Chapter 9 Congress
Chapter 9 Congress
Congress
• Origins, Structure, and Membership• Bicameral Differences• Rules of Lawmaking: How a Bill Becomes a
Law• Budgeting and Oversight
Legislative Branch
• English Legislative Heritage– Parliament
• The Great Compromise– Bicameral Design
• Apportionment• Congressional Districts
– Political Equality– Gerrymandering
Constitutional Basis
• Article I, Section 1 - All legislative powers vested in a Congress…
• Article I, Section 8 - Powers to…
• Article I, Section 9 - Be no section
• Article I, Section 10 - Be no state section
• Compromise in structure and representation
The Electoral Connection
• Qualifications (25/7 and 30/9 - resident)
• Factors contribute to the composition of Congress:
— who decides to run
— the incumbency effect (95-98/83-85%)
• Terms and Sessions (Jan 3rd - 109th)
• Term Limits
13-12
Differences between the House and the Senate
- filibusters/riders permitted
13-3
The First “Gerrymander”
13-2
Reapportionment of House Seats following the 1990 Census
13-5
Sociological Representation?Moderate Growth
13-6
The Electoral Connection:Incumbent Winning
Percentages
Politico Styles
• Trustee representation– trusted to use own judgement and conscience
– social issues
• Delegate representation– expected to vote constituents desires
– economic - “bread and butter issues”
• Domestic Policy Decisions
• Foreign Policy Decisions
• Constant battle to balance
What Exactly Do They Do?
• Continuous Campaign
• Pork Barrel Politicking
• Constituent Case Work
Constituent Service
Internal Influence• Reciprocity - log rolling• Personal Courtesy - “the honorable gentleman from”,
stigmas of personal attacks.• Specialization - committee expertise• Caucuses are groups of senators or representatives who
share certain opinions, interests or social characteristics.+ Democratic Study Group+ Congressional Black Caucus+ Hispanic Caucus+ Caucus for Women’s Issues
The Organization of Congress
• Party Leadership
• The Committee System
• The Staff System
Party Leadership: House
• Majority Party– Speaker of the House
– Majority leader
– Majority whip
– Committee on Committees -Conference
• Minority Party– Minority leader
– Minority whip
– Steering and Policy Committee
Congressional leadership is chosen every two years at the beginning of each new congressional session.
House LeadershipMeans of Selection
Party Leadership: Senate
• Formal – President of the
Senate• Vice president
• Votes to break ties
– President pro tempore
• ceremonial position
• given to ranking member of the majority party
• Informal– Majority leader
• Whip
– Minority leader• Whip
– Majority Policy Committee
– Minority Policy Committee
Senate LeadershipMeans of Selection
The Committee System
• Standing committees (19/16) and their respective subcommittees (88/68)
• Select committees
• Joint committees
• Conference committee
Standing Committees• Standing committees are the most important
arenas of congressional policy making.+ Permanent: exist from session to session+ Power to receive and process legislation
+ Exception: House Rules Committee
+ Jurisdiction specified by subject matter and generally mirrors major cabinet department
+ Assignment based on needs of members+ Leadership based on seniority on the committee
13-10
Other Committees
• Select committees: a temporary legislative committee set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue
• Joint committees: a legislative committee with members from both chambers formed to study particular issues
• Conference committee: a joint committee created to reach compromise on legislation passed by both chambers
The Staff System
• Staffs are maintained in Washington, D.C. and back home.– Legislative assistant
• Work with legislative drafting• Develop policy ideas
– Administrative assistant• Work with lobbyists• Work on constituent requests
• Congressional committees are also provided staffs.
• Support agencies provide information support.– Congressional Budget Office– General Accounting Office– Congressional Research Service
The Growth of Congressional Staffs
Rules of Lawmaking:How a Bill Becomes a Law
• Filing with clerk
• Committee deliberation
• Debate
• Conference committee
• Presidential action
How a Bill Becomes a Law
How a Bill Becomes a Law
• Legislation must be introduced in either the House or the Senate before it officially becomes a bill.
• Assigned a bill number (H.R. 1 or S. 1)
• Assigned to the appropriate committee based on jurisdiction of the standing committees
Committee Deliberation
• Most of the work on legislation is conducted at the committee level.
• 95% of bills die at the committee or subcommittee level.
• Discharge petition may be used to pull a bill out of committee.
House Rules Committee
• Each bill that survives committee must go through the Rules Committee.
• Determines the length of debate and the nature of amendments that may be offered to the legislation
The Senate’s Unanimous Consent Rule
• The Senate lacks a Rules Committee.– Executive Calendar (Treaties and Appointments)
– Calendar of General Orders
• The Senate utilizes the unanimous consent rule to permit bills to reach the floor.
• Any senator can kill a bill by withholding consent
Debate
• Contrary to the House, the Senate permits open and lengthy debate on legislation.
• A filibuster can be used to “talk a bill to death.”
• A cloture vote is used to defeat a filibuster:
– sixty votes necessary to end filibuster.
Conference Committee
• A conference committee is called when different versions of a bill are passed by the Senate and the House and a compromise is needed.
• Members of the committee that worked on the legislation serve on the committee.
• Compromise must be approved by both the House and the Senate.
Presidential Action
• The president may + sign the bill into law; + allow the bill to become law without his
signature;+ veto (reject) the bill with a formal veto message
+ override by two-thirds vote of both chambers;
+ Pocket veto.
13-15
Budget Process
Beyond Legislation:Other Congressional Powers
• Oversight
• Advice and Consent
• Impeachment
Oversight
• Oversight is the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of the executive agencies while legislation is being implemented.
• The appropriations process is an important oversight tool.
Advice and Consent
• The Senate must approve presidential appointments by a simple majority.
• Treaties must be approved by the Senate with a two-thirds vote.
– Executive agreements circumvent this process.
– Congress can refused to appropriate funding.
Impeachment
• The president and other high-ranking officials may be removed from office by through impeachment by the House and conviction in the Senate.
• Grounds include treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.