Chapter 9 Congress

1
Chapter 9 Congress
2
Congress

• Origins, Structure, and Membership
• Bicameral Differences
• Rules of Lawmaking How a Bill Becomes a Law
• Budgeting and Oversight

3
Legislative Branch

• English Legislative Heritage
• Parliament
• The Great Compromise
• Bicameral Design
• Apportionment
• Congressional Districts
• Political Equality
• Gerrymandering

4
Constitutional Basis

• Article I, Section 1 - All legislative powers
  vested in a Congress
• Article I, Section 8 - Powers to
• Article I, Section 9 - Be no section
• Article I, Section 10 - Be no state section
• Compromise in structure and representation

5
The Electoral Connection

• Qualifications (25/7 and 30/9 - resident)
• Factors contribute to the composition of
  Congress
• who decides to run
• the incumbency effect (95-98/83-85)
• Terms and Sessions (Jan 3rd - 109th)
• Term Limits

6
Differences between the House and the Senate
- filibusters/riders permitted
7
The First Gerrymander
8
Reapportionment of House Seats following the 1990
Census
9
(No Transcript)
10
Sociological Representation?Moderate Growth
11
(No Transcript)
12
The Electoral ConnectionIncumbent Winning
Percentages
13
Politico Styles

• Trustee representation
• trusted to use own judgement and conscience
• social issues
• Delegate representation
• expected to vote constituents desires
• economic - bread and butter issues
• Domestic Policy Decisions
• Foreign Policy Decisions
• Constant battle to balance

14
What Exactly Do They Do?

• Continuous Campaign
• Pork Barrel Politicking
• Constituent Case Work

15
Constituent Service
16
Internal Influence

• Reciprocity - log rolling
• Personal Courtesy - the honorable gentleman
  from, stigmas of personal attacks.
• Specialization - committee expertise
• Caucuses are groups of senators or
  representatives who share certain opinions,
  interests or social characteristics.
• Democratic Study Group
• Congressional Black Caucus
• Hispanic Caucus
• Caucus for Womens Issues

17
The Organization of Congress

• Party Leadership
• The Committee System
• The Staff System

18
Party Leadership House
Congressional leadership is chosen every two
years at the beginning of each new congressional
session.

• Minority Party
• Minority leader
• Minority whip
• Steering and Policy Committee

• Majority Party
• Speaker of the House
• Majority leader
• Majority whip
• Committee on Committees -Conference

19
House LeadershipMeans of Selection
20
Party Leadership Senate

• Formal
• President of the Senate
• Vice president
• Votes to break ties
• President pro tempore
• ceremonial position
• given to ranking member of the majority party

• Informal
• Majority leader
• Whip
• Minority leader
• Whip
• Majority Policy Committee
• Minority Policy Committee

21
Senate LeadershipMeans of Selection
22
The Committee System

• Standing committees (19/16) and their respective
  subcommittees (88/68)
• Select committees
• Joint committees
• Conference committee

23
Standing Committees

• Standing committees are the most important arenas
  of congressional policy making.
• Permanent exist from session to session
• Power to receive and process legislation
• Exception House Rules Committee
• Jurisdiction specified by subject matter and
  generally mirrors major cabinet department
• Assignment based on needs of members
• Leadership based on seniority on the committee

24
(No Transcript)
25
Other Committees

• Select committees a temporary legislative
  committee set up to highlight or investigate a
  particular issue
• Joint committees a legislative committee with
  members from both chambers formed to study
  particular issues
• Conference committee a joint committee created
  to reach compromise on legislation passed by both
  chambers

26
The Staff System

• Staffs are maintained in Washington, D.C. and
  back home.
• Legislative assistant
• Work with legislative drafting
• Develop policy ideas
• Administrative assistant
• Work with lobbyists
• Work on constituent requests
• Congressional committees are also provided
  staffs.
• Support agencies provide information support.
• Congressional Budget Office
• General Accounting Office
• Congressional Research Service

27
The Growth of Congressional Staffs
28
Rules of LawmakingHow a Bill Becomes a Law

• Filing with clerk
• Committee deliberation
• Debate
• Conference committee
• Presidential action

29
How a Bill Becomes a Law
30
How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Legislation must be introduced in either the
  House or the Senate before it officially becomes
  a bill.
• Assigned a bill number (H.R. 1 or S. 1)
• Assigned to the appropriate committee based on
  jurisdiction of the standing committees

31
Committee Deliberation

• Most of the work on legislation is conducted at
  the committee level.
• 95 of bills die at the committee or subcommittee
  level.
• Discharge petition may be used to pull a bill out
  of committee.

32
House Rules Committee

• Each bill that survives committee must go through
  the Rules Committee.
• Determines the length of debate and the nature of
  amendments that may be offered to the legislation

33
The Senates Unanimous Consent Rule

• The Senate lacks a Rules Committee.
• Executive Calendar (Treaties and Appointments)
• Calendar of General Orders
• The Senate utilizes the unanimous consent rule to
  permit bills to reach the floor.
• Any senator can kill a bill by withholding consent

34
Debate

• Contrary to the House, the Senate permits open
  and lengthy debate on legislation.
• A filibuster can be used to talk a bill to
  death.
• A cloture vote is used to defeat a filibuster
• sixty votes necessary to end filibuster.

35
Conference Committee

• A conference committee is called when different
  versions of a bill are passed by the Senate and
  the House and a compromise is needed.
• Members of the committee that worked on the
  legislation serve on the committee.
• Compromise must be approved by both the House and
  the Senate.

36
Presidential Action

• The president may
• sign the bill into law
• allow the bill to become law without his
  signature
• veto (reject) the bill with a formal veto message
• override by two-thirds vote of both chambers
• Pocket veto.

37
Budget Process
38
Beyond LegislationOther Congressional Powers

• Oversight
• Advice and Consent
• Impeachment

39
Oversight

• Oversight is the effort by Congress, through
  hearings, investigations, and other techniques,
  to exercise control over the activities of the
  executive agencies while legislation is being
  implemented.
• The appropriations process is an important
  oversight tool.

40
Advice and Consent

• The Senate must approve presidential appointments
  by a simple majority.
• Treaties must be approved by the Senate with a
  two-thirds vote.
• Executive agreements circumvent this process.
• Congress can refused to appropriate funding.

41
Impeachment

• The president and other high-ranking officials
  may be removed from office by through impeachment
  by the House and conviction in the Senate.
• Grounds include treason, bribery, and other high
  crimes and misdemeanors.