The Legislative Branch

Unit 6AP Government

Important Terms and Concepts

• Read your textbook carefully• Terms are VERY important this

unit!

Roots of the Legislative Branch

• The Framers were greatly influenced by the American colonial experience– Under the British, colonial assemblies were chosen as

advisory bodies to the royal governors. • These assemblies gradually assumed more

power and authority in each colony, eventually gaining responsibility over taxation and spending.

• The Continental Congress was a gathering of the selected legislators from the 13 colonies

• Upon independence, the Continental Congress became the first American Congress

Under ARTICLES CONGRESS LACKED POWER TO:

After CONSTITUTION TO CONGRESS HAD POWER TO :

1.2.3.4.5.6.

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.

Under ARTICLES CONGRESS LACKED POWER TO:

After CONSTITUTION TO CONGRESS HAD POWER TO :

1. Provide for effective treaty-making power and control foreign relations; it could not compel states to respect treaties.

2. Compel states to meet military quotas; it could not draft soldiers.

3. Regulate interstate and foreign commerce; it left each state free to set up its own tariff system.

4. Collect taxes directly from the people; it had to rely on states to collect and forward taxes.

5. Compel states to pay their share of government costs.

6. Provide and maintain a sound monetary system or issue paper money; this was left up to the states, and monies in circulation differed tremendously in value.

1. Declare war and make peace.2. Enter into treaties and alliances.3. Establish and control armed forces.4. Requisition men and money from states.5. Regulate coinage.6. Borrow money and issue bills of credit.7. Fix uniform standards of weight and

measurement.8. Create admiralty courts.9. Create a postal system.10. Regulate Indian affairs.11. Guarantee citizens of each state the rights

and privileges of citizens in the several states when in another state.

12. Adjudicate disputes between states on state petition.

Which Branch is the ‘Most’ Powerful??

• The framers of the U.S Constitution placed Congress at the center of the government.– Article I

• In the early years of the republic Congress held the bulk of power.

• Today, the presidency has become quite powerful particularly since FDR. – Congress now generally responds to

executive branch legislative proposals.

Qualifications for Congress

House• 25 years old• US Citizen for 7

years • Be a resident of

the state you represent

Senate• 30 years old• US Citizen for 9

years• Be a resident of

the state you represent

Congressional Terms• Senators have a 6 year term with 1/3 of

the seats up for reelection every two years.• House members serve 2 year terms and

must be re-elected every general election.

• NO LIMIT TO TERMS!

The Makeup of Legislative Branch

• The Great Compromise provided the necessary vision to insure that the new legislature was accepted by the new country– A bicameral legislative branch of government was

created • The upper house is called the Senate in which

each state receives two representatives. – 100 total

• The lower house is called the House of Representatives which is apportioned by population. – 435 total

Gerrymander• To draw district lines in such a

way that gives unfair advantage to one group over another.

• Named for Elbridge Gerry the former Governor of Massachusetts – Had been part of the Revolutionary

War– Was one of the American emissaries

to France during the XYZ Affair• The term “gerrymander” is a

mixture of the word salamander and Governor Gerry’s name

• He often drew legislative and/or district lines to benefit his political friends

Apportionment and Redistricting

• The Constitution requires that all Americans be counted every 10 years by a census.

• The census determines the allotment of seats in the House of Representatives.

• Redistricting (the redrawing of congressional districts to reflect changes in seats allocated to the states from population shifts) is done by state legislatures and, of course, always has political overtones. – When the process is outrageously political, it is called

gerrymandering and is often struck down by the courts.

Powers ofCongress

Taxation

Lawmaking DeclareWar

Regulate Commerce

SpendMoney

CreateCourts

Make all laws "necessary and proper" to carrying out

the enumerated powers

Power of the Incumbency

• 92% of House members have won reelection since 1946

• Members of the Senate are also likely to win reelection although less likely that the House– 75% since 1946

• Advantages– Greater name recognition– Easier to raise money; about 75% of contributions goes to

incumbents– Credit claiming which increases victory of margin– Discourages challengers– Franking- free mail to constituents

• Disadvantages– Voters are more likely to vote for the person NOT the party– Challengers with deep pockets

Organization of Congress• Every two years, a new Congress is seated.

– 112th currently in session • Congress opens each new session in

January after election day– The first order of business is the election of

leaders and adoption of new rules. • Both houses of Congress are organized by

party for both leadership and committee purposes.– CONGRESS IS VERY PARTISAN!

