Congress

Article I, Section 8

Expressed (formal) powers are granted to Congress in the direct language of the Constitution:

levy taxes

pay debts

borrow money

regulate interstate commerce

regulate commerce with foreign nations

Article 8, section 8

Expressed (formal) power

pass laws

create appellate courts

raise and support armies

declare war

Necessary and proper clause

The elastic clause authorizes Congress to pass laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers.

Implied (informal) powers are not directly given in the Constitution.

In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has the right to establish a national bank.

The War Powers Resolution (1973) was passed using implied powers.

Sample multiple choice

Which of the following constitutional provisions broadened the power of Congress?

a.The necessary and proper clause

b.The equal protection clause

c.The Tenth Amendment

d.The Ninth Amendment

e.The eminent domain provision in the Fifth Amendment

Checks on other branches

Checks on the president:

Override a veto with a 2/3 vote of both houses

Congress holds the purse strings and must approve the budget.

The Senate confirms judicial and cabinet appointments.

The Senate ratifies treaties.

Impeachment (majority vote in House to hold trial, Senate must convict with 2/3 vote)

Sample FRQ

Members of Congress are charged with three primary duties—writing laws, overseeing the implementation of laws, and serving the needs of their constituents.

(a) Describe the role of each of the following in lawmaking.

Senate filibuster

House Rules Committee

Conference committee

(b) Describe one method by which Congress exercises oversight of the federal bureaucracy.

(c) Explain how casework affects members’ attention to legislation.

War powers resolution of 1973

President must, whenever possible, consult with Congress before deploying troops.

President must notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops.

Troops must be withdrawn within 60 days unless Congress grants an extension.

War powers

Budget impoundment and control act

Creates the Congressional Budget Office.

The president must submit a budget to Congress.

Sets a budget calendar.

The budget is adopted in a concurrent (both houses) resolution, not signed by the president.

The president must spend the money appropriated by Congress.

Limits of congressional power

Presidents have ways of influencing/limiting the power of Congress:

Issue an executive order

Sign an executive agreement

Use the “bully pulpit” to rally public support for a policy

Veto legislation

Claim an electoral mandate

Honeymoon period

Commander-in-chief, ignore War Powers Resolution

Limits on congressional power

Checks on other branches

Checks on the bureaucracy:

The Senate confirms agency heads.

Congress can cut the budget.

Congress can eliminate the agency.

Congress can write clarifying legislation.

Congress can limit the agency’s authority.

Congress can hold oversight hearings in which a member of the bureaucracy is called to testify.

Sample multiple choice

Congressional oversight refers to the power of Congress to

a.override presidential vetoes.

b.hold public hearing before confirming judicial appointees.

c.exercise some control over executive agencies.

d.allow nongovernmental agencies to defend or refute pending legislation publicly.

e.seek judicial opinion on the constitutionality of pending legislation.

Limits of congressional power

The bureaucracy has ways of limiting the influence of Congress:

The bureaucracy writes regulations (administrative law).

Bureaucrats have administrative discretion.

The bureaucracy is large and difficult to manage.

Checks on other branches

Checks on the Courts:

The Senate must approve all federal judges.

Congress can change the courts’ jurisdiction.

Congress can change the number of judges.

Congress can rewrite legislation.

Sample multiple choice

Which of the following is a way Congress can influence the federal judiciary?

a.It can prohibit judicial activism.

b.It can filibuster decisions made by courts.

c.It can change appellate jurisdiction of federal courts.

d.It can review federal judges for reappointment every ten years.

e.It can exercise oversight authority over rulings of individual justices.

Limits of congressional power

The Courts can limit the influence of Congress.

Judicial review is used to overturn an act of Congress (or the states or an executive action that is unconstitutional).

electionsThe House:

Elected every 2 years

Represents congressional districts

The Senate:

Election every 6 years (1/3 is up for election every two years)

2 per state

Selected by state legislatures until the 17th Amendment provided for direct election

gerrymanderingGerrymandering is when congressional district boundaries are drawn to benefit a political party.

Congressional district boundaries are drawn by state legislatures.

