The Legislative
Branch
Unit 4A
AP Government
Important Terms and
Concepts
• Read your textbook carefully
• Terms are VERY important this unit!
The Makeup of Legislative
Branch
• The Great Compromise provided the necessary vision
to insure that the new legislature was accepted by the new
country
– A bicameral legislative branch of government was created
• The upper house is called the Senate in which each state
receives two representatives.
– 100 total
• The lower house is called the House of Representatives
which is apportioned by population.
– 435 total
Qualifications for Congress
House
Senate
• 25 years old
• 30 years old
• US Citizen for 7 years • US Citizen for 9 years
• Be a resident of the
• Be a resident of the
District you represent state you represent
Which Branch is the ‘Most’
Powerful??
• The framers of the U.S Constitution placed
Congress at the center of the government.
– Article I
• In the early years of the republic Congress held
the bulk of power.
• Today, the presidency has become quite
powerful particularly since FDR.
– Congress sometimes responds to executive
branch legislative proposals.
Congressional Terms
• Senators have a 6 year term with 1/3 of the seats up for
reelection every two years.
• House members serve 2 year terms and must be reelected every general election.
Legislative Powers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Under ARTICLES
After CONSTITUTION
CONGRESS LACKED POWER TO:
TO CONGRESS HAD POWER TO :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Under ARTICLES
After CONSTITUTION
CONGRESS LACKED POWER TO:
TO CONGRESS HAD POWER TO :
Provide for effective treaty-making power
and control foreign relations; it could
not compel states to respect treaties.
Compel states to meet military quotas; it
could not draft soldiers.
Regulate interstate and foreign
commerce; it left each state free to set up
its own tariff system.
Collect taxes directly from the people; it
had to rely on states to collect and
forward taxes.
Compel states to pay their share of
government costs.
Provide and maintain a sound
monetary system or issue paper money;
this was left up to the states, and monies
in circulation differed tremendously in
value.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Declare war and make peace.
Enter into treaties and alliances.
Establish and control armed forces.
Requisition men and money from states.
Regulate coinage.
Borrow money and issue bills of credit.
Fix uniform standards of weight and
measurement.
Create admiralty courts.
Create a postal system.
Regulate Indian affairs.
Guarantee citizens of each state the
rights and privileges of citizens in the
several states when in another state.
Adjudicate disputes between states on
state petition.
Spend
Money
Regulate
Commerce
Taxation
Powers of
Congress
Lawmaking
Create
Courts
Declare
War
Make all laws
"necessary and proper" to carrying out
the enumerated powers
Power of the Incumbency
• 92% of House members have won reelection since 1946
• Members of the Senate are also likely to win reelection
although less likely than the House
– 75% since 1946
• Incumbent Advantages
–
–
–
–
Greater name recognition
Easier to raise money; about 75% of contributions goes to incumbents
Discourages challengers
Franking privilege - free mail to constituents
• Disadvantages
– Unpopular President means his entire party suffers
– Challengers with deep pockets
– Voters sometimes like “outsiders”
Organization of Congress
Organization of Congress
• Every two years, a new Congressional “term” begins.
– 114th Congress was sworn in Jan. 2015
• Session 1 of 114th Congress = 2015
• Session 2 of 114th Congressional term = 2016
• Session 1 of 115th Congressional term will be…
• Congress opens each new term in January after
election day
– The first order of business is the election of leaders and
adoption of new rules.
• Both houses of Congress are organized by
both leadership and committee purposes.
– CONGRESS IS VERY PARTISAN!
party for
Key Differences Between
the Two Houses
House
Senate
• Initiate revenue bills-
• Foreign policy experts
$$$$
• Offers “advise and
• Budget bills- all money
consent” for
bills start in House
presidential nominees
• Formal
• Relaxed
• Many rules
• Less rules
• Rules Committee very
• No Rules Committee
powerful
• Senators become
• Congressmen become
generalists and become
specialists in one major
‘experts’ in several key
area
areas
The Party Caucus
• Gathering of all the members of each party
in each house of Congress
• Responsibilities
– Select party leaders
– Assign party members to committees
– Set policy goals
The Committee System
• Real work of Congress is done
by committees & subcommittees
• Committees have historically
been of the same ratio of party
members as each house
• The ratio of committee
assignments SHOULD be the
same as in the entire House
and/or Senate
Types of House Committees
• The House has four types of committees
• Standing (or permanent) committees
• Special (select) committees (temp. purpose)
• Joint (or conference) committees
• And a Committee of the Whole
Standing House Committees
• These traditional “permanent” House panels are
identified in House Rule X, which also lists the
jurisdiction of each committee.
• Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing
committees consider bills and issues and
recommend measures for consideration by the full
House.
– They also have oversight responsibility to monitor
agencies, programs, and activities within their
jurisdictions.
Special or Select
House Committees
• These committees have issue-specific
jurisdictions, functions and responsibilities
that are set forth in the House Rules.
• These committees are frequently created for a
finite time period.
