Procedures

1
Procedures

• Rules play bigger role in House (Senate is more
  informal)
• Filibuster
• Standing Committees (19 in House, 17 in Senate)
• Select Committees, Joint Committees, Conference
  Committees
• Committee Chairs

2
Staff and Support Agencies

• Congressional Research Service (CRS)
• General Accounting Office (GAO)
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

3

• Other activities of Congress
• Oversight of executive branch
• -Investigations, impeachment

4
Judging the Congress

• Criticisms inefficiency, logrolling,
  distributive tendency, corruption
• Trust in Congress relatively low

5
Reforming the Congress?

• Term limits
• Campaign finance reform