The Congress and the President
Units 4 and 5
The United States Congress
Comparison: Congress V. Parliament
• Members of Parliament are:
– Chosen to run for office by their Party
– Able to vote for one of their own to be Prime
Minister (Executive)
– Expected to vote as a block by Party
– To debate issues of national importance
– Given little pay and few perks
Comparison: Congress V. Parliament
• Senators and Representatives are:
– Chosen through primary elections with little party
control or input
– Elected when citizens cast a vote for the individual
candidate, not the Party
– Members of a very independent body that is
chosen to represent the people of their
Districts/States, not their Party
– Without the power to choose the President
– Given enormous power, perks, and excellent pay
Origin, purpose, structure, etc…
• Article I, Section I: “Congress shall make laws for
the good of the people of the United States of
America…”
• Make LAW: really means make public policy
• Bicameralism:
– History: we had many previous experiences with
bicameral legislatures that were positive
– Theoretical: create a system of checks within the
legislature
– Practical: resolve the dispute at the constitutional
convention over the issue of representation
Evolution of Congress
• Intent of the Framers:
– To prevent the concentration of all legislative power
into a single institution
– To balance the interests of both large and small States
– To make Congress the dominant institution on
government
In general, Congress dominates the Presidency for 140
years (exception Jackson)
Domination ends with the election of FDR
Major Political Struggles with in the
Congress
• Over issues of national importance (war,
trade, slavery, etc…)
• Distribution of power w/in Congress
– Centralization- if need is for quick, decisive action
(declare war, 9/11, etc…)
– Decentralization- is constituency interests
dominate (slavery, economic growth, etc…)
– Trend over time has been for decentralization
Early History of Congress
• President supplied congress leadership (sent bills to be
considered)
• House was pre-eminent
• House declines in 1820’s
– Assertiveness of Jackson
– Issue of slavery and beginnings of sectionalism (Civil War)–
split parties and power fragmented
Senate gained importance
-Opportunity for unlimited debate made Senators “stars”
{Filibuster} a single member can take control of the floor
and block passage of a bill
-Closer association with party (6 year terms)
Rise of Party Control 1889-1910
• House:
– Powerful House Leaders like Joe Cannon become
dictatorial
– Party Caucus: meeting of the members of one
party to set an agenda and form voting blocs
– Rules Committee created to decide if/when a bill
will come to the floor for debate/vote
Decentralization of the House
• House Speaker’s power reduced due to a
change in the rules 1910-1911
• Party caucus power increases
• Rules Committee increases in powers
• Committee Chairmen increase in power and
autonomy
Recent changes in the House
• Chairmanships become “elective” {majority
party and Seniority Rule}
• Subcommittee chairs become more powerful
• Congressional staff increases in number,
power, and influence {went from 2-3 to over
20 per member)
Senate made more democratic
• Direct Election of Senators – 17th Amendment
in 1913 {part of the progressive reforms}
• Limited party influence over the Senate
• Made Senators more responsive to their
States and voters
• Campaigns for Senate dominate
• Filibuster could now be restricted by the
Cloture Rule (3/5ths vote {60} to limit debate
on any bill to 30 minutes per member)
The House of Representatives
• Membership
– 435 members
– Congress sets the size of the House, not the
Constitution
– Reapportionment Act of 1929 set permanent size
– Membership now a career– most serve 20+ years
– Democrats have had almost exclusive control
• Except Civil War and Reconstruction
• 1996-2007
House of Representatives
• Election:
– Tuesday following the 1st Monday of November every even
numbered year
– Voted upon directly by people who reside in the District
and are eligible to vote for the State Legislature
– Primaries and general elections now the norm
– Incumbents almost always win (the benefits of
incumbency)
– Candidates run very personalized campaigns and have
great independency from party control– candidate
centered
– Only about 20% of the $ comes from the Parties
Reapportionment and Re-Districting
