Congress
If progress is the advancement of
society, what is congress?
Congress
US CAPITOL BUILDING
Legislative Branch – “makes laws”
The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of
the Government
• Article I describes structure of Congress
– Bicameral legislature
• Divided into two houses
• Each state sends two Senators regardless of population
• Number of representatives each state sends to the
House is determined by state population
Founders’ Intentions
1. Strongest branch
2. Separation of lawmaking power from
executive
3. Bicameralism balances large/small states
• House – more connected to people (2 yr term)
• Senate – allows for independent thinking (6 yr term)
The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of
the Government
• Constitution sets out requirements for
membership in the House and Senate
– House – 25 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 7
years; serve 2 year terms
• Directly elected, thus more responsible to the people
– Senate – 30 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 9
years; serve 6 year terms
– Congressional members must be legal residents of
their states
Important Differences
House
• 435 members
• 2 year term
• 7 year citizen
Senate
• 100 members
• 6 year term
• 9 year citizen
Roles
• Initiate impeachment
• Revenue bills
• Strict debate rules
Roles
• Tries impeachment
• Approve presidential
appointments
• Approve treaties’
• Loose debate rules
Constitutional Powers
Article I, Section 8
• To lay and collect taxes, duties, imports
• To borrow money
• To regulate commerce (states and foreign)
• To establish rules for naturalization
• To coin money
• To create courts (except Supreme Court)
• To declare war
• To raise and support an army and navy
Constitutional Powers of Congress
• The authority to make laws is
shared by both chambers of
Congress
– Bill
• A proposed law
– No bill can become a law
without the consent of
both houses
– Each chamber also has
special, exclusive powers
as well.
•
•
Other shared powers
– Declare war
– Raise an army and navy
– Coin money
– Regulate commerce
– Establish the federal courts and their
jurisdiction
– Establish rules of immigration and
naturalization
– Make laws necessary and proper to
carrying out the powers previously
listed
Special powers
– House – origination of revenue bills
• Mandate has blurred over time
• Impeachment authority (but
Senate tries; 2/3 vote)
– Senate – treaties, presidential
appointments
Evolution of Powers
Elastic clause has extended Congress powers
• Oversight of budget – can restrict the fed. budget
prepared by executive branch
• Appropriations – set amount of money made
available for various activity in a fiscal year
• Investigation – Congress can launch investigations
(Watergate, Clinton-Lewinski hearings, Steroids in
baseball)
The House
• Always the larger of the two chambers
– Organized more tightly; increased role for party leadership
• Speaker
– Presides over House
– Official spokesperson for the House
– Second in line of presidential succession
– House liaison with president
– Great political influence within the chamber
• Henry Clay, first powerful speaker (1810)
• Joe Cannon (1903-1910), was so powerful, that a revolt
emerged to reduce powers of the speakership.
• Newt Gingrich (1995)
• Dennis Hastert – replaced Gingrich; wrestling coach and
social studies teacher; largely unknown Republican
• With Democrats taking control of the House, Nancy Pelosi
(CA), became the first woman Speaker of the House.
Other House Leaders
• Majority Leader
– Elected leader of the party controlling the most seats in
the House or the Senate
– Second in authority to the Speaker—in the Senate, is the
most powerful member
• Minority Leader
– Elected leader of the party with the second highest
number of elected representatives in the House of
Representatives or the Senate
• Whips
– Keep close contact with all members and take nose counts
on key votes, prepare summaries of bills, etc.
• Party caucus or conference
– A formal gathering of all party members
112
2011 –
2013
Steny
Hoyer
Nancy
Pelosi
John
Boehner
Eric Cantor
Kevin
McCarthy
Congress
Years
Dem whip
Dem leader
Speaker
Rep leader
Rep whip
House
Leadership
MINORITY
LEADER
MINORITY
WHIP
SPEAKER
OF THE
HOUSE
MAJORITY
LEADER
MAJORITY
WHIP
The Senate
• The Constitution specifies the vice president as the
presiding officer of the Senate.
– He votes only in case of a tie.
• Official chair of the Senate is the president pro tempore
(pro tem).
