The Harvard Law & Policy Review: Volume 1 Number 1

• By Way of Introduction
  • Michael Negron and James Weingarten


• Under Attack: Congressional Power in the Twenty-first Century
  • Charles E. Schumer


• Putting Separation of Powers into Practice: Reflections on Senator Schumer's Essay
  • Patricia Wald and Neil Kinkopf

HLPR’s inaugural symposium focuses on the role of Congress in the system of separation of powers. While both articles share the view that Congress has been diminished in its capacity and willingness to assert itself vis-à-vis the Presidency, they differ in their analysis of both the causes of and the solutions to this situation. Senator Schumer links the enervation of Congress to the Rehnquist Court’s so-called “federalism” revolution. He argues persuasively that Congress must reassert itself and suggests focusing on oversight and the Senate’s “advise and consent” power as the means to do so. Judge Wald and Professor Kinkopf focus their attention on Congress itself. In their account, the historical evolution of Congress’s internal organization (under both parties) is as much to blame for the present situation as any particular attack from the Executive. Wald and Kinkopf are more sanguine about the role of the courts as Congress’s partner and suggest that internal reform holds they key to Congress’s external relations with the other branches of government.