Chapter 6
The Organization of Congress
Section 1
Congressional Membership
Essential Questions
- Why did the Constitution specifically describe the powers of Congress?
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How does reapportionment and redistricting affect representation?
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What are key common characteristics of members of Congress?
Why did the Constitution specifically describe the powers of Congress?
The founders created a government system with a legislative, executive, and judicial branch. The
legislative branch was given great responsibility in the Constitution. The founders expected Congress to
become the most important branch and I would argue that it is. Congress is designed to be the closest
national government voice to the people. There are 535 members there to share the opinions of the
electorate.
The founders did not want a powerful executive; they had a bad experience with the king. At
the same time, they did not want a legislature that could take advantage of the people. They had also
had problems with the British Parliament. Because of this, they put clear limits on what Congress could
and could not do. The powers listed in the Constitution as belonging to the national government are
called expressed powers. The expressed powers of congress are numbered 1-18 in Article I of the
Constitution (so they’re sometimes referred to as enumerated powers). 5 enumerated powers deal with
economic legislation (levying taxes, borrowing money, coining money, etc.). 7 enumerated powers
provide for defense (punishing pirates, declaring war, regulating armed forces, etc). Seriously, pirates
(the link is fascinating) were an issue that the founders thought was important enough to mention in the
Constitution. The final enumerated power is the elastic clause which allows Congress to make all laws
“necessary and proper” to carry out the powers expressed in the other clauses. It is “elastic” because it
allows for stretching of rules to include other subjects. And because everything needs 2 names, it is also
called the necessary and proper clause.
The necessary and proper clause had been a source of debate pretty much since the beginning.
What is necessary for government to function? What is proper government action? It comes down to
whether you believe in a strict or broad interpretation of the Constitution. Some people are strict and
say if it isn’t in the Constitution, it shouldn’t be done. Others don’t mind stretching the meanings of
some phrases to help pass laws. The Supreme Court has routinely supported the idea that the elastic
clause gave Congress the right to make any laws necessary and proper to carry out its powers.
Congress has already changed a lot from where it was in 1789. Congress had only 64 total
representatives and introduced only 167 bills. Today Congress has 535 members and puts forth about
10,000 bills per year. Where attendance was part time at first, now Congressmen spend a vast majority
of their time in Washington, D.C. When they aren’t looking at new legislation, they are campaigning for
reelection.
How does reapportionment and redistricting affect representation?
The U. S. Congress is a bicameral legislature meaning it is made up of 2 houses. The Senate has
2 members from each state for 100 total members. The House of Representatives has representation
based on population with 435 total members. Today, Congress plays a central role in formulating
national policies. Congress initiates and approves laws dealing with everything from health care to tax
changes. Terms for Senators are 6 years and Representatives serve 2 years. Congress remains in session
until its members vote to adjourn. If Congress has adjourned, the President may call it back for a special
session if necessary.
We’ll focus on the House of Representatives first. The Constitution says the number of
representatives must be apportioned among the states on the basis of population. Each state is entitled
to at least one seat in the House, no matter how small. In order to run for a seat in the House a
candidate must be at least 25 years old, a citizen of the U. S. for at least 7 years, and be legal residents
of the state that elects them. Traditionally, candidates live in the district they represent but it is not
required. Representatives serve 2 year terms and elections are held in November of even numbered
years. Representatives begin their terms on January 3 following the November election. More than
90% of House members are reelected so there is very little turnover in the house.
Representation is determined by population. The House uses the census, taken every 10 years,
to determine how many representatives each state is entitled to. The process of reassigning
representation based on population after each census is known as reapportionment. States with slow
population growth or a declining population could lose representation. After states find out how many
representatives they are going to have, state legislatures must decide how the districts will be drawn up.
There is 1 district for each representative. Representatives are then elected from each of these districts.
If a state is only entitled to 1 representative, the whole state is a congressional district. In most states
the state legislatures draw the boundary lines for each district in a process called redistricting. Below
you will see an example of South Carolina’s voting districts. We have 7 districts in South Carolina which
means we are entitled to 7 members of the House of Representatives.
