Congress

AP U.S. Government and Politics

Historical Roots of Congress• Article I of the U.S. Constitution describes the

structure of the legislative branch of government.– The Great Compromise called for a bi-cameral, or two-

house legislature.– Each state has two Senators and its number of

representatives is based on population.– Senators are elected for six-year terms and

representatives are elected for two years at a time.• There are no term limits, meaning they can be reelected

repeatedly.

Election to Congress• Most Congressmen aim for a lengthy career.– About 90% of incumbents win reelection.

Advantages of Incumbents– Incumbents promote their re-election by catering to their

constituency.• Congressmen pay attention to their constituents’ opinions when

choosing positions on legislation.• Pork-barrel spending - they work hard to ensure that their area gets

its share of federal spending projects.• They also use their staffs to perform services for their constituents.• “Franking Privileges” allow Congressmen to send free mailings to

constituent households.

Advantages of incumbency, cont.– Incumbents also have major advantages in raising funds.

• Past campaigns and constituent service enable them to develop mailing lists of potential contributors.

• About 60% of the funds raised by Congressmen come from individual contributors.

• Most PACs are reluctant to oppose an incumbent unless that candidate appears beatable.

• An open-seat election, one without an incumbent often brings out a strong candidate from each party.

– Incumbent members of the House of Representatives also benefit from redistricting.• Since seats are awarded based on a state’s population,

reapportionment, the reallocation of seats after each census, occurs every ten years.

Advantages of incumbency, cont.– Redistricting is done to make election districts as nearly

equal in population as possible.– Since the party in power is responsible for drawing

election boundaries, they will often do so in a way that benefits their candidates – a process called gerrymandering.• Incumbents typically benefit from this.

– The majority of house seats don’t change hands during an election.

When Massachusetts was redistricted in 1812, Governor Elbridge Gerry had the lines of one district redrawn to ensure a candidate of his party would win.

Does Gerrymandering still occur today?

How Incumbents Lose• When incumbents lose, it is usually a result of one of the

following pitfalls.– Disruptive Issues – Voters who are angry about political conditions

are likely to vote against incumbents.• Ex. 2006 – War in Iraq

– Personal Misconduct – involvement in scandals cause incumbents to lose reelection bids.

– Midterm Elections – Less people vote and many who do vote against the president’s party.• As the president’s support declines, so does voter tendency to vote for those

in his party.

– Primary Elections – moderate candidates sometimes find themselves challenged by candidates who represent their party’s extreme wing.

– Senators are vulnerable to strong challengers in general elections.• U.S. Senate lures wealthy challengers.

• Safe incumbency reduces Congress’ responsiveness to changes in public opinion.– Congress usually only changes its policy direction when

party control changes.

Makeup of Congress• Congress is made up mainly of lawyers, business

people, and other white collar occupations.– White males represent the majority of Congressmen.

Parties and Party Leadership• The House and Senate are organized along party lines.– At the start of each term, party members elect party leaders.– Party members also meet periodically in a closed session

called a party caucus.• Political parties are the strongest forces in Congress.– They represent the greatest source of unity among members.– Since the 1980s, the partisan divide has grown.– Today, most Republicans are conservative and most Democrats

are liberal, resulting in each party being unified, banding together against the other.

Party Leadership in CongressHouse Leaders• House of Representatives is presided over by a

Speaker, elected by its members.– The Speaker is a member of the majority party.• John Boehner, R-Ohio – Leaders of the House

• Speaker of the House provides leadership to his/her party.– Formal powers include the right to speak first on the

floor and the power to recognize members (grant them permission to speak on the floor).

• Not everyone can speak on a given bill, so the Speaker can influence legislation by deciding who speaks.

– Speaker chooses chairperson and majority-party members of the House Rules Committee, which controls the scheduling of bills.• The Speaker may delay sending a bill to the floor until there is

enough support for its passage.

– The Speaker also assigns bills to committees, places time limits on the bills, and assigns members to committees.• The speaker is assisted by the House majority leader and the

House majority whip.• The minority leader heads the party’s caucus and plays a

leading role in developing the party’s legislative positions.– Assisted by minority whip.

• whip – Party leader who keeps close contact with all members of his or her party, takes vote counts on key legislation, prepares summaries of bills, and acts as a communications link within a party.

