2.1
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Seventh amendment- ratified 1913, broadened democracy by giving the people of the
state the right to elect their senators
House members ○ 2 year terms
○ must consider popular opinions or unsatisfied voters will vote them out
○ States get house seats based on population, census data
Senators○ 6 year terms long terms
○ allow them to refine the popular ideas of the House
○ reelection rate is nearly 90%
○ There are always 100 senators
Bills can originate in either chamber, but tax proposals or revenue laws must originate in
the house
Identical bills must pass through both chambers by majority vote in order to be signed by
the president
Caucuses- groups of like-minded people within congress
○ Congresspeople can be in many different caucuses
○ Each party has a caucus, they meet to elect their leaders and set agendas
○ There are caucuses for specific interests
○ Can have closed-door meeting
○ Not part of the official law-making process
○ Congresspeople can from ideas and strategies in caucuses but must introduce
bills through the official committee system
Congress has enumerated powers per article 1 section 8 of the constitution
○ Power of the purse- power to raise revenue
■ Congress spends tax money through lawmaking process
■ Committees for budgeting and appropriations
○ Regulate commerce
■ Interstate and intrastate commerce
■ Used broadly over the years
○ Foreign and military affairs
■ Raises forces
■ Conscription procedures (enlistment)
■ Declare war
■ Certain things related to military spending
■ Does not have the power to deploy troops or receive ambassadors
(executive)
■ As a result of the Gulf of Tonkin and Vietnam, the War Powers Act was
created to require the president to inform congress 48 hours before
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deploying troops. Also includes 60 day voting period for congress to
approve any use of military force/funding
Implied powers- necessary and proper clause of the constitution grants this
○ Can make laws in order to take care of issues related to enumerated powers
○ Congress has used the clause to expand its power over the years, sparking
debate
Differing powers for the house and senate
○ House
■ Priority on revenue bills
■ Select president if electoral college fails to vote majority
■ Impeach a president or federal officer
○ Senate
■ Advice and consent power allows senators to recommend or reject major
presidential appointments (cabinet members and federal judges)
■ High level presidential appointments must pass senate approval
■ Stronger powers related to foreign affairs
● ⅔ majority vote on any treaty the president organizes with a
foreign nation
■ ⅔ approval on impeachment charge (must be created and passed in the
house before it goes to the senate)
2.2
2.2 Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress
Policy Making Structures and Processes
● The parties create leadership positions to guide their party members, move legislation,
and carry out party goals
● Majority party- the one with the most members, able to set the agenda
-Leadership
● Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, president pro tempore of the Senate
● Four party caucuses (party membership in each house) gather after elections to
determine choices for Speaker/ other leadership positions
● Public vote once Congress opens, leaders oversee organization of Congress, help form
committees and proceed with the legislative agenda
● House Leaders
○ Speaker of the House- only House leadership in the Constitution
○ Leader of the majority party, influential
○ majority/ minority leaders (floor leader)- direct debate/ spokespersons
○ Whip (deputy leader)- ensures party members are professional, keeps a tally of
votes to determine best time to vote, political favors or endorsements
Leadership in Congress
● Senate leaders- VP is the non voting President of the Senate, can break tie votes
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President pro tempore- temporary president held by the most senior member of the
majority party, presides over Senate in absence of the VP, signs legislation, issuing oath
of office to new senators (25 amendment)
● Senate majority leader- more influential, sets legislative calendar, determines which bills
reach the floor, guides party caucus on issues/ party strategy
● Less formal rules for Senate so members can address colleagues more easily
● Whips and conference chair- serves same purpose as the House
Committees
● Smaller groups draft more precise laws than the entirety of the House/ Senate
● Standing committees- permanent committees focused on a particular policy area are
called standing committees
● Committee chairpersons are senior members in the majority party, majority party always
the majority in a committee
● Vice chair- senior committee member from minority party
● Senate’s advice and consent rule- committees hold executive hearings
● Democrat Steering and Policy Committee, Republican Committee on Committees
● Joint committees- House + Senate- routine management and research
● Temporary select committees- particular or short-lived purpose
● Conference committee- bill passes both houses but in slightly different forms- irons out
differences in the bill
● Committees oversee how executive agencies administer laws
Committees and Rules Unique to the House
● House and Senate follow Robert’s Rules of Order
● House has rules that limit debate, legislators can offer germane amendments to a billdirectly related to legislation
● House Rules Committee- allows bills to reach the floor, reflects will of House leadership,
assigns bills to committees
● Committee of the Whole- all representatives, allows longer debate
● Discharge petition- bring a bill out of a reluctant committee, prevents minority from
stopping majority
Rules and Procedures Unique to the Senate
● Less centralized and hierarchical than the House with less restrictions
● Presiding officer has little control over who speaks
● Able to propose nongermane amendments- add amendments on whatever
● Filibuster- blocks a nomination or lets the time run out on a deadline for voting on a bill
○ Senate procedure that any senator may invoke to wear down the opposition
● Unanimous consent- approval of all senators
● Hold- measure to stall a bill
● Before senate takes action, requires unanimous consent to suspend debate
○ Cloture rule- enabled ⅔ supermajority to stop debate on a bill, changed to ⅗
● Foreign Policy Functions
○ Senate can ratify/ deny treaties with other countries, confirms US ambassadors
○ Federalist 75- Senate is less fluctuating
The Legislative Process
● Article 1- each house determines its own rules (bicameral system)
-How a Bill Becomes Law
● Chart on p 116
-Introducing and Amending Bills
