How effective are the checks and balances of the Constitution today?
… Congress. This is probably one of the greatest checks that can be attained, Clinton vetoed thirty-six bills in his two terms, a President can stop any bill from becoming law by using a ‘Presidential veto’, although there is a system put in place to stop the executive overusing this power (kind of like a check and balance of a check and balance) which is that if the President does veto a bill, that bill, with the Presidents suggestions, gets passed back to Congress where a two thirds vote is needed to override the Presidents veto. This check can cause dispute between the two branches, but the President has an informal power known as a ‘pocket veto’, this comes about because a bill has ten days to be approved or vetoed by the President, if this ten days comes to an end while Congress is adjourned, the bill seizes to exist, …