Senate Leaders• In the Senate, the most important position is the

majority leader.– The Senate majority leader chairs the party’s policy

committee and acts as the party’s voice in the chamber.• Assisted by Senate majority whip.

– The minority leader and whip have similar roles to those of their counterparts in the House.

– The Senate majority leader is less powerful than the Speaker of the House.• Since the Senate is smaller, members view themselves as

equals and are less likely to take direction from their leaders.

– The Senate majority leader is not the chamber’s presiding officer.• According to the Constitution, the Vice-President is the

presiding officer, but votes only when there is a tie.• Vice-President only attends when there is a chance of a tie.• In the Vice-President’s absence, the president pro tempore

presides over the Senate.• President pro tempore is an honorary position traditionally

held by the majority party’s most senior member.

• President pro tempore is mostly an honorary position with no real power.

– In many cases, junior members of the majority party rotate in presiding over the Senate, allowing senior members to attend important meetings.• Unlike the House, the Senate has unlimited debate, so any

Senator can speak on a bill if he wishes.• Current leaders of U.S. Senate

Committees and Committee Leadership• Most of the work in Congress is done by standing, or

permanent, committees.– 20 in House, 16 in Senate– Committees have the authority to draft and rewrite

proposed legislation and recommend passage or defeat of bills to the full chamber.

– Most standing committees have subcommittees.• Ex. The Foreign Affairs Committee has an Africa and Global

Health Committee.

– Committees have staffs that perform legislative functions.• Draft legislation, gather information, and organize hearings.

– Congress also has select (joint) committees, which are created for a specific time period and purpose.• Ex. The Joint Committee on the Library, which oversees the Library of

Congress.

– Conference committees are formed temporarily to work out differences between the Senate and House.

– The House Rules Committee creates rules for each bill that is to be debated.• It has great influence over the legislative process in the House.

• Each bill in Congress must be referred to the proper Committee.– Committee jurisdiction is not always clear cut.– Bills that overlap into several committees can result in committees

fighting over which will handle it.• Party leaders can assign a bill to a committee that would handle it in the way

the leader would like, but in many cases they divide parts of it between several committees.

• Each committee has a fixed number of seats with the majority party holding most of them.– There is no fixed rule on number of party members on a

committee.• There must be a vacancy before a new member can be appointed

to a committee.

– Many members of Congress aim for a seat on the most prestigious committees.

• Each committee is headed by a chairperson.– Chairperson is a powerful position that schedules

meetings, determines which bills are considered, directs the committee’s majority staff, and leads debate on the floor.

– Chairs are members of the majority party, usually the person with the most seniority on the committee.• Seniority is not an absolute rule.

• Committees decentralize power in Congress.– Political parties have made efforts to reduce the power

of committees.• Balance between party power and committee power is an

ongoing issue.

How a Bill Becomes a Law– The roles of parties, party leaders, and committees vary

with the nature of legislation under consideration.• A bill is a proposed legislative act.– Many bills are prepared by interest groups, executive

agencies, or other outside parties, but they must be formally submitted by a member of Congress.

– When a bill is introduced in the Senate or House, it receives a bill number and is assigned to the relevant committee.• The committee will then assign it to a subcommittee.

– Less than 10% of bills get to the floor for a vote; the majority are killed.

• Committee decisions can be reversed by the full chamber, but this is rare.

– If a bill appears to have merit, the subcommittee will schedule hearings on it.• If the subcommittee feels the legislation is needed, they will

recommend it to the full committee, which may hold additional hearings on it.

– In the House, both the full committee and subcommittee can “mark up” or revise a bill.• In the senate, mark up is usually reserved for the full

committee.

– If the majority of a committee vote to recommend passage of a bill, it is referred to the full chamber for action.• In the House, the Rules Committee has the power to determine

when the bill will be voted on and how long the debate on it will last.

• The House Rules Committee also decides whether a bill will receive a “closed rule” or “open rule.”– “open rule” can be amended.

• In the Senate, the majority leader, usually in consultation with the minority leader, schedules bills.– All Senate bills are unlimited debate, unless a majority of the Senate

votes for cloture, which limits debate to 30 hours.» It used to be 3/5 vote, but the Senate passed the “nuclear option” in

November, 2013 changing the vote for cloture to a simple majority (51 votes).

