Congressional Oversight

Written By Jonathan Milner

Definition

Congressional oversight refers to the power of the United States Congress to monitor and, if necessary, change the actions of the executive branch, including the many federal agencies. The primary goals of congressional oversight are to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, and to protect civil liberties and individual rights by ensuring that the executive branch complies with the laws and the Constitution. Derived from its “implied” powers in the U.S. Constitution, public laws, and House and Senate rules, congressional oversight is one of the key elements of the American system of checks and balances of power. But congressional oversight in general is not novel at all. Indeed, the practice of legislative oversight is older than America itself. The British Parliament, in the 17th and 18th centuries, regularly engaged in such investigations, and American colonial legislatures followed suit, assuming “usually without question, the right to investigate the conduct of other departments of the government and also other matters of general concern brought to their attention,” as written by the legal scholar C. S. Potts in the 1926 University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

Example

 
 

Questions

  1. What is Congressional Oversight?

  2. Where does the power of Congressional Oversight come from?

  3. Who exactly can Congress oversee?

  4. Describe an instance of congressional oversight that has occurred in the past year?

  5. Describe a connection to congressional oversight in current events:

  6. Find an image or emoji that does a good job of exemplifying congressional oversight:

  7. Congressional Oversight is not explicitly listed in the U.S. Freaking Constitution. By what means does the Congress have this power?

  8. What generally happens to the amount of Congressional oversight during divided government?

Remember!

Now, let’s commit this term to our long-term memory. On a scrap piece of paper, take 10 or 20 seconds to draw congressional oversight. Draw with symbols or stick figures if you wish. Nothing fancy. Don’t expect a masterpiece. No one else will see this but you. Look at your drawing. That’s all - now it’s downloaded into your memory. Destroy the piece of paper in a most delightful way.

Further Review

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GoPo Glossary

Jonathan Milner

Civics Maven!

https://www.gopopro.com/
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