Structure of Congress – Article 1◦ Bicameral legislature-two houses

the House of Representatives and Senate. (following the model of English Parliament)

◦ The Founders intended to make Congress more powerful than any other branch.

Chapter 5The Organization of Congress

CongressAdvantage: One house can check the other house.

Disadvantages:

Lawmaking process is long and duplicating. ◦ process that occurs in House must occur again in

Senate

Gridlock◦ especially when each chamber is dominated by a

different party.

Qualifications:◦ At least 25yrs of old◦ At least 7 yrs. US citizen◦ Resident of the state◦ representative usually lives in district they represent

Term: ◦ elected for two year term. ◦ Every 2 years all 435 members of House must run for reelection.

◦ Each term of Congress begins on January 3. ◦ Each Congressional term is 2 sessions. ◦ Currently this is the 114th Congress.

◦ House of Representatives: 247 Republican, ◦ 181 Democrat

House of Representatives

House seat must be apportioned, or divided, among states on basis of population. ◦ Each state is entitled to at least one seat.

435 members◦ This number was established in 1911. ◦ Prior to 1911 the number of House members grew

with the population. ◦ The First Congress had 64.

Membership of House

Every 10 years, after the national census, Congress engages in reapportionment, ◦ dividing up number of House members among

states based on population changes.

Last census in 2010.

S.C had 6 members but in last census it picked up one more making total 7.

#3 Jeff Duncan

#6 Jim Clyburn

#2 Joe Wilson

#4 Terry Gowdy

#5 Mike Mulvaney

#1 Mark Sanford

#7 Tom Rice

Speaker of the House:◦ Presiding officer and its most powerful leader◦ Second in line of presidential succession

(After VP)

Constitution states that House chooses the Speaker.

◦ A caucus, (closed meeting), of majority party chooses House speaker at start of each session of Congress.

◦ The entire House membership approves the choice.

House of Representatives

John Boehner OH

Officially presides over House sessions, but may appoint a Speaker pro tempore to take his place.

Refers bills to committees thus determining success or failure of a bill.

Interprets rules and procedure.

May debate and vote on any bill, but frequently does not do so. Must vote in a tie.

Decides which member is recognized during floor debates

Works with White House in order to get bills passed

Mediates disputes within his party

Powers and Duties of the Speaker:

Elected by majority party Speaker’s top assistant Helps plan party’s legislative program, steer

important bills through House. makes sure chair person of many committees

finish work on bills that are important to the party.

Gets help from Majority Whip. They serve as assistant floor leaders

Majority leaderEric CantorVA

Majority Whip

Steve Calise, LA

Whip’s job is to watch how their members intend to vote on bills, and to persuade them to vote as the party wishes.

Steny Hoyer, MD Minority Whip

Same responsibilities as Majority Leader but has no power of scheduling work in the House.

Nancy Pelosi, CA was first female

Speaker of the House.

Minority Leader

Nancy Pelosi, CA

After the census, states find out new representation for the next 10 years.

Each state legislature draws boundaries for the congressional district. ◦ Because state politicians are in charge of district lines

formation of congressional district is very political and often contentious.

The process of setting up new district lines after reapportionment has been completed is called redistricting.

Congressional Redistricting

Baker v. Carr -1962

Reynolds v. Sims -1964

Wesberry v. Sanders -1964

Shaw v. Reno -1992

Legislatures have abused redistricting power in 2 ways:

1. Creating congressional districts of very unequal populations

2. Gerrymandering

Redistricting Cases-Reapportionment issues

Court held that federal courts could decide conflicts over drawing district boundaries

Plaintiffs wanted population of each district to be roughly equal to population in all other districts.

Before this case, it was thought the federal courts had no authority under Constitution to decide issues of malapportionment.

Baker v. Carr

Wesberry v. SandersReynolds v. Sims

inequality of representation in House of Representatives violated 14th Amendment equal protection clause.

established one person, one vote doctrine in elections for U.S House of Representatives.◦ doctrine ensures that vote of each

voter has same weight

voting population of each congressional district within a state must be as nearly equal as possible.

