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Legislative Politics

POLS 4211/5211 Chap. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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Committees“Congress in session is Congress on public

exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee-rooms is congress at work.” Woodrow Wilson

His words are as true today as when he wrote them more than 100 years ago. A speech on the Senate floor, for example, may convince the average citizen, but it is less likely to influence other senators. Indeed, few of them may even hear it. The real nuts and bolts of lawmaking go on in the congressional committees.

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Little Legislatures• Compared to the term task force, the word

committee sounds dull. Most managers make it a point of honor to dislike meetings.

• Generally, committees meet for a finite period of time, disbanding after the problem or decision has been resolved. Although preparation and follow up are key to committee work, most of the work done by committees occurs in meetings.

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Little Legislatures - 2• Early congresses committee performed

opposite to the current system– Early panels were created after debate on the floor– A small group were appointed to work out the

details of the legislation and put the measure into proper bill format

• Tasks were clear-cut & specific• Panel understood will of the body

– Panels (or committees) were usually temporary

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Little Legislatures - 3• With the rise of govt services & problems

– Congress needed a more efficient system– Found committees excellent method to maintain

expertise and authority on issue areas• Allowed for a check on the power/expertise of the

President– Committee Chairs become much more powerful

• See comment on page 200 (11th edition)– “Speaker John W. McCormack, D-Mass (1962-1971), gave to

freshmen: “Whenever you pass a committee chairman in the House, you bow from the waist. I do.”

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Little Legislatures -4• Reasons for committees? For the same reasons

other large organizations are broken into departments or divisions– To develop and use expertise in specific areas– Allow for the division of members into working

(manageable) areas– To protect human resources (time, staff, etc.)– “to consider, investigate, take action on, or report

on an issue”

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Little Legislatures -5• Committees rarely make the 1st decisions on

legislation. This duty belongs to the many subcommittees that start the process moving with hearings and 1st drafts of legislation

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Little Legislatures - 6• To explain the organization of legislatures and

the behavior of their committees, scholars have advanced the distributional, information, and party hypotheses

• Each of these captures an aspect of the committee system.

• Committees have 2 broad purposes: – Individual: local community and re-election– Institutional: policymaking, legislation, oversight

• Budget – 3 trillion; 10,000 bills per session

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Distributional hypotheses• Legislatures create committees to give

lawmakers policy influence in areas critical to their reelection. – They need to take credit and “bring home the

bacon”– Preference outlier problem

• Members homogeneous preferences for benefits to their constituents put them out of step with the heterogeneous views of the membership as a whole

• Chamber majorities may need to restrain overreaching committees by rejecting or amending their recommended actions

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Informational hypotheses• Basic goal is to formulate policy

– Solve problems• Committees are created to enhance their ability

to become experts, compete with the executive branch on policymaking

• Committees fulfill the need organizational relationships & enhanced communication

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Party hypotheses• Members play more of a party role and tend to

support their party’s policies

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Standing Committees• Table 7-1(check edition). • 20 House committees• 16 Senate committees• In theory, all congressional committees are

created anew in each new Congress– In reality, most continue with little change from

Congress to Congress• May be characterized as

– Authorizing– Appropriating

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Authorizing committees• Main policymaking panels - They pass the

laws that tell government what to do• The House & Senate education and labor

committees, for example, are responsible for setting the rules governing the Pell Grant student loan program, including who can apply

• Authorizing committees make the most basic decision about who get what, when and how

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Authorizing or appropriating• They press for full funding for their

recommendations– Agriculture, Armed Services, Education, Natural

Resources• They are responsible for Oversight functions

– Oversight function is increasing (see below)

• Appropriators tend to recommend lower spending levels– Appropriations

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Appropriations committeeJust one appropriations in each chamber has one

subcommittee for each of the 13 appropriations bills that must be enacted each year to keep government running. Because they decide who gets how much from government, these subcommittees have great power to undo or limit decisions by the authorizing comm. The 13 appropriations bills often contain special projects, or earmarks, for individual members. Members of Congress use earmarks for everything from new highways to university buildings (increases incumbency advantage). Earmarks increased from 1,400 in 1995 to 16,000 in 2005

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Rules & Administration coms• Rules committees (both chambers) determine the

basic operations of their chamber – for example, how many staffers individual members get,

and what the ratio of majority to minority members will be. • Because of the number of members it must control,

the House Rules Com is more powerful than its twin in the Senate.

• House Rules Com has special responsibility for giving each bill a rule, or ticket, to the floor and determines what, if any, amendments to a bill will be permitted

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Revenue & budget coms• Deal with raising the $$$ that appropriating coms

spend while setting the broad targets that shape that federal budget– They commit the actual dollars

• House Ways & Means– Single most powerful com in Congress– Exists to raise revenues through taxes

• It both … raises and authorizes spending

– Only com in either chamber that can originate tax and revenue legislation

• e.g. Responsible for making basic decisions on Social Security and Medicare

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Coms Workload• Coms select from over 10,000 measures those

worth passage• Historically,

– # of bills introduced increases dramatically ____% per year

– This has been true for congress and state legislatures

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Com membership• Speaker selects chairpersonBiennial election - • Majority party determines seat allotment

– Works with minority party unless they have overwhelming majority

• Minority could filibuster com assignment resolution – Resolution – every new session

• Less than law (statute) • May NOT bind future legislatures

– Rules of Order (Robert’s) orderly process» Works unless conflicts arise

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Ultimate Conflict?• Congress, since Johnson’s Senate, has become

more partisan– Dems more left– GOP more right– Increases possibility of successful filibuster

• Increases the power of filibuster Threats

• Some say filibuster– (+) protects minority rights– (-) allows unwarranted concessions

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Filibuster• The entire process rests upon the Senate’s

pride in itself as the world’s foremost chamber of enlightened debate.

