CongressChapter 13

Structure of Congress: Wow me with your retention of knowledge!!!!!• Why bicameral? • Think of compromises made during the drafting of the

Constitution• National interests v. state interests

• Original differences in electoral process? Why?• Cool passions of House / mobocracy

• Current electoral process• 17th amendment (1913)

• Senate “district” vs. House district• Gerrymandering• Why gerrymander a district?• What guidelines need to be followed when creating districts?• Baker v. Carr – Wesbury v. Sanders

House Senate

Terms Term =_____All seats are up for election every___ years

Term=_______ of seats up for election every ___ years.

How is representation determined? Each state must

have at least ___ reps

Size

Qualifications

Salary $174,000 $174,000

Special powers -Initiates revenue bills (taxation)-brings articles of impeachment (charges)-picks pres if EC is deadlocked

- Ratifies treaties- Hold trial for

impeachment- Confirms

appointments to judicial and executive branch

Make-up of current Congress

• 114th Congress• Almost one-in-five members of the House and Senate are a racial or

ethnic minority, making the 114th Congress the most diverse in history.• HOWEVER, Congress remains disproportionately white when compared

with the U.S. population, which has grown increasingly diverse in recent decades

• Overall, non-whites (including blacks, Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans) make up 17% of the new Congress BUT that is below these groups’ 38% share of the nation’s population

• The Senate has 54 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and two Independents, who both caucus with the Democrats.

• The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 114th Congress was 57.0 years; of Senators, 61.0 years. The overwhelming majority of Members of Congress have a college education.

• Approximately 80 percent WHITE and MALE• 92 PERCENT Christian

Incumbency Advantage• Incumbency is the single most important factor

determining the outcome of Congressional elections• Over 90% of House incumbents seeking re-election win ;

75% of Senators• Why such an advantage??• $$$$$$$$$$• Generally able to outspend opponent by 2-1

• Constituency services• Can bring jobs and $ to their districts “pork”

• Visibility / Name recognition• Gerrymandering• Franking privilege: send newsletters, mailers free of charge

(can’t be directly related to re-election)

Consequences of the incumbency advantage

The good

• No radical shifts in who governs= no radical shift in policy• Well versed in making

policy

The Bad• No incentive to change

the system• Campaign finance reform

What is the role of Congress?• 1st branch: established in Article 11. Power to Legislate• Expressed powers given to Congress in Article 1 are much

more extensive than those given to the other branches• has two of the most important powers given to any

institution• Power of the purse (tax, borrow money…) and declare war

• Necessary and proper clause / elastic clause has been used to give Congress extensive implied powers• Interstate commerce… Equation: Congress has the implied power to __________________ because it is “necessary and proper” in order to carry out its expressed power (s) to ______________________________________.

What is the role of Congress?• 2. Oversight: Domestic Policy

• Senate must vote to confirm Federal JudgesArticle II of the Constitution provides that the President "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint...Judges of the supreme Court and such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."• The Tensions of Judicial Appointments• Senate and lower court appointments / role?

• How does “Senatorial Courtesy” impact lower court appointments?• General pattern for confirmation of S.C. justices

• List compiled / who’s consulted?• Committee on the Judiciary – Full Senate

• Filibuster • The Hold 60 votes to end

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpFe10lkF3Y • “Borked” : illustrated political nature of confirmation

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNp0R1mAYYU • Impact of life term on confirmation process• Why is Roe v. Wade a perennial question during the nomination process?

What is the role of Congress?2. Oversight: Domestic Policy• Senate must vote to confirm Cabinet dept. heads, as well as

the heads of other important agencies (FBI, CIA, SEC…)• Most recent appointments• John Kerry : Sec. of State (94-3)• Chuck Hagel : Sec. of Defense (58-41)• Jack Lew: Sec of Treasury (71-26)

• Senate Confirmation of Cabinet Appointments • Nomination / Confirmation process• Vetting process similar to that of judicial nominees• Pres sends letter to Senate• Hearing held in committee that most relates to cabinet position• Senate Armed Services Committee = Sec. of Defense

• Senate usually confirms appointments without much fuss, why? How does this differ from Judicial confirmations?

What is the role of Congress? 2. Oversight: Domestic Policy• Set guidelines for new agencies• Example: Federal Trade Commission and the Food and

Drug Admin must study the impact of advertising restrictions on job creation before making recommendations about advertising to kids

• Hold hearings and conduct investigations (must be connected to an expressed power)• Steroids in baseball• What expressed power allowed them to investigate this?!?

