Question

If Madison's proposal for a Council of Revision had become part of Article III, what could Congress do if the Council determined that a law was unconstitutional?

(a) Congress could override the Council's determination by a two-thirds vote in each house.
(b) Congress could not pass the law again.
(c) Congress could amend the law to make it constitutional.
(d) All of the above

Answer 1

If Madison's proposal for a Council of Revision had been included in the Constitution and it found a law unconstitutional, Congress could have overriden the determination by a two-thirds vote, amended the law, or repassed it, making the correct answer (d) All of the above.

Step-by-step explanation:

If Madison's proposal for a Council of Revision had been included in Article III of the United States Constitution, and the Council determined that a law was unconstitutional, it could have been analogous to the Supreme Court's power of judicial review as established in Marbury v. Madison. This means that while the Council could declare laws unconstitutional, Congress would have had a few potential courses of action to respond to such determinations:

1. Congress could indeed attempt to override the Council's determination by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate, similar to the way Congress can override a presidential veto.
2. Congress could amend the law in an attempt to address the constitutional issues identified by the Council. If successful, the revised law could then be passed again.
3. The description of the options does not preclude that Congress could pass the same law again without changes, but this course of action would likely result in the same determination by the Council unless the composition or views of the Council members changed.

Thus, the correct answer would be (d) All of the above. Congress could have employed several strategies to either override the Council's decision, amend the law, or repass it in hopes of a different outcome.