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Our story begins when Little Johnny visits Washington D.C.
"Wow, this is one large building! I wonder what goes on in there?"
"I'm the Capitol building where the legislative branch writes laws."
"Woah, you can talk! What is the legislative branch? Is there any other branches?
"There are two other branches of government, the executive and the judicial branch. Each
branch has its own job to do. The legislative branch is the one that creates laws and it
is called Congress. Congress is separated into two houses, the Senate and the House
of Representatives. The Senate has 100 senators because each state sends two senators. The
House of Representatives has 435 because a state's representatives is determined by the
state's population. So there are a total of 535 members of Congress."
"Wow, that's so cool. So what does the Congress and the two houses do?"
"Congress' job is to make laws." "How does it do that?"
"Well, state representatives write bills, like this one right here. And these bills
are sent to a committee, where special representatives debate on whether or not it should become
law and if they decide yes it is sent to each house to be debated on. And if each house
decides yes to it becoming a law it is sent to the President."
"Wait, who is the President and why does he get to have a say in whether or not a bill
becomes a law or not?" "The President is the head of the executive
branch over there in the White House. He gets to say yes or no to a bill becoming a law
because of a thing called checks and balances. You remember when I telling you about the
powers of the government are separated into three branches?"
"Uh huh." "Well each of these branches of government
have checks on the other two branches, but no branch is more powerful than the other.
So the President can say yes to the bill and sign it making it a law or he can say no which
is called a veto. If a President vetoes a bill, it comes back to Congress and is voted
on again with 2/3 needed to override the veto." "Wow, what are some other checks the legislative
branch has?" "The legislative branch confirms appointments
the President makes and can impeach justices and the President if they are acting unusual."
"This is so cool! How do I learn more about the different branches?"
Well, you can head over there to the White House and ask him about the executive branch.
And then you can go over to Lady Justice and ask about the judicial branch."
"Alrighty, thank you so much for teaching me all about the legislative branch!"
"Hi, are you the White House?" "Yes and who might you be?"
"I'm Johnny and I'm learning all about the branches of the government. I was just talking
to your friend the capitol building and he told me to come over to you to learn more
about the executive branch. Is it true that the President lives here?"
"Yes, it is. The President is the head of the executive branch and commander-in-chief
of the armed forces." "Are there other parts of the executive, like
the legislative that has two houses?" "Yes, the executive branch is made up of the
President, Vice-President, and the Cabinet." "Oh cool, what do they get do?"
"Well, it is the executive branches' job to carry out the laws of that Congress creates.
The President gets to decide whether a bill becomes a law by either signing it or vetoing
it. The President also gets to appoint his own Cabinet and nominates the justices."
"I remember hearing about the justices, the Senate confirms those appointments, right?"
"Yes, they do, that's another one of those checks."
"Awesome! Where do I find those justices so I can ask them about their jobs?"
"You can go talk to Lady Justice over there. She should be able to tell you everything
you want to know about the judicial branch." "Okay, thank you so much!"
"Hi Ms. Lady Justice. I'm Johnny and I was wondering if you could tell me about the judicial
branch?" "Hi Johnny, of course I can tell you about
the judicial branch. The courts make up the judicial branch, with the Supreme Court as
the top court. There are nine justices on the Supreme Court that are appointed by the
President and serve a life sentence. When you have a problem with the laws you can take
it to the courts. The Supreme Court can even declare a law unconstitutional."
"What does it mean if they do that?" "If the Supreme Court decides a law is unconstitutional
then that law is no longer a law." "Is that like a check that the Supreme Court
has?" "Yes, that's exactly what is Johnny!"
"Wow, I have learned so much today! Thank you!"
"Anytime Johnny!" "Hi Ms. Thomas, I visited Washington D.C.
and learned all about the branches of government. "That is so cool, Johnny. Can you tell the
class what you learned?" "Yes, I learned there are three branches of
government each with their own powers. The legislative makes the laws, the executive
branch carries out the laws, and the judicial branch decides if the laws are constitutional.
Each of these branches have checks on the others, but no one branch is more powerful
than the other." "That is all very true Johnny! Thank you very
much for sharing!"