Replies

You're setting up a straw man. Congress doesn't have the power to enforce the laws they pass. Therefore, they aren't delegating any power to those who are empowered to enforce laws. Congress can't delegate a power they don't have. The point is that no branch of government is empowered to delegate their powers to another branch. You've held up examples of the President assigning tasks to others within his command or to people outside government as "proof" of your assertion. That isn't proof at all. The President doesn't delegate his power to veto legislation, does he? If he did would you approve?

The Constitution has a basic principle. That which is not granted is prohibited. You made up your mind before you ever read the Constitution. Read the document and read the essays written during the ratification process. Until you do, you aren't going to accept anything except what you've been told by people who have a stake in gaining public acquiescence to the trashing of the Constitution by politicians.

Look back into your posts and you'll see that you've argued that because there is no specific prohibition of delegation of powers, then any branch may do so. This is the exact opposite of the way the Constitution is designed. Government must have a specific grant of power to do anything. Where no grant exists, prohibition is the rule.

"The point is that no branch of government is empowered to delegate their powers to another branch. You've held up examples of the President assigning tasks to others within his command or to people outside government as "proof" of your assertion. That isn't proof at all. The President doesn't delegate his power to veto legislation, does he?"

Does it legally matter if Dick Cheney physically uses the veto stamp at President Bush's request, but we digress?

The issue is not whether the President can delegate his right to veto legislation. The issue is not whether Congress can delegate its right to enact legislation. At issue is whether Congress can delegate the authority to enforce/enact/maintain legislation (e.g., can Congress delegate the power to enforce the $.34 stamp to bureaucrats in the Post Office, or must Congressmen themselves physically issue and verify stamps to all Americans).

You claim that since the Constitution doesn't use the word "delegate", that Congress can't transfer any level of power or authority to anyone else, especially those in another government branch.

That's simply not accurate. Although the word "delegate" is not in the Constitution, there are numerous examples of text in our Constitution in which Congress is explicitly given the right to enact all legislation necessary for the enactment and enforcement thereof. Such enforcement can include delegating power to non-Congressional bureaucrats such as Postmen, and once you realize that the language in the Constitution thusly permits said delegation of Power and authority, then the rest of your claims fall apart.

Clearly Congress CAN delegate authority to Postmen. Clearly Congress can delegate authority to the President. Likewise, the President can delegate the authority to run any part of a war to anyone he chooses.