Standing Committees
Committee on Agriculture
*Committee on Appropriations ($ projects)
Committee on Armed Services
Committee on the Budget
Committee on Education and the Workforce
Committee on Energy and Commerce
Committee on Financial Services
Committee on Government Reform
Committee on Homeland Security
Committee on House Administration
Committee on International Relations
Committee on the Judiciary
Committee on Resources
*Committee on Rules (runs the House)
Committee on Science
Committee on Small Business
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
*Committee on Ways and Means (taxes)
House Committees
Special, Select, and Other
House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence
Select Bipartisan Committee to
Investigate the Preparation for
and Response to Hurricane
Katrina
• Joint
Joint Economic Committee
Joint Committee on Printing
Joint Committee on Taxation
Committee of the Whole
• This most important committee is composed of
all House Members and is created to expedite the
consideration of bills, other measures and
amendments on the floor of the House.
– In the Committee of the Whole, a quorum is 100
Members (as compared to 218 in the House) and debate
on amendments is conducted under the five-minute rule
(as compared to the hour rule in the House), following
general debate.
• When the House is sitting as the Committee of the
Whole, following debate, they report the legislation
(w/amendments) to the House for an up or down
vote.
Types of Senate Committees
• The Senate has three types of committees
• Standing committees
• Select (or special) committees
• and joint committees
Senate Standing Committees
• Senate standing committees are permanent bodies
with specific responsibilities spelled out in the
Senate's official rules.
• For purposes of member assignment, Senate
committees are divided, according to relative
importance, into three categories
• Class A, Class B, and Class C.
– Senators are limited to service on two Class A committees
and one Class B committee.
– Assignment to Class C committees is made without
reference to a member's service on any other panels.
Special (and Select)
Senate Committees
• Select and special Senate committees fall into
either the Class B or the Class C category.
• They are created for clearly specified purposes
and, although those that currently exist are now
considered permanent, they did not necessarily
enjoy that status at their inception.
– Special investigating committees, such as the
1973 Select Committee to Investigate Presidential
Campaign Activities (the Watergate Committee),
expire after they submit their final report to
the Senate.
Senate Committees
•
Standing Committees
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
*Appropriations ($ projects)
Armed Services
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Budget
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Energy and Natural Resources
Environment and Public Works
*Finance (money)
*Foreign Relations (treaties)
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs
*Judiciary (approves judges)
Rules and Administration
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Veterans Affairs
• Special, Select, and Other
Indian Affairs
Select Committee on Ethics
Select Committee on
Intelligence
Special Committee on Aging
• Joint
Joint Committee on Printing
Joint Committee on Taxation
Joint Committee on the
Library
Joint Economic Committee
Former President Pro Temp
Ted Stevens (R-AK)
and his $223 Million dollar
“Bridge to Nowhere”
And his $500K
“Salmon-Thirty-Salmon ”
Two Pork BarrelEarmarks
for Alaska
Joint Committees
• These committees are composed of Members
from both the House and the Senate.
• The most important job of the joint or
conference committee is to smooth out
differences between versions of the same bill
before it goes to the President for his signature
How a Bill Becomes a Law
Lawmaking
• The most important constitutional power of Congress
is the power to make laws.
– This power is shared by the House and the Senate.
• In order to become a law, a bill must be passed by both
the House and the Senate.
Lawmaking
• Anyone can write a bill
– However, only a member of the House or Senate may
introduce a bill.
• A bill must survive three stages to become a law:
1. Committees
2. The floor
3. The conference committee.
• Over 9,000 bills are proposed and fewer than 5
are typically enacted.
• A bill can die at any stage AND MOST DO!!!
How a Bill Becomes a Law
The Process:
1.
Introduced to House
(or Senate)
2. Assigned to
committee by Leader
or Speaker
3. Assigned to
subcommittee-Most bills die in
committee
4. Returns to floor with
report by committee
-Debate of bill
5. Passes or fails on floor
6. On to other House with
same schedule
7. If both house pass bill, they are likely different
versions so the 2 bills go to
-Conference Committee
8. If the Conference Committee agrees then the
new bill goes to both Houses for one final
approval
-Many bills die here, too!
9. But…if both chambers approve it goes to the
President
10. He can
-Sign it into law
-Let it become law (if Congress is in session)
-Veto it
-Pocket veto (if Congress is not in session)
11. Congress can override presidential veto with a
2/3 vote of each house
How Does Congress Make
Decisions on Bills?
Interest Groups Colleagues
Caucuses
Party
Congress
Constituents
Staff
Political Action Committees
The Filibuster
• Minority party tactic to “talk a bill to death”
• Only allowed in the Senate NOT the House
– From a Dutch word meaning “pirate”
• Under Senate rules, the speech need not be relevant
to the topic under discussion
– There have been cases in which a senator has undertaken
part of a speech by reading from a phone book
• To stop a filibuster or apply cloture:
– 16 Senators must sign a petition
– 60 votes to end debate
Fun Filibusters
Facts
• They used to call it
'taking to the diaper,' a
phrase that referred to
“the preparation”
undertaken by a prudent
senator before an
extended filibuster
• Longest filibuster on
record
– 1957 when Sen. Strom
Thurmond talked for
more than 24 hours to kill
a civil rights bill
• Strom Thurmond visited a
steam room before his
filibuster in order to
dehydrate himself so he
could drink without
urinating.