• Such debate is not possible in the House where the rules limit the duration of any individual’s right to speak, or in Great Britain’s House of Commons, where Rule 20 permits the Speaker to direct a member “who persists in irrelevance” to “discontinue his speech.”

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Filibuster - 2• The usual strategy is for the group of senators

involved in a filibuster to follow one another in planned succession. As the vocal cords, or imagination of one begins to tire, he yields to a successor. Subject matter need not be relevant – a common phrase in reading the telephone book; a synonym is the talkathon, or marathon talk.

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Filibuster - 3• The word was first used to describe the 16th century

English and French privateers who began by raiding Spanish treasure ships in the waters of the Caribbean, then known as the Spanish Main, and who ended up, more often than not, as pirates.

• The word is derived from the Dutch vrijbuiter (vrij. “free,” and buiter, “booter”) or “freebooter,” a word commonly used to describe pirates. Freebooter was translated into French as filibustier and into Spanish as filibustero, and then back to English as “filibuster.”

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Filibuster - 4• Whatever the origin, the term was already

common in American politics in its present sense by the time of the Civil War. James Blaine claimed its first appearance occurred when a minority of senators succeeded in delaying the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. In recent years it has most commonly been used in connection with civil rights legislation, the modern outgrowth of the slavery issue.

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Filibuster - 5• Until 1957, Southern senators were able to

defeat proposed civil rights legislation by filibustering, and often merely by threatening to filibuster. The countermeasures employed by the majority were round-the-clock sessions, intended to wear the minority down, and cloture (more often used than “closure”) a two-thirds vote to end debate. In this manner the 1957 Civil Rights Bill was finally passed.

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Theodore White • The Making of the President 1964 stated,

“Like aging prize-fighters, short of wind and stiffening of muscle, the Southerners were left with no resource but cunning; and cunning told them to delay, day by day, hour by hour, until somewhere, somehow, there might be a turning of national sentiment. It was the strategy, said someone, of ‘punt and pray.’”

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Filibuster - 6• The all-time champion filibusterer is

– Jimmy Stewart = Mr. Smith Goes to Washington– Strom Thurmond (D-SC) 24 hrs, 18 m – 1957

• His closest challenger was Republican Wayne Morse of Oregon. However, Sen. Morse rejected the role, claiming his most strenuous long-talking efforts made in opposition to the Kennedy Administration’s space satellite communication bill was not filibustering but merely “education.”

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Filibuster - 7• In 1967 Sen. Albert Gore (D-Tenn) attempting

to stop the tax checkoff measure for financing political campaigns, protested a delaying action taken by Louisiana Sen. Russell Long. Long (whose father Huey set a record of 16 hrs in 1935) replied with an expression reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland’s “curiouser and curiouser.” “When the Senator talks about delaying tactics, he is speaking as one filibusterer to another filibusterer.”

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Filibuster - 8• A similar technique in the Japanese Diet is the

“cow-waddle,” used to delay a vote and express minority displeasure. As the vote is called, opposition members individually waddle – with infinite slowness, stopping to chat along the way – to the ballot box on the rostrum.

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Cloture – Rule 22 (1917)• No way to stop filibuster except

– Unanimous consent– Exhaustion – Compromise

• 3/5’s (60) on substantive issues & procedural motions

• 2/3’s (66) on proposals to change the rules– Once invoked

• 30 hrs debate time before final vote

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Cloture - 2• Sometimes used to early (1st day of a measure)

to prevent minority party from thwarting efforts & limit amendments– May help vulnerable senators

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Nuclear Option• Or Constitutional Option

– Majority member raises a “Point of Order” that debate on judge nomination is dilatory & out of order

– Chairperson sustains point of order• No need for cloture

– Minority member may appeal (ruling of Chair)• Majority member moves to table appeal (non-debatable

& subject to simple majority vote approval)

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Increase Use of Filibuster• Was used mostly on Major measures• 1960s apx 10% • 1970-80s apx 30%• 1990s apx 50%hold - An informal practice by which a Senator

informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration. The Majority Leader need not follow the Senator's wishes, but is on notice that the opposing Senator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure.

