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Unit 4 - Congress

Unit 4 - Congress. pp. 363-375: How Congress is Organized to Make Policy. American bicameralism. Bicameral Legislature – one divided into two houses US Congress and every state legislature (except Nebraska) are all bicameral. Each state guaranteed 2 senators

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Unit 4 - Congress

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  1. Unit 4 - Congress pp. 363-375: How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

  2. American bicameralism • Bicameral Legislature – one divided into two houses • US Congress and every state legislature (except Nebraska) are all bicameral. • Each state guaranteed 2 senators • HoR representation based on population

  3. Framers • Framers thought the Senate would protect elite interests. They have the House (which they expected to be closest to the masses) the power of initiating all revenue bills and of impeaching officials. • They gave the Senate the responsibility for ratifying all treaties, for confirming important presidential nominations and for trying the impeached officials.

  4. House Rules Committee • Unique to the House • Reviews most bills coming from a House Committee before they go to the full House. • Each bill is given a “rule”, which schedules the bill on the calendar, allots time for debate, and sometimes even specifies what kind of amendments my be offered. • Members are appointed by the Speaker of the House

  5. Filibuster • Permits unlimited debate on a bill • In practice, this sometimes means that opponents of a bill may try to “talk it to death” • At the present time, 60 members present and voting can halt a filibuster by invoking cloture (closure) on debate.

  6. Speaker of the house • 2nd in line after the VP • Formal powers include • presides over the House when it is in session, • plays a major role in making committee assignments • Appoints or plays a key role in appointing the party’s legislative leaders and the party leadership staff • Exercises substantial control over which bills get assigned to which committees

  7. Continued… • Principle partisan ally is the majority leader – responsible for rounding up votes on party legislation and for scheduling bills in the House. • Party whips work with the majority leaser to round up votes and to report the views and complaints of the party rank-and-file back to the leadership • The minority party is also organized (with a minority leader and whips) and is prepared to take over the key posts if it should win a majority in the House

  8. senate • The Constitution names the Vice President the President of the Senate. • Little power except when their vote can break a tie • Senate Majority Leader – aided by the majority whips – the position of real power and authority in the Senate. • Rounds up votes, schedules the floor action and influences committee assignments

  9. Committees and subcommittees • Committees dominate congressional policymaking. • Regularly hold hearings to investigate problems and possible wrongdoing, and to investigate the executive branch. • They control the congressional agenda and guide legislation from the introduction to the sign off of the president’s signature. • Committees are grouped into four types: (1) standing committees, (2) joint committees, (3) conference committees and (4) select committees.

  10. Standing committees • Permanent subject-matter committees formed to handle bills in different policy areas. • By far, the most important committee.

  11. standing committees • Agriculture • Appropriations • Armed Services • Budget • Education and the Workforce • Energy and Commerce • Ethics • Financial Services • Foreign Affairs • Homeland Security • House Administration • Judiciary • Natural Resources • Oversight and Government Reform • Rules • Science, Space, and Technology • Small Business • Transportation and Infrastructure • Veterans’ Affairs • Ways and Means • Intelligence

  12. Joint Committees • Are study committees that exist in a few policy areas with membership drawn from both the Senate and the House. • Joint Economic Committee • Joint Committee on the Library • Joint Committee on Printing • Joint Committee on Taxation

  13. Conference committees • Formed to work out the differences when different versions of a bill are passed by the two houses. • Membership is drawn from both houses.

  14. Select committees • Temporary committees appointed for a specific (“select”) purpose • Example: Watergate

  15. The committees at work • More than 11,000 bills are submitted by members every 2 years, which must be sifted through and narrowed down by the committee process.. • Every bill goes through a standing committee. • New bills sent to a committee typically go directly to subcommittee, which can hold hearings on the bill. The most important output of committees and subcommittees is the “marked up” (revised and rewritten) bill, submitted to the full House or Senate for consideration.

  16. Continued… • Members of the committee will usually serve as “floor managers” of the bill when the bill leaves committee, helping party leaders secure votes for the legislation. • They will also be “cue-givers” to whom other members turn for advice. • When the two chambers pass different versions of the same bill, some committee members will be appointed to the conference committee.

  17. Legislative oversight • The process of monitoring the bureaucracy and its administration of policy – is one of the checks that Congress can exercise on the executive branch. • Handled primarily through hearings – members constantly monitor how a bill is implemented. • Congressional oversight – investigations into wrongdoings by the government (Watergate and Iran-Contra 1987) • Congress keeps tabs on more routine activities of the executive branch through its committee staff members.

  18. Getting on a committee • New members write to the party’s congressional leaders and members of their state delegation indicating their committee preferences • Members seek committee assignments that will help them achieve three goals: (1) re-election, (2) influence in Congress and (3) opportunity to make policy in areas they think are important

  19. Committee chairs • Most important influencers of the committee agenda • Schedule hearings, hire staff, appoint subcommittees, and manage committee bills when they are brought before the full House • Before the 1970s, chairs were appointed only through seniority. Now seniority is still a factor, but both parties in both houses permit members to vote on committee chairs

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