ABSTRACT
The bicameral requirement, the presentment clauses, the president's veto, and Congress' power to override a veto were intended to erect enduring checks on each branch and to protect the people from the improvident exercise of power by mandating certain prescribed steps. Congress has included the veto in literally hundreds of statutes, dating back to the 1930s. Congress clearly views the procedure as essential to controlling the delegation of power to administrative agencies. The prominence of the legislative veto mechanism in our contemporary political system and its importance to Congress can hardly be overstated. It has become a central means by which Congress secures the accountability of executive and independent agencies. The president may have preferred unrestricted power, but that could be precisely why Congress thought it essential to retain a check on the exercise of delegated authority.
