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

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Differences between the House and the Senate

- filibusters/riders permitted

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The First “Gerrymander”

13-2

Reapportionment of House Seats following the 1990 Census

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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

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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.

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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.