• House seats must be reapportioned after each
census every 10 years
• States’ # of seats is determined by population
• States’ legislatures re-district single member
districts
• Gerrymandering:
– Republicans: like a sliced pizza
– Democrats : like a bagel
Supreme Court Cases and
Representation
• Weberry v. Sanders: one man one vote rule
• Reynolds v. Sims: reapportionment must be
based upon population equity
• Baker v. Carr: reapportionment must occur after
every census to reflect population shifts within
each State
• Requirements for redistricting:
– same # people in each District
– Contiguous territory
– Compact area
Current Apportionment
Proposed 2010 Plan
Texas Districts
House of Representatives
• Qualifications:
– 25 years of age
– US citizen for 7 yrs
– Resident of the State from which elected
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Term: 2 years
Session: 2per year
Salary: currently $174,000 per year
COLAs : Cost of Living Adjustments
Perks/Benefits
• Members Representational Allowance:
• Amount depends on several factors:
– How big is your District (area and population)
– How far away is your District from DC
– Covers things like:
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Office rent in Home State
Computers and equipment
Furniture
Staff salaries
Some travel expenses
Paper and envelopes
Office supplies
Etc…
Perks
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Retirement Plan
Social Security
Health Insurance
Office of the Visiting Physician (7 on the Hill)
Medical care at Bethesda and Walter Reed
Free publication of videos and photos
Budget for DC office decorations and art
More Perks
• Free Parking at Reagan National Airport and
the US Capitol
More Perks
• Special license plates that allow them to park
virtually anywhere in DC
Perks
• Budget for reception room
• Allowance for meals w/ constituents
More Perks
• Franking: Free postage for official government
mail
• Member just signs envelope
Even MORE Perks!
• Travel allowance
• Entertainment Allowance
• Allowance for souvenirs and gifts for
constituents …
See Ms Stimson’s giant box o’crap!
Exclusive Powers
Power of the purse
1. TAX
2. Spend/appropriate $
Impeachment
Investigation
Elect the President (if a tie in EC)
Leadership in the House
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Speaker of the House
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CAL)
Leader of the majority party
Chosen in an election by the majority party
Is both presiding officer of the House and a
member of the House
• Tremendously powerful post
• Makes $205,000
Speaker Pelosi
• Powers
– Call on members to speak (or not)
– Select the bills to be introduced (or not)
– Assign members to committees (or not)
– Assign Committee Chairs
– Assign Sub-com chairs
– Send bills to committee
– Etc…
Speaker Pelosi
• Perks
– Has own dining room
– Has own plane (Air Force 3)
– Has own helicopter (Marine 3)
– Secret Service Protection
– Limo and driver
– Entertainment Allowance
– Travel Allowance
– Etc…
Pelosi’s Demand for new Air Force 3
Leadership in the House
• Majority Party : Democrats
• Majority Leader: Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland)
• Majority Whip: James Clyburn (D-SC)
Majority Leader and Whip
• Majority Leader’s job is to get party’s agenda
made into law
• Whips job is to:
– Count votes
– Make sure all party members will vote as a block
– Convince party members to vote “correctly” on
each bill
Minority Party Leadership in the House
• Minority Leader: David Boehner (R-Ohio)
• Minority Whip: Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Job of the Minority Leadership
• Minority Leader’s job is to try to get party’s
agenda made into law
• Minority Whip’s jobs:
– Count votes
– Keep all party members in line
– Make sure party has enough votes to block
majority (when possible)
Committee Chairs
• Chosen in the House by the Speaker (majority
party caucus)
• Chosen in the Senate by Majority and
Minority Leader
• Always from the majority party (Dems today)
• Seniority Rule followed strictly in both houses
Committee Chairs
• Why so powerful?
– Can speed up consideration
– Can slow down consideration
– Can prevent consideration (pigeon-holing)
– Can offer a committee bill
– Can amend a bill
– Schedules hearings
– Calls witnesses (subpoenas!)
The Rules Committee
• Most powerful of all Committees in Congress
• Chairwoman: Louise Slaughter (Dem-NY)
• Why so powerful?