Over the years, some state legislatures have abused the redistricting power. They can do this in
2 ways. They can create a district where they put most of the people who are likely to vote for a
particular party together. This is called packing. In essence, you decide elections by making sure the
majority of people in that district vote a certain way. The other way to abuse redistricting power is to
draw lines so that the voting power of a minority party is eliminated. You would do this by cracking the
district. In cracking, you split the electorate into multiple districts so that the party you dislike cannot
garner enough votes. Both packing and cracking are examples of gerrymandering- where the political
party in charge of state government draws the district’s boundaries to gain an advantage in elections.
South Carolina has participated in gerrymandering. Even the current lines represent the
practice. South Carolina has 1 representative who is a democrat. His name is Jim Clyburn. Jim Clyburn
is an important man in Congress, serving as the minority whip. We’ll get into that job more later but
what he does in short is make sure his fellow democrats in Congress are on the same page and voting
the correct way. South Carolina wants to keep him in Congress because he is powerful so they
PACKED his district. He represents district 6 which weaves its way around the lowcountry in order to
collect as many democratic voters as possible.
Now let’s talk about the Senate. There are 2 Senators from each state serving 6 year terms. In
order to run for Senate you need to be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the U. S. for at least 9 years, and
be a legal resident of the state you are representing. All voters from each state vote for Senators. Like
the House of Representatives, Senators are very likely to be reelected when they are in office. The
Senate is not as confusing when it comes to districts because Senators represent the whole state. There
is no redistricting or gerrymandering to be done in the Senate.
The Constitution provides members of Congress certain protections while they carry out their
legislative duties. They are free from arrest “in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the
peace.” This applies only when they are attending Congress or on their way to or from Congress.
Members of Congress cannot be sued for anything they say on the House or Senate floor. But, they can
be sued for libel for statements made in new releases or newsletters. This privilege does not extend to
what they say outside the halls of Congress. The Senate and House can both judge members
qualifications and refuse to seat elected members. Each house may refuse to seat an elected member
by majority vote. Each house can also “punish its own members for disorderly behavior” by a majority
vote and expel a legislator by a 2/3 vote. Only very serious charges like bribery or treason are subject to
expulsion. Members guilty of lesser infractions may be censured- or given a vote of formal disapproval.
If it seem like members of Congress are given too many free passes consider this. It is in our
nation’s best interest to avoid political scandal. Having lawmakers’ names in the news for things other
than their jobs is a bad look and will destroy people’s faith in government. Our democracy rests on
having a belief in our system and those who run it.
What are key common characteristics of members of Congress?
Congress includes 535 voting members. In addition there are 4 delegates in the House without
a vote. These are delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin
Islands. There is also 1 resident commissioner from Puerto Rico. These delegates only attend sessions;
they have no voting rights. Nearly half the members of Congress are lawyers. A large number of them
also come from business, banking, and education (I still have a chance). Senators and representatives
typically are white, middle-aged males. The average age of members of Congress is usually over 50.
Slowly, Congress has begun to reflect the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the general
population.
You may wonder why so many Congressmen are lawyers. The main reason for this is the main
job of Congressmen is to create laws. Lawyers have knowledge of laws, their construction, and their
outcomes. With this basic knowledge it is easy to piece laws together. Not everyone has this
knowledge. Take teachers for example. Teachers are trained in college to identify the best practices for
educating children. This is a useful skill, but we are not equipped with the know-how to put together
legislation that will affect millions of our fellow Americans. Lawyers understand the LAW which would
be a very important step in building the foundations of our government system.
It was mentioned earlier that both Representatives and Senators are very likely to be reelected
once they are in office. Those members already in office are called incumbents and they win elections
at about a 90% clip. It is interesting that so many people have problems with government but we
reelect government officials at such an astonishing rate. There are two main reasons for this
phenomenon. The first is that once you are elected, you are able to take campaign funds from
business and individuals that want to influence your vote. These corporate payouts are not available
to new candidates because they typically don’t have a track record that supports the business. The
second reason is us, the voters. We rarely vote our representative out and instead insist that it is the
other guy’s fault. We are also very quick to forgive mistakes, even insane unforgiveable mistakes get
forgiven (our state is awesome).
Section 2
The House of Representatives
Essential Questions
- Why are committees more important in the House than the Senate?
