Committees and Law-Making
Dr. East 2/24/14
Committee System
• From last worksheet, what were: standing? Joint?
Conference? Select/special?
• All committees in each branch have both majority party
and minority party members, they all also have websites
too
• House = approx. 19 standing committees, each averaging
about 30 members, has 90 sub-committees
• House Committee on Rules = super important committee
that Senate does not have
– it reviews most bills after they come from committee and
before they go to full house for consideration,
– Sets the “rule” for each bill, gives date for full house
consideration and time allotted for discussion
– Majority party committee members chosen directly by Speaker
– Committee decides if a bill maybe considered under “closed
rule”… this is a type of consideration that does not allow for
amendments to the bill
• House members have average of 17 staff members each.
• Senate = 17 standing committees, size 15 – 29
members, with approximately 70
subcommittees, this allows majority party
members to chair at least one
• Senate members are generalists that have
many committee and sub-committee
assignments, House assignments are usually
worked by specialists on a topic
• Senate, more legislation crafted on Senate
floor and with more input from all Senators as
things are amended and changed
• Senators, have an average of 40 staff members
each
House Chambers
Senate Chambers
Senator Harry Reid’s Office
Staff work cubicles and meeting rooms
• What was pork? What are Earmarks?
• How do leaders make decisions and who do they listen too?
– Trustee style of decision making = role played by elected
representatives who listen to constituents’ opinions and then
use their best judgment to make final decisions
– Delegate style of decision making = role played by elected
representatives who vote the way their constituents’ would
want them too, regardless of their own opinion
– Politico style of decision making = role played by elected
representatives who act as trustees or as delegates, depending
upon the issue.
– All Senators, Congressmen, and staff will also listen to
lobbyists…
– lobbyist = member of an interest group who seeks to influence
legislation that will benefit their interest group or organization
– Their colleagues. They ask for advice, get their support for their
own bills… called Logrolling = voting trading just to get support
for future votes
So what did you learn about lawmaking from your bill proposal
activity?
How a Bill Becomes a Law
• **** Due to Sunshine Laws, most Senate and
House subcommittee hearings are viewable by
us (think C-SPAN)… good for congressional
oversight by public
• School House Rock Bill on Capital Hill
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otbml6WI
QPo
• Examine Figure 7.4 pg. 259. Let’s discuss the
process.
3 Agencies that Support Law-Makers
• Congressional Research Service (CRS)
– Administered by Library of Congress,
– helps gather data and information for
Congressmen as they prepare bills;
– conducts non-partisan studies;
– prepares bill summaries and tracks progress of all
bills that are introduced.
• Government Accountability Office (GAO)
– established to audit (keep track of) expenditures
of executive branch and federal agencies;
– conducts studies upon congressional request
Agencies Cont.
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
– provides info. on the economic impact of
proposed programs and the cost of proposed
programs;
– also analyzes the President’s budget and
economic projections;
– gives Congress good second opinion to President’s
budget projections and program ideas.
Vocabulary Work
• From Textbook, beginning pg. 247
• On separate sheet of paper, Define:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Discharge petition (pg. 247)
Divided Government (pg. 254)
Logrolling (255)
Markup (258)
Hold (258)
Filibuster (259)
Cloture (260)
Veto (261)
Pocket Veto (262)
Oversight (266)
Congressional Review (267)
War Powers Act (267)
Senatorial Courtesy