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SubcommitteesWhere the real “detail” work is completed• 112th Congress • Standing coms allowed no more than 5 subs

– May have another if it relates to oversight– Other Exceptions:

• Appropriations (12)• Armed Services (7)• Foreign Affairs (7)• Oversight and Govt Reform (7)• Transportation & Infrastructure (6)

– Reasons for more than 6 (next slide)

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Subcom exceptions– Reasons for more than 5 subcommittees

• Extra committee for oversight purposes• Custom: we’ve always had 7 committees

– Majority party doesn’t want to break with tradition

• Co-opt or added policy (additional jurisdiction)• Accommodation of an influential lawmaker

– Maybe a Pivotal Voter Theory example

• Bicameral considerations– Armed Services has similar subcommittess dealing with foreign

intelligence

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Membership limitsLimitation relates to the ideal of making the body

“more deliberative, participatory and manageable by reducing scheduling conflicts and jurisdictional overlap.”

110th House – no member may serve on more than 4 subcommittees

Gingrich House – followed the ideal of letting ‘Full’ Com chairs decide the subcom chairs and subcom assignments (unless a majority of the GOP full com members reject

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Membership limits - 2Pelosi’s House – (based more on seniority) party

determines subcom structure and jurisdiction then,– Democrats, in order of their seniority on the full

committee (or seniority on the Appropriations subcommittee) with the most senior Democrat choosing first, bid for a subcommittee chairmanship (or assignment) which is then subject to approval by secret ballot of the Dem com members

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Membership limits - 3– Parties have tried to limit defections from the party

policy positions and encourage party loyalty – Pelsoi (after 16 Dems voted with the GOP in Nov

2003) was able to create a new Dem rule that allows the party leaders to maintain more control

• Once the exclusive coms select their subcommittee chairs, they are then subject to approval by the Steering and Policy Com as well as the Dem Caucus

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Membership Limits - 4• Dem Exclusive committees

– Appropriations– Energy & Commerce– Financial Services– Rules– Ways and means

• Note: waivers are granted to members to sit on an extra major committee when it is important to their reelection prospects (Another example of the two Congresses, the institution bending to suit the preferences and needs of individual members)

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Senate member limits• Limits the number of committees that Senators

may serve … not com number– They may chair on only one subcom of any one

committee • Often the # of subcoms equal the # of majority senators

on the full committee– Assignments determined in one of two ways:

• By the full chair in consultation with the ranking member or,

• By senators’ order of seniority on the full committee

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Senate member limits - 2• Four Senate standing coms function without

subcommittees– Budget – Rules and Administration– Small Business– Veterans’ Affairs– And four panels

• Indian Affairs, Ethics, Intelligence, Aging– They have less workloads and do not need subcoms

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Select or Special coms• Temporary and either are terminated or more

often are not re-created after the sessions ends– Few continue such as the Permanent Select

Intelligence Committee• Usually do not have power to authorize

measures or receive measures– Generally, act as a research panel (study,

investigate and make recommendations)• May offer reports to a Standing com or several pre-

selected chairs

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Select Coms – 2 (reasons for creation)• Reasons for creation:

1. May accommodate the concerns of some members• Authors give example of Truman’s com of Special Sen.

Com on WWII procurement practices which put him in the public’s eye and FDRs

2. May accommodate the access needs of PIGs• Provide for special hearings and open sessions

3. Supplement Stand. Coms resources (time to study/investigate specific problems

• 110th’s Select Committee on Global Warming4. Coordinate consideration of policies that overlap

jurisdiction of several coms

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Joint Coms• House/Senate Coms to investigate, provide

oversight, study issues or routine matters – Generally, Speaker appoints House members and

presiding officer appoints Senate members– Chairmanship rotates each Session– 110th congress = Four Joint Committees

1. Economic (wide range of economic policies)2. Library (oversees Library of Congress)3. Printing

– Government Printing Office (note little change even though technology has decreased the need for this office)

4. Taxation– Includes tax specialist for each chamber

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Conference (3rd House of Congress)• Legislation must be in identical form!

– Reconcile differences…they re-write bills– Bargaining classified in 4 ways:

• Traditional (most common method)– Meet face-to-face and work out agreement in ‘traditional’ fashion

• Offer-counteroffer– Majority/minority offers compromise and other party members retreat

to an area to discuss and later accept or counteroffer (often tax writing coms use this technique)

• Subconference – Large complex bills = need to break into smaller units to work out

details of specific area of bill (e.g. omnibus bills)• Pro forma (informally by preconference)

– Issues are resolved informally by preconference negotiations between conference members and later formally ratified by com

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House & Senate com comparisons• See Table 7-2 (check edition)

– Floor debate (easy one here)– Committee consideration of legislation (more

difficult to by committee than in the Senate)– Committee chairs have freer rein to manage

committees than in the House where the chairs are subject to the speaker’s influence and party influence

– Committee staff are more aggressive in shaping the legislative agenda

– Easier for a majority Senator to become com chair whereas it is based more on seniority in House

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Pecking Order• As previously stated, most desirable coms

– House Ways & Means, Appropriations, Commerce– Senate Finance, Senate Appropriations, then

Commerce• Senate Foreign Relations Com at times is quite desirable

– During times of military conflict these members become popular talk show guests and Rotary guests

– Many Senators on this com considered for President but some fail to be well received at home (the statesman factor)

– Least desirable• House Standards of Official conduct & Sen. Ethics

– Reluctant to sit in judgment of their colleagues

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Committee Preferences• Richard f. Fenno Jr. found 3 basic goals

– Reelection– Influence (within the House)– Good Public Policy

• Not necessarily in that order• Other scholars found similar “preferences”

• How to get the com appointment you want?– Re. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash (1993-2005)

• Wrote “how-to booklet on securing committee assignments

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Dunn’s How-to Ideas• 3 part strategy (Networking strategy)

– Personal• Face to face meetings

– Political • Let the leaders know your own political needs• Hope the party needs you!

