Relations between Congress and the executive branch have always been an uneasy mixture of mutuality and autonomy, cooperation and conflict. The U.S. Constitution required that the two branches of the federal government work in concert, but it also mandated a separation of powers. Inevitably, this situation has led to a clash of wills and a contest

Relations between Congress and the executive branch have always been an uneasy mixture of mutuality and autonomy, cooperation and conflict. The U.S. Constitution required that the two branches of the federal government work in concert, but it also mandated a separation of powers. Inevitably, this situation has led to a clash of wills and a contest