◦ Today, each congressional district contains about 650,000 people. Congressional districts must be compact and contiguous or physically adjoining.

Court held that inequality of representation in Alabama state legislature violated equal protection clause of 14th Amendment.

Extended one-person, one-vote doctrine (Wesberry v. Sanders)

Gerrymandering is drawing district boundaries to give one party an electoral advantage.◦ Named for Elbridge Gerry.

“packing” ◦ drawing lines to include as many

as opposing party’s voters as possible

“cracking”◦ Drawing lines to divide

opponents’ voters into other districts

Gerrymandering

Increased ethnic or racial minorities voting power which in turn concentrated Democratic vote.

Question: How to draw districting lines that are fair and at the same time give minorities a voice.

Changes after 1990s census

Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina’s 1992 redistricting map violated equal protection clause of Fourteenth Amendment.

Court said that plan used race as predominant factor in drawing districts. State redrew lines in 1997 but was challenged again. Finally in 2000 & 2001, Court upheld new redistricting plan. Because no

clear guidelines are written for states on this issue, Court has ruled on a case by case basis.

Supreme Court in 2000-1 as seen in N.C case upheld minority-majority district.

Shaw v. Reno -1993

A majority-minority district refers to a United States congressional district composed of racial or ethnic minorities’ constituents.

Advantage: increase minority representation in the House of Representatives

Disadvantage: creating majority-black districts necessarily leaves fewer black voters and therefore diminishes black-voter influence in predominantly white districts (any minority, Hispanic etc…)

Majority-minority districts

North Carolina defended new district by arguing that race was only one factor in creating the district and that party had been the primary concern.

In order to allow minority party (Democrats) in NC some representation in House of Representatives, district had to include majority of African-Americans.

In S.C, this resulted in District #6, which is dominated by Democrats and has a majority of African-Americans. The representative is James Clyburn.

1. Representatives can better serve needs of constituents because there are fewer people to represent.

2. Less likely that entire state’s delegation will be dominated by dominant party of the state.

3. The House is more diverse than Senate because it is easier for minorities to be elected in district than by the whole state.

What are advantages of at-large representation? (Representation by population)

“upper house” intended by Framers to be a moderating influence.

more removed from popular sentiment:◦ term of office is 6 years while House members serve 2

year terms.

originally elected by their state legislature ◦ until 1917 when 17th Amendment was ratified providing for

direct election of U.S Senators.◦ old method was often corrupt involving wealthy individuals

paying state lawmakers for their seats.◦ But gave power to states

The Senate

To win a seat in the Senate is more difficult than a House seat.

more prestigious because each Senator is one of a few -100 total.

Each state has two.

Senate

Qualifications:1.At least 30 yrs old2.At least 9 yrs citizen3.Resident of state represented

All voters of each state elect senators at-large, or statewide.

Senate elections in November-begin term on Jan.3rd. Six year term. Only 1/3 run for re-election every 2 years.

Senator

• If Senator dies or resigns before end of term, state legislature can authorize the governor to appoint a person to fill the vacancy until the next election. • Nikki Haley appointed Tim Scott to replace Sen. Jim

DeMint when DeMint resigned in 2013.• Scott ran in special election in 2014 for last 2 years

of the Senate term

President of the Senate: VP

not a member of Congress.

not a partisan position- Regardless of majority party in the Senate, V.P is always the President of Senate

Cannot debate bills

Cannot vote on any matter unless there is a tie

Most of the time, he is not present for routine Senate business

The Senate

supposed to preside when VP is absent

traditionally the longest serving member of the majority party in the Senate.

largely an honorary position.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah)

President Pro Tempore of Senate

Elected by party members.

Job to steer the party’s bills through Senate, by planning the work schedule and agenda in consultation with Minority Leader.

Makes sure that party members attend important sessions and gets support for key bills.

Majority Leader

Mitch McConnell, KYMajority Leader

Majority Whip

Job to critique the Majority party’s bills and keep his or her own party united.

As in the House, Whips and assistant are very important because they do the detailed work

that support Leaders.