● Only House/ Senate members can introduce a bill (sponsor), but staffers/ lobbyists/
White House liaisons often write it
● When sponsor presents it, bill is officially numbered S.1 or H.R.1
● Riders- nongermane amendments added to benefit another’s agenda or to improve its
political chances
● Omnibus bill- includes multiple areas of law or addresses multiple programs, long string
of riders that delivers projects a legislators can take home
● Pork-Barrel Spending- funds earmarked for specific purposes in a legislator’s district
● A lot more PBS in recent years, tarnished Congress’s reputation
-Assigning Bills to Committee
● Senate majority leader and House Rules Committee assign bills to committees
● Occasionally multiple committees have overlapping jurisdiction (referral status- same
time or sequential referral status- one over the other)
● Three stages- hearings (if committee calls for it, discussion happens), markup
(committee members amend bill), and reporting out (goes to House/ Senate floor)
○ Further amendments likely added
○ Committee chair can pigeonhole bill- not move it forward to debate
-Voting on Bills
● Legislators hold town hall meeting, examine polls, read mail to know what ppl want
● Sometimes they vote over a grudge, as a favor, or for their conscience
● Logrolling- trading votes to gain support, able to secure a vote for a bill of their own
Generating a Budget
● Budgeting process begins with budget proposal from executive branch, involves both
houses, agencies, and interest groups
● Office of Management and Budget- established budgeting process with the
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act
● OMB considers needs of all federal departments and agencies, philosophy of the
president, federal revenues
● Stages of reconciling budget (passing changes by simple majority)
○ Congress sets levels of revenues/ expenditures, size of budget surplus, spending
priorities
○ Senate Finance Committee
● Congressional Budget Office examines OMB and serves as a check to it
● Sources of Revenue
○ Individual income taxes**, corporate taxes, social insurance taxes, tariffs and
excise taxes, other sources (interest/ estate taxes)
-Mandatory Spending
● Payment required by law (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment, funds for
people in temporary need of help)
● Deficit- difference between spending and revenue
● Government has to borrow money to pay for that deficit, loans add to national debt
● Interest payments on national debt must be part of the budget
Discretionary Spending
● Funding that congressional committees debate and decide how to divide up
● Pays for everything else not required under mandatory spending
● Human Resources more than half of DS
● Conservatives argue for reducing social programs responsible for mandatory spending
● Liberals argue the rich can bear a burden of higher taxes, social programs vital
2.3
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Congress’ effectiveness is based on its ideological division, which means that the more
congress shares opinions and ideas on how to run the country, the more agreements will
be made
Gridlock- caused by growing partisanship; prevention of ideas from moving forward
Reshaping of house voting districts has created one-party rule in several districts,
making it too easy for one party to be elected and too hard for the other
Polarization has increased a lot recently- there was virtually none in the 1950s-1970s
○ This has to do with rise of conflict between liberals and conservatives;
ideologically alignment
○ Party-line voting is way more common; and voting opposite of your party is often
dangerous
Voting models:
○ Legislators following the leadership and will of their party is called “organizational
way”
○ “Delegate model” is followed when a legislator tries to reflect the will of their
supporters/voters
■ More common in the house
○ “Trustee model” is when reps believe they are trusted by their voters to make the
best decisions on their behalf
■ May disregard what their supporters want in actuality
■ More common in the senate
○ “Politico model” blends trustee and delegate models, reps consider a variety of
factors. When there is little public concern, they may do what make sense to
them, but when it concerns popular opinion, they may vote to appease the public
Census is ordered every ten years, so the reshaping of districts influences behavior of
congress
○ Redistricting process cause conflicts within parties because this can affect who
gets elected and thus how much power each party has
○ Enormous impact on public policy
○ Landmark decision in 1962 opened the door for the Supreme court to have a say
in making districts as fair as possible
Gerrymandering- illogical district lines created in order to give advantage to one party
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Safe seats= districts where a party wins consistently by more than 55% of the votes
Marginal seats/swing districts= closer elections
This is an issue because it means the same officials and/or the same party will stay in
power for a long time, which means the will of the party is followed more closely and they
are less willing to compromise
Large number of safe seats for both parties today- encourages officials to take a far left
or right position in order to be elected
So, less legislation that appease the middle (majority of americans) is ever passed
Has also made the primary election vastly more important than the general
○ More conservative republicans and more liberal democrats are preferred over
moderates because they are less likely to compromise
○ Those who challenge incumbents will use past compromises against them, and
are motivated by special interests
Racial gerrymandering = drawing districts on the basis of race
○ Has been used to dilute the votes of african americans
○ Violates 15th amendment voting rights
showdowns!
○ Divided government = president and house/senate are dominated by different
parties
■ Creates partisan gridlock
● Especially true when it comes to electing supreme court judges
since they must be selected by the president and approved by
congress
○ Lame-duck president= at the end of their term and has not won re-election or has
already had two terms
■ Opposing party rules the senate, so when the president is lame duck,
they may refuse to approve things until the term has ended
■ Highlights partisan divide in government
○ Real debate has been replaced in the congress by orchestrated speeches,
lawmakers fight for media spotlight. Much of politics in now theatrical
○ Congress has gotten a bad public reputation; many argue they would rather
argue amongst each other than get anything done
○ Congress has a low approval rating amongst citizens, however, most citizens
would approve of their representatives