Reapportionment is when a state gains or loses seats in the House after the census.

Redistricting is the changing of district boundaries to make them roughly equal in population.

“Cracking” is breaking up a district to weaken a group’s political power.

“Packing” is drawing a district in which one predominant group resides.

Incumbency advantageIncumbents (those already in office) usually win.

House members run in “safe” districts.

Challengers receive less media coverage.

Congressional staff conduct casework in which they provide services to constituents.

Members bring projects to their states through pork barrel spending.

Franking privilege allows members of Congress to send mail to constituents for free.

Incumbents hold “town halls.”

Can claim credit for legislation.

Incumbency advantage

Members of the House are reelected at greater rates than members of the Senate.

Shorter terms, always running for reelection, name recognition

Live in safe districts

Smaller constituency

Easier to make personal contact

Easier to provide casework

Incumbency advantage

bicameralism

Congress is a two-house legislature.

This provides an intra-branch check.

This makes Congress deliberative.

The Senate is the upper house, representing states (the elite).

The House is the lower house directly representing the population.

House of representatives

435 members

More hierarchical and centralized

Seniority more important

Party-line voting more common

Led by the Speaker of the House

House Rules Committee can limit debate

Special powers of the house

Initiate revenue bills (taxes)

Pass Articles of Impeachment

The senate

100 members

The upper house, more prestigious

More influential in foreign affairs

Less specialized

Seniority is less important

Filibuster allows a senator to talk a bill to death (not mentioned in the Constitution)

A motion for cloture (to end a filibuster) requires 60 votes.

Special powers of the senate

Confirm all federal judges

Confirm cabinet level appointments

Ratify treaties

Hold impeachment trial (makes the final decision of whether to convict and remove the president)

Treaty confirmation

Sample multiple choice

Which of the following powers is shared by the House of Representatives and the Senate?

a.Holding trials of impeachment

b.Establishing federal courts

c.Approving treaties

d.Holding confirmation hearings

e.Approving major presidential appointments

Leadership positions

Speaker of the House:

Presides over the House

Makes committee assignments

Selects committee chairs

Assigns bills to committees

Spokesperson for the party (when different from the president’s party)

Provided for in the Constitution

Second in line for presidential secession.

Leadership positions

The real leader of the Senate is the majority leader, not president pro tempore.

Although the Constitution says the vice-president leads the Senate, his only position is to break a tie vote. Therefore, the vice-president is NOT a leadership position in Congress.

The majority leader schedules bills, influences committee assignments and rounds up votes.

The minority leader heads the minority party in the House or Senate.

Whips work with the leaders to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers.

committees

Where most of the work of Congress is done

Party membership on committees reflects party membership in the body as a whole.

Allow members to develop expertise in policy areas.

Members are chosen by the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader.

committees

Committee chairs are usually chosen by seniority: the member from the majority party who has served on the committee the longest usually becomes chair.

Committee chairs set the agenda.

Committee members manage bills when they are sent to the floor and give cues to the members of their party.

A discharge petition is a way of bypassing leadership by a vote of the committee to send a bill to the floor.

Logrolling is trading votes for favors (I’ll vote for your bill if you’ll vote for mine).

Types of committees

Standing—the most common type. Permanent, handle bills in different policy areas. This is where most of the work of Congress occurs. Senate Finance Committee.

Joint—contain members from both the House and the Senate. Joint Budget Committee.

Select—appointed for a specific purpose, like investigating intelligence agencies after 9/11

Conference—iron out differences in language when the House and the Senate pass different versions of a bill.

Standing committee

Important committees

House Rules Committee—reviews bills, schedules bills on the calendar, sets rules for debate, specifies the kind of amendments, assigns bills to committees.

Senate Finance Committee—determines how to pay for government programs.

House Ways and Means Committee—reviews revenue bills.

Appropriations Committee—allocates funds for particular programs.

Sample multiple choice

Which of the following committees plays a major role in the House in shaping tax policy?

a.Finance

b.Ways and Means

c.Commerce

d.Appropriations

e.Governmental Affairs