Essentials of American Government

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Essentials of American Government

• Chapter 6 Congress

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Nancy Pelosi

• Democrat from California
• First female speaker of the U.S. House of
  Representatives
• Second in line to the president of the United
  States

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Framers Intent

• Not so much representatives of the people
• More concerned that they would be a body that
  could make laws and govern the nation
• Over time Congresses power has decreased but
  individual members importance has increased
• So Americans hate congress and love their
  representatives

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The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of
Government

• Article I of the Constitution
• The Great Compromise
• Bicameral legislature
• Requirements for membership
• House
• Senate

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The Constitution and Congress

• Article 1 of the Constitution
• Requirements for congressmen (and women)

Senate 30 years old 9 years living in
U.S. Resident of state Six year terms
House 25 years old 7 years living in
U.S. Resident of state Two year terms
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• The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of
  Government
• How Congress is Organized
• The Members of Congress
• How Members Make Decisions
• The Law-making Function of Congress
• Congress and the President
• Congress and the Judiciary

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How Congress is Organized

• New Congress is seated every 2 years
• among first items on agenda of new Congress
• hierarchical leadership structure
• Organizational Structure of the House of
  Representatives and the Senate in the
• 110th Congress (Figure 6. 1)

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The Role of Parties in Organizing Congress

• the basic division in Congress
• The 110th Congress (Figure 6.2)
• majority party
• minority party
• two sessions
• role of parties regarding committees
• what happens at start of new
• Congress in party caucus or conference?
• Republican Committee on Committees
• Democratic Steering Committee

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The House of Representatives

• the first Congress in 1798
• more tightly organized than the Senate
• more elaborately structured
• governed by stricter rules
• loyalty to leader and party line votes
• the leadership
• Speaker
• majority and minority leaders
• Republican and Democratic House whips

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The House of Representatives

• The Speaker of the House
• how elected
• elected by majority party
• duties and role of Speaker
• Other House Leaders
• party caucus or conference
• majority leader
• where the two parties sit in the House chamber
• minority leaderwhips

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The Senate

• presiding officer of the Senate, status and
  duties
• official chair of the Senate
• how president pro tempore is elected and his
  duties
• duty of presiding over Senate rotates
• majority leader of the Senate and duties
• majority leader's power compared to Speaker's
  power
• 110th Congress
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
• Whips
• Senate rules give tremendous power to individual
  senators
• why called a "gentlemen's club"?

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The Committee System

• real legislative work of Congress takes place in
  committees
• importance of committees in the House of
  Representatives
• subcommittees provide greater specialization
• Types of Committees
• standing committees
• joint committees
• conference committees
• Select (or special) committees
• Committees of the 109th Congress (Table 6.2)
• House Committee on Rules
• power of standing committees
• discharge petition
• committee assignments in House and Senate
• framing legislation in House and Senate
• more individual input in Senate

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Committee Membership

• value of committee assignments to members
• pork-
• value of membership on some committees to
  campaign contributions
• Appropriations and Budget Committees
• party distribution and committee membership
• share of committee membership for majority
  Democrats in 110th Congress
• essential value of Rules Committee to the
  majority

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Committee Chairs

• power and prestige
• staff
• seniority
• role of seniority in selecting committee chairs
  in House and in Senate

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The Members of Congress

• difficulties members face
• constituencies that members of Congress must
  attempt to appease
• A Day in the Life of a Member of Congress (Table
  6.3)-

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Running for Office and Staying in Office

• membership in one of the two major parties
  essential to being elected
• Incumbency
• general success of incumbents in reelection
• reasons incumbents lost in 2006-

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Congressional Demographics

• general demographics of members of Congress
• Education
• Wealth
• Age
• Women
• minorities in 2007 in the House and Senate
• Female and Minority-Group Members of Congress,
  Selected Years (Figure 6.3)
• Occupations
• Veterans

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Theories of Representation

• Edmund Burke
• Trustee
• Delegate
• Politico
• minority representation in Congress

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How Members Make Decisions

• Party
• members look to party leaders
• increase of party votes where majorities of the
  two parties took opposing sides (from 1970 to
  mid-1990)
• unanimity of votes in 107th and 108th Congress
• party loyalty
• voter discontent over Republican control of
  Congress and the 2006 midterm election results
• divided government
• percentage of voters in 2006 general election-day
  poll who stated a preference for divided
  government

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How Members Make Decisions

• Constituents
• Constituents
• how often do members vote in conformity with
  people in the districts?
• how members of Congress gauge constituents'
  positions
• Wedge issues

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How Members Make Decisions

• Colleagues and Congress
• Logrolling
• Special-interest caucuses
• Barack Obama
• Interest Groups, Lobbyists, and Political Action
  Committees
• Primary functions of most lobbyists
• Grassroots appeals
• Source of campaign financing

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How Members Make Decisions

• Staff and Support Agencies
• Members reliance on staff
• Duties of staff
• Influence of staff on voting
• Committee staff
• Congressional support offices

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The Law-making Functions of Congress

• Who can formally submit a bill for congressional
  consideration
• Appropriate number of bills in 109th Congress
• Appropriate number of bills introduced in 109th
  Congress that were made into law

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The Law-making Functions of Congress

• How a Bill becomes law
• Multiple points of approval
• How a bill becomes a law (Figure 6.4)
• bill introduced
• sponsors and co-sponsors
• bill sent to committee
• bill referred to subcommittee
• hearings in subcommittee
• subcommittee votes

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The Law-making Functions of Congress

• How a Bill becomes law
• if passes subcommittee, bill returned to full
  committee
• Markup
• action on the House or Senate floor
• House Committee on Rules
• House budget bills

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The Law-making Functions of Congress

• How a Bill becomes law
• Committee of the Whole
• actions taken on floor
• if bill survives
• Hold
• Filibusters
• Cloture
• when two chambers of Congress approve different
  versions of same bill

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How a Bill becomes law

• conference committee compromise returned to House
  and Senate for a vote (a bill must pass both
  houses in the same language to go to the
  president)
• no changes or amendments
• if bill passes
• Veto
• four options of president regarding veto within
  the ten days he has to consider the bill
• 1)
• 2)
• 3)
• 4)
• pocket veto-

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The Shifting Balance of Power

• Congress responds to the executive branch
  proposals
• criticisms of Congress

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Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch

• Oversight
• key to Congress's performance of its oversight
  function
• committee hearings
• Congress under Republican control abandons some
  oversight functions
• Congressional Review Act of 1996
• congressional review
• federal agency regulations and the Congressional
  Review Act
• Foreign Policy and National Security

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Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch

• division of foreign policy powers between the
  Congress and the president under the Constitution
• War Powers Act of 1973
• limited effectiveness of War Powers Act
• 2001 joint resolution authorizing president to
  use force against terrorists
• Senator Jay Rockefeller letter to Vice President
  Dick Cheney regarding secret intelligence
  briefing information-

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Confirmation of Presidential Appointments

• Senate's special oversight function
• confirmation of key members of executive branch
  and presidential appointments to the federal
  courts
• what a wise president does before making
  controversial nominations-

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Impeachment Process

• ultimate oversight
• Constitution vague about impeachment
• treason, bribery, or other "high crimes and
  misdemeanors
• what did Framers intend?
• Hamilton in Federalist No. 65
• U.S. House of Representatives record of
  impeachments
• only four resolutions against presidents have
  resulted in further action
• 1)
• 2)
• 3)
• 4)

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Congress and the Judiciary

• Way in which Congress can exercise control over
  the federal judiciary
• Senatorial courtesy
• Setting jurisdiction of federal courts