ABSTRACT
The limitations, indeed, the futility, of congressional oversight when a president is adamant is well illustrated by the fact that the members of Congress could stop the dismantlement of OEO only by bringing suits in the courts like any ordinary citizen. A congressional investigation is essentially an appeal to public opinion, which a determined or obsessive president can ignore. In the end, the president has the sole responsibility under the Constitution for the execution of the laws. The key was the addition to Henry Reuss earlier version of the provision that, when the president is removed by a no confidence vote, all members of both houses of the Congress also stand for reelection. One may speculate that the Congress, recalling vividly what had been accomplished by that same determined underdog in 1948, would itself have backed away from a showdown and let the president finish out his term.