Minority Leader

Harry Reid, NV

Minority Whip, Dick Durbin, Ill

Kinds of Committees

1. Standing Committees

2. Select committees

3. Joint Committees

4. Conference committees

Congressional CommitteesSection 4

permanent group oversees bills that deal with certain kinds of issues.

House and Senate each create own standing committees and control their area of jurisdiction.

Majority in each house controls the standing committee◦ selects chairperson for each among its party members.

Party membership on committees is usually divided in direct proportion of each party’s strength in each house.

House members serve on one regular standing committee each. ◦ Senators serve on 2-3 different committees. ◦ makes Senators knowledgeable on different subjects, while House

members are more limited in their expertise.

Standing Committees

Standing CommitteesSenate:

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Appropriations Armed Services Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Budget Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Energy and Natural Resources Environment and Public Works Finance Foreign Relations Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Judiciary Rules and Administration Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Veterans' Affairs

House:

Agriculture.Appropriations.Armed ServicesBudgetEducation and the WorkforceEnergy and CommerceEthicsFinancial Services..Foreign AffairsHomeland SecurityHouse AdministrationJudiciary.Natural ResourcesOversight and Government ReformRulesScience, Space, and TechnologySmall BusinessTransportation and InfrastructureVeterans' AffairsWays and Means

temporary committees

Usually study one specific issue and report their findings

Usually cannot submit bills

Usually last only a term unless renewed

Select Committees

Made up of members of both House and Senate.

Act as study group that reports back to the House and Senate on topic or bill

Don’t deal directly with bills or proposing laws

Joint Committees

temporary committee that is setup when the House and Senate have passed different versions of a bill

Members are called to resolve differences between two versions of the bill that both houses will then accept and can then send to the president to be signed.

Conference Committee

important in Senate in leadership positions for committee assignments

less important in House.

Seniority Rule was used until 1970’s in both chambers to determine all leadership positions.

Advantages:◦ expert was guaranteed to be selected◦ never party conflicts over leadership

Criticism led to abolishment of the rule:◦ leaders too powerful◦ best leaders were not always chosen◦ undemocratic not to elect them

Seniority

1. Preside over committee meetings.

2. Arrange committee agenda

3. Lead debate on bills handled in their committee when the bill reaches the chamber floor debate.

4. Set up subcommittees and select their Chairs.

5. Decide which subcommittee gets a bill.

6. Schedule public hearings.

7. Pigeonhole bills (set bill aside not to be considered by committee- effectively kills a bill)

Chairs are more limited in power since 1970s when seniority rule was abolished.

◦ A Chair can be ejected from his position by his party’s caucus. ◦ A majority of the committee can consider a bill over Chair’s objections.

Powers and Duties of Chairs

Each lawmaker has his/her own personal staff and each committee has a separate staff controlled by committee chair.

AA’s Administrative Assistants-Arrange schedule, meet with constituents and lobbyist, advise.

LA’s-Legislative Assistants-Research and draft bills, write speeches

Congressional Support Staffs and AgenciesSection 5

CBO-Congressional Budget- nonpartisan analysis for U.S congress. ◦ analyses do not make policy recommendations◦ each report and cost estimate disclose assumptions and method. ◦ Employees appointed on basis of professional competence without regard of

political affiliation.

GAO-Government Accounting Office◦ Helps with financial oversight ◦ may be called on to audit a particular agency

Library of Congress◦ Provides research staff to help L.A.’s obtain information they need

GPO-Government Printing Office◦ Prints Congressional Record daily ◦ Allows lawmakers to go on public record stating positions on bills

even have speeches printed in Record that were not delivered in their entirety.

Agencies that Help Lawmakers:

Political Party Number one influencing factor

Share similar views and as in the House of Representatives members often do not know a lot about issues beyond committee, so they rely on party leadership for guidance.

Constituents◦ important because helped lawmaker get elected. ◦ stronger opinion on social issues than foreign policy.

President-◦ Major influence on foreign policy because of his staff and knowledge and

expertise.

Interest groups◦ important because they have the numbers and most people who are part

of an interest group will most likely go to the polls and vote.

Who influences the lawmaker?