– Geographical • Ask for assistance of party members within state

• Not mentioned by Dunn – Meet and make request before and during

campaign!

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Unwelcome assignments• Full committees may:

– Shirley Chisholm’s (1969-1983) assignment to the Agriculture comm while representing urban Brooklyn

– Generally, must wait your turn to move onto another com

• Takes more time to build seniority on com and thus POWER

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Assignments – 3 steps

Step 1 = Review panels– House

• Steering Committee (Democrats & Republicans) – Senate

• Steering & Outreach Com for Democrats• Committee on Committees for Republicans

• Step 2 = Party caucus approval • Step 3 = Pro forma election by full body

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Assignments - notes• Formal Rules about assignments exist but the

House speaker and party caucus create exceptions

• Pelosi– Emulates Hastert’s interview process for ‘some’

top committee leaders– Follows seniority more than predecessors

• Many of the com chairs or … old guard (John Dingell, Energy and Commerce; Charley Rangel, Waysmeans)

– 2/3 of Dems have been elected since 1994

– Followed Gingrich’s 6 yr com term limit rule

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Public Policy-making• 3 principal stages of committee policymaking

– Hearings– Markup– Report

• The public has multiple areas and multiple times for input into public policy-making

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Multiple cracks• The public has multiple areas for input into

public policymaking• Pluralism (Dahl’s a Jeffersonian: in How Democratic is

the American Constitution?)

– Direct contact• Letters, town-hall meetings• Elections!

– Campaigns

• Hearings, public information meetings (DOT)– Party participation– PIG participation

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Policy beings ___?• Public policies are ubiquitous

– Ideas come from … everywhere … all the time• Only a congress member may introduce

legislation!• When an idea reaches a congress member

– Think Jimmy Stewart and the Boys Camp• Some bills are not expected to pass

– Only introduced on behalf of an influential citizen

– Initial referral• Generally referred to SINGLE com by Speaker or

Presiding officer • Multiple referral are the exception

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Policy process - 2• Initial referral

– Full committee receives bill according to issue topic area

• Generally sends to subcommittee but may review issue– Subcommittee holds hearings

» Generally open to the public» Often to increase drama may invite certain groups» Usually, “when Washington speaks, the world snoozes”

• Joint hearings may be held– Field hearings– Joint hearings with Senate and House com members

• Pelosi = the 1st to push for considerable use of technology to provide more “transparency” to hearings

– WebCasts, interactive teleconferencing, e-hearings

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Markups• The process by which congressional

committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.– “marked up or amended”

• Attempt at final product that will be acceptable (comprised) to various factions & the president

– Many get together informally to draft compromises in private

– Once finished, the subcommittee sends it recommendations to the full committee

– Full committee may conduct additional hearings and markups, (next slide)

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Markups – Full Coms• Full committees may:

– Ratify the subcom version without change– Conduct additional hearings– Continue markups– Take no action or – Return the matter back to the subcom for further

review• And go through the process again

• Final Result:– Report:

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Report• A REPORT describes the purpose and

provisions of a bill– A report explains and persuades– Includes staff research and may explain complex

arguments in laymen’s terms– (Senate Reports next slide)

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Report• Senate committees usually publish a

committee report to accompany the legislation they have voted out. These reports are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are filed in the Senate. Committee reports discuss and explain the purpose of measures and contain other, related information. The term may also refer to the action taken by a committee ("report the legislation") to submit its recommendations to the Senate.

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Successful Policy• Why do some issues attain decision agenda

status but not others?– The question every MAD group/individual asks– Beyond the scope of this course

• Take 6601– Hint: “Look at Policy Windows”

• National mood• Crises • A joining of several factors of policy adoption at the

same historical instance– League of Nations…not until WWII

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Staff• Totally up to the member as to appointments• Staff provide the “spadework” of legislative

review– They offer advice, Write legislation, Offer

compromises, Work with other staffers, & are more important to the process than most believe

– YOUNG (ambitious, idealistic)• House tenure

– Staff 60% = 2 or fewer years of service

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Staff Tenure• Young

– House Tenure• Staff aides = 60% = 2 or fewer years of service• CoStaff = 39%• Legislative directors = 64%• Press secretaries = 66%

– Senate Tenure• Staff aides = 5.3 years average

• Revolving door– Many staff move on to other better paying

positions, e.g. lobbyist

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Committee Reform• Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946

– Last major change to legislative policy system– More recently, 4 initiatives

• Creation of homeland security panel in each chamber• Reorganized appropriating subcoms (twice)• Creation of select intelligence panel within House

Appropriations Com• Renamed five House coms (words matter)

– Education & Workforce to Education & Labor; added new ethics responsibilities to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; reduced/deleted the DC subcom

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Committee Reform - 2• Reform is not in Congress’s glossary• Reforms almost always fail or produce only

marginal adjustments in committees• Example = 9/11 Commissions recommends

– Centralize review process• Reduce turf conflicts

– “centralize committee intelligence structure” to include authorizing and appropriating powers (& transparent)