Key Differences Between the Houses

Found in the ConstitutionHouse • Initiate revenue,

budget, and appropriation bills- $$$$• All money bills start

in House• Impeaches the

president• Selects the President in

case there is no majority winner in the electoral college

Senate • Offers “advise and

consent” for presidential nominees by confirming the presidential appointments of federal judges, Supreme Court justices, heads of departments and agencies, and ambassadors

• Convicts the president AFTER impeachment in the House

• Selects the Vice-president in case there is no majority winner in the electoral college

Other Important Differences Between

the Two HousesHouse • Formal

• Many rules• Rules Committee

very powerful• “Germaneness”

requirement for bills• Congressmen become

specialists in one major area

• Speaker is extremely powerful

Senate • Foreign policy experts• Relaxed

• Less rules (filibuster allowed)

• No Rules Committee• Senators become

generalists and become ‘experts’ in several key areas

• Senate “holds” on bills• Unanimous consent

agreements to ease bill passage

The Filibuster• Minority party tactic to “talk a bill to death • Only allowed in the Senate NOT the

House – From a Dutch word meaning “pirate”

• Under Senate rules, the speech need not be relevant to the topic under discussion– There have been cases in which a senator has

undertaken part of a speech by reading from a phone book

• To stop a filibuster or apply cloture:– 16 Senators must sign a petition– 60 votes to end debate

Fun Filibusters Facts• They used to call it 'taking

to the diaper,' a phrase that referred to “the preparation” undertaken by a prudent senator before an extended filibuster

• Longest filibuster on record– In 1957 Sen. Strom Thurmond

talked for 24 hours and 18 minutes in an attempt to kill a civil rights bill

– Strom Thurmond visited a steam room before his filibuster in order to dehydrate himself so he could drink without urinating.

– An aide stood by in the cloakroom with a pail in case of emergency

– The bill passed less than two hours later, 62-15.

– But Thurmond succeeded in shattering the previous record set by Sen. Wayne Morse, D-Ore., in 1953 of 22 hours and 26

...Yikes!

The Party Caucus• Gathering of all the members of

each party in each house of Congress

• Responsibilities– Select party leaders– Assign party members to committees– Set policy goals

The Committee System • Real work of Congress is done

by committees & subcommittees• Committees have historically

been of the same ratio of party members as each house

• The ratio of committee assignments ratio SHOULD be the same as the ratio in the entire House and/or Senate– The 109th Congressional

committees did not reflect this

– Committees were dominated by Republicans who were appointed by the Republican leadership

Types of House Committees

• The House has four types of committees•Standing (or permanent)

committees•Special (or select) committees•Joint and conference committees•And a Committee of the Whole (100 members)

Standing House Committees

• These traditional “permanent” House panels are identified in House Rule X, which also lists the jurisdiction of each committee.

• Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills and issues and recommend measures for consideration by the full House. – They also have oversight responsibility to

monitor agencies, programs, and activities within their jurisdictions, and, in some cases, in areas that cut across committee jurisdictions.

Special or Select House Committees

• These committees have issue-specific jurisdictions, functions and responsibilities that are set forth in the House Rules.

• These committees are frequently created for a finite time period.

House CommitteesStanding Committees

Committee on Agriculture *Committee on Appropriations (projects)Committee on Armed Services *Committee on the Budget Committee on Education and the Workforce Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee on Financial Services Committee on Government Reform Committee on Homeland Security Committee on House Administration Committee on International Relations Committee on the Judiciary Committee on Resources *Committee on Rules (runs the House)Committee on Science Committee on Small Business Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Veterans' Affairs *Committee on Ways and Means (taxes)

Special, Select, and Other

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina

• Joint

Joint Economic Committee Joint Committee on Printing Joint Committee on Taxation

Committee of the Whole• This most important committee is composed

of all House Members and is created to expedite the consideration of bills, other measures and amendments on the floor of the House.

• In the Committee of the Whole, a quorum is 100 Members (as compared to 218 in the House) and debate on amendments is conducted under the five-minute rule (as compared to the hour rule in the House), following general debate.

• Debates over the details of legislation are almost always conducted when the House is sitting as the Committee of the Whole, which following debate reports its legislation, with any amendments, to the House for an up or down vote.

Types of Senate Committees

• The Senate has three types of committees•Standing committees•Select (or special) committees•Joint and conference committees

Senate Standing Committees• Senate standing committees are permanent

bodies with specific responsibilities spelled out in the Senate's official rules.

• For purposes of member assignment, Senate committees are divided, according to relative importance, into three categories

• Class A, Class B, and Class C. – Senators are limited to service on two Class A

committees and one Class B committee. – Assignment to Class C committees is made without

reference to a member's service on any other panels.

Special (and Select) Senate Committees

• Select and special Senate committees fall into either the Class B or the Class C category.