Congressional Organization• Building blocks of Congressional Organization• Political parties = leadership roles• The Committee System• Caucuses• Congressional staff• Procedural rules of the House and Senate

Congressional Caucuses• Informal groups that form within Congress• Allow for congress members to discuss issues of common concern

• Based on• Race/ ethnicity/ gender• Women’s Caucus• Black Caucus• Hispanic Caucus

• Region• Western States• Sunbelt

• Ideology• Blue Dog democrats• Progressive Caucus• Republican Liberty Caucus

• Stuff they care about• Hockey Caucus• Bike Caucus• Mentoring Caucus

NJ- RECOGNIZE WHO IS WHO!!

Can you guess what leadership positions each person holds?• 1. Speaker of the House, 2.House Majority leader, 3.House

Minority leader, 4.Republican Whip, 5. Democratic Whip• 6. Senate President, 7. Senate President Pro Tempore, 8.

Senate Majority leader, 9. Senate Minority leader, 10. Democratic whip, 11. Republican whip

A.

B. C.

E. F

G. H. I. J.

D.

K.

Organization of Congress: leadership on the House of Reps• Speaker of the House:

John Boehner• most important person in the

House• decides who can speak when the

whole House is in session, decides what committee a bill goes to, decides who serves on special and select committees, decides when bills come up for vote, sets debate rules concerning bills, coordinates agenda with Senate leadership

• Always from the majority party• Elected by members of the

majority party in the House, then whole house votes – straight party line vote• Elected every 2 years, can serve a

total of 4 terms (8 years)• 2nd in line of presidential

succession

Organization of Congress: leadership on the House of Reps• Majority leader: Kevin

McCarthy • Assist Speaker in their duties,

basically responsible for day to day management of legislative affairs

• Minority leader: Nancy Pelosi• Recognizes speakers during debate,

may work with majority leader to set calendar, may discuss debate rules, spokesperson for their party in the House, criticize the agenda of the majority party, build party consensus

• Whips: keep party members in line, get them to vote a certain way on legislation • Republican Whip: Steve Scalise• Democratic whip: Steny Hoyer

Organization of Congress: leadership on the Senate• Senate leaders have much less power than their

counterparts in the House• Senate President: Joe Biden / Vice President –

breaks tie votes

• Senate President Pro Tempore: Orrin Hatch: mostly ceremonial position, presides over Senate when VP not present, longest serving member of the majority Party (1977), 3rd in line to Presidency

Organization of Congress: leadership on the Senate• Majority Leader: Mitch McConnel-right to speak first

during debates, assign bills to committees, controls scheduling of floor debate, spokesperson for majority party

• Minority Leader: Harry Reid: works with Majority leader if possible, spokesperson for minority party, sets legislative agenda of minority party

Can you guess what leadership positions each person holds?• 1. Speaker of the House, 2.House Majority leader, 3.House

Minority leader, 4.Republican Whip, 5. Democratic Whip• 6. Senate President, 7. Senate President Pro Tempore, 8.

Senate Majority leader, 9. Senate Minority leader, 10. Democratic whip, 11. Republican whip

A.

B. C.

E. F

G. H. I. J.

D.

K.

Committee System• Committees are where the bulk of congressional work

is accomplished• Specialization within Congress

• People who have been long serving members of a committee become experts in that area of policy

• Allow for a HUGE number of bills to be addressed• About 7,000 bills are introduced in a 2 year Congressional session

• Committees are divided into subcommittees with even more specialization• House Armed Services Committee• Tactical Air and Land Forces: responsible for authorizing Research

and Development• Congressional oversight hearings are held• Nomination hearings are held (Senate)

Congressional Organization: The Committee System

Types of committeesLINK FOR THE LIST OF COMMITTEES IN CONGRESS• Standing: permanent committees that

continue from one Congress to the next (from the 112th to the 113th to the 114th Congress…)• Focus on particular area of policy• Most match up to an executive agency• Exception : appropriations/ rules / ways

and means• Divided into subcommittees where details of

legislation is worked out

Exclusive House Committees: if a member serves on one of these they can’t serve on another committee

• House Rules Committee: • Speaker of the House is the Chair • All bills pass through this committee before making it to

the floor• Set debate rules• Determines if amendments can be added

• House ways and means:• All revenue bills originate here• Constitution states all revenue bills must originate in

the House

Committee System• Select committees: formed for specific purposes

for a limited amount of time• Conduct investigations• Members appointed by leadership

• Joint committees: committees that include members of both Houses: conference (see below), library AKA- library of Congress(oversees all Congressional records)…• Conference committees: temporary, formed to resolve

differences between bills in the House and Senate• Must have same exact wording to go to the President

