ing no more than that
the President may request Congress to take a subject into consideration.
In practice, Congress considers only such measures as are recommended by
its own committees. The framers of the Constitution took special pains
to fortify the President's position by the veto power, which is treated
at length in the Constitution. By a special clause, the veto power was
extended to "every order, resolution or vote... except on a question of
adjournment"--a clause which apparently should enable the President
to strike off the "riders" continually put upon appropriation bills to
coerce executive action; but no President has ventured to exercise
this authority. Although the Senate was joined to the President as an
advisory council in appointments to office, it was explained in "The
Federalist" that "there will be no exertion of choice on the part of
Senators." Nevertheless, the Senate has claimed and exercised the right
to dictate appointments. While thus successfully encroaching upon the
authority of the President, the Senate had also been signally successful
in encroaching upon the authority of the House. The framers of the
Constitution anticipated for the House a masterful career like that of
the House of Commons, and they feared that the Senate could not
protect itself in the discharge of its own functions; so, although the
traditional principle that all revenue bills should originate in the
House was taken over into the Constitution, it was modified by the
proviso that "the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on
other bills." This right to propose amendments has been improved by the
Senate until the prerogative of the House has been reduced to an empty
form. Any money bill may be made over by amendment in the Senate,
and when contests have followed, the Senate has been so successful in
imposing its will upon the House that the House has acquired the habit
of submission. Not long before the election of Cleveland, as has been
pointed out, this habitual deference of the House had enabled the Senate
to originate a voluminous tariff act in the form of an amendment to the
Internal Revenue Bill voted by the House.

In addition to these extensions of power through superior address in
management, the ascendancy of the Senate was fortified by positive law.
In 1867, when President Johnson fell out with the Republican leaders in
Congress, a Tenure of Office Act was passed over his veto, which
took away from t