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Places bills on the calendar(s) for debate
Can schedule debate now or at the end of the session
Can schedule debate for an unusual time of day
Can schedule debate for a non-existent date or during
a recess
– Can never put your bill on the calendar(s)
The Senate
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Membership: 100 Senators
2 Senators per State
Set by the Constitution
Can only get more Senators if we get more
States
• Elected independently of one another
• Originally elected by State Legislatures
Qualifications for the Senate
• 30 years of age
• US Citizen for at least 9 years
• Resident of State from which elected
• Informal qualifications same as the House,
except older and whiter!
Terms, Sessions, etc…
• Terms are 6 years
• Terms are staggered so that 1/3rd is up for reelection every 2 years
• Senators from the same State are never
elected the same year
• Staggered terms allows for the Senate to be a
“continuous body”
• Sessions: like the House, 2 per year
Salary, Perks, Benefits
• Same as the House
• $174,000 a year in salary
• Constitution requires that they be paid equally
and receive same benefits
Exclusive Powers
• The Senate alone can:
– Convict those who have been impeached
– Confirm presidential appointments
– Ratify presidential treaties
Leadership
• President of the Senate: Vice President Joseph
Biden
• Presiding officer of the Senate
• Not a member of the Senate, so cannot
debate and can vote only in the event of a tie
• Can call on members to speak and rule on
points of order
President of the Senate Biden
• Pay: $205,000 per year
• Home: United States Naval Observatory in
Georgetown
President of the Senate Biden
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Air force 2
Marine 2
Offices in the White House, OEOB, and Senate
Staff of 150+
Entertainment and travel allowances
Retirement and Social Security
Health Care at Bethesda and Walter Reed
Etc….
President of the Senate Biden
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
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Senator Robert Byrd (D-WVA)
Same powers and VP
Same pay as Speaker and VP
Can borrow Speaker’s plane and helicopter
Senate Majority Leader
• Senator Harry Reid, (D-NEV)
Senate Majority Whip
• Dick Durbin, (D-IL)
Minority Leader
• Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ken)
Minority Whip
• Senator John Kyl (R-VA)
Powers of Congress
• Legislative: those which require the consent of
the President
– Make law
– Appropriate funds
– Tax
– Declare war!
– Raise and maintain the military
– Etc……….
Non-legislative Powers
• Those that do not require Presidential action
– Admit new States
– Propose Constitutional Amendments
– Impeach/Convict
– Ratify treaties
– Confirm appointments
– Coin money
– Etc…
Congressional Committee System
• Purpose: divide the workload
• Majority of congressional work on legislation
is done in committees
• Each committee is made up of 10% of one of
the Houses (40 in H; 10 in S)
• Committee Chairs are always from the
majority party (Dems today)
Committees
• Most important organizational feature in
Congress
– Majority of bills “die in committee”
– Committees weed out “bad” bills
– Conduct public hearings, hear expert testimony,
gather information, investigate, mark up bills,
offer committee bills, etc…
– Create “experts” out of members of Congress who
will spend their careers on a committee
– Maintain oversight of executive branch agencies
Types of committees
• Standing: permanent one house groups (19 in H/
17 in S)
• Sub-committees: smaller divisions of standing
committees w/ specialized functions
• Special/Select: temporary group set up to
investigate
• Joint: permanent group made up of both houses
(only 4) BAD assignments!
• Conference: temporary group made up of
members of both houses to compromise on
versions of a bill
Membership on Standing Committees
• Individual: (selected by leadership)
– Skills/talents
– SENIORITY!
• Party: Majority Party always has majority on
each committee (proportional to
membership)
Standing Committee Chairmen
• Most powerful and most senior members of
Majority Party
• Powers:
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Schedule hearings
Call /subpoena witnesses
Pigeon-hole bills
Create committee bills
Amend bills
Pork and earmarks
Etc…
• Congressional Staff: 20-40 per committee
Job(s) of Staff
• #1: Serve constituency (the folks back home)
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Letter writing
Phone calls
E-mails
Website
Etc…
• Legislative functions:
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Monitor hearings
Devise proposals
Draft reports (of hearings/meetings)
Meet with lobbyists
Act as a lobbyist for the Member they work for
Keep track of public opinion on issues that impact District/State
Etc…
Impact of Staff
• With the increasing workload for Congress, no
one can keep up
• Staff numbers increase
• Staff responsibilities increase
• Members on Congress cede power and
responsibility for work to Staff
• We didn’t elect these people!!!
