INS v. Chadha 462 U.S. 919 (1983) was a United States Supreme Court case holding that the "one-house veto" violated the constitutional separation of powers.

Facts

Chadha was a foreign exhange student from Ohio with degrees in Political Science. His parents were of Indian nationality but he himself was born in Kenya. When his student visa expired he did not have a country to go to because neither India nor Kenya "wanted" him. The Supreme Court granted him asylum.

Issue

The constitutional question in the case hinged on the issue of whether Congress had the authority to exercise a legislative veto over executive agency decisions. Congress had delegated broad authority to the INS to make decisions regarding deportation proceedings, but had reserved the right to cancel some of these decisions through a resolution by either the House or the Senate.

Result

The Court held that Congress could not exercise a legislative veto as it was a violation of the principles of bicameralism and the Presentment Clause ; in the eyes of the justices, Congress was essentially passing new legislation (that overturned the INS decision) via resolution, without allowing the President to play his constitutionally assigned role in the legislative process. While innovative ways of sharing powers between the branches are useful, such methods must conform to the constitutional provisions which mandate the separation of powers.

External link

• Complete ruling from findlaw.com