Title: How Congress Works Part I
1How Congress WorksPart I
Structure, Organization, Legislative Process
2Congress
3House-Senate Differences
- House
- 435 members 2 yr terms
- Low turnover
- Speaker bill referral hard to challenge
- Scheduling/rules controlled by majority party
with powerful Rules Committee (controls time of
debate, amends., etc)
- Senate
- 100 members 6 yr terms
- Moderate turnover
- Referral decisions easily challenged
- Scheduling/rules agreed to by majority minority
leaders
4House-Senate Differences
- House
- Debate limited to 1 hour
- Members policy specialists
- Emphasizes tax revenue policy
- More formal impersonal
- Senate
- Unlimited debate unless cloture invoked
- Members policy generalists
- Emphasizes foreign policy
- More informal personal
5Party Leadership
House Republican Leadership 113th Congress
Senate Democratic Leadership 110th Congress
6HOUSE LEADERSHIP
- Speaker (majority party)
- Republicans
- Majority Leader
- Majority Whip
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH)
Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy(R-CA)
Majority Leader Eric Cantor(R-VA)
7HOUSE LEADERSHIP
Minority Leader Steny Hoyer(R-OH)
- Democratss
- Minority Leader
- Minority Whip
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer(D-MD)
8SENATE LEADERSHIP
- President of the Senate (Vice
President) - President Pro Tempore (majority party)
- Democrats
- Majority Leader
- Majority Whip
President Pro Tem Patrick Leahy(D-VT)
President of the Senate Joe Biden (D-DE)
Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
9SENATE LEADERSHIP
- Republicans
- Minority Leader
- Minority Whip
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
10Strength of Party Structure?
- Measure of party strength
- Ability of leaders to control party rules and
organization - Extent to which party members vote together in
the House and Senate - Senate less party-centered and leader oriented
11Party Unity
- Ideology is an important variable explaining
party voting (members vote with their party 90
of the time) - Party polarization - vote in which majority of
democrats oppose majority of republicans - Polarization trends
- 1976 HR 36 S 37
- 1995 HR 73 S 69
- 2000 HR 43 S 49
12CAUCUSES
- Groups (may be bipartisan) meeting to pursue
common legislative objectives - Sometimes Rivals to parties in policy formulation
- Examples Democratic Study Group, Congressional
Black Caucus, Tuesday Lunch Bunch, Human Rights,
Congressional Caucus for Womens Issues, Out of
Iraq Caucus, - Rural Caucus, Travel Tourism Caucus, House
Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children
13Congress Convenes
- Congress convenes every two yearson January 3 of
every odd-numbered year. - The House has formal organizational meetings at
the beginning of each term to determine committee
membership and standing officers. - The Senate, because it is a continuous body, has
fewer organizational issues to address at the
start of each term. - When Congress is organized, the President
presents a State of the Union message to a joint
session of Congress. This message, in which the
President reports on the state of the nation as
he sees it, is given annually.
Chapter 12, Section 1
14The Presiding Officers
- The Speaker of the House
- The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer
of the House of Representatives and the
acknowledged leader of the majority party. - The Speakers main duties revolve around
presiding over and keeping order in the House. - The Speaker names the members of all select and
conference committees, and signs all bills and
resolutions passed by the House.
- The President of the Senate
- The job of president of the Senate is assigned by
the Constitution to the Vice President. - The president of the Senate has many of the same
duties as the Speaker of the House, but cannot
cast votes on legislation. - The president pro tempore, the leader of the
majority party, is elected from the Senate and
serves in the Vice Presidents absence.
Chapter 12, Section 1
15Committee Chairmen and Seniority Rule
- Committee Chairmen
- The committee chairmen are the members who head
the standing committees in each chamber of
Congress. - The chairman of each of these permanent
committees is chosen from the majority party by
the majority party caucus.
- Seniority Rule
- The seniority rule, an unwritten custom, holds
that the most important posts will be held by
those party members with the longest records of
service in Congress. - The head of each committee is often the
longest-serving member of the committee from the
majority party.
