Federal government of the United States

• 1. Introduction

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  The federal government of the United States has been operating under the same constitutional framework since the 4th of March, 1789. That date marks when the Constitution was ratified and the nation's federal rule of law took hold, built on principles of federalism, republicanism, and democracy. But the government's roots reach back even further, to a war that hadn't yet been won and a nation that didn't yet exist.

  It began with a decision: to create a Continental Army and name George Washington its commander. From that single act of defiance, a country emerged. And the structure built to govern it raised questions that Americans have never stopped debating: how much power should a central government hold, and over whom?

  The answers to those questions are written into three branches, 50 state governments, hundreds of tribal nations, and a budget that in 2018 alone reached $4.11 trillion. This documentary explores how that structure was built, how it actually functions, and where the lines of power are still being drawn.

• 2. From Revolution to Constitution

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  In July 1776, delegates to the Second Continental Congress gathered at what is now Independence Hall in Philadelphia. All 56 of the colonial-era delegates signed the Declaration of Independence that year. But independence declared on paper still had to be won in battle.

  It took until September 1783 for the Thirteen Colonies to prevail over the British in the Revolutionary War. Only then did the United States exist as a sovereign nation in fact, not just in words. Six years of war gave way to the difficult work of building a government.

  The Constitution, ratified in Philadelphia on the 4th of March, 1789, was the answer. It established three branches of government and embedded a principle that has shaped every political argument since: power must be shared, checked, and balanced among those who hold it. Since the Civil War, the powers of the federal government have expanded considerably, though debates over the proper limits of federal authority have never disappeared.

• 3. The Legislature's Two Chambers

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  Article I of the Constitution established Congress as the legislative branch, and made it bicameral from the start. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, each representing a congressional district; seats are apportioned by state population and recalculated after each decennial census. Members serve two-year terms and must be at least 25 years old, a citizen for at least seven years, and a resident of the state they represent.

  The Senate follows a different logic entirely. Two senators represent each state regardless of population, giving smaller states equal standing alongside the largest. With 100 senators in total, each serving six-year terms, roughly one-third of the Senate faces election every two years. If a Senate seat becomes vacant, the governor of that state appoints a replacement.

  The two chambers also hold exclusive powers the other cannot exercise. Revenue bills must originate in the House. The Senate alone gives "advice and consent" to presidential appointments, including cabinet officers, federal judges, and ambassadors. Both chambers must agree to pass legislation before it can become law. The 118th Congress, which ran from 2023 to 2025, maintained 20 standing committees in the House and 19 in the Senate, with roughly 150 subcommittees absorbing much of the day-to-day workload.

• 4. The President's Power and Its Limits

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  Article Two of the Constitution vests executive power in the president, who holds two distinct roles simultaneously: head of state for ceremonial functions and head of government as chief executive. The Constitution directs the president to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed" and requires an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

  The president commands the armed forces, conducts foreign relations, and holds what is generally considered the sole power of diplomatic recognition. Treaties, however, require the consent of two-thirds of the Senate before they are ratified. The presidential clemency power allows pardons, commutations, and general amnesties for federal offenses, but it cannot reach state crimes or cases of impeachment.

  Presidential terms were unlimited as originally drafted. The Twenty-second Amendment, ratified in 1951, changed that. It capped service at two four-year terms, though it also allows a president who succeeded to the office and served fewer than two years to run for two full terms. If vetoed by the president, a bill can still become law if both houses of Congress re-pass it by a two-thirds majority in each chamber. If the president neither signs nor vetoes a bill within ten days, excluding Sundays, it becomes law without a signature, unless Congress has adjourned and prevented its return, in which case it does not become law.

• 5. Courts, Jurisdiction, and Independence

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  The Judiciary Act of 1789 carved the country into judicial districts and created federal courts for each of them. The structure it established still shapes the system today: the Supreme Court at the top, then 13 courts of appeals, then 94 district courts, plus two courts of special jurisdiction.

  Federal judges hold their seats "during good behavior," a phrase that in practice means they serve until they die, retire, or resign. Congress cannot reduce their pay while they are in office. These protections exist specifically to insulate judges from political pressure. A judge who commits an offense can be impeached by the same process that applies to the president.

  The Supreme Court's power of judicial review, the ability to strike down laws as unconstitutional, is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. There have been moments in history when the other two branches declined to follow such rulings. Below the Supreme Court, the district courts handle general trials under federal law; the courts of appeals review those decisions; and the Supreme Court selects cases from the appeals courts or from state supreme courts. The Eleventh Amendment drew one firm boundary: citizens of one state cannot bring a federal case against the government of another state as defendant.

• 6. States, Tribes, and Local Power

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  The Tenth Amendment reserves to states all powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution. In practice, this means state governments touch most Americans' daily lives more directly than Washington does. Each state maintains its own written constitution, elected legislature, governor, and court system. In 45 of the 50 states, a lieutenant governor stands next in the line of succession below the governor.

  American Indian tribes occupy a distinct legal category, defined by the Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia. Tribes are recognized as "domestic dependent nations": sovereign governments that operate subject to federal authority but, in many cases, outside the jurisdiction of state governments. Tribal governments vary widely in form, from a simple council to a multi-branch bureaucracy. Tribal citizenship requirements are set by the tribes themselves, and voting rights are typically restricted to individuals of native descent.

  Below the state level, counties are the primary administrative subdivisions, though Louisiana calls them parishes and Alaska calls them boroughs. Twenty states further divide counties into civil townships. Connecticut, Rhode Island, and parts of Alaska and Massachusetts have counties that function almost purely as geographic labels, with little governing authority. States also create special-purpose districts for single functions, such as school districts, water management districts, and library districts, layering governance structures that collectively form the local layer of American law.

• 7. Suffrage and Representation

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  In the early years of the republic, voting was largely a matter for state governments and was commonly restricted to white men who owned property. Senators were not elected directly by voters at all. Under the original system, state legislatures chose both senators from their state by majority vote.

  The Seventeenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, transferred that power to voters, making direct election the rule for both houses of Congress. Today, U.S. citizens have nearly universal suffrage from age 18, regardless of race, gender, or wealth. The primary exception is the disenfranchisement of convicted felons, which in some states extends to people who have completed their sentences.

  Territory residents occupy an uneven position. Washington, D.C., home to roughly 160,000 federal civilian employees as of fiscal year 2023, has participated in presidential elections since the 29th of March, 1961, but its only congressional representative is a non-voting delegate. Puerto Rico residents who are not federal employees pay Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes and several other federal taxes, but not federal personal income tax on income sourced in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's representation in Congress is limited to a nonvoting Resident Commissioner. The total federal civilian workforce stood at about 2,260,000 in fiscal year 2023, not counting the United States Postal Service.