Chapter 5
The Organization of Congress
• The founders did not intend to make Congress a
privileged group, but they did intend that the
legislative branch have more power than any
other branch.
• The U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislature; it
is made up of two houses.
Congressional
Membership
• Each term of congress lasts for 2 yrs beginning
on January 3rd.
• Each term divided into two sessions, or meetings.
• A session lasts one year
• If congress is adjourned, president may call special
session.
Congressional Sessions
• 435 members; larger body on congress
• House seats must be apportioned, or divided,
among the states on the basis of population.
• Reps must be 25 yrs old, US citizen for 7 yrs,
legal resident of state who elects them.
• Two year terms
• November elections
Membership of the House
• Representation & Reapportionment
• Census bureau takes census, or population
count every ten years.
• The population of each state determines the
new number or reps to which each state is
entitled; apportionment.
• Congressional Redistricting
• After the states find out their reapportioned
representation for the next 10-year period each
state sets up congressional districts
• One rep for each district
• The process of setting up new district lines after
reapportionment has been completed;
redistricting.
• Historically state legislatures have abused their
powers to divide the states into congressional
districts by gerrymandering; political party
controlling the state govt draws a district’s
boundaries to gain advantage in elections (packing
& Cracking).
• Equal representation– 2 members per state
• Must be 30 yrs old; citizen of US for 9 yrs; legal
residents of state they represent
• All voters of each state elect senators at-large; or
statewide.
• November elections
• 6 year terms
Members of the Senate
• Senate and House set their own salaries
• 27th amendment; congressional salary increase
will take effect after an intervening election.
• Stationery, postage, a medical clinic, and gym
• Large allowances to pay for staff and assistants,
trips home, telephones, and newsletters.
• Income tax deductions
• 150,000 pension plans
Salary and Benefits
• Free from arrests except treason, felony, and breach of
peace while attending congress or on their way to and
from congress.
• May not be sued for anything said on senate or house
floor.
• Members guilty of lesser offenses may be censured; a
vote for formal disapproval of a member’s actions.(ex.
Accepting a bribe)
Privileges of Members
• 4 delegates– D.C., Guam, American Samoa,
Virgin Islands
• 1 resident commissioner– Puerto Rico
• Nearly half are lawyers
• Business, banking, and education backgrounds
• Incumbents; those members already in office are
more successful during elections.
Members of Congress
Chapter 5 Section 1 Review
1. In a graphic organizer like the one below, compare the
qualifications for representatives and senators.
House
Senate
2. How does congress reapportion house seats among the states
every ten years?
3. Identify– Elbridge Gerry, Twenty-seventh amendment
4. Members of congress spend part of their time working for
reelections. Which house has a greater percentage of its time
remaining for legislative work? Why?
• Political division and debate is unavoidable
in a democratic government.
• Rules are necessary to help ensure fairness,
to enable the legislature to conduct
business and to protect the minority.
Section 2: The House of
Representatives
• The main task of each house of Congress is the
same– to make laws.
• The house and senate each print their rules every
two years.
• The complex rules in the house are geared
towards moving legislation quickly once it
reaches the floor.
Rules for Lawmaking
• Committees do most of the work in Congress.
• In committees representatives have more influence, and
they have time to study and shape bills.
• Representatives then do specialize in a few issues that are
important to their constituents—the people in the
districts they represent.
Committee Work
AL
District
Reps.
• Joe
Bonner
(1)
Martha Roby Mike Rogers
(2)
(3)
Robert
Aderholt (4)
Mo Brooks
(5)
Spencer
Bachus (6)
Terri Sewell
(7)
• The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer
of the House and is the most powerful leader.
• A caucus; or closed meeting, of the majority
party chooses the House speaker at the start of
each session of Congress.
• Follows the vice president in line of succession to
the presidency.
House Leadership
• The speaker’s top assistant is the majority
leader.
• The majority leader has help from the majority
whip and deputy whips.
• Whips; serves as assistant floor leaders in the
House.
House Floor Leaders
• All laws start as bills; a proposed law, until both
houses of Congress pass it and the president signs
it.
• Representatives introduce bills.
• Speaker of the House sends it to the appropriate
committee for study/discussion and review.
