Some years back, I fired off a forgettable social media post referencing the "three co-equal branches” of government. A friend — a smart journalist steeped in American political history — responded with a gentle correction reminding me that Congress was the "supreme branch,” befitting its Article I status in the United States Constitution.
Turns out we were both wrong, albeit for slightly different reasons.
Since the turn of the century, Congress has increasingly functioned as a quasi-parliament rather than as an independent branch of government — the legislative branch, to be precise. Rather than jealously guarding the distinct powers granted to them under the Constitution, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both Democrat and Republican, willingly, almost gleefully, cede authority to the executive branch whenever their party controls the White House.
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