SIGTARP and the Executive-Legislative Clash: Confronting a Bowsher Issue with an Eye Toward Preserving the Separation of Powers During Future Crisis Legislation

The murky demarcations between congressional and presidential authority instigate many heavyweight bouts over the bounds of legislative and executive power. The struggle for dominance between Congress and the President has produced yet another herculean clash. The issue confronted by this Note is whether Congress violates the separation of powers doctrine by retaining virtually all control, except for the removal power, over the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), a government watchdog commissioned to supervise the Treasury Department’s execution of Congress’s monumental economic bailout program, and by requiring Treasury, an executive branch agency, to implement recommendations from SIGTARP that are either necessary or appropriate.

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