Structure of the House of Representatives
Committees and the Iron Triangle
The committee system dominates the House of Representatives. It is within committees that much
of the daily work of the House is completed. Committees meet to discuss specific policies, work to
control the congressional agenda, and guide legislation as it progresses through Congress until it is
either signed or vetoed by the president. Representatives can be members of several different
committees during any given session.
There are four different types of House committees. The first type, standing committees, are
always assembled and are the most important committees of the House. There are approximately 20
standing committees. Examples include the Agriculture, Budget, Rules, Ways and Means, and
Appropriations Committees. Standing committees handle bills within their areas of concern. Each
committee is broken into subcommittees that hold hearings, discuss proposed laws, add
amendments, and conduct oversight on the bureaucratic agency that corresponds to the committee’s
area of concern. Joint committees are congressional committees that draw members from both the
House and the Senate. They meet to discuss policy areas such as the economy and taxation.
Conference committees also draw members from both the House and the Senate. These
committees gain consensus on similar bills passed by the House and the Senate before they are
presented to the president. Select committees are appointed for specific purposes, such as
investigating a governmental situation or crisis.
A phenomenon that exists within the congressional committee system is the iron triangle. An iron
triangle is made up of congressional committees and subcommittees, corresponding
bureaucratic agencies, and the interest groups who are directly affected by the laws considered
by the committee. For example, the Armed Service Committee (House committee), the Defense
Department (bureaucratic agency), and Boeing Corporation (interest group) make a defense iron
triangle. These groups are tied together in a mutually dependent relationship and can dominate areas
of domestic policy making. Many such triangles exist in Congress.
Iron triangles can have both a positive and a negative impact on legislation. They have a positive
effect on policy making because the bureaucracy within the triangle is able to ensure that the laws
Congress passes are effective and practical. Another positive effect is that interest groups have a
direct say in the creation of legislation that affects their members. In addition, Congress can rely on
outside experts to ensure that they write legislation in a manner suitable to get the necessary tasks
accomplished.
Iron triangles may have a negative effect on legislation when the relationship between
committees—who are supposed to be watchdogs over the bureaucracy and departments of that
bureaucracy—becomes too comfortable. In addition, interest groups may overly influence the
outcome of legislation and encourage governmental waste or overspending on projects. For
example, in 2003, the Boeing Corporation and the U.S. Air Force constructed a refueling tanker
deal that would have delivered huge profits to the airplane manufacturer and possibly unneeded
aircraft for the military. Some say this deal was a result of improper dealings between members of
an iron triangle.
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Structure of the Senate
Power, Committees, and Debates
Power in the Senate is not as clearly defined as it is in the House, and it is much more widely
dispersed. Although the Constitution makes the vice president of the United States the president of
the Senate, the real power is held by the majority and minority leaders who dictate legislative
agenda. The party whips are the senators who ensure good communication among party members
and work with the party leaders to urge members to vote with the party on key issues. Due to their
key role, the whips retain a great deal of power, as well. As in the House, committee and subcommittee chairpersons also command significant power.
The Constitution delegates specific powers to the Senate. The power of confirmation gives the
Senate particular authority and influence over the president and the executive department.
The Senate has the power to confirm the most important presidential appointments, including major
heads of bureaucratic agencies, federal judges (including Supreme Court Justices), and top advisors
in the executive office. Senate hearings usually precede confirmations in the appropriate committee.
For example, the Justice Department Committee reviews the appointment of federal judges through
interviews and public hearings. “Senatorial courtesy” is the practice whereby the president, before
making a judicial appointment in a particular state, ensures that the senators from that state support
the nomination. When a candidate has made it through committee approval, a simple Senate
majority is required to confirm the appointment. The Senate also has the right to confirm treaties
and try impeached officials. A two-thirds vote is required for a treaty confirmation or to convict an
impeached official.
Senate committees operate similarly to the House committees. The Senate has 16 standing
committees that are further divided into subcommittees. Examples of Senate committees
include the Armed Services Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, and the Environment and
Public Works Committee. Members of the Senate also serve on joint, conference, and select
committees. As in the House of Representatives, senators try to serve on committees that will allow
them to affect legislation that will impact their home state. For example, a Nebraska senator will
seek a seat on the Agricultural Committee. Senators will also seek seats on the so-called “power”
committees (Appropriations, Armed Services, Judiciary, and Finance) to gain personal prestige
and help affect national policy.
The Senate is different from the House in how it conducts business and determines legislation.
