THE US CONGRESS
The US Congress is one of the most powerful
legislative organs in the world with very strong
independent checks on the executive (the
president) and some control over the judiciary.
The US Congress is bicameral, symmetrical and
congruent.
The House of Representatives is the lower house.
The Senate is the upper house.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 The House of Representatives represents the people on the basis of
population.
 There are 435 representatives (fixed number since 1911) who need to
be at least 25 years of age and a citizen of the country for at least 7
years.
 Term of office is 2 years; representatives can be endlessly reelected.
 They are directly elected by the people in the states in single member
constituencies (electoral districts) according to the plurality formula.
 States determine the boundaries of their constituencies. From these
districts only one representative, who receives the highest number of
votes, is elected.
Although the US Congress is symmetrical, there are
two main powers that are unique to the House of
Representatives (only the House has them):
Tax bills (or revenue bills) originate here!
Only the House can bring impeachment charges!
THE SENATE
The Senate represents the federal units of the American
federal state (that is the “states”) on an equal basis.
There are 100 senators (2 representatives for the 50
states) who need to be at least 30 years of age and a
citizen of the country for at least 9 years.
Term of office is 6 years; senators can be endlessly
reelected.
They are directly elected by the people in the states since
1913 (earlier state legislators elected the senators).
Since the very first elections to the Senate, one-third of
the senators are renewed every 2 years.
So every two years, there are congressional
elections; all representatives of the House of
Representatives and one-third of senators of
the Senate stand for election!
Although the two chambers have equal legislative
powers (symmetrical bicameral assembly), the Senate is
considered more prestigious!
The members of the US Congress start their political
careers in the House, gain experience there, and then
run for the Senate!
A modern day senator does not go back to the House
after serving in the Senate!
WHY?
The two senators from all of the 50 states are elected for six
years and serve three times more than a representative.
Furthermore, they are more publicly known figures as
compared to representatives who serve only for two years
within a group of other representatives!
For example, California (the most populous state) has 53
representatives and 2 senators!
Although the US Congress is symmetrical, there are three main
powers that are unique to the Senate (only the Senate has them):
* The Senate ratifies (“gives advise and consent”) international
treaties by a 2/3rds majority!
* The Senate has to confirm the executive (presidential)
nominations to the high level judiciary (Supreme Court as well as
other federal courts), high level bureaucracy, and the cabinet!
* The Senate “tries” impeachments, that is it is the Senate that
makes the final decision whether or not the president or federal
judges will be impeached!
MAIN FIGURES IN THE US CONGRESS
The House of Representatives
The Speaker
The Senate
The President Pro Tempore
The Majority Leader
The Majority Leader
The Minority Leader
The Minority Leader
The Majority Whip
The Majority Whip
The Minority Whip
The Minority Whip
The Speaker is the presiding officer (leader) of the
House of Representatives.
At the beginning of every new Congress, the members
of each party gather to elect their own candidates to
the post, then they nominate that person.
Since representatives almost always vote for the
candidate of their party, whichever party has more
seats in the House of Representatives, that party’s
candidate is elected as the Speaker (an absolute
majority of the votes cast is necessary).
The Speaker is the highest ranking officer in the
Congress and second-in-line behind the vice-president
to succeed the president.
The Speaker is mainly responsible for conducting House
meetings and sending bills to relevant committees.
The President Pro Tempore is the second highest official in the
Congress after the Speaker.
Since 1947, this person is third-in-line to succeed the president,
after the vice president and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
"Pro Tempore" is a Latin term meaning "for the time being".
According to the US Constitution, the vice-president is the
formal presiding officer of the US Senate.
However, the Senate also has to choose a temporary
presiding officer when the vice-president is not there to
administer Senate meetings.
Since 1890, the most senior senator in the majority party
has generally been chosen to be president pro tempore, it
is primarily a ceremonial and honorary position.
In practice, neither the vice president nor the
president pro tempore usually presides; instead,
the duty of presiding officer is rotated among
junior U.S. senators.
The Majority and Minority Leaders
(both in the House and in the Senate)
 Whichever party (the Republican Party or the Democratic Party) has
more seats in whichever chamber (the House or the Senate), that party
is called the “majority party”.
 Whichever party (the Republican Party or the Democratic Party) has less
seats in whichever chamber (the House or the Senate), that party is
called the “minority party”.
 The majority and minority leaders are those people who are elected by
the representatives and/or the senators to represent their own parties in
the relevant chamber of the Congress. They act as the chief strategists
and spokespersons of their parties.
The Majority and Minority Whips
(both in the House and in the Senate)
“Whip” is a term coming from the British Parliament and it is
originally a fox-hunting term.
The whipper-in was the person responsible for keeping the
hounds from leaving the pack!
In politics, it refers to someone who is responsible to maintain
party discipline among the MPs, especially in terms of attending
the voting after the debates and vote along party lines.
It is the same for the whips in the US Congress.
They are also elected by their respective parties.
They try to get information on the position of
representatives or the senators in a vote and try to
persuade them to vote along the main party line.
To keep the pack together as much as possible!
LEGISLATION IN THE US CONGRESS
Almost anyone can propose a bill (draft legislation) to the
Congress: the president, cabinet members, lobby groups,
ordinary citizens, professionals, scholars, research institutes, etc.
However, only a member of the Congress, either a
representative or a senator, can officially submit the bill.
