The chief-executive branch

摘要

JAMES WILSON—the one who signed the Declaration of Independence and took one of the Supreme Court's first six seats, rather than the Scottish hatmaker who founded The Economist—believed that "the House of Representatives [shall] form the grand inquest of the state. They shall diligently inquire into grievances." Many years later Woodrow Wilson, then a young scholar of government, wrote that for a legislature "vigilant oversight" is "quite as important as legislation". Many Supreme Court decisions have affirmed that Congress enjoys vast investigative and oversight powers to check the executive branch.