Historically, the Senate has held itself out to be a contemplative body that is willing to spend more
time discussing legislation. Unlike the House, the Senate has open and unrestricted debate on bills.
In fact, one unique strategy used by senators to block legislation is the filibuster. A filibuster occurs
when opponents of a proposed piece of legislation debate the topic as long as possible to prevent the
Senate from voting on the bill. By refusing to sit down, a senator, or group of senators, can literally
“talk a bill to death.” Unwilling to yield the floor, the senators can force a motion that will end
proceedings on the bill. The longest filibuster was over 24 hours long and was carried out by South
Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond during a debate on a civil rights bill in the 1950s. The filibuster
failed, and the bill was made law in spite of Senator Thurmond’s efforts.
Despite its power, the filibuster can be deterred. A motion for cloture, or a vote to limit debate and
end a filibuster, can be entertained in the Senate. Senators voting on cloture usually vote along strict
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partisan lines, and as it requires a three-fifths majority (or 60 votes) to pass, parties that call for
cloture seldom succeed. The filibuster was once an extraordinary tactic that senators used sparingly
and seldom. However, it has become a common method used to defeat presidential appointments
and legislation that has the potential to split party loyalties. Many have sought to change the rules to
make filibustering difficult to enact.
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Passage of a Bill
Route of a Bill through Congress
A bill is a piece of legislation that has been proposed but has not been passed. Bills come from
many sources, such as politicians, private citizens, special interest groups, and the president.
However, only members of Congress have the right to introduce a bill for consideration. While
Congress is in session for a two-year term, its members introduce between 10,000 and 11,000 bills.
However, Congress passes only around five or six percent of the bills that are introduced.
There are two different types of bills: public and private. Public bills affect all citizens and
encompass such issues as taxes and how government money is spent, or appropriated. Public bills
also deal with things that benefit citizens, such as public transportation, trade, and education. Tax
bills cannot originate in the Senate—all tax bills must first be introduced in the House of
Representatives.
Private bills affect small groups, individuals, or places. For example, these bills may appropriate
money owed to citizens, or they may provide for other acts that impact a limited number of people.
Today, citizens rely on government bureaucracy and the courts to handle grievances, so private bills
are not as common as they once were.
In addition to passing bills, Congress passes resolutions. The House and Senate use resolutions to
state opinions on matters, change the procedures of their individual bodies, and address issues
within the houses. For example, Senate Resolution 301 was passed in December 1954 to censure
Joseph McCarthy for instigating what amounted to a witch hunt for Communists in the early 1950s.
Since resolutions pertain to the houses of Congress, they are not laws, and the president does not
need to sign them.
There are also joint and concurrent resolutions. Joint resolutions are employed to address
incidental or short-term matters. For example, in February 1987, a joint resolution was introduced to
make the third Sunday of August “National Senior Citizens Day.” Once passed by both houses of
Congress, a joint resolution becomes law, so the president does need to sign it.
Concurrent resolutions address situations in which the houses of Congress must act together. For
example, Congress issues concurrent resolutions to state its position on matters of foreign policy, as
well as to approve congressional budgets. Concurrent resolutions differ from joint resolutions in
that once passed, they do not become law. They are similar to the resolutions passed by the House
or Senate, and the president does not need to sign them.
When a bill originates in the House of Representatives, a clerk assigns it a number. For example,
the number H.R. 2102 signifies that it is the 2,102nd bill introduced in that session. The clerk also
gives the bill a descriptive title and enters it in the House Journal and Congressional Record.
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After the bills have been logged, the Speaker of the House assigns them to committees based on
the nature of the bills. The goal is to match each bill’s content to a committee for consideration. For
example, a bill concerning public school achievement would go to the Education Committee.
Assigning bills to committees can be difficult when bills have overlapping areas of concern. For
example, a bill concerning subsidies to corn farmers and trading that corn overseas could be sent to
the Agriculture Committee, Appropriation Committee, or Commerce Committee.
The committee assignment can be critical because the committees sort through bills and determine
which ones will be considered. A majority of bills never make it to the floor of either house of
Congress because committees throw them out or file them.
Once in committee, a bill moves to a specialized subcommittee for consideration. The
subcommittee examines the bill carefully, holds hearings about it, and adds amendments. The
subcommittee members might also make a junket—a trip to the area that will be affected by a bill—
to see if the bill will accomplish its intended goals.
Eventually, the subcommittee votes on the bill. If approved, the bill returns to the full committee for
final discussion and approval. However, if the subcommittee issues an unfavorable report about the
bill, the bill’s journey through the legislative process ends.
