U.S. Government Topic 4
Legislative Branch
Section 1: Congress Organization
• Congress begins
a new term
every two years
on January 3 of
every odd
numbered year;
follows the
general
elections in
November.
Opening Day in the House
2016 Speaker of House: Paul Ryan R. WI
• Every other January, 435 House members
who have been elected come together at
the Capitol to begin a new term.
• All seats are up for election every two
years
• Representatives choose a Speaker of the
House; the Speaker is a long standing
member of the majority party and
election on the floor is only a formality.
The majority party’s members in the
House have settled the matter
beforehand.
Democrats take their seats to the right of the center aisle; the Republicans to the
left.
The House then elects its clerk, parliamentarian, sergeant at arms, chief
administrative officer, and chaplain. None of these people are members of the
House, and their elections are a formality; again, the majority party has already
decided the matter.
Then they adopt the rules that will govern its proceedings through the term
Finally, members of the 20 permanent committees of the House are appointed by
a floor vote.
House of Representatives Continued….
Below: Number of Representatives each state has
in the House. Remember, this number is
determined by population.
Above: House of Representatives is currently
under a Republican majority.
Formal Qualifications of a Representative
• Must be at least 25 years old
• Must be a U.S. Citizen for the past seven years
• Must live in the state he or she represents
Informal Qualifications?
• College degree
• Political Experience
• Resident of district in which he/she was elected
Opening Day in the Senate
• The Senate is a continuous body; it has been organized without
interruption since its first session in 1789
• Only 1/3 of the seats are up for election
every two years; 2/3 of the Senate’s
membership is carried over from one term
to the next
Formal Qualifications of a Senator
• Must be at least 30 years old
• Must be a U.S. Citizen for the past nine years
• Must live in the state he or she represents
Informal Qualifications?
• Same as the HOR…
• Able to fundraise
State of the Union Message
• Within a few weeks of the organization
of the House; the Senate and the
House inform the President that a
quorum of each House is assembled
and that the Congress is ready to
receive any communication he may
wish to give.
• Within a few weeks, in late January or
early February, the President delivers
the annual State of the Union message
to a joint session of Congress.
• In the address, the President reports
on the state of the nation as he or she
sees it, in both domestic and foreign
policy terms.
Presiding Officers
The Constitution provides for the presiding officers of each house of Congress –
the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.
Speaker of the House
• More important and more powerful, within the halls of Congress,
than the President of the Senate
• Two main duties: preside and to keep order
• No member may speak until he or she is recognized by the Speaker
• Interprets and applies the rules, refers bills to committee, rules
on points of order, puts motions to a vote, and decides the
outcome of most votes taken on the floor of the House
• The Speaker of the House follows the Vice President in the line of
succession to the presidency
The President of the Senate
• The Constitution makes the Vice President the
President of the Senate
• Unlike the House, the Senate does NOT choose its
own presiding officer and the Senate’s President
is not a member of that body
• Powers: recognize members and put questions to
a vote
• The Vice President (President of the Senate)
cannot take the floor to speak or debate and may
vote ONLY to break a tie
•
To the left: President of the Senate and Vice President Joe Biden (Dem.)
Senate’s President Pro Tempore
• Another presiding officer who serves in the Vice
President’s absence.
• The President pro tempore is elected by the
Senate itself and is always a leading member of
the majority party – usually its longest serving
member
• The President pro tempore (pro tem) follows the
Speaker of the House in the line of presidential
succession
• To the right: Current President pro tempore – Orrin Hatch (R. UT)
The Party Caucus
• Is a closed meeting of the
members of each party in
each house
• Mostly deals with matters
related to party
organization, such as the
selection o the party’s
floor leaders and questions
of committee membership.
• It sometimes takes stands
on particular bills
The Floor Leaders
• Next to the Speaker, the floor leaders in the House and Senate are
the most important officers in Congress
• Floor leaders are legislative strategists
• Majority Leader: floor leader of the party that holds the majority
of seats in each house of Congress
• Minority Leader: floor leader of the party that holds the minority
of seats in each house of Congress
• Both are assisted by Party Whips: serve as a liaison between the
party’s leadership and the members. They are assistants to the
floor leaders.
Committee Chairmen
• Most of the work done in Congress is done
in committee.
• Committee chairmen: head the standing
committees in each chamber; always
ranking members of the majority party
Standing Committee Examples:
Senate:
 Agriculture
 Commerce
 Education
 Human Resources
 Transportation
House:
 Agriculture
 Education
 Labor
 Veterans Affairs
Seniority Rule
• Unwritten custom
• Provides that the most important posts in Congress, in both the
formal and the party organizations, will be held by those party
members with the longest records of service.
• Criticism of the Seniority Rule: ignores ability, rewards mere
length of service and works to discourage younger members.
• Defenders of the Seniority Rule: argue that it ensures that a
powerful and experienced member will head each committee
Committees in Congress
Standing Committees
•
There are 20 standing
committees in the House and 16
in the Senate today
•
Consider bills and play an
integral part in the lawmaking
process
•
Each House committee has from
10 – 75 members.
•
Each Senate committee has
from 10 – 28 members
•
Most standing committees are
divided into subcommittees
where the work is divided up
•
House Rules committee: It
controls the flow of bills to the
floor and sets the conditions for
their consideration. “Traffic
Cop”
Joint and Conference
Committees
Select Committees
•
Sometimes called special
committees
•
Composed of members of both
houses
•
They are panels set up for some
specific purpose and most often
for a limited time
•
•
Sometimes they are formed to
investigate a current issue, as
the Senate’s Select Committee
on Indian Affairs
Some joint committees are
investigative in nature and issue
periodic reports to the House
and Senate. Ex: Joint
committee on Taxation
•
A temporary example of a joint
committee would be the
Conference committee which is
put into effect during the
passing of a bill
Making Law: The House
• From 6,000 – 9,000 bills and
resolutions are introduced in the
House and Senate during each
session of Congress
• Less than 10% become law
• There are two types of bills:
public and private; Public bills:
are measures applying to the
nation as a whole. Private bills:
are measures that apply to
certain persons or places rather
than to the entire nation
• Most bills are pigeonholed: buried
and die in committee
How a Bill Becomes a Law
*Click on link below*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FFroMQlKiag
Making Law: The Senate
• Filibuster: an attempt to
talk a bill to death. It is a
stalling tactic by which a
minority of senators seeks
to delay or prevent Senate
action on a measure.
The President Acts
The Constitution requires that bills and resolutions be sent to the
President after they have passed both houses of Congress. The
President then has four options at this point:
1. Sign and the bill becomes law
2. Veto the bill. Bill then is returned to the house in which it
originated together with the President’s objections
3. Allow the bill to become law without signing; by not acting on it
within 10 days, not counting Sundays, of receiving it
4. Pocket veto: if congress adjourns its session within 10 days of
submitting a bill to the President, and the President does not
act, the measure dies