• They are created for clearly specified purposes and, although those that currently exist are now considered permanent, they did not necessarily enjoy that status at their inception. – Special investigating committees, such as

the 1973 Select Committee to Investigate Presidential Campaign Activities (the Watergate Committee), expire after they submit their final report to the Senate.

Senate Committees• Standing Committees

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry *Appropriations (projects)Armed Services Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Budget Commerce, Science, and Transportation Energy and Natural Resources Environment and Public Works *Finance (money)*Foreign Relations (treaties)Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

*Judiciary (approves judges)Rules and Administration Small Business and Entrepreneurship Veterans Affairs

• Special, Select, and Other Indian Affairs Select Committee on Ethics Select Committee on Intelligence Special Committee on Aging

• Joint Joint Committee on Printing Joint Committee on Taxation Joint Committee on the Library Joint Economic Committee

Joint Committees• These committees are composed of

Members from both the House and the Senate.

• The most important job of the joint or conference committee is to smooth out differences between versions of the same bill before it goes to the President for his signature

Lawmaking• The most important constitutional power

of Congress is the power to make laws. – This power is shared by the House and

the Senate. • In order to become a law, a bill must be

passed by both the House and the Senate.

Lawmaking• Anyone can write a bill

– However, only a member of the House or Senate may introduce a bill.

• A bill must survive three stages to become a law: 1.Committees2.The floor3.The conference committee.

• Over 9,000 bills are proposed and fewer than 5 to 10% are enacted.

• A bill can die at any stage AND MOST DO!!!

How a Bill Becomes a LawThe Process:

1. Introduced to House (or Senate)

2. Assigned to committee by Leader or Speaker

3. Assigned to subcommittee-

-Most bills die in committee

(Bill Goes to Rules Committee in House only)

4. Returns to floor with report by committee

-Debate of bill5. Passes or fails on floor6. On to other body with

same schedule

7. If both houses pass bill, they are likely different versions so the 2 bills go to-Conference Committee

8. If the Conference Committee agrees then the new bill goes to both Houses for one final approval-Many bills die here, too!

9. But…if both chamber approve it goes to the President

10. He can-Sign it into law-Let it become law (if Congress is in session)-Veto it-Pocket veto (if Congress is not in session)

11. Congress can override presidential veto with a 2/3 vote of each house

How Does Congress Make Decisions on Bills?

Congress

Colleagues

Constituents Staff

CaucusesParty

Interest Groups

Political Action Committees

Speaker of the House• John Boehner• (R-Ohio)• born 1949• House since 1990• Selected for

position in January 2011

• (Former Minority Leader AND Majority Leader)

Roles of Speaker of the House

• The speaker is the principal leader of the House or Assembly.

• The speaker typically will – (1) preside over the daily sessions of the House– (2) preserve order in the chamber– (3) state parliamentary motions– (4) rule on parliamentary questions– (5) appoint committee chairs and members– (6) refer bills to committee– (7) sign legislation, writs and warrants– (8) act as the official spokesman for the House

or Assembly.

House Majority Leader

• Eric Cantor• R- VA• Elected in 1998

The Role of House Majority Leader

• The role of the majority leader has been defined by history and tradition. – Schedules legislation for floor

consideration– Plans the daily, weekly, and annual

legislative agendas– Consults with Members to gauge

party sentiment– Works to advance the goals of the

majority party

House Majority Whip

• Rep. Kevin McCarthy• Represents California

22nd District• Born 1965• First elected in 2007

House Majority Whip Duties

• The duties of the majority whip are to: – (1) assist the floor leader – (2) ensure member attendance– (3) count votes – (4) generally communicate the

majority position

Minority Leader• Nancy Pelosi • (D-CA)• born 1940• House since 1987

House Minority Leader Duties

• The minority leader is the principal leader of the minority caucus.

• The minority leader is responsible for – (1) developing the minority position– (2) negotiating with the majority

party– (3) directing minority caucus

activities on the chamber floor – (4) leading debate for the minority

House Minority Whip• Steny Hoyer• (D-MD)• born 1939• House since 1981

Minority Whip Duties• The major responsibilities for the

minority whip are to – (1) assist the minority leader on the

floor– (2) count votes – (3) ensure attendance of minority

party members

President of the Senate

• Vice-President Joe Biden

• Democrat• Born 1942• Formerly a

Senator from DE– Served 6 terms

President of the Senate• The Vice President of the United States

is the President of the Senate. • He is a non-voting member unless a

vote of the Senate ends in a tie, in which case the Vice President casts the deciding vote. – The Constitution understands that the Vice

President will not always be available and provides for a President pro tempore (literally, a temporary president

