Congress and The Presidency Class Notes
I.
Congress
1. Empowered by Article 1 section 8
1-17 Enumerated or Delegated powers
#18 The Elastic Clause (stretches the delegated powers to become)
Implied Powers.
Congress “…shall have the power to make all laws necessary and proper to
carry into effect the fore going powers…”.
2. Loose Constructionists - believe Congress should liberally stretch the 17
Delegated powers to meet any and all the problems confronting society.
Strict Constructionists - believe Congress should conservatively stretch the
17 delegated powers only when absolutely necessary to meet only the most
serious problems confronting society.
3. Concurrent Powers – shared by the States and Federal governments
(Congress).
Two basic powers need to operate govt.
A. “Power of the Purse” – power to raise money to operate the govt.
(Revenue = income for govt.) The Federal govt. could only collect taxes
from States, however the 16th amendment (1913) allows Congress to collect
individual income tax.
B. “Power of the Sword” (the power to enforce their laws).
Congress Article 1-8 states, “to provide for calling forth the militia to
execute (carryout) the laws of the Union, suppress (put down) insurrections
(rebellions) and repel (drive back) invasions.
4. Powers denied to Congress by the Constitution
Cannot suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus (speedy arraignment) except in
times of rebellion and invasion.
a. Cannot pass Bills of Attainder(legislative act declaring people
guilty
without a trial)
b. Cannot create Ex Post Facto Laws. (laws that declare an act a crime
after the act has been done).
5. How does a Bill become a Law ?
Step 1: Bill Introduction into the House of Representatives and the
Senate
a. Must be introduced by a Congressional Representative.(1 of the 535)
b. Presiding officer sends it to committees
c. Tax laws start in the House of Representatives because Article 1
requires that revenue (tax) bills can only be a started in the house, because
it was originally closest to the people).
Step 2 : Committee System
There are 250 committees and sub committees. Standing committees have
legislative jurisdiction. Each committee member comes from a majority
political party. The bill is forwarded to the appropriate committee for review
and amendments
a. The bill is debated and expert witnesses may testify
b. Amendments are attached if necessary.
1. Methods for getting bills considered or killed:
i. “Christmas Tree” Bill- a bill that makes it to the Senate floor and
is adorned with amendments that give benefits to special interest groups.
This tactic usually kills a bill.
ii. Pork Barrel Amendments – a bill that has amendments attached
to it so it is attractive to other Senators vote. If too fat with amendments
the chances of passing are slim. (Costly)
iii. Logrolling- is the trading of votes between Senators, which
may cross committee lines. “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”.
iv. Killing a Bill – most bills (98%) do not make it through their
committees.
2. Motivations for a Senator:
i. Re-election Motivation—the bill directly affects the State.
ii. Motivation by Leadership—assisting in passing the bill with the
promise of a committee chairmanship
iii. Seeking Higher Office- active participation, taking a key position,
and name recognition on important bills
iv. Serving Constituents- having their voters best interest in mind.
(Source: ICONS, Univ of MD Senate Simulation)
Step 3: House Rules Committee
The bill is discussed by the entire house
Step 4: House and Senate Floor
a. The Bill is debated and voted on by the entire House of
Representatives and the Senate separately. The bill may be of the same
language or similar.
B. House time allotment is 30 mins per Rep. The Senate has no
time limit and a technique called Filibustering is used to stop the
momentum of a bill in order to prevent its passage. ***(The longest
filibuster was by So.Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond 24hrs and 18min during
the Civil Rights Act of 1957 debate) One way to stop a filibuster is by
Cloture- a vote by Senators. 60 votes are needed.
Step 5: Conference Committee
a. The Bill is introduced a joint committee of House of
Representatives and Senators to resolve their differences.
b. Compromised bills is sent back to the House of Representative
and the Senate Floor
Step 6: The President
a. Bill is given to the President, who has 2 options.
b. Sign it into law or if the President wish not to have his name
attached to the passage of the bill, then he does nothing and the bill will
automatically become law.
c. Veto- is sensitive to the time left to the Congressional Session
1. less than 10 days left---Pres. Does not send the bills back.
This is known as a Pocket Veto.
2. more than 10 days he must send it back to Congress. This
veto can be overridden by 2/3rds vote in each house
II.
The Presidency
1. Constitutional Roles
a. Leadership " Chief Executive"
The Presidents chief responsibilities include giving leadership to the immense U.S.
Government (3 million people/ 1 Trillion dollar budget) and recommending a
workable budget to Congress.
i. Directs the work of his cabinet heads. Click Here to see the Cabinet
In George Washington's administration he had 4 cabinet heads. Today there are -soon to be # cabinet positions.
ii. Enforces all Federal Laws
iii. Supervises agencies that assist him in his duties as President examples;
1.
OMB (Office of Management and Budget)-prepares a spending plan for the yr.
2. CIA (Central Intelligent Agency) gathers info on foreign matters for national
security
3. FBI (Fed Bur of Inv). Investigates Federal law violations
4. NASA (Nat’l Aeronautic + Space Admin) directs space exploration
B. Military Leader “Commander in Chief”
…of the armed forces. He out ranks every General and Admiral.
i. highest military rank
ii. approves major military decisions
C. Legislative Leader
i. Veto’s or signs Act of Congress into laws
D. Diplomatic Leader
i. Makes treaties (with 2/3rds congressional approval).
ii. Receives foreign ambassadors
iii. Nominates U.S. ambassadors (with Senate approval). ex. 1803 Thomas
Jefferson made a treaty with France – the Louisiana Purchase. The President is the
chief maker of foreign policy
E. Ceremonial Leader “Chief of State”
The President plays both roles as head of government and of the State, where in
other places it is done by 2 different people. Great Britain queen= Chief of State
(ceremonial)
Prime Minister =chief executive.
F. Judicial Role
i. grants pardons (forgiveness for a Federal crime)
**President Ford pardons former President Nixon
ii. grants reprieves (delay of punishment)
iii. nominates Supreme Court justices
2. Extra- Constitutional Roles
A. World Leader – the President represents one of the most militarily and
economically strongest nations in the world and has great influence in international
events
B. Emergency Director- In case of emergencies Federal Disaster Areas because of
natural disaster (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods) the Pres. Mobilizes federal
resources.
C. Manager of Prosperity- takes corrective action to balance recessions and
depressions.
D. Voice of the People- the Pres. Represents the felings of the entire nation and
projects this in the many avenues of the media---speeches.
E. Head of the Political Party-candidates are selected by caucuses (“insider
groups”) but the Pres represents the head of the Party.
3. The Election Process
every 4 years (2nd Tues in November).
i. Nomination (selection) of candidates
Presidential candidates seeks nomination by the Democratic, Republican, or minority
party.
a. Q: How does a candidate get selected? A: by the delegates at that parties
National Convention?
b. Q: How are the convention delegates chosen? A: Through primary
elections.
ii. Primary Elections- voters registered under a particular party choose (elect) a
candidate and delegates to the National Convention. (This election takes place,
usually in the summer before the fall election). Each party holds a convention.
Candidates chosen in a state primary receives most of that state’s delegates votes.
(In recent years, a single candidate in each party won enough primary votes to be
assured of a nomination)
The Presidential candidate usually selects their running mate or VP
iii. The Fall Campaign
The nominees “running mates” travel around the nation and appear on TV seeking
votes for the November election.
iv. The Electoral College
Electors who are authorized by the US Constitution cast ballots for Pres. And VP.
People (US population of registered voters) vote for a President on election day (Nov
4th) The Candidate who wins the plurality (highest number) of a states, popular vote
(cast by the people) wins all the electoral votes. A states’ electors make up its
electoral college. The electors cast ballots for Pres. And VP about 1 month after the
Nov. election. Almost, always electors cast their ballots for the candidate favored by
the plurality of Voters.
If there are more than 2 major candidates and no one wins more than 50%
(majority) of electoral ballots, the election is decided in the House of Representatives.
(Electors assigned to the state= 2 Senators plus the number of rep’s for the
state. Ex. California has 2 Senators + 45 Rep’s = 47 electors). NY has 31 electoral
votes. There are 538 electoral votes – 435 Rep’s + 100 Senators + 3 for D.C. A
candidate must receive a majority of the votes (270).
*****”Rubber stamp vote”
and
“Winner takes all”
Presidential Election Process
Primaries: State Primaries “Party Vote” for delegates
Democrats
Republicans
Other
Candidate B
Candidate C
National Conventions
Fall Election
Electoral College
Candidate A
Popular Vote for Electors
Electoral College Vote
President Of The United States (Cabinet Positions)
Secretary of:
Agriculture
Defense
Energy
Treasury
Transportation
Commerce
Education
Justice
Labor
Veterans Affairs
Health and Human Services
Housing and Urban Development
Interior
State
(Home Land Security)