• Bills that survive the committee process are put
on the House calendar; list of bills that are up for
consideration.
Lawmaking in the House
• Serves as the “traffic officer” in the House.
• Can move bills ahead quickly, hold them back, or
stop them completely.
• Sends bills to floor for debate
• Set time limit for debates on bills
• A quorum is the minimum number of members
who must be present to permit a legislative body
to take official action. ( majority of house = 218)
The House Rules
Committee
• The senate is a deliberative body.
• Handles issues of specific interest to them.
• Are expected to know something about and
deal w/ many issues from national defense
to social issues and farming.
SECTION 3: The
Senate
• Rules are more flexible in the senate
• Unlimited debate on proposed legislation
• More informal atmosphere than the House
• Leadership in the Senate closely parallels
leadership in the house.
• Vice President presides over the Senate
• Party leaders in the Senate may not have as much
influence over the other senators as their counterparts
in the House.
The Senate at Work
• The Constitution names the vice president as
president of the Senate.
• May not take part in debates
• Votes in event of a tie
• In the absence of the vice president , the
president pro tempore ( or president pro term)
presides.
Patrick Leahy
• Pro tempore = “for the time being”
• Elected by senators
• From the majority party
The Vice President
• Most important officers in the Senate
• Elected by members of their political parties
• Main job of majority leader is to steer the party’s
bills through the Senate
• The minority leader develops criticisms of the
majority party’s bills and tries to keep senators in
the minority party working together.
Majority and Minority
Floor Leaders
• Any member of the Senate my introduce a bill.
• Senate leaders control to flow of bills to
committees and to the floor for debate and vote.
• The Calendar of General Orders lists all the
bills the Senate will consider./ Executive calendar
schedules treaties and nominations.
• Brings bills to the floor by unanimous consent.
How Senate Bills are
Scheduled.
• One way for Senators to defeat a bill they
propose is to filibuster against it.
• Filibuster; to stall the legislative process
and prevent a vote.
• A filibuster can be stopped when threefifths of the senate (60 members) votes for
cloture—procedure which allows each
senator to speak for only 1 hour on a bill
under debate.
The Filibuster
• Both the House and the Senate depend upon
committees to effectively consider the thousands
of bills that are proposed each session.
• Help to ease workload
• Key power centers in congress
Section 4: Congressional
Committees
• Allows members of congress to divide work
• Select bills that are to receive further
consideration
• Help the public to learn about key problems and
issues facing the nation.
Purposes of Committees
1. Standing committees
• Controlled by majority party
• Continue from one congress to the next
• Subcommittee; specialize in subcategory of it’s standing
committee.
2. Select committees
• Study one specific issue
3. Joint committees
• Study group for house an senate
Kinds of Committees
• In both the House and the Senate, the political parties
assign members to the standing committees
• Members may request assignment to a committee.
• Chair members of committees w/ party leaders among
most powerful of Congress.
• The seniority system gave the member of the majority
party with the longest uninterrupted service on a
particular committee the leadership of that committee.
Choosing Committee
Members
• The work of Congress is so massive and
complicated that lawmakers need trained staff to
help them do their work effectively.
• In addition, a number of supporting agencies
perform important functions for members.
Section 5: Staff and
Support Agencies
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Help with workload
Communicate with voters
Help run committee hearings and floor sessions
Draft new bills
Write committee reports
Attend committee meetings
Help lawmakers get reelected
(**Some lawmakers believe congressional
staffers have too much power.**)
Congressional Staff Role
• Congress includes two types of staff
• Personal staff; work directly for individual senators and
representatives.
• Administrative assistant (AA); runs the lawmaker’s office,
supervise schedule, and gives advice.
• Legislative assistant (LA); makes certain the lawmakers
are well informed about the many bills he or she must deal
with.
• Caseworker; handle the many requests for help from
constituents.
Personal Staff
• Committee staff; work for the many house and
senate committees.
• Largely responsible for the work involved in
making laws.
Committee Staff
• Several agencies that are part of the legislative
branch provide services that help Congress carry
out its powers.
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Library of Congress
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
General Accounting Office (GAO)
Government Printing Office (GPO)
• Records of all congressional bills
Support Agencies