• Cloture is a method to defeat a filibuster, which is a tactic used by minority Senators to block a bill by talking until other Senators give in.

– In the House, proposed amendments must relate directly to the bill’s contents.• In the Senate, members can propose any amendment to any

bill, known as a rider.

– A bill that emerges from the committee with support of almost all members is usually passed by an overwhelming majority of the full chamber.• On major bills, the majority party’s leaders have assumed the

lead.

– For a bill to pass, it must have the support of a simple majority of the House or Senate members voting on it.• To become a law, it must be passed in identical form in both

houses.

– If a different version passes in each chamber, it is referred to a conference committee to resolve the differences.• Conference committees are formed temporarily to develop a

compromise version to be voted on.

– If it is passed, it goes to the President.• He can sign the bill into law or veto it.• Congress can override the veto by a 2/3 vote in each chamber.• A pocket veto occurs when the president does not sign a bill

within ten days if Congress has concluded its term.

Functions of Congress• Congress serves several primary functions.Lawmaking• The most basic function of any legislature.– Congress makes laws on a variety of issues, including the

federal budget, health care, military spending, and gun control.• Neither House can enact legislation without approval from the

other.• Members of Congress come from different constituencies and

sometimes represent opposing interests.

Representation• Members of Congress act on the behalf of their

constituents and the nation as a whole.– Congress has the responsibility to represent these

various interests in society.• Some feel that members should act to protect the broad

interests of society, even if they differ from their constituents views – the trustee view.• Others feel that members of Congress should act as trusted

delegates and follow the wishes of those who elected them – The delegate view.– Most members of Congress blend these two styles – sometimes

referred to as the “politico” style.

Constituent Service• Constituents often contact Congressmen when they

are in need of favors.– A member of the Congressman’s staff will help the

constituent.

Oversight• The oversight function is a supervisory activity of

Congress to see that the executive branch carries out laws faithfully.– It is largely carried out by committees in a particular

policy area.

• Oversight offers Congress a check over the executive branch.– The War Powers Act (1973) stated that the president was limited in the

deployment of troops overseas to a 60 day period in peacetime and must notify Congress within 48 hours of doing so.

– Congressional Review allows Congress to nullify agency regulations by a joint resolution of legislative approval.

– The Senate also confirms key members of the executive branch and presidential appointments to the federal courts.

– Congress’ ultimate oversight over the President and federal judges is the power of impeachment.

– One weakness in this system is that the majority party can be lax in oversight if the president is of the same party.• Congressional interest on oversight increases greatly when the

President is a member of the opposite party.

Budgetary Function• Congress enjoys authority over the budget.

– The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 established the budget process we use today.• The act, which created the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), laid out a plan

for Congressional action on the annual budget resolution, appropriations, and other revenue bills.

• These bills and resolutions establish spending levels for the next fiscal year.

– The process of reconciliation was created by the CBA of 1974.• This limits debate time to twenty hours on controversial budgetary issues.

– CBA of 1974 also includes a timetable to make sure action on the budget is taken in a timely fashion.• Initial action on budget resolution must be done by April 15 of the preceding

year and the budget must be approved by October 1 (the first day of the fiscal year for the government).– If this doesn’t occur, the federal government may shut down.

Powers of Congress

Powers of Congress

• There are several powers exclusive to the House.• Introduce all revenue-generating bills.• Impeachment, or charging government officials with a crime, is

exclusive to the House.

• Exclusive powers of the Senate• Only the Senate can confirm presidential appointments.• Senate must (by 2/3 majority) approve any treaty negotiated

by the president.• The Senate holds trial for any official impeached by the House.

– The “Necessary and Proper” or “elastic” clause has allowed Congress to expand its powers into areas not specifically mentioned by the Constitution.

Criticisms of Congress• Congressmen are attuned only to the interests of

their district or state.• Congress is sometimes portrayed as being weak.– Framers created Congress so that the majority could

rule, but only if it is exceptionally strong.• Many feel partisanship is too strong in Congress.– Minority has disproportionate influence.

• “Congress’ strength is also a major source of its weakness.”