How are committees organized?• Chairperson – member of the majority party ,

elected by the whole House / Senate, usually the person who has been on the committee the longest (but not always)• Decide committee’s agenda• Schedule when bills come before the committee , what

subcommittee it goes to

Committee Assignments• When each new Congress convenes members

provide a “wish list” of committees they would like to serve on• In the House: seats are proportional to the number of

members of each party in the House (example: if republicans hold 60% of the seats in the House they get 60% in each committee)• Each member usually serves on 2 standing committees

(there are 20), unless they serve on an exclusive committee ( ways and means, rules)

• Each party assigns its own members to committees based on seniority

How a Bill Becomes a Law• http://vimeo.com/24334724

Who can write a bill? Who has to introduce it?

How are bills introduced?House

• Placed in the hopper (basket) attached to clerks desk

• Assigned a # HR1

Senate• Morning Hour: Mon &

Tues• Time set aside for 5 min

speeches by members to introduce bills, take care of other issues• Clerk takes it assigned a

# S1

Sent to standing committee…

Sent to subcommittee HearingsMarkup

Back to the full committee• Bill sent back to the full committee and they vote

on it, need a quorum to vote (majority of committee members)

• If the majority of committee members support the bill a report is written and it goes on the calendar for full floor consideration

• If they decide not to forward the bill to the floor it can be pushed out of committee to the floor by a discharge petition (House: 218 have to sign) / discharge motion (Senate: 1 Sen can propose to kick a bill to the floor, 60 votes needed to agree, rarely done!!!!)

• House: where does it go before floor action?• Senate: Majority leader sets schedule

Floor Action in the House :Debate• Committee of the Whole • Don’t need 218 : full quorum• Can’t vote, no riders

• Types of rules imposed by HOUSE RULES!!!!!• Open / closed / restricted

Floor action in the Senate: Debate• Filibuster• Cloture• 16 sign petition calling for vote / 60 votes needed to end

filibuster

Floor Action: VotingHouse

• Logrolling?• Riders• Types of voting?!?• Voice vote (yay, nay- do all

at once for speed purposes)• Division vote (stand)• Teller vote (members pass

between two tellers- “yeas” first and “nays” second)• Roll –call (voice vote yay or

nay to their names)

Senate• Logrolling?• Riders• Types of voting ?!?

• Voice, division

Sent to the Pres…• Sign it• Veto it • What is needed to override a veto?

• Do nothing for 10 days• In session – bill becomes law• Out of session – Pocket Veto / Bill dies

What should inform the way members of Congress vote?

The Trustee View of Representation – legislators should act as trustees of the broad interests of their entire society and that they should vote against the narrow interests of their constituents as their conscience and their perception of national needs dictates

- representative democracy as the Founding Father’s imagined it, especially in the Senate

The Instructed-Delegate View of Representation—the notion that congressmen should behave as instructed delegates. That is, they should mirror the views of the majority of the constituents who elected them to power in the first place

Where’s the pork?What was it? -money spent on projects that are meant to primarily benefit a politician's constituents in exchange for votes or campaign contributions-why did they do it?

* adds to incumbency advantage- don’t like other district / state pork, but happy when

your member of Congress brings home the bacon (mmmmm…bacon)Example: $500,000 dog park in California

*Some are calling for a comeback, say it will make it easier to get legislation passed in a hyper-partisan Congress*Really it is still around, members of Congress just go directly to executive agencies to ask to direct funds to specific projects (iron triangle)

Congressional Staff : Personal staff• more than 35,000 people are employed in the Capitol Hill

bureaucracy About half of them are personal staff members• The personal staff includes office clerks and secretaries;

professionals who deal with media relations, draft legislation, and satisfy constituency requests for service; staffers who maintain local offices in the member’s home district or state• The average Senate office employs about 30 staff

members, and twice that number work on the personal staffs of senators from the most populous states.

• House office staffs typically are about half as large as those of the Senate.

Professional Staff ( non- partisan )

Congress also benefits from the expertise of the professional staffs of agencies that were created to produce information for members of the House and Senate.• The Congressional Research Service (CRS) a section of

the Library of Congress, furnishes a computer-based record of the contents and current legislative status of major bills that are under consideration.

• The General Accounting Office (GAO) audits spending by federal agencies, investigates agency practices, and makes policy recommendations to Congress, especially concerning the financial activities of the government.

• The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) advises Congress on the anticipated effect on the economy of government expenditures and estimates the cost of proposed policies.

20 minute review of congress• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhVeIOy99f4