House of Representatives

1
House of Representatives

• Chapter 5 Section 2

2
Rules for Lawmaking

• Goal want to move legislation quickly
• House debates rarely last more than one day
• Representatives are limited to speaking for five
  minutes
• House will set up committees that will
  specialize on certain issues

3
Committees in the House

• House of Rep. is too large
• To accomplish work more efficiently, members
  organize themselves into smaller groups
• Gives members more influence
• Rep. tend to specialize in a few issues
• Issues that are important to their constituents
  (people they represent)
• Education, Health Care, Jobs, etc.

4
Committees in the House

• Agriculture
• Banking and Financial Services
• Budget
• Commerce
• Education and the Workforce
• Government Reform and Oversight
• International Relations
• Judiciary

• National Security
• Resources
• Rules
• Science
• Small Business
• Transportation and Infrastructure
• Veterans Affairs
• Ways and Means
• Plus a few more

5
House Leadership

• Speaker of the House
• Nancy Pelosi (D)
• Represents California

6

• Speaker of the House
• Presiding Officer of House and Majority Leader
• Majority party chooses speaker at the start of
  each session
• Decides which members to recognize first in
  debates
• Appoints committee members for majority party
• Schedules bills for action
• Follows Vice-President in line of succession to
  the Presidency

7

• Majority Leader
• Steny Hoyer (D)
• Represents Maryland
• Elected by Majority Party
• Helps plan the partys legislative program
• Receives help from Majority Whips who keep
  their party members on the same page for voting
  on bills

8

• Minority Leader
• John Boehner (R)
• Represents Ohio
• Elected by Minority Party
• Same responsibilities as Majority Leader
• Does not schedule work in the House
• Receives help from Minority Whips

9
Lawmaking in the House

• In session Monday through Friday
• Due to travel to home districts over weekends,
  business is typically done Tuesday-Thursday
• Laws start as Bills
• If the bill starts in the House, the Speaker will
  send it to an appropriate committee for
  discussion
• 10 of proposed bills make it to the House floor
  for vote
• Bill will be put on the House Calendar if it
  passes the committee process

10
House Rules Committee

• After a committee approves a bill, it will go to
  the Rules Committee
• Can move bill ahead quickly
• Can hold them back
• Can stop them
• Members of Rules Committee are appointed by the
  Speaker
• Can also settle disputes among other committees

11
Quorum

• The minimum number of members who must be
  present to permit a legislative body to take
  official action
• Regular Session - 218 house members majority
• To vote on a bill.
• Debate Meetings 100 house members
• To speed up debates

12
Senate

• Chapter 5 Section 3

13
Differences from the House

• No time limits on debates
• May debate a proposal for weeks and months
• To make sure senators have maximum freedom to
  express their ideas
• Senators are expected to be familiar with many
  issues and not to specialize

14
Senate Leadership

• Vice President - President of the Senate
• Not an elected member
• May not vote except to break a tie
• May recognize members in debates
• May not take part in debates

15

• Vice Presidents usually devote much of their
  time to the executive branch activities
• President Pro Tempore
• Presides over the Senate when Vice President is
  absent for the time being
• Elected by the Senate
• From the majority party
• Usually the most senior member
• Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia)

16

• Senate Majority Floor Leader
• Harry Reid (D-Nevada)
• Elected by majority party
• Job is to steer the partys bills through the
  Senate
• Makes sure certain members attend sessions to
  support key bills

17

• Senate Minority Floor Leader
• Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)
• Elected by minority party
• Keeps minority members
• working together
• Develops criticisms against
• majority party bills

18
Scheduling for Senate Bills

• Uses committees to study and discuss the bills
• Does not have a Rules Committee like the House
• Senators consult with each other to decide if
  bills should go to the Senate floor
• Calendar of General Orders
• Lists all of the bills that the Senate will
  consider
• Executive Calendar
• Schedules treaties and appointments for Senate
  approval

19
Filibuster

• To keep talking until a majority of the Senate
  either abandons the bill or agrees to modify
  its most controversial provisions
• Senators are allowed unlimited debate time on a
  bill
• After the first 3 hours, may talk about any topic
  they want
• May read a phone book or recipe book

20
Filibuster

• Filibuster can only be stopped when 3/5 of the
  senate (60 members) votes to stop.
• Cloture
• After cloture, members can only debate a bill for
  1 hour at a time
• Cloture votes are hard to obtain due to
  competitive political parties
• Filibuster threats are often enough to delay or
  defeat a bill