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Executive Agreements And The Bypassing Of Congress, Joseph P. Tomain

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

The Transmittal Act has revealed a thorny issue for United States constitutional law. Specifically, the Act seeks to obviate those instances in which the Executive Branch attempts to abrogate fully the Legislature's role in foreign policy. The Constitution requires that all treaties be ratified by the Senate. Nevertheless, the Executive, simply by calling an international agreement a different name, may effectively bypass Congress. The Transmittal Act was not intended to resolve fundamental questions relating to the treaty making power of the Senate or Executive authority to enter into binding agreements with foreign countries without the consent of Congress. It was …