The Legislative Branch:

It creates laws

Perceptions of Congress

• Americans generally approve of the actions of their congressman, but have a very low opinion of Congress as a whole. Congress’s approval rating is usually 30% to 40%.

• Congress is also seen as slow, undisciplined, and unable to deal w/ America’s real problems

• Despite this, many incumbents run “against Congress” and win election b/c they emphasize the favors they perform for their constituents.

• The framers considered congress to be the most important branch of government.

• The 535 men and women of congress are supposed to react to and mirror the American people’s needs, hopes, and desires.

Chapter 14

• The Organization of Congress

Legislative Branch: Inception

• The Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan

• The “Great Compromise”

• Bicameral legislature: the House of Representatives and the Senate

• House representation based on population

• Senate—each state allowed two votes

• Length of terms for representatives, senators

Roger Sherman

James Madison

The first Congress met in New York

City in 1789

The First Congress

The House of Representatives

• Seats are distributed based on population

• Reapportionment takes place every ten years

• 435 members – number will not increase

• GerrymanderingThe district created by members of

Governor Elbridge Gerry’s party closely resembled a salamander—hence the term

“gerrymander”

Qualifications for House Membership

• Must be at least 25 years old

• Must live in the state he or she represents

• Must have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years

The hall of the House of Representatives

House Officers

• Speaker of the House

• Majority Floor Leader

• Majority Whip • Minority Floor

Leader • Minority Whip

President Carter meets with House Speaker Tip O’Neill, 1978

The Senate

• A “continuous body”

• One-third of the Senate comes up for reelection every two years

• Senators can run for reelection as often as they desire

The Senate: Facts

The Senate in 1939

• Must be at least 30 years old

• Must live in the state he or she represents

• Must have been a U.S. citizen for at least nine years

Qualifications for Senate Membership

The chamber of the U.S. Senate

Senate Officers

• President of the Senate

• President Pro Tempore

• Majority Floor Leader • Majority Whip • Minority Floor Leader • Minority Whip

James Hamilton Lewis became the first Senate Party Whip in

1913

Chapter 15

•Powers given to Congress

The Expressed Powers of Congress• A. I Sec. 8 grants Congress 27 separate powers. • Power to “Lay and Collect Taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the

debts and pay for the common defense and welfare of the US.”– Taxes must benefit public interests, cannot tax exports, and must be

apportioned based on population (same tax rate, but b/c some states are bigger they pay more taxes.)

• Regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states and with the Indian tribes.– This has consistently led to the expansion of federal power through

interpretation by the Supreme Court (Gibbons v. Ogden) and by congress itself w/ various Civil Rights Acts

• Congress can “coin money” w/ the state disallowed to do so. – Framers realized that the lack of a common currency wreaked havoc on

the colonies• “Borrow money on the credit of the United States.”

– US Gov’t issues bonds to finance wars and other programs. The Federal gov’t’s net public debt in 2005 was almost $5 Trillion

• Congress also has the power to establish uniform bankruptcy laws so that people have a way to pay off debt creditors with what ever assets they have available.

Other Expressed Powers• Congress is also charged with the process of naturalization, post offices,

patents and copyrights, uniform weights and measures, and the federal judiciary, including changing the jurisdiction of the courts.

• Congress is also granted the power to declare war, despite the fact that the president is Commander in Chief. – The War Powers Act of 1973 limits the president’s use of troops over

seas, basically forcing the president to listen to Congress.• Art IV give congress the power to admit new states to the Union.• Many of the amendments give congress additional powers

– 16th Amend gives congress the power to collect an income tax– 13th,14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th all give congress the “power of

enforcement,” at least for those amendments. This essentially extends the elastic clause to those amendments specifically.

– The 27th amend actually limits congress by not allowing them to vote themselves a pay raise until a congressional elect has occurred.

Expressed Powers of Congress

• Power to tax • Power to borrow money • Commerce power • Currency power • Bankruptcy power• War powers

• Naturalization • Postal power • Copyright and patent

power • Weights and measures

power • Territorial power • Judicial power

Other Expressed Powers

Candidates for naturalization, early 1900s

• Article I: “necessary and proper”• The “Elastic Clause”• Strict vs. loose interpretation• Hamilton vs. Jefferson

Implied Powers

Alexander Hamilton Thomas Jefferson

Non-Legislative Powers

• Impeachment Power• Propose

Constitutional Amendment

• Power to choose a President

• Give advice and consent

• Investigatory Power • Oversight functions

A depiction of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson

Checks on Congressional Power

• Judicial Checks

• Executive Checks

• Powers denied to Congress– Titles of nobility– Divorce laws– Remove citizenship

• Bill of Rights

Congressional BillsBills are named according to whether they originated

in the House (HR), the Senate (SR), or the White House (WHR). They then

receive a number.

How a Bill Becomes a Law: Introduction to

CommitteeComplete House or Senate

(introduction)

Committee

Subcommittee

Complete House or Senate

(debate and vote)

1

2 3

4

Standing Committee

• Calendar• Rules Committee• Debate

• House vs. Senate

• Filibusters• cloture

How a Bill Becomes a Law: Committee to Floor

DebateThe late Strom Thurmond

holds the record for the longest filibuster in Senate history—24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil

Rights Act of 1957

How a Bill Becomes a Law: Voting

• Majority wins

• Voice vote is the most common

• House– Quorum

– Uses electronic voting

• Senate– 60% for cloture

– VP votes in a tie

Joint Committees and Conference Committees

Joint committees, such as the Joint Committee on Economics, research issues that affect both houses,

such as unemployment

• Joint committees: Deal with issues of concern to both houses of Congress

• Conference committees: Created to reach a compromise on the wording of a bill that has passed both the House and the Senate

• Conference committee

• House and Senate vote again

1. Changes cannot be made

2. Majority vote needed for passage

• Sent to President

How a Bill Becomes a Law:

From Passage to the President

Conference committee

House and Senate (vote)

The President

The President’s Options

• Sign it • Veto it • Pocket veto • Ignore it

• Overriding a veto

President George W. Bush signs a law on corporate responsibility

How a Bill Becomes a Law:

The President