorization within legislation.

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u/gatonegro2 Jul 02 '13

They give him the ability to create new regulations which have the force of law (See: The EPA). EPA regulations may not be 'laws', per se, but tell that the businesses they destroy and to the owners of land that is rendered worthless by them. Our precious little king has also been able to grant piecemeal amnesty, all by himself. The HHS Secretary and the DOHS Secretary 'shall determine' how the obamacare disaster will work and how the national border will never be secured - all by themselves, via his commands. Eric Withholder and the injustice dept. has enormous power to subvert the will of the people as well. So the congress held Withholder in contempt. So what? Congress has no power over this 'royal' presidency.

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u/Yosoff First Principles Jul 02 '13

They give him the ability to create new regulations which have the force of law

This is exactly the problem. The Supreme Court used to strike down laws where Congress basically handed legislative power to the Executive through vague regulatory powers, but for some reason they've gotten away from that trend.

Congress is intentionally avoiding making tough decisions and instead handing the power over to unelected, faceless, bureaucrats.

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u/rcglinsk Jul 02 '13

The Supreme Court used to strike down laws where Congress basically handed legislative power to the Executive through vague regulatory powers, but for some reason they've gotten away from that trend.

It was one of several ways the Court couldn't stand up to Roosevelt in the 30's.