After the full committee passes along a bill, the bill goes to the Rules Committee. This committee
acts as the legislative clearinghouse. It assigns a calendar date for the bill, as well as rules that will
limit how long the bill can be debated, how many amendments can be made to the bill, and other
housekeeping aspects. The Rules Committee can also decide not to assign rules for bills, thus
ending the bills’ journey through the legislative process.
When a bill has passed through the Rules Committee, it travels to the House floor. At this point, one
of two things can happen. The House can act as a Committee of the Whole, or the House can
debate, amend, and put the bill to a vote.
In the Committee of the Whole, members of the House become one large committee. This
occurrence accelerates the legislative process because only 100 members need to be present, and the
Committee has fewer rules than the House does.
When the House converts to the Committee of the Whole, the Speaker becomes a member of the
committee, and a different Representative acts as the committee chair. Another member reads
through the bill, and then the bill’s advocates and proponents get five minutes to voice their
opinions on it.
The Committee of the Whole cannot pass a bill, so after the Committee finishes discussion on a bill,
its members disband. The Speaker of the House resumes his or her post, and the House is again
session. At this point, a quorum, or 218 members of the House, must be present in order for a vote
to proceed.
Members of the House use several methods of voting. One is the voice vote, in which members
shout, “yea,” or “nay.” The Speaker then declares the outcome, but how individual members voted
(for or against) is not recorded.
Sometimes one or more members disagree with the Speaker’s tally from the voice vote. When this
happens, the House holds another vote, by division, or standing. This method requires members
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voting “yea” to stand while the clerk counts them, followed by the members voting “nay.” As with
voice votes, how individuals vote is not recorded.
House members might also use the teller vote, in which they walk between two “tellers” appointed
by the Speaker. Those voting in favor of a bill go first, followed by those who are opposed, and the
tellers count the votes. This method is used if 20 members of the Committee of the Whole or 44
members of the House request it. With today’s electronic voting capabilities, teller votes are
uncommon.
A fourth method of vote, used when one-fifth of the House is present, is the roll-call vote. Members
respond individually with “yea” or “nay” when their names are called. Since the 1970s, however,
roll-call votes have been conducted electronically, and they are always recorded.
If the whole House approves a bill, the bill moves to the Senate. The Senate then acts on legislation
much like the House does. The bill is assigned to a committee for consideration, debate, hearings,
and vote. Votes in the Senate are conducted using the same methods as in the House: voice vote,
division, and roll call. Since the Senate has fewer members than the House, roll-call votes are done
manually rather than electronically.
Voting methods aside, there are four main differences between how the Senate and House handle
bills. First, the Senate does not have a Speaker of the house, so the Majority Leader confers with the
Minority Leader to decide which committee will handle a bill.
Secondly, Senators can add unlimited amendments, or riders, to a bill, including ones that are nongermane—that do not relate specifically to the context of the bill. Before passing homeland security
legislation, some Senators wanted to add 40 amendments to the bill. Of those amendments, 10 were
deemed non-germane.
Another difference between how the House and Senate handle bills is that while Representatives
can serve on only one major committee at a time, Senators typically serve on two or more major
committees. This expanded role makes Senators more policy generalists than the House members.
A fourth difference is that the Senate does not have a Rules Committee to limit debate time. The
technical term for unlimited debates on the Senate floor is filibuster. Filibusters can be used as a
strategy to delay and in some cases prevent the Senate from voting on a bill. Senators who take the
floor can debate a bill for hours, or they might ramble on about things that have nothing to do with
the bill. Either way, Senators typically use a filibuster when they want to kill a bill or force
compromise.
There are two ways a filibuster might end. One occurs when the people backing a bill decide to let it
go. The other occurs when Senators invoke cloture, which limits the length of debate on a bill. To
invoke cloture, 16 Senators must sign a petition, and they must pass it by a three-fifths majority. In
other words, 60 Senators must vote for cloture. Few Senators use this strategy, however, because
they do not want someone else to invoke it against them when they want to conduct a lengthy
debate.
If the Senate approves a bill that originated in the House, the bill moves to a Conference
Committee. This committee makes sure all bills from the House and Senate are identical. To
achieve this, the committee includes members from both houses, as well as members from both
political parties.
The Conference Committee members must haggle out compromise solutions to any differences in
the bills. In the end, the committee produces a piece of legislation for final approval by both houses.
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Both the House and Senate must approve the bill in identical form for it to move on for the
president’s action.
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