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Why does the majority party often get the credit or blame for everything Congress does?
Why are committees more important in the House than the Senate?
The main task of each house of Congress is the same- to make laws. Each house has organized
itself to best accomplish this goal. Each chamber has complex rules that govern its meetings. These
rules serve as a guide for conducting business. House rules are generally aimed at defining the actions
an individual representative can take, such as limiting representatives to speaking for 5 minutes or less
during a debate. This is all designed to move laws quickly once they reach the floor for debate. House
debates rarely last more than 1 day.
Most of the work done in Congress occurs in committees. Committee work in the House is
more important than committee work in the Senate. This is because of numbers. The House has 435
people that need to be informed on an issue before they vote. It is easier to get people on the same
page if a small group is in charge of each portion of the lawmaking process. In committees, where there
are fewer people, Representatives get a chance to influence legislation better than if they had to
make every decision on the House floor. There would be too many voices and nothing would ever get
accomplished if not for committees.
Delegates are in Washington because they were elected by their constituents- the people in the
districts they represent. Representatives must spend time making sure their constituency is taken care
of. This is why delegates tend to specialize in a small number of issues that are important to their
constituents. Their reelection hinges on making sure the people who vote for them are happy. It is also
important for candidates to align closely with their parties. Members from the same party will usually
vote the same way. In each house the majority party selects the leaders of that body, controls the flow
of legislative work, and appoints committee chairs. The party system also leads to stagnation from time
to time. This occurs when there is not a great majority in Congress and one party can’t completely
drown out the others voice. It also causes problems when Congress and the president are from
different parties. They don’t play nice in the sandbox in that situation.
Why does the majority party often get the credit or blame for everything Congress does?
The leadership of the houses of Congress is heavily influenced by parties. The leaders serve 6
purposes: (1) organizing and unifying party members; (2) scheduling the work of the House; (3) making
certain that lawmakers are present for key floor votes; (4) distributing and collecting information; (5)
keeping the House in touch with the president; and (6) influencing lawmakers to support the policies of
their political party. There are a number of leadership positions in the House that help it operate
smoothly. The most powerful person in the House is the Speaker of the House. The Constitution states
that the house “shall choose their Speaker and other officers.” A caucus, or closed meeting, of the
majority party chooses the House Speaker at the start of each session of Congress, and the entire House
membership must approve the Speaker.
The Speaker is the leader of the majority party in Congress. He is typically someone that
represents the beliefs of the majority party and is ok with standing up to the opposing party. The
Speaker presides over the sessions of the House and can influence proceedings by deciding which
members to recognize first. This can allow his/her party an advantage in debate. The Speaker also
appoints members to committees. This way he can get his/her party greater influence in the most
important portion of lawmaking. Finally, the Speaker of the House is next in line for the Presidency after
the vice president. That means if the president and vice president die or become incapacitated, the
Speaker takes over the presidency. This has never happened but it is possible.
Today, speakers rely as much on their powers of persuasion as they do their formal powers to
exercise influence. On a typical day, the Speaker may talk to dozens of fellow members of Congress.
This usually means listening to a request for some sort of legislation from a fellow delegate. If the
speaker agrees to the deal, the other representative is expected to vote the speaker’s way. This is the
politics we always think of. Backroom deals made by powerful people that affect our lives. It happens
every day on Capitol Hill.
The speaker has help with his job. He relies on floor leaders to help him out. The speaker’s top
assistant is the majority leader. The majority leader plans the party’s legislative program, steers
important bills through the House, and makes sure the chairpersons of the many committees finish
work on bills important to the party. The majority leader is elected by the members of his party. The
majority leader has help from the majority whip and deputy whips. The whip’s job is to watch how
majority party members intend to vote on bills, persuade them to vote as the party wishes, and to see
that party members are present to vote. The minority party also elects floor leaders and whips. Their
power is much the same as the majority leader’s but they have no power in scheduling work in the
house. Go watch House of Cards. All this stuff is in there. The main character, Frank Underwood, is a
representative from Gaffney, SC and serves as majority whip. He is fond of saying, “whip the votes.”
Seriously, it’s an awesome show.
Section 3
The Senate
Essential Questions
- Why does the Senate have fewer rules and a less formal atmosphere than the House?
