Checks and balances: name the check

Example 1

1. Find the last thing that happened, because that is the check the question is about. Congress voted again, by two-thirds in both houses.
2. Passing a bill again after a veto is overriding a veto. It takes two-thirds of both houses: 290 of 435 representatives and 67 of 100 senators if every member votes.
3. Now ask which branch is doing the checking. Congress is the legislative branch, and the president is the executive branch. So the legislative branch is checking the executive.
4. The veto itself was a check too, the president checking Congress. But the question asks about what happened last, and that was the override.

Answer: Overriding a veto (Congress checks the president)

Example 2

1. Ask: who is doing the checking? The Supreme Court. The courts are the judicial branch.
2. Then ask: whose action is being stopped? A law passed by Congress. Congress is the legislative branch.
3. So the judicial branch is checking the legislative branch. The check is called judicial review: the courts decide whether a law violates the Constitution. It goes back to Marbury v. Madison (1803).
4. Be careful not to turn it around. “Legislative checks judicial” would mean Congress limiting the courts, for example by impeaching a judge.

Answer: The judicial branch checks the legislative branch