How a Bill Becomes a Law
• Really, How can one member stop it?
• House:
– Speaker:
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Block introduction (toss it!)
Never call on member to introduce bill
Send bill to unusual committee
Add amendments to bill
Get Caucus to oppose bill
Etc…
How A Bill…..
• How can we kill it in the House?
– Committee Chairs
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Pigeon-hole it
Add too many amendments
Schedule more hearings
Pork/earmark it to death
– Rules Committee
• Schedule debate for Sunday or non-existent date
• Schedule for late at night, early in morning, etc…
• Don’t put it on the calendar
– From the Floor
• Add pork/earmarks/ amendments
How a Bill…
• How can we kill it in the Senate?
– Filibuster: talk it to death!
– Rule of 60 limits debate to 30 minutes per
member (Cloture Rule)
– Non-germane amendments
– pork/earmarks
– Majority Leader can refuse to call bill out to the
floor
– Etc…
Filibuster!
How Members Vote
• Representative’s View
– They think they vote to please their constituency
– Problem: no real consensus among constituents
on most issues
– Reality: most vote w/ party
How Members Vote
• Organizational View
– Assumes ideology effect vote (just party!)
– House more like the voters than Senate
– 80-90% of votes are partisan
– Yellow Dog Democrats: conservatives from South
(Nunn, Byrd, Hefflin, etc…)
– Blue Dog Democrats: moderates from
Midwest/South (Clinton, Landrieau, etc…)
– CATS: Conservative Action Team (Ron Paul is one)
Evolution of Congress
• House Dominates 1920-60’s
– Powerful Chairs from South
– Long apprenticeship for new members (wait for
someone to die so you could move up!)
– Small staff
1970’s-1980’s
• Growth in staff size (4-5 to as many as 40)
• Committees more democratic; Chairs lost
some power
• More independence for members ; less party
control
• More focused on re-election
• More amendments to bills (pork/earmarks)
• Increase in filibusters
Reassertion of Congressional Power
over the President begins in 1970’s
• Reaction to Watergate and Vietnam
• War Powers Act (1973)- limit powers of
Commander-in-Chief
• Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act
1974 (take $ back from Executive Branch)
• Increased requirement for a legislative veto
sought (take power from Pres by vote of
Congress)
The End of Congress!
Unit V
The Executive Branch
Presidents v. Prime Ministers
• Prime Ministers:
- Prime Ministers are chosen by the Parliament
from the Parliament (majority party)
– Cabinet members are chosen by Parliament from
Parliament (majority party)
– Only remain in power as long as his/her party has
the majority/coalition approval
– Can be terminated without cause
– Have limited ability to check other branches
Differences
• Presidents are often outsiders; PM always from
majority
• President’s choose Cabinet from wherever they
like, PM’s stuck with whoever is given to them by
Parliament
• Presidents has no guarantee of a majority in
Congress (even if from same party!); PM always
has a majority
• Presidents and Congress frequently work at cross
purposes; PMs and Parliament work as a team
Powers of Presidency
• Exclusive Powers:
– Commander-in-Chief of the Military
Commission Officer of the Armed
Services
Call Special Sessions of Congress
• Not since 1948; Congress hasn’t adjourned!
Executive Clemency
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Pardons
Commutations
Amnesty
Reprieves
Receive Ambassadors and Diplomats
Sees that laws are “faithfully
executed”
Appointment Power
• Lesser officials that do not need the Senate’s
confirmation
• Chief of Staff and other political personnel
“serve at the pleasure of the President”
Powers SHARED with the Senate
• Making treaties
• Requires Senate ratification
Appointing Ambassadors, Diplomats,
Judges, Justices, and other “high
officials” (Cabinet-Rank)
• Requires Senate confirmation
Powers Shared with both Houses of
Congress
• Budget and Laws
Real Presidential power lies in politics
and public opinion
• Can increase ability to influence Congress–
they have very broad statutory power
• President is expected by the people to be the
leader of the Nation (and “free world”)
LBJ gives Senator from Maine the
“treatment”
Presidential Qualifications
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Natural-born Citizen
35 years of age
14 year residency in US
Can’t have already served more than 1 and ½
terms as President
• Can’t hold any other elective or appointive
office
Presidential Selection
• See your notes….. We already covered this in
our unit on political participation!
