Separation of Powers the Associated Term Paper

"They were informed by the committee that they could assert a claim of 'executive privilege' as a justification for not answering questions and not providing the documents, but they had to do that by appearing and making that claim in front of the committee. They were not simply free to ignore a lawful subpoena to appear. In short, nobody was above the law." (Weiner). However, even though they were cited with contempt, Congress could not enforce those citations because the Attorney General refused to refer the citations to a grand jury.

The most remarkable aspect about this article is that it gives one example of how a corrupt presidential administration can abrogate the protections guaranteed in the constitution, to prevent over-concentrating power in one governmental branch.

Babington, Charles. "Stem Cell Bill Gets Bush's First Veto." WashingtonPost.com. 2006. The Washington Post Company. 6 March 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/19/AR2006071900524.html.

President Bush vetoed a bill lifting funding restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research. "The House and Senate passed the bill by comfortable margins but not with the two-thirds majorities required to override a veto. The House voted 235 to 193 yesterday to override Bush, falling short of the threshold and negating the need for a Senate override attempt.

Babington).

This article demonstrated two aspects of the separation of powers doctrine. First, the President has the power to veto legislative actions. However, this power is not unlimited, and legislators can override the veto. However, to do so, Congress has to have a two-thirds majority, which is difficult to attain. Therefore, this article demonstrates two aspects of the separation of powers doctrine......