– An aide stood by in the
cloakroom with a pail in
case of emergency.

...Yikes
!
Interesting Statistics of
the 110th Congress
110th US Congress
House of Reps
Interesting House Stats
Breakdown by Party
•Democrats 232
•Republicans 202*
*presently 201 because
of the death of Charlie
Norwood of GA
• Religion
– The House includes one
Muslim, two Buddhists, and
30 Jews.
• Race
– There are 42 AfricanAmericans (including two
non-voting delegates), and 74
female Representatives.
– There are also 27 Hispanics,
4 Asian & Pacific Islanders,
and 1 Native American.
• Age
– The oldest Member in 2007 is
Ralph Hall, at 83 years old,
and the youngest is Patrick
T. McHenry, at 32 years old.
110th US
Senate
Interesting Senate Stats
Breakdown by Party
Democratic Party 49
Republican Party 49
Independents 2 *
*Joe Lieberman and Bernie
Sanders both caucus with the
Democrats
• Gender
– There are 16 female senators —
the most women ever serving in
the same Senate.
• Ethnicity
– There are 13 Jews, 3 Hispanics,
2 Asian Americans, 1 senator of
Arab descent (half), and 1
African-American. One Senator
is a naturalized citizen from
(Cuba).
• Age
– The average age of the Senate is
62 years 2007
– The oldest Senator in 2007 is
Robert Byrd, at 89 years old, and
the youngest is John Sununu, at
43 years old.
Congressional Leadership
Offices to Know
•For Unit Test- What do they do? What are the official jobs of
each leadership position?
• Speaker of the House
• House Majority Leader
• House Minority
Leader
• House Majority Whip
• House Minority Whip
•President of the Senate
•President Pro Tempore of
the Senate
•Senate Majority Leader
•Senate Minority Leader
•Senate Majority Whip
•Senate Minority Whip
Roles of Speaker of the
House
• The speaker is the principal leader of the
House or Assembly.
• The speaker typically will
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
(1) preside over the daily sessions of the House
(2) preserve order in the chamber
(3) state parliamentary motions
(4) rule on parliamentary questions
(5) appoint committee chairs and members
(6) refer bills to committee
(7) sign legislation, writs and warrants
(8) act as the official spokesman for the House
or Assembly.
The Role of House Majority
Leader
• The role of the majority leader has
been defined by history and tradition.
– Schedules legislation for floor
consideration
– Plans the daily, weekly, and annual
legislative agendas
– Consults with Members to gauge
party sentiment
– Works to advance the goals of the
majority party
House Minority Leader
•
•
•
•
•
John Boehner
(R-Ohio)
born 1949
House since 1990
Selected for
position in
January 2007
• (Former Majority
Leader)
House Minority Leader
Duties
• The minority leader is the principal
leader of the minority caucus.
• The minority leader is responsible for
– (1) developing the minority
position
– (2) negotiating with the majority
party
– (3) directing minority caucus
activities on the chamber floor
– (4) leading debate for the minority
House Majority Whip
Duties
• The duties of the majority whip are
to:
– (1) assist the floor leader
– (2) ensure member attendance
– (3) count votes
– (4) generally communicate the
majority position
Minority Whip Duties
• The major responsibilities for the
minority whip are to
– (1) assist the minority leader on the
floor
– (2) count votes
– (3) ensure attendance of minority
party members
President of the Senate
• The Vice President of the United States
is the President of the Senate.
• He is a non-voting member unless a
vote of the Senate ends in a tie, in
which case the Vice President casts the
deciding vote.
– The Constitution understands that the Vice
President will not always be available and
provides for a President pro tempore
(literally, a temporary president)
President Pro Tempore of
the Senate
• The President pro tempore is
elected by the Senate
– By custom, he is the most senior
senator in the majority party
– The position of President pro tempore
is primarily honorary, and does not
carry significant political power
Senate Majority Leader
• Leads the majority party in the Senate
• Manages and schedules the legislative
and executive business of the Senate
• In practice the Senate Majority leader is
a highly influential figure and usually
has a great deal of power over what
legislation is approved by the Senate.
– Has authority over other officials such as
Senate whips and floor leaders
Senate Minority Leader
• Elected as the leader of the
minority party
– Serves as the chief Senate
spokesperson for his or her party
• Helps to manage and schedule the
legislative and executive business
of the Senate.
Senate Majority Whip
• The second ranking member of the Senate
• The main function of the Majority Whip is
to gather votes on major issues.
Senate Minority Whip
• The fourth ranking member of the Senate
• The main function of the Minority Whip is
to gather votes on major issues among
members of the minority party.