Constitutional Power of the Congress in Policy Making

The United States Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of
Representatives is made up of 435 elected members, divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total
population. In addition, there are 6 non-voting members, representing the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and  four other  territories of the United States. The presiding officer of the
chamber is the Speaker of the House, elected by the Representatives. He or she is third in the line of
succession to the Presidency (Whitehouse n.d)

Among the express powers of Congress as defined in the Constitution are the power to lay and collect taxes,
borrow money on the credit of the United States, regulate commerce, coin money, declare war, raise and
support armies, and make all laws necessary for the execution of its powers. Although the two chambers of
Congress are separate, for the most part, they have an equal role in the enactment of legislation, and there
are several aspects of the business of Congress that the Senate and the House of Representatives share and
that require common action. Congress must assemble at least once a year and must agree on the date for
convening and adjourning. The date for convening was set in the Constitution as the first Monday in
December; however, in the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution the date was changed to January 3.
The date for adjournment is voted on by the House and the Senate (Britannica 2014).

The constitutional function of Congress is essentially to act as a check on presidential power. The Congress
also has the right to make foreign policy on declaring war, and the Senate must approve all treaties and
confirm the president's nominees for ambassadorial and cabinet positions, but still the president has the
option of issuing an executive order to carry out treaties without Senate consent (CFR, 2013). Though the
Congress has the right to declare war, the president is the one who authorized as the commander in chief,
leading the armed forces. Congress has additional authority through its appropriation and oversight
functions. As must all government programs, the operations of foreign policy must be funded. Congress can
cut or increase foreign aid or the budget for a defense project. It can set restrictions on the length of time
American troops are deployed during an international crisis by refusing to pay for them beyond a certain
date. The Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees of both the House and the Senate have investigated
the Iran-Contra affair as well as the operations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), (Cliffsnotes, 2016).

Congress has used its power to make laws that specifically limit the freedom of action of the president in
foreign policy. The Neutrality Acts (1935–1937) are an early example. The War Powers Act 1973, which
was a direct response to the Vietnam War, requires that Congress be consulted whenever the president is
ready to commit American troops. It puts a 60-day limit on their deployment (with an additional month for
withdrawal) without further congressional approval. Vetoed by President Nixon and generally opposed by
his successors, the act's effectiveness has been questioned. Still, President George H. W. Bush sought the
support of Congress before the Persian Gulf War, as did President Bill Clinton to send troops to Somalia and
Bosnia. Congress also authorized the use of force in Iraq in the fall of 2002.

Foreign policy has been a source of tension through the years between Capitol Hill and the White House,
especially over issues such as sanctions and foreign aid, trade, and human rights. Congress has historically
used its oversight role, issuing subpoenas in event of investigations, to show its disapproval of executive
actions or change policy, that Congress should get an up- or down-vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a
free-trade deal between America and dozen Pacific nations, to the complex matters like war (CFR, 2016).
One recent example where the Congress doesn’t take the stand of the matter is the bombing campaign
against Islamic State, which has been conducted by the White House under an authorization for the use of
force passed just after the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Even though the members of Congress have
complained about this, the White House has explored the possibility of securing a more up-to-date
resolution. Republicans are generally concerned that the wording of such a resolution would be too weak,
while Democrats think it risks being too open-ended, thus leaving the campaign to the president. But there
are also cases where the Congress has dominant influence to the foreign policy. One of the examples is the
Iranian nuclear deal. Its slow-moving characteristic makes it harder for the president's administration to
claim that the action they will take is merely responding to events in a timely way. The result then will come
out as treaty. However, most of America’s international agreements have become law after the White House
issued an executive order rather than after ratification by Congress. Big, controversial treaties do tend to
come before Congress. It can be seen when the legislative branch refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles at
the end of the first world war and, more recently, the comprehensive ban on nuclear testing, which was
signed by George H.W. Bush in 1992 does not yet carry the force of law (The Economist, 2016).

It can be concluded that Congress has a big influence in making of foreign policy.  Congress can use its
power to make laws that specifically limit the freedom of action of the president in foreign policy, for an
example The Neutrality Acts (1935–1937). However, there has been tensions in making of foreign policy
between Capitol Hill and the White House, especially over issues such as sanctions and foreign aid, trade,
and human rights. The writers infer that the role of Congress in making of foreign policy is very important to
avoid the limitless power of President that sometimes can be misappropriated.