– Primarily honorific
– Generally goes to the most senior senator of the majority party
– Actual presiding duties rotate among junior members of the
chamber
– True leader is the majority leader, but not as powerful as
Speaker is in the House
The Senate
• Senate rules give tremendous power to
individual senators
– Offering any kind of amendment
– filibuster
• Because Senate is smaller in size organization
and formal rules have not played the same
role as in the House
Senate Leadership
PRESIDENT of the
SENATE
(VICE PRESIDENT)
PRES. PRO
TEMPORE
Daniel Inouye
MINORITY LEADER
MAJORITY LEADER
Mitch McConnell
Harry Reid
MINORITY
WHIP
Jon Kyl
MAJORITY
WHIP
Dick Durbin
Leadership
• Majority party controls the most significant
leadership positions
• House - Speaker of the House
•
•
•
•
Allows people to speak on floor
Assigns bills to committees
Influences which bills are brought to a vote
Appoints members of special and select committees
• Senate – Majority Leader
• Schedules Senate business
• Prioritizes bills
112th Congress- 2012
• Gender Composition
*Men: 363 (83.45%)
*Women: 72 (16.55%)
Party Composition by Gender
*Republicans
*Men: 218 (90.08%)
*Women: 24 (9.92%)
*Democrats
*Men: 145 (75.13%)
*Women: 48 (24.87%)
Racial Composition
*Caucasians/Whites: 362 (83.22%)
*African Americans/Blacks: 42 (9.66%)
*Hispanics/Latinos: 24 (5.52%)
*Asians: 6 (1.38%)
*Native Americans: 1 (0.23%)
Racial Composition by Gender & Party
*Caucasians
*Men: 314 (210 R - 104 D)
*Women: 48 (26 D - 22 R)
*African Americans
*Men: 29 (27 D - 2 R)
*Women: 13 (13 D - 0 R)
*Hispanics
*Men: 17 (12 D - 5 R)
*Women: 7 (5 D - 2 R)
*Asians
*Men: 2 (2 D - 0 R)
*Women: 4 (4 D - 0 R)
*Native Americans
*Men: 1 (1 R - 0 D)
*Women: 0
Who’s in Congress?
110th Congress (2007-2008)
• 85% male
• 85% White
• 40% Lawyers
109th Congress (2005-2006)
• 29 accused of spousal abuse
• 7 have been arrested for fraud
• 19 arrested for writing bad checks
• 117 have bankrupted at least 2 businesses
• 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
• In 1998 alone, 84 were stopped for drunk driving
Issues of Representation
• Race/Gender/Income
• The House - gerrymandering
• The Senate
– 51 senators from the 26 smallest
population states, representing
18% of Americans can pass a bill.
– 41 senators from 21 small states
representing 3% of the population
can block any bill (ie. 41 senators
maintain a filibuster)
Representation
• Malapportionment – unequal population in
districts
– Wesberry v. Sanders (1963) – found unequal
district pop. unconstitutional – 14th amend
• Gerrymandering – district boundaries are
redrawn in strange ways to make it easy for
candidate of one party to win
– Easley v. Cromartie (2001) – redistricting for
political ideology was constitutional, led to
increase in minority reps
• House members directly elected
• Senators directly elected after
– 17th Amendment
• The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators
from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each
Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of
the State legislature.
• When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the
Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any
State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary
appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the
legislature may direct.
• This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.
Elections
Running for Office and Staying in
Office
• Incumbency
– The fact that being in office helps a person stay in
office because of a variety of benefits that go with
the position
• Name recognition
• Access to free media
• Inside track on fund-raising
• District drawn to favor incumbent
– 1980 to 1990, an average of 95 percent of
incumbents who sought reelection won their primary
and general election races.
Advantages of being Incumbent
• House Incumbent advantage – Why?
– Franking privileges – free mailing
• The congressional franking privilege, which dates from
1775, allows Members of Congress to transmit mail
matter under their signature without postage. Congress,
through legislative branch appropriations, reimburses
the U.S. Postal Service for the franked mail it handles.
Use of the frank is regulated by federal law, House and
Senate rules, and committee regulations. Reform efforts
during the past 20 years have reduced overall franking
expenditures by almost 70%, to $34.3 million in FY2006
from $113.4 million in FY1988 (current dollars).
How A Bill Becomes a Law
• Create legislation, make laws
• Founders believed in a SLOW process
• Founders believed efficiency was a trait of
an oppressive government
How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Textbook
Version
• Introduction (sponsorship)
• Sent to clerk of chamber
– Bill printed, distributed, and sent to appropriate committee
or committees (referred by Speaker in House)
• Committee refers bill to one of its subcommittees
• Subcommittee researches bill and decides on hearings
– Hearings provide opportunity for both sides of issue to voice
their opinions
• Bill then revised in subcommittee and vote is taken
• If vote is positive, the bill is returned to full committee
– Markup
• Full committee either rejects bill or sends it to House or Senate
floor with a recommendation
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version
• Next stage of action takes place on the floor
• In House, goes to Rules Committee, given a rule, placed on
calendar (but not budget bills)
– Rules limit debate and determine what kind, if any,
amendments are allowed
• House may choose to form a Committee of the Whole
– Allows for deliberation with only 100 members present
• On the floor, bill debated, amendments offered, and a vote
taken
• If bill survives, it is sent to the Senate for consideration—if it
was not considered there simultaneously.
