The United States Congress

The United States Congress

Structure of Congress • Bicameral Legislature (2 chambers) • U.S. Senate (Upper House) • 100 members (2 per state) • House of Representatives (Lower House) • 435 Members (population) Apportionment • Allotting representatives to states based on decennial (10 years) census • Redistricting- (Kansas map) • Gerrymandering- (Video Clip)

HOUSE 435 apportioned members (1911) 2-year terms 25 Initiate all revenue bills, domestic emphasis SENATE 100 members 6-year terms 30 “advise and consent” power, foreign affairs emphasis– ratify all treaties, appointments, etc. • Congress designed by Article 1 Constitutional Differences

HOUSE Power more centralized, distributed less evenly Formal Rules (Rules Committee) Members are usually highly specialized Main emphasis domestic, tax, and revenue ($) policies SENATE Power less centralized, evenly distributed Informal rules (unlimited debate and filibuster, cloture) Members are usually more generalist Emphasizes foreign policy House v. Senate

House Leadership • Speaker of the House • Presides over the House  A member of the majority party. (Can change every 2 years.) Most powerful in the House. • Assigning bills to committee, committee assignments, and controlling floor debates.

House Leadership • Majority Leader - Assistant to SOH - Directs floor debate • Minority Leader • Leader of the minority party • Organizes opposition • Whips “Whipper In” • Promote unity on partisan issues in Congress, vote counting, pressuring members to vote in party line

Senate Leadership • President Pro Tempore • Usually most senior member in Senate • Honorary position Majority Leader = Mitch McConnell, R, KY • Most powerful in Senate • Works with House Leadership and President • Minority Leader =Harry Reid, D, NV • Leader of the minority party • Organizes opposition • President of the Senate = VP. (Breaks ties)

Apprenticeship vs. Seniority • Originally believed that freshmen congressmen should be quiet and learn – serve as apprentices • Senior members gather more perks and benefits than freshmen • Seniority still important – not as vital because of growing specialization.

Congressional Practices • Legislative Work • Researching the issues and becoming educated on the legislation • “Do The Homework” • Partisan vs. Bi-partisan Activity • Mostly partisan, all talk about working in bipartisan manner.

Casework and Credit Claiming • Casework is intermediary work performed by members of Congress for constituents who may have a problem with the federal government • Politicians take credit for the good things they do for their constituents to ensure reelection

Pork Barrel Spending • The term "pork-barrel" originally referred to a container for unwanted extras from slaughtered pigs. • Political candidates would climb on a pork barrel on the street corner by the local general store to address the crowd. He would shout and wave his hands and make extravagant promises about all the benefits he would send back home if he were elected. • The term "pork-barrel spending" came to mean unnecessary government expenditures that were allocated for political reasons

Earmarks • The term "earmarks" originally referred to tags put on the ears of cattle so they could be readily identified. • The term was extended to the political sphere. Once elected, a politician would tag special spending provisions in national legislation so that they were designed to benefit his constituents back home. • Sometimes this was done with a degree of subtlety, for example, a defense contract would be structured so that only a particular, home-town company could actually compete for it. But often earmarking was far more blatant than this.

Logrolling • Logrolling is exchanging of favors such as trading votes to gain passage of actions of interest to each legislative member. • A politician would be obligated to vote for other legislators 'earmarked legislation if they voted for his--and, more importantly, to agree to greater spending measures than he would otherwise approve of. • In other words, if everybody cooperated and "rolled the log" together, then nobody fell off.

Congressional Representation • Trustee Model • Representatives should be allowed to use their own judgment when deciding upon how they will vote on particular legislation. • They will ideally consider both the facts and the views of their constituents, and are given the latitude to make their own final voting decisions -- regardless of whether or not the majority agrees with those voting decisions. • It is understood that the voters "trust" that the representative will always vote for the best interests of his constituents. • Delegate Model • Representatives vote strictly according to the majority wishes of their constituents, regardless of whether or not the representatives agree with their constituents. • It is understood that in this scenario the voters will stay informed on the various issues and take the time to communicate with their representatives.

http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/cgi-bin/committee_list.cgi?site=congressmergehttp://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/cgi-bin/committee_list.cgi?site=congressmerge Committee System • Most work in Congress done in committees • Thousands of Bills submitted each year! Thus the work of Congress has to be broken down and compartmentalized to cover all the topics! Each bill has to be categorized and sent to a committee for review. • Types of committees • Standing Committees continuous from one Congress to the next • Subcommittees  Temporarily assigned to do specific work on a topic/bill, then report to full committee • Joint Committees  members of both houses; used for research or investigation • Conference Committees  members of both houses; work out differences on bills passed • Select (Special) Committees  Temporarily appointed for specific purpose

Legislative Powers • Pass Bills, or laws that set public policy • Taxing and Spending Bills • Revenue Bills raise money – must originate in House • Appropriations Bill  Authorize the use of money • Congress authorized to borrow money • Savings bonds, treasury notes, treasury bills (loans to the U.S. Government) • Congress sets limits on how much can be contributed to National Debt each year • Power to coin money

Foreign Policy Powers • Power to declare war • War Powers Act (1973) • Congress must be notified within 48 hours • Troops cannot be committed for more than 60 days without Congressional approval • Senate has power to ratify or reject all treaties negotiated by POTUS • Implied Powers • Granted by Elastic Clause

Non-Legislative Powers • Power to choose a President • Joint session counts electoral votes • House choose POTUS if no majority present • John Quincy Adams (1824) • Removal Power (Article 1, Section 2) • Power to remove any member of the executive or judicial branches • Impeachment  accusation of misconduct in office • House votes for impeachment  Senate tries the accused

Investigative Powers • Committees may be called to investigate actions of government • Eg. Iran-Contra Affair, JFK Assassination, Clinton and Whitewater • Oversight Powers • Committees may call members of the Cabinet and their departments for public hearings… (How/What are they doing to implement policy?) - Eg. Obamacare rollout website problems

Congress and the Presidency • Formal interactions/checks • Oversight of Bureaucracy • State of the Union Address • Annual budget (Purse Strings) • Veto Override Power • 2/3 vote necessary to override • Impeachment

Congressional ‘Checks’ on the Judiciary • Confirmation of appointments to federal courts • Senatorial Courtesy allowing senators power in selecting judges from their states • Impeachment Power • Lawmaking Power

Staying in Office • Incumbency already being in office affords numerous privileges: • Name recognition • credit-claiming • case work credit • “Franking Privilege” • Media access • More fundraising  Lobbyists and Interest Groups • Why Congress sucks! (video clip) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0CvmK0dVcI

The United States Congress