Only senators can introduce bills in the Senate and only
representatives can introduce bills in the House.
Except for revenue bills, the bills may be first introduced to either
of the chambers or to both simultaneously.
The revenue bills have to be introduced to the
House of Representatives first!
(one of the unique powers of the House of Representatives).
In the US Congress most of the legislative work is done in
committees, or congressional work groups with
specific areas of jurisdiction.
The most important committees are the standing committees,
known as “little legislators”!
There are also several sub-committees where there is further
specialization.
There are 20 standing committees in the
House of Representatives:
Agriculture; Appropriations; Armed Services; Budget; Education
and Labor; Energy and Commerce; Ethics; Financial Services;
Foreign Affairs; Homeland Security; House Administration;
Judiciary; Natural Resources; Oversight and Reform; Rules;
Science, Space, and Technology; Small Business; Transportation
and Infrastructure; Veterans' Affairs; Ways and Means.
There are 16 standing committees in the Senate:
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Appropriations; Armed
Services; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Budget;
Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Energy and Natural
Resources; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Foreign
Relations; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions;
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Judiciary,
Rules and Administration; Small Business and
Entrepreneurship; Veterans' Affairs.
Committees work in a kind of
seniority system, that is more experienced members of
the Congress who have consecutive service on the
committees have priority in committee leadership.
PROCESS OF LEGISLATION IN
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 In the House of Representatives, once a bill finds a “sponsor” (the
representative who puts his/her signature to the bill), it is placed in
a wooden box attached to the side of the clerk’s desk, known as
“The Hopper”!
After a bill is placed in The Hopper, the House Clerk's
office assigns the bill a legislative number.
Then the Speaker sends it to the relevant
House committee.
The chair of the committee assigns the bill to a
subcommittee, which starts “hearings”.
A hearing refers to formal proceedings in which experts
are called to testify on the bill, to explain the
pros and cons of the bill.
The bill may be rejected at the sub-committee stage,
then it dies, or it is buried!
But if accepted, it is sent to the full committee.
The committee may reject the bill, if that happens it dies.
It may accept the bill or may propose amendments, in
that case the bill goes to the House Rules Committee.
The House Rules Committee is responsible for:
1) Regulating the traffic in the House, in other words it
determines the schedule of the House. It directs the flow of
the bills through the legislative process, by specifying the
date and time allotted to the discussion of the bills at the
House Floor.
2) Specifying the “rule” for the bill, which can be open,
closed, or restrictive.
“Open rule” means that amendments are allowed to the bill
while it is being discussed at the House Floor.
“Closed rule” means that amendments are not allowed to the bill
while it is being discussed at the House Floor.
“Restrictive rule” means that partial amendments are allowed to
the bill while it is being discussed at the House Floor.
Another important thing is that the House Rules Committee may
also block the bill by not sending it to the House Floor.
But if the bill passes all steps and comes to the House
Floor, it needs to be supported by at least
218 representatives (absolute majority).
If not it dies!
PROCESS OF LEGISLATION IN THE SENATE
In the Senate, the bill is placed on the desk of
the presiding officer of the Senate/the Senate leader.
The leader then sends it to the relevant Senate
committee.
From then on, the steps of legislation are similar as is the
case in the House of Representatives.
The chair of the committee assigns the bill to a sub-committee,
which starts “hearings”.
The bill may be rejected at the sub-committee stage, then it
dies, or it is buried!
But if accepted, it is sent to the full committee.
The committee may reject the bill, if that happens it dies.
It may accept the bill or may propose amendments, then the
bill comes to the Senate Floor.
In the Senate there is no Rules Committee and no
limitations on the senators to speak (unlimited debate).
Sometimes they resort to “filibustering”!
WHAT IS FILIBUSTERING?
 Filibustering is a political strategy or a tactic used by minority senators
who want to delay a vote on a bill as long as possible.
 The senators keep the Senate Floor busy by talking over long hours.
 If filibustering is resorted by a group of senators, they yield the floor to
each other.
 They attempt to block a vote on a bill which they strongly oppose!
The remarks may not even be related to the issue that
they oppose.
The senators may talk gibberish!
They may give detailed instructions for cooking, read
aloud from children’s books or phone directories, they
may even sing!
The longest filibuster speech in the Senate's history was
delivered by Strom Thurmond, who talked more than 24 hours
in order to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
He failed!
Filibustering is an effective tool used by minority senators who seek
recognition and who want to show how strongly they oppose the bill.
If there is the threat of a filibuster, a bill may be put to the agenda later, or
the supporters of the bill may be persuaded to accept certain changes in
the bill that they do not necessarily want.
Sometimes the filibusters may actually work.
Filibusters can be stopped by a “cloture motion” given by
60 senators (3/5ths).
When that happens filibustering ends and the Senate starts its
floor discussions.
51 votes are sufficient for a bill to be accepted.
In order to become law, a bill accepted by both chambers
should pass in the same form, with identical wording.
For that to happen a “Conference Committee” is formed.
This committee is composed of the senior members
of the Congress from both chambers appointed by
the Speaker of the House and
the Presiding officer of the Senate.
The Conference Committee prepares a new version
of the bill that reconciles the differences between
the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The US Congress is a symmetrical bicameral assembly, so:
When a bill is proposed:
* If either one of the two chambers rejects the bill, it dies.
* If either of the two chambers rejects the compromise
version of the bill prepared by the Conference Committee,
the bill dies!