Presidential Succession and Removal
• What happens if the President dies in office?
– 25th Amendment sets up the order of succession
– V-Pres
– Speaker
– Pres Pro Tempore of Senate
– Sect State
– Sect Treas.
– Sect Def
– Etc…
What happens if the President is sick?
• How sick?
– Too ill to do his job with little chance of recovery?
– 25th Amendment would allow removal by
Congress if VP and majority of Cabinet agreed he
was too ill
Presidential Succession
• The VP who will succeed to the Presidency is
required to nominate a new Vice President
– Must be confirmed by the Senate
– Must be qualified to become President
– Agnew and Nixon resignations
Impeachment Process
• Indictment/ impeachment by the House (majority
vote);
• Must be charged with either treason, bribery, or
“high crimes”
• Trial in the Senate
– Senate serves as jury
– Chief Justice presides
– 2/3rds vote to be found guilty and removed from
office
– 2/3rds of those present and voting is the standard
Office of the President
• The White House Office
– President’s closest personal and political advisors
– Some experts, most worked on campaign
– Influence of staff related to closeness of office to
the Oval (Rule of Proximity)
– Serve “at the pleasure of the President”
– Need no Senate confirmation
– Can be fired without cause
Executive Office of the President (EOP)
• Composed of agencies and Directors that
report directly to the President
• Appointments require Senate confirmation
• OMB is most important
– Assembles budget
– Develops reorganization plans
– Reviews legislative proposals of all agencies
The Cabinet
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Appointed by Pres; confirmed by Senate
Each heads one of the 15 Departments
Job is to advocate, administer, and advise
Secretaries appoint/hire most other Dept staff
Custom used differently by each President
Independent Agencies
• Heads appointed by Pres and confirmed by
Senate
• Quasi-independent
• Heads can be removed only for cause
• Terms are generally 6 years
Who gets appointed?
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President knows only a few personally
Most have federal experience
Have to consider related interest groups
Often see rivalry between Cabinet Secretaries
and White House staff over appointments
• Campaign experience a plus
Power of the President to Persuade
• Trying to persuade 3 groups:
– Politicians and leadership in DC
– Party activists and officials outside “the beltway”
– The various “publics”
Popularity and Influence
• Presidents try to transform their popularity
into support in Congress (health care reform)
• Influence of the President’s coat-tails is small
and fleeting
• Members of Congress not eager to challenge a
popular President
• Popularity always highest right after election
(Honeymoon Period)
• Popularity will decline by mid-term
Power of the President to say NO!
• Veto
– Regular
– Veto Message
– Pocket Veto
– Congress rarely gets to over-ride (requires 2/3rds
vote)
Executive Privilege
• Can keep confidential communications
between President and his advisors
• Justification:
– Separation of powers
– Need for candid advise
• US v. Nixon: Court rejected Nixon’s claim of
absolute privilege. Can claim only if:
– National Security would be damaged
– International Relations would be in jeopardy
Impoundment of Funds
• Presidents refusal to spend money
appropriated by Congress (Nixon)
• Countered by Budget Reform Act of 1974
– Requires President to notify Congress that he does
not intend to spend funds
– Congress must agree
The “Most Powerful Office in the
World” has limitations
• Congress
– Can over-ride veto
– Can deny funding
– Can use War Powers Act to limit military
commitments
– Can refuse to confirm appointments
– Can refuse to ratify treaties
– Etc….
Courts
• Can declare actions to be unconstitutional
People
• President need the peoples’ good will to get
Congress to do his will.
• Approval rating=power
• Needs to get re-elected to stay in power
• HISTORY!
Bureaucracy
• Carry out the President’s responsibilities
• Selective enforcement
• They’ll be around 20-30 years, he has 4-8
years.
The END!