The Constitution stipulates that if one
branch tries to assert too much power,
the other branches have certain key
powers that allow them to fight back
and restore the balance. (In addition
to the powers noted in the diagram,
Congress can impeach the president
and remove him or her from office.)The president can veto
congressional legislation.The president
nominates judges.The Court interprets
actions by the executive branch.The Court interprets the
laws passed by Congress.The Senate confirms
the president’s judicial
nominations. Congress can
impeach and remove judges
from office.Executive Legislative Judicial
The Senate approves
presidential nominations,
and Congress can override
the president's veto and
pass laws.How it works: in theory
Checks and Balances
Shortly after the attacks of
September 11, 2001, President George
W. Bush, acting on his power as
commander in chief, authorized the
Guantánamo Bay detention center in
Cuba to be used as a place to detain,
interrogate, and try prisoners related
to the War on Terror. President Obama
tried to close the facility, but President
Trump has advocated keeping it open.
At the same time, Trump called for
a broad ban restricting travel to
the United States from six Muslim
countries. The controversies and
policies surrounding these efforts in
the war on terror show how checks
and balances work in practice.First prisoners are
taken to Guantánamo
on January 11, 2002.
President George W. Bush
asserts that Guantánamo
is outside legal U.S.
jurisdiction and that
prisoners held there do
not have protections
guaranteed to prisoners
of war under the Geneva
Convention.The Supreme Court
disagrees in Hamdan
v. Rumsfeld on June 29,
2006, ruling that the
detainees were entitled
to basic legal rights
and that the Geneva
Convention did apply.He said... But then...
A week later, a
military court judge
overturns the order
to suspend hearings at
Guantánamo.Nope.
The detention center
is increasingly contro-
versial. Two days after
taking office, President
Obama signs an order
to close the center by
the end of the year and to
suspend all Guantánamo
military commission
hearings for 120 days.Shut it down?
How it works: in practice
Checks and Balances in the War on Terror
A few months later,
Congress votes to
block funds needed
for the transfer or release
of prisoners held at
the facility.Plan
blocked.President Obama
wants to move
Guantánamo prisoners
to a federal prison
in Illinois.Another
plan.Sigh.
New
strategy. Is this okay?By the end of Obama's
presidency, 41 prisoners
remained. President
Trump vows to keep the
facility open.In 2017, President Trump
tries a new approach by
issuing a ban on travel
from six mostly
Muslim countries.Several district courts
strike down the ban
as religious profiling,
but the Supreme Court
reinstates a more limited
version of the ban, citing
the president’s powers
over national security
and immigration policy.- Why do you think it has been so
difficult for presidents to have
their way in fighting terrorism,
with regard to the travel ban
and Guantánamo? Is it because
of the issue of terrorism and
national security? Or is it because
of our system of checks and
balances? Why? - Do you think our system of
checks and balances creates
too much gridlock, or is it an
essential check on potential
tyranny?
Critical Thinking
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