Congress
Introduction
• Congress was created to be the most powerful
branch of government
• Madison – “first branch of this government”
• Recently many Americans have not looked at Congress as a
major factor in America’s success
• Many express an executive centered view of government
• U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislature
• House of Representatives
• Senate
• Congress initiates and approves laws
Congressional Sessions
• Each term of Congress has two sessions
• Sessions last 1 year
• Sessions last until Congress votes to adjourn
• Each term of Congress begins on January
3rd of odd numbered years and lasts two
years
• POTUS may call a special session
Membership of the House
• 435 members – The Constitution does not
set the number of representatives
• The constitution requires the number of
seats must be apportioned on the basis of
population
• Each state is entitled to one member, no
matter how small its population
Qualifications for the House
• Members must be 25 years of age
• Citizens for 7 years
• Residents of the state they represent
Term of Office
• Members are elected for two years
• All 435 stand for reelection every two
years
• Governors fill vacancies by death or
resignation until special elections can be
held
• About 90 % of representatives are
reelected
Representation, Reapportionment
and Redistricting
• Assignment of representatives according to
population
• Occurs every 10 years after the Census Bureau takes the
national census
• The number of representatives is then determined for each
state
• The process is called reapportionment
• After each state find out the reapportioned
representation the state legislatures sets up
congressional districts
• The process of setting new district boundaries is called
redistricting
• States abused the redistricting power by creating districts of
unequal population or by gerrymandering
• Baker v Carr – federal courts could decide
conflicts over redistricting
• Wesberry v Sanders – a vote in one
congressional district was to worth as much as a
vote in another district – one person, one vote
• Congressional districts contain roughly the same
amount of people (650,000)
Gerrymandering
• The political party controlling the state legislature draws
a a districts boundaries to gain an advantage in elections
• Packing drawing a district so it includes as many of the opponents
voters as possible – leaving the remaining districts for the majority
party
• Cracking is dividing the opponents into other districts to weaken the
opponents base
• The Supreme Court has ruled that congressional districts
must be compact and contiguous or physically adjoining
• Many districts remain irregular in shape for political
reasons, and the practice of gerrymandering remains a
concern
Senate
• Membership of the Senate – “shall be
composed of two senators from each
state” –equal representation
• 100 members
• Qualifications
• 30 years of age
• 9 years a citizen
• Resident of the state they represent
Salary, Benefits, and Privileges
• 27th Amendment prohibits Congress from giving
itself a raise
• Franking Privilege – stationary and postage for
official business
• Allowances for office staffs and trips, tax breaks
for maintaining two residencies, and retirement
pensions
• Senate may refuse to seat a member, and may
censure (vote a formal disapproval) even expel
a member
Criticisms of Congress
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Legislators are a bunch of crooks
Wasteful spending – Pork-Barrel
Never get anything done
You can’t trust them to tell the truth
Gridlock
Compromises – selling out!
To much money in politics
Out of touch with the average citizen
Special Interests
To much partisanship (partisan politics)
Senate Terms
• Elections for the Senate like the House are
held in November of even numbered years
• The Senate is a continuous body because
senators serve 6 year terms and a
provision that 1/3rd of the senators would
run for reelection every two years
• State legislatures may give the Governor
of a state the power to fill any vacancies
until a special election could be held
Members of Congress
• 535 voting members – 100 Senators and
435 Representatives
• In addition 4 delegates in the House – 1 each from
District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, and
the Virgin Islands
• 1 resident commissioner from Puerto Rico
• None can vote, but can attend sessions, introduce
bills, speak in debates, and vote in committees
• Typically, members have been white,
middle-aged males 50+
• Membership changes slowly because
officeholders seldom lose reelection
• 1945-1990 90% of all incumbents won reelection
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Raising money – PAC’s political action committees
Safe districts – gerrymandering
Name recognition
Solve problems for voters
Bring money back to the district
• 1992 began a tide against incumbents
• 1996 back to 90%
• Democrats claimed control of the House and
Senate
The House
• Article I, Section 5 “Each house may
determine the Rules of its Proceedings”
• The House’s large size makes complex
rules necessary
• Each term about 10,00 bills are introduced – about
105 go to the full House for a vote
• Committees do most of the work
• Many representatives specialize in issues
important to their constituents and attempt to serve
on the right committees
• Many procedures in Congress are
organized are organized around political
affiliation
• In the House and the Senate Republicans sit on
the right side of the chamber and the democrats on
the left
• In both houses the party with the most members
(majority party) selects the leaders, controls the
flow of legislation and appoints committee chairs
House Leadership
• Organized leadership coordinates the work of
the 435 members
– Purposes of the leaders
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Organize and unify party members
Schedule the work of the house
Making certain lawmakers are present for key votes
Distributing and collecting information
Keeping the House in touch with the president
