The roles of Congress and the president in creating laws that are reviewed by the Supreme Court are straightforward. Since Congress is the legislative branch charged with making laws in the country, it creates bills, which become laws after the president assents to them. In the constitution, the president has veto powers that allow him to override Congress’ decisions. However, Congress can invalidate the president’s veto by two-thirds of all congresspeople voting against it. The Supreme Court only takes up the judicial process after the president signs a specific bill passed by Congress into law. The role of the Supreme Court is to review the new law to determine if it is constitutional. If it turns out to be unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has the power to nullify it. However, it is only the president who has the power to enforce the Supreme Court’s nullification decision.
The legislative branch of the US government comprises the Senate and House of Representatives, which form the Congress. The law-making process of the legislative branch begins once bills are initiated in Congress, where the bill can be accepted in its entirety, amended, or rejected in full. Congress has subcommittees and committees where the merits or flaws contained in the bill are investigated. According to the White House, Congressmen appearing either in the subcommittee or committees can invite expert opinion regarding the bill whenever the need arises. Once the committee approves the bill it is tabled in Congress, debated, and passed or rejected. The bill must then pass through the House of Representatives and the Senate and must be supported by a majority in both houses.
The executive role in the law-making process comes into play once the Congress had passed the bill into the president’s office. On receiving the bill, the president, can either sign it into law or use his veto powers to send the bill back to Congress for review and/or amendments. Agencies working in the executive branch can also make adjudications or issue rules, guidelines, or opinions meant to guide the law implementation process. The Judicial branch’s key role as stipulated in the constitution is the implementation of laws. Federal courts have the power to interpret the U.S. Constitution, laws, and regulations when deciding cases between adversarial parties. The judiciary also has judicial review powers, whereby, the Supreme Court can review and determining the constitutionality of laws passed by congress and assented by the president. Should the judicial branch find any statute to be unconstitutional, then it exercises its veto powers by declaring the law invalid.