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Why does the Senate usually take longer than the House to pass a bill?
Why does the Senate have fewer rules and a less formal atmosphere than the House?
The Senate chamber is much different than the House. It is smaller than the House chamber
with 100 desks- 1 for each Senator- and they all face a raised platform where the President pro tem and
another Senator reside over proceedings. Typically only a small number of Senators attend sessions.
They are the ones that have a speech to give. The party leaders or their assistants stay in the Senate
chamber at all times to keep the work moving and to look after their party’s interest.
In the Senate the rules are more flexible than in the House. They are designed to make certain
that all Senators have maximum freedom to express their ideas. For example, the Senate usually
allows unlimited debate on proposed legislation, where the House will try to debate for only 1 day.
Because the rules are more flexible, the atmosphere in the Senate is fairly relaxed. They may debate a
proposal off and on for weeks or even months before taking action on an issue.
Leadership in the Senate closely parallels leadership in the House, but the Senate has no
Speaker. The vice president presides over Senate but can only vote to break a tie. Senate procedures
permit individual senators more freedom in their activities. Because of this, party leaders in the Senate
may not have as much influence over other senators as their counterparts in the House. The
Constitution names the vice president as president of the Senate. The vice president, however, does not
have the same role as the Speaker of the House. The vice president may recognize members and put
questions to a vote but, because he is not an elected member of Senate, he is not eligible to vote. A
vice president may try to influence legislation through personal contact with senators. It helps that
many vice presidents have served in the Senate so they tend to have a close relationship with those
delegates. Most vice presidents find Senate duties unchallenging and devote most of their time on
executive branch duties. This leaves little time to preside over Senate.
In the event the vice president is absent, the president pro tempore (or president pro tem)
presides over Senate. The term pro tempore means “for the time being.” The Senate elects this leader
from their ranks. The president pro tempore is from the majority party and is usually its most senior
member. Unlike the vice president, the president pro tempore (the link talks about current president
pro tem, Orrin Hatch, and covers some history) can vote in Senate. The president pro tempore is third in
line for presidential succession behind the vice president and Speaker of the House.
Why does the Senate usually take longer than the House to pass a bill?
The majority and minority leaders are the most important officers in the Senate. Elected by the
members of their political parties, the majority and minority leaders in the Senate are party officials
rather than official Senate officers. The majority leader’s main job is to steer the party’s bills through
the Senate. To do this, the majority leader plans the Senate’s work schedule and agenda in consultation
with the minority leader. This is very different from the House, where the two sides almost never work
together on legislation. The majority leader is who makes sure majority party members attend
important Senate sessions and for organizing their support on key bills. The Senate majority leader fills
a role similar to that of the Speaker of the House, as he is the one the party will ultimately listen to in
Senate. The minority leader develops criticisms of the majority party’s bills and tries to keep senators in
the minority party working together. As in the House, whips assist the majority and minority leaders of
the Senate by making sure that legislators are present for key votes. Here is list of the leadership in
Senate.
The Senate has an interesting tool it can use to stall the legislative process. Because the Senate
allows for unlimited time to debate an issue, one way for Senators to defeat a bill they oppose is to
filibuster it. To filibuster means to stall the legislative process and prevent a vote. Stall tactics include
talking continuously, delaying issues in committee, and other procedural roadblocks.
The longest filibuster in Senate history was held by Strom Thurmond from good old South
Carolina. You can read the whole thing here. He spoke against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for 24 hours
and 18 minutes. He had a staff aide get him a sandwich during the ordeal so that he could eat without
leaving the floor and yielding his time to someone else. That was one guy. A group could filibuster for
months. A filibuster can be stopped by when 3/5 (60 members) of the Senate vote for cloture. Cloture
is a procedure that allows each senator to speak only 1 hour on a bill under debate. Obtaining the vote
for cloture is difficult as 1 party rarely has 60 members under control. The filibuster has lost much of its
usefulness mostly because today people don’t care for Congressional gridlock and Senate rules have
changed. The public will disagree with a filibuster if it is used today.
As in the House, procedures are organized around the member’s party affiliations. Republicans
sit on the right side of the chamber and democrats on the left. More importantly, the majority party
controls the flow of legislative work.