Chapter 12, Section 1
16Composition of Congress
Senate party standings (as of October 31, 2013)
53 Democrats 2 Independents, both caucusing
with Democrats 45 Republicans
2
3
4
Chapter 12, Section 1
17Composition of Congress
House party standings (as of February 18, 2014)
232 Republicans 199 Democrats 4 vacancies
Chapter 12, Section 1
18113th United States Congress Senators
19113th US House
20House/Senate differences
21House Senate Reason(s) Examples Below
435 members 2 yr terms 100 members 6 yr terms House closer to the people with representation based on population and 2 yr terms Senate smaller, more deliberative
Low turnover Moderate turnover Incumbents win re-election over 90 of the time in the House Senate races are state-wide and more competitive
Speaker bill referral hard to challenge Referral decisions easily challenged Difficult for individual members to challenge the Speaker of the House members limited by strict rules Members of the Senate more independent operators
Scheduling/rules controlled by majority party powerful Rules Committee Scheduling/rules agreed to by majority minority leaders House - majority party tightly controls Leadership and Rules with little minority party Senate much more cooperation between parties
Debate limited to 1 hour Unlimited debate unless cloture invoked Impractical with 435 members to have unlimited debate in the House nothing would get done Senate has only 100 members more time
Members policy specialists Members policy generalists House in order to get re-elected, members most become experts in policies that directly effect their districts must serve on those committees Senators represent diverse interest of an entire state
Emphasizes tax revenue policy Emphasizes foreign policy All tax and revenue bills must originate in the House much of public policy decisions in HR involve the budget Senate advice and consent of ambassadors, cabinet ratify treaties
More formal impersonal More informal personal House much bigger, need strict rules to be efficient members 1 of 435 Senate smaller, more collegial members 1 of only 100
22"Congress in session is Congress on public
exhibition, whilst Congress in its
committee-rooms is Congress at work.
- Woodrow Wilson
23Legislative Committees
Function and Purpose
24Legislative CommitteesFunction Purpose
- 1. Consider bills (a.k.a. mark-up bills)
A bill with a members mark-up notes
25Legislative CommitteesFunction Purpose
- 2. Maintain oversight of executive agencies
Oversight Hearing on Bengahzi
26Legislative CommitteesFunction Purpose
- 3. Conduct investigations
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testified before the
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee on Hurricane Katrina (Feb., 2006
27Types of Committees
- Standing Committees - permanent panel with full
legislative functions and oversight
responsibilities - Subcommittees formed to tackle very specific
tasks within the jurisdiction of the full
committees - Select or Special Committees - groups appointed
for a limited purpose and limited duration - Joint Committees - includes members of both
chambers to conduct studies or perform
housekeeping tasks - Conference Committee - includes members of House
Senate to work out differences between similar
bills
28Standing Committees
29House Standing Committees
- Agriculture
- Appropriations
- Armed Services
- Budget
- Education Workforce
- Energy Commerce
- Financial Services
- Government Reform
- House Admin.
- International Relations
- Judiciary
- Resources
- Rules
- Science
- Small Business
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Transportation Infrastructure
- Veterans Affairs
- Ways Means
30Senate Standing Committees
- Agriculture, Nutrition, Forestry
- Appropriations
- Armed Services
- Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs
- Budget
- Commerce, Science, Transportation
- Energy Natural Resources
- Environment and Public Works
- Finance
- Foreign Relations
- Governmental Affairs
- Health, Education, Labor Pensions
- Judiciary
- Rules and Administration
- Small Business and Entrepreneurship
- Veterans Affairs
31Special, Select Committees
- House Select Committee on Energy Independence
Global Warming - Senate Select Committee on Ethics
- House Senate Select Committees on Intelligence
Gen. Michael Hayden is sworn in during a full
committee hearing of the Senate Select
Intelligence Committee on his nomination to be
director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
32Joint Committees
- Joint Economic Committee
- Joint Committee on Printing
- Joint Committee on Taxation
33Title Resolution Artist Bob Gorrell Date
12/28/06 Source http//www.gorrellart.com/
34Artist R.J. Matson, New York Observer Roll
Call Date 1/18/07 Source http//www.cagle.com