*A term is the meeting period of
Congress.
*Each term has two sessions. Sessions
always begin on January 3rd.
*The terms of Congress are numbered.
*We are currently in the 113th term of
Congress.
» 1. Committees
» 2. Leadership
» 3. Party
*Majority party – the political party
with more members in either house
of Congress
*Minority party – the political party
with fewer members in either house
of Congress
*The Majority Party gets to pick the
leaders
231 Republicans
204 Democrats
Speaker of
the House
John Boehner, R-OH
Majority
Party Leader
Minority
Party Leader
Majority
Whip
Minority
Whip
President of
the Senate
(Always U.S.
V.P.)
Pat Leahy – D, VT
President
Pro Tempore
Majority
Party Leader
Minority
Party Leader
Majority
Whip
Minority
Whip
Breaking into committees allows members of
Congress to handle the workload of having to
consider thousands of bills that are introduced
each term.
There are four major types of committees:
Standing, Select, Joint, and Conference
You will read about each of these for homework
on pages 225-226. After your reading, you will
choose two out of the four to compare and
contrast with a Venn diagram.