– Increase transparency = publish budget

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Result = Committee Reform - 3– Dems campaigned vowing to implement

Commissions recommendations– Result:

• (S. Res. 445) Senate failed to enact suggestions except for additional subcom jurisdictions

• (H. Res. 35) House created new subcom within Appropriations

– $$$ still hidden and issue area is split among several coms

• Dems state…we instituted change

• Vested “Positions Interest– Member do not want … will not give up power

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Committee Conclusions• They shape the agendas• They differ in their policymaking environments

– Mix of members, staff, goals, PIGs, etc• They develop an esprit de corps that flows across party

lines• They operate independently of one another• They contribute to policy fragmentation except for a few

such as Rules which act as policy coordinators• Com autonomy is increasingly under pressure from

assertive party leaders who strive to move the body toward the party’s agenda

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Terms• Standing committee

– A permanent committee established in a legislature, usually focusing on a policy area

• Special or select committee– A congressional committee created for a specific purpose, sometimes to conduct

investigations• Joint committee

– A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of congress and conduct investigations

• Conference committee– Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chambers to adjust

differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form• Earmarks

– Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents

• Cloakroom– Cloakrooms adjacent to the chamber serve as gathering places for party members to

discuss chamber business privately.

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Rules & Procedures – chap-8• The authors start this discussion with the idea

that rules are important to maintain “fair play”– It was stated, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all

the lawyers.”• Dick, the butcher, wants to get rid of those who may first

stand in the way of revolution…so they create their society where ‘there shall be no money…will be appareled all in one livery, “that they may agree like brothers…’

• How a Bill Becomes Law

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The Need for Laws?• Legislation: Why do we need it?

– Public or private problem• Some private concerns have public impact

– Bill of specific nature such as civil damage claim» Randy Weaver’s $2.1 million

– When will there be no more need for “new” laws?• Aprox. 10,000 measure per session (state & National)

– National level = 4% become law (more lengthy Omnibus Bills)– This does not include administrative rules

» Federal Register

– “Just like when citizens think Congress is not working by being ‘off the floor’ they think they do nothing if they don’t pass legislation”

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Bill Introduction

Drafting – Timing – Sponsoring - Hopper(ing)– The Dance of Legislation by Eric Redmond

“My parents met and fell in love as lower-echelon New Dealers in Washington, D.C., and when they moved to Seattle ten years later, they brought with them a persistent faith in the Democratic Party. I must have disappointed them at first: in 1952, at age four, I became an Eisenhower “man,” making life miserable for everyone, especially with my gleeful postelection taunts. By 1956, however, I had realized my mistake, and even tried to redeem myself somewhat by starting a few fistfights for Stevenson on the playground at John Muir Elementary School. I began to collect campaign buttons, pinning them to cloths tacked to my bookshelf, and to make my partisan loyalties clear, I hung the Democratic buttons two shelves above the Republican ones.

I arranged the campaign buttons hierarchically, with Presidential ones at the top of each cloth and with sheriff’s gold-star badges along the bottom margin. Directly beneath my ADAI AND ESTES button on the Democratic cloth, therefore, I affixed the various campaign pins of Senator Warren G. Magnuson, Washington’s senior Senator. Even before I was born, Magnuson had become the most powerful Democratic politician in the state. When he ran for a third term in 1956 and a fourth in 1962, I proudly lent my I’M STRONG FOR MAGNUSON buttons to my parents whenever they went out for the evening, but by the time he ran again in 1968, I was twenty years old and eager to contribute more substantially to his campaign. The Senator’s campaign manager and Administrative Assistant, Jerry Grinstein, listened patiently to my request and finally hired me as a speech writer. In June 1968, I went to work.”

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Bill Introduction• Drafting

– Words matter– WORDS THAT WORK: IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S WHAT PEOPLE HEAR by

Frank Luntz

– Examples: » USA-PARIOT Act = “Uniting and Strengthening America

by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism

» Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act (famous names!)» Paris Hilton Benefit Act vs. the Death Tax» War Powers Resolution (1973- restrains President’s

power)

– Whoever controls the language controls the debate– Anyone can draft legislation…only members may

introduce it!

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Bill Introduction• Timing

– “Everything in politics is timing” Thomas P. “Tip” O”Neill Jr., D-Mass

– Some issues may succeed if introduced early while others, e.g. controversial issues and riders may fare better if introduced during the last hectic days

– Mood of the country an affect legislative agendas• Elections = mandates, momentum and madness• Crises = legislation passed too quickly

– Who voted against war– Barbara Lee (Iraq Res); (only person to vote against WWI&II)

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Bill Introduction• Sponsoring

– Legislation “an aggregate, not a simple production”– Bandwagon effect (more co-sponsors sign on so to

“Claim Credit”– Logrolling (pg 298) … compromising– Ideas come from many places

• Experts, academics & lobbyist– Desire to refer bills to ‘positive’ committee

• Parliamentarian advises on this procedure– Bills not acted on die at the end of each Session

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Bill Introduction• Hopper (ing)

– A mahogany box near the Speaker’s podium where members place their proposed bills

– Clerks take the bills and the leadership assigns them to committees

• Legislative aids can ‘dress-up’ the grammar during subcommittee review if necessary to make sure the finished product meets the need for correct legalese

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Types of legislation

1 - Bill2 - Joint Resolution3 - Concurrent Resolution4 - Resolution

– See Box 8-1 page 242 (11th edition)

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1 – Bill (the most prevalent)

The principal vehicle employed by lawmakers for introducing their proposals (enacting or repealing laws, for example). Bills are designated (Senate = S. 1, S. 2) H. 1, H. 2, and so on depending on the order in which they are introduced.

