The United States government is made up of three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. These branches were created to be co-equal with overlapping powers keeping every other branch in check. The branches of government were designed to work well together and being co-equal would lead to decisions being made that are in the best interests of the people. Each branch is critical to ensuring the federal government functions properly. In many ways, the legislature appears to have more power than the executive and judicial branches. The framers of the Constitution wanted the legislature to have more power, which is supported by the United States government today. The Framers also granted the legislative branch some powers to give them more authority. The three main powers that allow the legislative branch to have this authority are the ability to appropriate funds, declare war, and create laws. The power to appropriate funds is crucial to the U.S. government because it allows the flow of funding for the government to function. . Congress' ability to fund government functions includes everything from entitlements such as: Social Security, Medicaid, to the management of the nation's national parks, postal services, and the work of all federal agencies and the military. Without the ability of the legislative branches to raise revenue and allocate funds, nothing would work. Congress's constitutional authority to fund the government also provides Congress with a weapon that both the executive and judicial branches lack. For example, the President may want to regulate a certain industry such as offshore oil drilling. After the BP disaster in the Gulf, the President could have established very onerous regulations for...... middle of paper ......whatever Congress has that makes it critical for the executive and legislative branches to be able to appropriate funds, declare war and create laws. The ability to appropriate funds is vested in the legislative branch because it is the branch that oversees all federal projects and establishes rules and regulations for how those projects are carried out. The ability to declare war is entrusted to the legislative branch because Congress is responsible for foreign affairs and national security; therefore, they can declare war if there is a breach in the nation's security. The essential skill that the legislature can perform is to create laws. This power is so important because it allows the government to create order, as well as guarantee freedom, in society and within government. The legislative branch is the most powerful branch and will hopefully remain so in the future.