🗽 US History · A New Nation
Checks and Balances: true or false
Decide fast, then read the reason. Wrong answers are the best teachers, so every statement explains itself.
All statements and answers
A bill must pass both the House and the Senate before it goes to the President.
✓ True. Both houses must pass the same bill. This is a check inside Congress itself.
The President can make a bill into law without Congress by signing it.
✗ False. Only Congress makes laws. The President can sign or veto a bill that Congress has passed, but cannot create a law alone.
The Supreme Court can decide to hear a case about a law even if nobody has brought a case.
✗ False. Courts act only on real cases brought by people or groups affected. The Supreme Court chooses among appeals, but only from cases others have already brought.
A vetoed bill can still become law.
✓ True. If each house passes it again by a two-thirds vote of the members voting, Congress overrides the veto, and the bill becomes law without the President's signature.
When the House impeaches an official, that official is removed from office.
✗ False. Impeachment is the charge. Removal happens only if the Senate convicts, which needs two-thirds of the senators present.
The Senate votes on whether to confirm the President's nominees to the Supreme Court.
✓ True. The President nominates, and the Senate votes on confirmation. The Senate can also reject a nominee, which is a check on the President's power to choose judges.
A treaty becomes binding as soon as the President signs it, with no vote by Congress.
✗ False. The Senate must approve a treaty by a vote of two-thirds of the senators present.
In Marbury v. Madison (1803), the Supreme Court said that part of a law passed by Congress conflicted with the Constitution.
✓ True. The Court said that the section of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that gave it the power to order the delivery of Marbury's papers was not valid.
A presidential pardon can forgive a crime under state law.
✗ False. The pardon power covers offenses against the United States, meaning federal crimes.
The President can pardon someone convicted of a federal crime.
✓ True. The pardon power covers federal offenses. It is a power over punishment, not a power to change the law.
Checks and balances divides power among the branches of the national government, while federalism divides power between the national government and the states.
✓ True. Both limit power, but in different directions: among branches, and between levels of government.
A constitutional amendment takes effect only after the President signs it.
✗ False. An amendment is proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states. The President has no role.
Because Congress can impeach judges, Congress is the boss of the courts.
✗ False. Checks run in several directions. Congress can impeach and the Senate can remove a judge, but courts can also strike down laws Congress passes. No branch controls all the rest.