They address either matters of general interest ("public bills") or narrow interest ("private bills"), such as immigration cases and individual claims against the Federal government.

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2 - Joint Resolution (usually of limited matter)

• A legislative measure, designated “H/S. J. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, which requires the approval of both chambers and, with one exception, is submitted (just as a bill) to the President for possible signature into law. The one exception is that joint resolutions (and not bills) are used to propose constitutional amendments. These resolutions require a two-thirds affirmative vote in each house but are not submitted to the President; they become effective when ratified by three-quarters of the States.

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3 – Concurrent ResolutionA legislative measure, designated “H/S. Con. Res." and

numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President and thus do not have the force of law. – May be used to set the time for adjournment

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4 - Resolution1 – Designated H/S. Res. Deals with matter

entirely within the prerogatives of one chamber- Requires neither passage by the other chamber

nor approval by the President and does not have the force of law

- Most resolutions deal with the rules of one house. They also are used to express the sentiments of a single house, to extend condolences to the family of a deceased member, or to give advice on foreign policy or other executive business

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Referral• See Box 8-2

– Rules & Referral Strategy• Old customs die hard or never die at all

• Once committees complete action on a bill (which is a critical stage for a piece of legislation) the chambers’ rules require a majority of the full committee to be physically present to report out the measure. – If overlooked and not waived, a member may bring

a “point of order” which will halt the process

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Scheduling - Calendars• Union Calendar

– Bill that raise or spend $$$• House Calendar

– Most major “public” measures• Private Calendar

– Bills of a ‘private’ nature such as civil claims• The power to set the House’s agenda

constitutes the essence of the Speaker’s institutional authority.

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Shortcuts for Minor Bills• Most bills are relatively minor and are taken up

and passed through various shortcut procedures– Designate special days– Suspend the rules

• Robert’s suggestion for most committees/legislatures• Monday, Tuesday, Wed. is generally used for

suspension of the rules– It is up to the Speaker and whom the Speaker first notices– About 75% of all legislation is approved in this manner

– Most legislation is not controversial and passes with ease!

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Conference Markup Procedure• Legislation MUST be in identical form• 3 methods to resolve differences:

1) One chamber may SIMPLY accept the other body’s bill

2) Chamber’s may play ‘Amendment Ping-pong”• Send various amendments back and forth - Until each

chamber is satisfied with the final product

3) Conference Committee appointed

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Terms• Adjourn for more than 3 days  

– Under the Constitution, neither chamber may adjourn for more than three days without the approval of the other. Such approval is obtained in a concurrent resolution approved by both chambers.

• “Christmas tree" bill– Informal nomenclature for a bill on the floor that attracts many, often unrelated,

floor amendments. The amendments which adorn the bill may provide special benefits to various groups or interests.

• engrossed bill – The official copy of a bill or joint resolution passed and certified by the Clerk of

the House or Secretary of the Senate.• Layover

– Informal term for a period of delay required by rule. For example, when a bill or other measure is reported from committee, it may be considered on the floor only after it "lies over" for one legislative day and after the written report has been available for two calendar days. Layover periods may be waived by unanimous consent.

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Terms• “Must pass" bill 

– A vitally important measure that Congress must enact, such as annual money bills to fund operations of the government. Because of their must-pass quality, these measures often attract "riders" (unrelated policy provisos).

• Presiding officer – A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with

maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.

• Pro forma session – A brief meeting (sometimes only several seconds) in which no business is

conducted. It is held usually to satisfy the constitutional obligation that neither chamber can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other.

• Riddick's Senate Procedure – Named after Senate Parliamentarian Emeritus Floyd M. Riddick, this Senate

document contains the contemporary precedents and practices of the Senate. It is updated periodically by the Senate Parliamentarian.

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Deliberation In Congress (9)• Quid-pro-quo

– Leadership may use ‘Carrot-and-stick’ approaches– Use of earmarks and leadership roles to garner

votes– Absenteeism:

• Stack votes during the middle of the wee• Pairing = member may not be able to vote in person and

they can announce their views in floor statements, press releases or via pairing with someone on the opposite side of an issue (voluntary arrangement that allows members to go on record without voting or affecting the final tabulation

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Bargaining• Implicit bargaining

– Legislative action designed to elicit reactions• No previous negotiation may have taken place• May accept objectionable amendment with the belief

that it will not make it out of the other house• “Exchanging cues” - Accept judgments of senior/leader

members– Expect to be leaders themselves one day

• Explicit Bargaining– Quantitative measures more easily compromised

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Bargaining- 2• Logrolling:

– Bargaining in which the parties trade off support so that each may gain its goal.