Influencing lawmakers to support the policies of their political
party
• Speaker of the House
• Presiding officer of the House – most powerful
leader
• Constitution states the House chooses the speaker
– actually the majority party in a caucus make the
choice
• Speaker…. Influences proceedings, recognizes
members for speaking, appoints some committee
members, schedules bills for action, follows the
VPOTUS in the line of succession
• House Floor Leaders
• Majority Leader - helps plan the party’s legislative
programs and steer important legislation through
the House
• Majority Whip and Deputy Whip – assistant floor
leaders
• Watch how members intend to vote
• Persuade them to support the party
• See members are present to vote
• Minority Party – elects similar leaders with the
same responsibilities except their scheduling
power is limited
Lawmaking in the House
• A proposed law is a bill
• Procedure calls for bills to be introduced by dropping
them into the hopper, a mahogany box near the front of
the chamber
• The speaker assigns it to committee
• If a bill survives committee it is place on one of the five
calendars
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Union – money issues
House calendar – public bills
Private calendar – individuals, people, or places
Consent calendar – for unanimous consent bills
Discharge calendar petitions to discharge a bill from
committee
• The House Rules Committee
• Traffic officer – power to decide when and how
legislation will be considered by the House
• Bills reach the floor by a “rule’ or special order from
the rules committee
• Scheduling
• Time limit for debate
• How much the bill may be amended on the floor
• Rules committee may help resolve disputes
between committees
• May delay or block votes that representatives or
house leaders do not want to come to a vote
• A quorum is required to do business
• Minimum number of members who must be
present to let a legislative body to take action
• House – 218
• Committee of the Whole – House wants to
meet and debate and amend legislation –
100 member quorum
• Can’t pass legislation
• Reports back to the full House
The Senate
• The Senate is a deliberative body.
• Senators handle issues of concern in
committees, but they also deal with issues
on the floor where there is plenty of time
for debate
• Senate rules are more flexible and
informal than the House
• Leadership is similar to the House, but the
Senate does not have a speaker
• The Vice President of the United States
– President of the Senate
– Presides over the Senate (Usually passes it
off to the President Pro Tempore (President
for the time being)
– Cannot engage in debate
– Does vote in case of ties
Lawmaking
• Senate has two calendars for scheduling
legislation
• The calendar of general orders – lists all bills
• The Executive calendar – treaties and nominations
• Senate brings bills to the floor by unanimous consent
agreements – a motion to set aside formal rules and consider
a bill from the calendar
• Senate has unlimited debate
– Filibuster - Keep talking until a majority of the Senate
agrees to modify or change the provisions of a bill
• Cloture is a motion to cut off debate – requires 3/5 vote
Congressional Committees
• Committee system serves several purposes
• Allows for division of work
• Decide what is worthy of further action or consideration –
listen to supporters and opponents
• Holds public hearings and investigations
• Kinds of Committees
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Standing
Select
Joint
Conference
Staff and Support Agencies
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Congressional Staff
Personal Staff
Committee Staff
Support Agencies
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The Library of Congress
Congressional Budget Office
General Accounting Office
Government Printing Office
Why does Congress exist?
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To make the country work …
To pass the budget
To manage conflict
To tackle the tough issues
• Check on the power of a single leader
– Acting as the people’s voice against
unchecked power is guarantor of liberty
Congress and the President
• The “State of the Union”
• Before a joint session of Congress the president
tries to set a direction for the nation and at the
same time set an agenda for Congress – The
president is acting as chief legislator
• Sam Rayburn – “I served with, not under, eight
presidents.”
• POTUS is allowed to propose legislation not
introduce or dispose of it (except veto)
• Balance of Powers
• Presidents have persuasive powers
• Some build cooperation others are combative
• Building coalitions is the usual way to presidential
success
• Direct to the people (bully pulpit)
• Media
• Presidents looming large in the legislative process
is a 20th century phenomena
• Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR created
the model of the expansive, activist president
• Tension and struggle between these two is inevitable
Key Powers
• Passing the basic laws of the land
• Congress has key lawmaking power Article 1,
section 1
• President plays a very important role
• Congress could abolish the executive department
and the federal courts - except the POTUS and
VPOTUS & Supreme Court
• Controlling the Purse
• Ability to set the spending and taxing policies of
the nation
• Federal spending reaches into the lives of every
citizen
• Budget process is an enormously complex
undertaking
• House, Senate and president reach an
accommodation with each other despite the slow
tortured process
• Process is so complex and unwieldy it is difficult
for legislators to understand let alone the public
• The vast majority of spending items the president
wants are approved
Shaping Foreign Policy
• President is the chief foreign policy maker
• Control over the executive branch and command
of the national stage give him enormous power to
influence foreign policy
• Congress has devolved considerable
power to the president to conduct and
wage war
• Many Congressmen are disappointed in
presidents consultations with Congress on
foreign policy matters