A recent presidential election, new Administration, unified government, and renewed interest in separation of powers between co-equal branches, executive authority over the bureaucracy, the role of congressional oversight all point to a relevant range of subjects for you to select a topic, engage in research and analysis, and compose an essay addressing a current topic that illustrates executive-legislative relations.
Washington, D.C. is an extremely competitive, political town and you must work hard to govern — whether it is via legislation, an executive order, or to keep or increase your agency funding — it is an important part of government. No matter when on the legislative calendar or President’s agenda, you sell your ideas and compete for attention, staff, funding.
Choose an issue of contemporary relevance and contention between the branches of the federal government — it may be an issue of primarily congressional oversight (Links to an external site.) / legislative initiative or one under executive branch purview. For example, you might find a topic that revolves around an executive order circumventing Congress, or alternately a bill in Congress to rein in the powers of the President. Current events frequently revolve around clashes and/or cooperation between the executive and legislative branches (e.g., immigration, environment etc).
Identify such an issue between the branches and present a reasoned argument or analysis describing the problem or conflict and how the branches work (or fail) to address the issue. Include in your analysis the identification and discussion of specific powers of the branches, relevant to your issue.