– Legislators are expected to support passage of the final package

– Hostile fiscal environment, logrolling is often aimed at equalizing sacrifices instead of distributing rewards

• Christmas Tree Bill– Informal nomenclature for a bill on the Senate floor that attracts many,

often unrelated, floor amendments. The amendments which adorn the bill may provide special benefits to various groups or interests.

• Something for everyone!

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Votes Mean What?• “I voted for…it before I voted against it.”• Votes do not necessarily member’s views

– May vote for a “modest” bill in fearing that a more extreme version may pass

– Procedural vs. substantive votes• May vote ‘for’ authorizing a program and vote ‘against’

funding it• Strategic Waiting = wait until a measure fails and then

vote for it or when it doesn’t matter (vote with the party or make sure to vote with constituents unless it matters)

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Determinants of Voting - 1• Party ID & Voting Patterns (Figure 9-1)• Party affiliation is the strongest single correlate

of members’ voting decisions, and in recent years it has reached surprisingly high levels

• Aprox. 50%-70% of floor votes = party unity votes & is trending UPWARD since 1970– 109th Congress Party Unity votes

• House = 52%• Senate = 60%

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Determinants – 1, cont• Unified & Divided Party Control of Govt

– From 1901-1955• Divided Govt - Only 3 times

– 1911-1913 House was Democrat (WW elected 1913 and Dems control govt until 1919)

– 1919-1921 Dems controlled Senate– 1931-1933 Dems controlled House– 1947-1949 Dems controlled President (Truman)

– 1955-2008• Un-Divided Govt – Only 9 times

– 1961-1963; 1963-1965; 1965-1967; 1967-1969– 1977-1979; 1979-1981– 1993-1995– 2001-2003; 2005-2007

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Determinants of Voting - 2• Ideology & Voting• Public (along a left-right continuum) follows a

normal bell-shaped curve as many cluster around the middle

• Incredible shrinking middle (see figure 9-3)– Prior to 1968

• Ideological distribution of House = strong moderate• Same look 1998 = very few moderates…House

polarized along party lines

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Determinants of Voting - 3• Constituency and Voting• Constituencies control officials choices by

1) Constituencies usually vote for people “like” them (whose views match their own)

2) Officials vote or play the delegate role because they want to be re-elected

– Attentive Public– Inattentive Public

• “The Oprah Effect: How Soft news helps inattentive citizens vote consistently” Matthew Baum and Angela Jamison

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Determinants of Voting - 4• Presidents - (Patterns)

1) Modern Pres. See their position prevail in 2/3 or more of congressional votes 1) Routine nature of their initiatives

2) Pres. Does better with their own party• Party ratio is the single most important determinant of

success

3) Partisan swings affect Pres. success ratesWhen “divided govt” pres. Success rates

4) Pres. Tend to lose cong. support over time5) Pres. Take fewer clear-cut stands over time

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Terms• Logrolling

– Bargaining in which the parties trade off support so that each may gain its goal.• Pairing

– The voluntary arrangement that allows members to go on record without voting or affecting the final tabulation. When members cannot vote in person, it allows them to still be recorded on an issue.

• Poison Pills – “Killer Amendments” intended to make a bill so unpalatable that it will fail.

• “Christmas tree" bill– Informal nomenclature for a bill on the Senate floor that attracts many, often

unrelated, floor amendments. The amendments which adorn the bill may provide special benefits to various groups or interests.

• Amendment in the nature of a substitute– An amendment that would strike out the entire text of a bill or other measure and

insert a different full text• session - The period during which Congress assembles and carries on its regular

business. Each Congress generally has two regular sessions (a first session and a second session), based on the constitutional mandate that Congress assemble at least once each year.  

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Congress & the President - 10Framers designed a limited presidency exp. compared to today Traditional Presidency: (1891-1930s) - Exceptions

- Washington expanded foreign policy area- Jefferson entered into the LA purchase- Andrew Jackson developed the role of president as the popular leader- Lincoln, most dramatic, expanded several areas…called up state

militias, enlarged the army, used tax $ to pay for it, blockaded southern ports…though counter to the constitution, he claimed it was necessary to save the union.

- Inherent power: presidential powers implied but not explicitly stated in the Constitution = “take care that the laws be faithfully executed”

Modern Presidency

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Modern Presidency to Imperial Presidency?United States v. Curtiss-Wright Corporation (1936):

– The president has more inherent power in the realm of foreign affairs than in domestic politics

Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer (1952)– Ruled steel mills seizure unconstitutional

Power to persuade: president’s ability to convince Congress, other political actors, and the public to cooperate with the administrations’ agenda

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Formal Power• State of the Union Address:

– “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient”

– May convene Congress and when there is a dispute about when to disband, to adjourn it as well

– Now speech given annually to a joint session and the nation announcing the president’s agenda

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Modern Presidency• Started with Teddy and FDR carried it out

– Bully Pulpit– The use of the media as a mans of “going public”

• A president’s strategy of appealing to the public on an issue expecting that public pressure will be brought to bear on other political actors

• Cycle– The predictable rise and fall of a president’s

popularity at different stages of a term in office• Honeymoon period: generally the time following an

election when Pres popularity is high & congressional relations are likely to be productive

