policy significance of congress

• Pass laws on a range of policy issues + deepening its role in policy that previously had been delegated to the state

  • No Child Left Behind Act
  • Obamacare 
• • In times of unified government, significant legislative achievements can be made
  • Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed even when the Republican party was not united entirely behind Trump 
• The supremacy clause of the Constitution ensures that congressional law is superior to state law so the states are bound to follow legislation they do not approve of
• Congress is dependent on the states to enforce laws 

  • Laws have been ignored
  • Marijuana remains federal illegal yet an increasing number of states have passed state legislation effectively legalising it
• Congress does not pass huge amounts of legislation as it is so difficult 

  • Congress failed to pass any meaningful immigration reform despite bipartisan efforts in the Senate and support from President Obama 
• Laws passed by Congress can be overturned by both the president (through the veto) and the Supreme Court (through judicial review)