Directions: Study the source and then answer the questions.
Oversight of the executive branch is an important Congressional check on the President’s power and a balance against his or her discretion in implementing laws and making regulations.
One primary way that Congress conducts oversight is through hearings. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs are both devoted to overseeing and reforming government operations, and each committee conducts oversight in its policy area.
Congress also maintains an investigative organization, the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Founded in 1921 as the General Accounting Office, its original mission was to audit the budgets and financial statements sent to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Today, the GAO audits and generates reports on every aspect of the government, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent with the effectiveness and efficiency that the American people deserve.
The Executive Branch also polices itself: Sixty-four Inspectors General, each responsible for a different agency, regularly audit and report on the agencies to which they are attached.
—The White House, Our Government, the White House website
Analyze the source and use your knowledge of government to complete the task.
What is the intended purpose of congressional oversight on the executive branch?
Analyze the source and use your knowledge of government to complete the task.
Explain how the principle of checks and balances is demonstrated through congressional hearings.
Use evidence from the source to support your answer.
Analyze the source and use your knowledge of government to complete the task.
Which statement would violate the concept of checks and balances as described in the source?
Analyze the source and use your knowledge of government to complete the task.
Based on the source, which statement describes a checks-and-balances relationship?
Analyze the source and use your knowledge of government to complete the task.
How is the Government Accountability Office an example of checks and balances, and why is its role important?
Use evidence from the source to support your answer.
Analyze the source and use your knowledge of government to complete the task. Which research question could be answered by the source?
Analyze the source and use your knowledge of government to complete the task. Based on the source, which action violates the intended purpose of congressional oversight?
Analyze the source and use your knowledge of government to complete the task.
Select whether each statement is an example of congressional oversight of the executive branch or not an example of congressional oversight.
Congress conducts hearings on executive policy.
GAO audits budgets and financial statements.
The president submits reports on inspectors general.
The secretary for the treasury reviews the monetary flow of taxpayer dollars.
An Example of Congressional Oversight
Not an Example of Congressional Oversight