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Congress & the President• Veto Power

– W. Wilson…veto is a 3rd branch of congress– When Bill receives bill from Congress (he has 10

days excluding Sundays to:1) Sign the bill. Most are signed and sometimes

Pres. Issue signing statements that express their interpretation of a new law’s provisions

2) Return the bill with her veto message to the origination house of Congress

3) Next slide

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Veto Power - 2

3) She can take no action, and the bill will become law without her signature. This option, seldom employed, is reserved for bills the pres. Dislikes but not enough to veto (see box 1-10)4) She can pocket veto the bill. Under the Constitution, if a congressional adjournment prevents the return of a bill, the bill cannot become law without the pres. signature

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Veto Power - 3• Article 1, Section 7 – “If any Bill shall not be

returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless Congress by the Adjournment prevents its Return, in which case it shall not be a Law.”

• At issue is when a congressional adjournment prevents the return of the president’s veto.

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Pocket Veto explained• Kennedy v. Sampson (1974)

– Established the principle that pocket vetoes are not to be used during a congressional session but only after Congress’ final adjournment at the end of its second session

– Ford & Carter followed the courts interpretation– Reagan twice used intersession (between the first and second

sessions)– Clinton used intrasession (in the middle of a session)

• Clinton returned the pocket vetoes to Congress, which tried unsuccessfully to override them.

• Thus it appears that neither an intra- nor an inter-session pocket veto prevents its return to Congress. Until the Supreme Court makes definitive ruling involving the use of the pocket veto both and between legislative sessions, it is likely that legislative-executive conflicts over the pocket veto will occur periodically. ….scope of this veto has been left to political understandings developed by the branches

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Veto Overriden• Most vetoes

– FDR – 635 total 9 overridden 97.6% success rate– Truman 250 12 93.3%– Ike 181 2 97.3%– JFK 21 0 100%– LBJ 30 0 100%– Nix 43 7 73.1%– Ford 66 12 75.0%– Carter 31 2 84.6%– Rea 78 9 76.9%– Bush 46 1 96.6%– Clin 36 2 94.4%– WB 0 0

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Terms• Pocket veto  

– The Constitution grants the President 10 days to review a measure passed by the Congress. If the President has not signed the bill after 10 days, it becomes law without his signature. However, if Congress adjourns during the 10-day period, the bill does not become law.

• Rescission – The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The

Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.  

– . • Executive Calendar  

– A list of executive business (i.e., treaties and nominations) available for Senate floor consideration.

• Session  – The period during which Congress assembles and carries on its regular business.

Each Congress generally has two regular sessions (a first session and a second session), based on the constitutional mandate that Congress assemble at least once each year.  

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Terms• Proxy voting - 

– The practice of allowing a Senator to cast a vote in committee for an absent Senator. Senate Rule XXVI provides that proxies may not be voted when the absent Senator has not been informed of the matter on which he is being recorded and has not requested that he be so recorded.

• Recess  – A temporary interruption of the Senate's (or a committee's) business. Generally,

the Senate recesses (rather than adjourns) at the end of each calendar day.   • Executive communication  

– A message sent to the Senate by the President or other executive branch official. Presidential veto messages are an example of an "executive communication."

• Calendar of Business  – A Senate publication sent to each lawmaker's office (and other offices) every day

the Senate is in session. It contains information on, for instance, measures reported from the various standing committees, bills in conference, and the status of appropriation bills.   

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Congress & Bureaucracy - 11• Size of Government

– “The era of big government is over.”• “Everybody wants the federal government to look smaller than it really

is.” Paul C. Light

• How do we measure Government Size (Does Size Matter?)1) Total Employee # (include 3rd sector?)

1) 3 million2) “true size” = 17 million (4.1 million civilian, military, postal workers &

12.7 million “shadow” workers)2) Total budget

- over 3 trillion or maybe on % of debt?3) Total expenditures as a percent of GDP

- 21.8% of GDP 1990; 18.4% 2000; 19.8% 2004

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Compensation• Revolving door

– Officials & staffers who “pass through the revolving door” to jobs with private firms that deal with the government

– Now “High” govt. officials must go through “cooling off” period of two years

• 27th Amendment– “No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators

and Representatives shall take effect, until and election of Representatives shall have intervened.

• State:– Probably the most powerful tool a Governor/executive has over the

bureaucracy is the power of the budget!

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Congressional Vetoes• Legislative Veto:

– Statutory enactment that permits presidents or bureaucracy “to act” subject to later approval or disapproval by one/both houses of Congress (or to some cases by committees of one/both houses)

– Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)

• Supreme Court – veto is unconstitutional = violated the separation of powers, the principle of bicameralism, and the Presentation Clause of the Constitution – “legislation passed by both chambers must be presented to the president for his signature or veto”

• Leg. Vetoes continue – discuss intent• Self-interest = they watch, pay attention to committees (iron triangle)?

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Inspectors General• IGs – offer independent analysis to Congress

and the public on how agencies, agency heads are performing

• Created for most agencies in 1978– Added to Justice , FBI, etc. in 2004– Employ about 11,500 auditors, investigators, inspectors

• One of the areas for new MPAs