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version
• In the Senate, bill may be held up by:
– A hold – a tactic by which a senator asks to be
informed before a particular bill is brought to the
floor
– A filibuster – a formal way of halting action on a
bill by means of long speeches or unlimited
debate on the Senate
• Cloture: Mechanism requiring sixty senators to vote to
cut off debate
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version
• Third state of action takes place when the two chambers
of Congress approve different versions of the SAME bill
• Conference committee
• Returns to each chamber for final vote. If it does not pass
in each chamber it dies
• If the bill passes, it is sent to the president.
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version
• President can either sign it or veto it.
• The president has 10 days to consider a bill.
• Four options:
– Can sign the bill, at which point it becomes law
– Can veto the bill; congress can override the veto with a 2/3 vote in
each chamber
– Can wait the full ten days, at the end of which time the bill becomes
law without his signature IF Congress is still in session
– If Congress adjourns before the ten days are up, the president can
choose not to sign the bill. The bill is then pocket-vetoed.
• Bill would have to be reintroduced and go through the entire process
again in order to become a law
Presidential Action
• Sign – bill becomes law
• Veto – bill returns to origin
• Override – 2/3 vote in both houses can
override veto
• Pocket Veto – President has 10 days to act on
a piece of legislation. If he receives the bill
within 10 days of the end of the Congressional
session, and doesn’t sign, it dies
Committee System
• Organization and specialization of committees is very
important in the House due to size
– Subcommittees allow for even greater specialization
• Institutionalized system created in 1816
– More committees added over time
• 1995 Republican committee system reform
– Result may have weakened the committee system
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How chairs are appointed
Devaluation of seniority
Shift of power from chairs to party leaders
Reduction in resources to subcommittee chairs
Imposition of term limits on committee chairs
Committee System
• Standing Committees
– Continue from one Congress to the next—bills referred here for
consideration
– Powerful
– Discharge petitions
• Joint Committees
– Includes members from both houses of Congress, conducts
investigations or special studies
• Conference Committees
– Joint committee created to iron out differences between Senate and
House versions of a specific piece of legislation
• Select (or special) Committees
– Temporary committee appointed for specific purpose, such as
conducting a special investigation or study
• SLIDE 14!
Committee Membership
• Members often seek assignments to committees based
on
– Their own interests or expertise
– A committee’s ability to help their prospects for reelection
• Pork/earmarks: legislation that allows representatives to bring
home the “bacon” to their districts in the form of public works
programs, military bases, or other programs designed to
benefit their districts directly
• Access to large campaign contributors
Committee Chairs
• These individuals have tremendous power and prestige.
– Authorized to select all subcommittee chairs
– Call meetings
– Recommend majority members to sit on conference
committees
– Can kill a bill by not scheduling hearings on it
– Have staff at their disposal
• Seniority still important in the Senate
Work of Committees
• 11,000 bills introduced yearly, most die
• Committees can…
– Report out favorably/unfavorably
– Pigeonholed/table (do not discuss)
– Amend / “mark up” (change or rewrite)
Theories of Representation
• Trustee
– Role played by elected representatives who listen to
constituent’s opinions and then use their best judgment to
make final decisions
• Delegate
– Role played by elected representatives who vote the way their
constituents would want them to, regardless of their own
opinions
• Politico
– Role played by elected representatives who act as trustees or as
delegates, depending on the issue
Criticisms of Congress
• “Pork” – aka “pork-barrel legislation” – bills to
benefit constituents in hope of gaining their votes
• Logrolling – Congress members exchange votes,
bills might pass for frivolous reasons
• Christmas-tree bill –bill with many riders (pork)
– in Senate, no limit exists on amendments, so Senators
try to attach riders that will benefit their home state
Term-limits Debate
•
No current limit on how many terms
members of Congress can serve
1. Some argue this has weakened popular
control of Congress, reps might be
unresponsive to their constituents
2. Some argue most experienced reps have the
expertise to bring home more benefits (pork,
riders, etc.)