AP U.S. Government and Politics · Past multiple choice · Question 2, Effective Fall 2014
Congressional oversight
Pick the activity that counts as congressional oversight.
The lesson this question tests
1 Read the question
The question is College Board's: sample question 2 in AP Government and Politics: United States Course Description. It starts on page 16 of the PDF.
Open Question 2 (PDF, page 16)
2 Pick your answer
3 Check the explanation
Why the answer is A open once you have picked
Congressional oversight is Congress checking how the executive branch carries out the laws. Its main tool is the committee hearing, where agency heads testify and answer for their programs and spending. Congress also oversees through investigations, budget decisions and confirmation hearings.
Choice A is the plain example: a committee holding hearings to review what an executive agency is doing.
Each choice
- A (correct). Hearings that review an executive agency's work are the central tool of oversight.
- B. Helping constituents with problems is casework, part of a member's representative role, not a check on the executive.
- C. Reporting contributions to the FEC is a candidate's legal duty under campaign finance law. It is not Congress reviewing the executive.
- D. Congress cannot sign trade agreements. The president negotiates them and Congress approves them, so this power does not exist.
- E. Investigating its own leaders is Congress policing itself. Oversight is aimed at the executive branch.
Question and answer key: College Board. The title and summary are ours, and so is the explanation.