President Pro Tempore of the Senate

• Sen. Daniel Inouye• D-Hawaii• Born 1924• Been in Senate since

1962

President Pro Tempore of the Senate

• The President pro tempore is elected by the Senate– By custom, he is the most senior

senator in the majority party– The position of President pro tempore

is primarily honorary, and does not carry significant political power

Senate Majority Leader• Harry Reid• (D-NV)• born 1939• Senate since 1987

Senate Majority Leader• Leads the majority party in the Senate• Manages and schedules the legislative

and executive business of the Senate • In practice the Senate Majority leader is

a highly influential figure and usually has a great deal of power over what legislation is approved by the Senate. – Has authority over other officials such as

Senate whips and floor leaders

Senate Majority Whip• Dick Durbin• (D-IL)• born 1944• Senate since

1997

Senate Majority Whip

• The second ranking member of the Senate • The main function of the Majority Whip is

to gather votes on major issues.

Senate Minority Leader• Mitch McConnell• (R-KY)• born 1942• Senate since

1985

Senate Minority Leader• Elected as the leader of the

minority party– Serves as the chief Senate

spokesperson for his or her party • Helps to manage and schedule the

legislative and executive business of the Senate.

Senate Minority Whip• John Kyl• ( R)Arizona • Born 1942• Senate since 2000

Senate Minority Whip

• The fourth ranking member of the Senate • The main function of the Minority Whip is

to gather votes on major issues among members of the minority party.

Georgia’s 6th House District Representative

• Tom Price- R • Elected in 2004• Former State Senator• Physician

Georgia’s Senior Senator

• Saxby Chambliss- R

• Elected 2002• Former

member of House

• Businessman and lawyer

Georgia’s Junior Senator

• Johnny Isakson-R

• Elected 2004• Former member

of House• Real Estate

Broker

Georgia’s Congressional Delegation

8- Republican and 5-Democrats1. Jack Kingston (R) 2. Sanford Bishop (D) 3. Lynn Westmoreland

(R) 4. Hank Johnson (D) 5. John Lewis (D) 6. Tom Price (R)

7. Rob Woodall (R) 8. Austin Scott(R) 9. Tom Graves(R) 10. Paul Broun, Jr.

(R)11. Phil Gingrey (R) 12. John Barrow (D) 13. David Scott (D)

Important Acts and Supreme Court Cases for

Test

Know all of these…

Amendments and Acts•16th Amendment •17th Amendment•Tonkin Gulf Resolution•War Powers Act•Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act

Supreme Ct. Cases•Dred Scott v Sandford *only new case•Shaw v Reno•Miller v Johnson•Baker v Carr•Buckley v Valeo•Gibbons v. Ogden•Marbury v Madison •Heart of Atlanta Motel v US

Amendment XVI• Gave Congress the power to tax

income on a federal level• The Congress shall have power to

lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Amendment XVII• Changed the way Senators were selected• In the past, Senators were APPOINTED by

the state legislatures• The 17th Amendment allowed American

citizens to vote for their two senators– 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 legislatures.

Tonkin Gulf Resolution- 1964

• Congressional resolution passed in 1964 that authorized military action in Southeast Asia. – Officially started Vietnam War/Conflict

for US• Congress gave the president

powers beyond those found in Article II

• The Resolution was replaced by the War Powers Act (Resolution) in 1973

War Powers Act- 1973• The War Powers Act (Resolution) of 1973

restricted the power of the president – Requires the president to consult with Congress

prior to the start of any hostilities as well as regularly until U.S. armed forces are no longer engaged in hostilities

– Required president to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities if Congress has not declared war or passed a resolution authorizing the use of force within 60 days

– Following an official request by the President to Congress, the time limit can be extended by an additional 30 days (presumably when "unavoidable military necessity" requires additional action for a safe withdrawal.

Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act

• CBIA-1974• Denied the president the right to

refuse to spend money authorized by Congress

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1856)

• Facts of the Case – Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri. From

1833 to 1843, he resided in Illinois (a free state) and in an area of the Louisiana Territory, where slavery was forbidden by the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

– After returning to Missouri, Scott sued unsuccessfully in the Missouri courts for his freedom, claiming that his residence in free territory made him a free man.

– Scott then brought a new suit in federal court. Scott's master maintained that no pure-blooded Negro of African descent and the descendant of slaves could be a citizen in the sense of Article III of the Constitution.

• Question Presented – Was Dred Scott free or slave?

Conclusion – The Court ruled that Dred Scott was

a slave and according to the Court no one but a citizen of the United States could be a resident of a state, and that only Congress could confer national citizenship.

– The conclusion upheld the idea that no person descended from an American slave had ever been a citizen

– The Court then declared that the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, hoping to end the slavery question once and for all.

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney