chapter 10: congress

Chapter 10: Congress

What we already know…Two Houses: Why?House & Senate

Size Qualifications Elections? Terms? Limits?

Leadership Speaker of the House House Majority, Minority Leader Senate Majority, Minority Leader

Comparative Government: Legislative Bodies

Apportionment• The exact size of the House of Representatives, currently at

435 members, is determined by Congress.– The Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the “permanent” size

of the House at 435 members, and provided for “automatic reapportionment.”

• The Constitution provides that the total number of seats in the House shall be apportioned (distributed) among the States on the basis of their respective populations.

• Article I of the Constitution directs Congress to reapportion—redistribute—the seats in the House after each decennial census (10 years).

Current Apportionment

Previous Reapportionment

Upcoming Reapportionment

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40733820/ns/politics/#slice-3

Congressional Elections• Congressional elections

are held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year.

• Off-year (or midterm) elections are those congressional elections held between presidential elections.

113th U.S House of Representatives

113th U.S. Senate

Chapter 11: Powers of Congress

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 46Chapter 11, Section 4

Penalty

• Checkpoint: What is the penalty if the President is impeached and convicted?– Convicted officials,

including the President, are removed from office and can be banned from holding office again.


Executive Powers

• All major presidential appointments must be confirmed by a majority vote of the Senate.

– The Senate rarely rejects a Cabinet appointment, though candidates may be withdrawn.

– The custom of senatorial courtesy means the Senate will only approve appointees supported by the Senators from the appointee’s state who belong to the President’s party.

Chapter 12: Congress in Action


Duties of Congressmen

• Legislators/Lawmakers• Committee Members

– Screen bills and make recommendations

– Oversight function of governmental agencies

• 3. Representatives of their Constituents– Those who elect them

• 4. Servants of their Constituents• 5. Politicians

– Much time spent fundraising for future elections


Congressmen can vote as…

TrusteesTrustees believe thateach question they facemust be decided on itsmerits.

DelegatesDelegates see themselvesas agents of the peoplewho elected them.

PartisansLawmakers who owetheir first allegiance totheir political party arepartisans.

PoliticosPoliticos attempt tocombine the basicelements of the trustee,delegate, and partisanroles.


• The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the House and the leader of its majority party, a powerful combination.

• Democrat Nancy Pelosi (right) was the first woman to serve as Speaker.

Speaker of the House


Presiding Officers

Speaker of the House- doesn’t vote Elected from the majority party

President of the Senate-Vice President President Pro Tempore Elected by the senate from majority

party Honorary position based on seniority

Floor Leaders (Majority, Minority) Whips (Majority, Minority) Party Caucus Committee Chairmen Seniority Rule-no longer the rule


Who’s Who in Congress

Senate:• President of Senate: Vice President Joe Biden• President Pro Temp: Patrick Leahy (D-VT)• Majority Leader: • Harry Reid (D-NV)

– Assistant Majority Leader: Dick Durbin (D-IL)

• Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R-KY) – Assistant Minority Leader: Jon Kyl (R-AZ)


U.S House Leadership contd

House:• Speaker of the House: • John Boehner (R-OH), • Majority Leader: • Eric Cantor (R-VA)

• Majority Whip: Kevin McCarthy • (Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)• Minority Whip: Steny Hoyer (D-MD)


Compensation

Most Members: $174,000 per year (2013) Senate Leadership

Majority Leader - $193,400 Minority Leader - $193,400

• House Leadership Speaker of the House - $223,500Majority Leader - $193,400Minority Leader - $193,400

The franking privilege allows members of Congress to mail letters and other materials postage-free by substituting their facsimile signature (frank) for the postage.


Select Committees

• Checkpoint: What is a select committee?

– Select or special committees are typically temporary panels set up to investigate a specific issue.

– The Senate Watergate Committee investigated the Watergate scandal.

– The Iran-Contra Committee examined the arms-for-hostages deal and illegal aid to the Contras.

– The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs uncovered corruption tied to lobbyists for Native American tribes.


Joint Committees, cont.

• Joint committees include members from both houses.

• Those shown in the chart are permanent groups, while others are select committees.


The First Steps

• Most bills are drafted in the executive branch or by special interest groups before being presented to members of Congress.

• Members often try to get support or cosponsors from members before introducing a proposed bill.

• All tax bills must begin in the House.

• House members introduce bills by dropping them into a hopper on the clerk’s desk.


First Reading

• Each bill is numbered by the clerk, given a short title summarizing its contents, and entered into the official record.

• After this first reading, the bill is assigned to a committee.

– What does this cartoonist say about the political process?


What Does Congress Do?

BillsResolutions

Joint resolutions Unusual or temporary measures Constitutional amendments

Concurrent Resolutions Jointly between the House and Senate Not sent to the President

Resolutions Rule of procedure or amendment to rule Not sent to the President

Rider Addition to a bill Would not necessarily pass as own bill


• Though not mentioned in the Constitution, committees play an essential role by filtering the many bills submitted to Congress.

• Most bills are pigeonholed. That is, they die in committee.

The Bill in Committee


• Committees refer bills to one of their subcommittees.

• Public hearings to gather data and hear testimony are held for key measures.

• Sometimes members of a sub-committee will take trips to research a bill.

A Committee at Work


Committee Actions

• A committee can:– Report a bill with a “do pass”

recommendation.– Pigeonhole the bill and kill it.– Report an amended version of the bill.– Report the bill with a “do not pass”

recommendation.– Report a committee bill as a substitute for a

bill referred to it.


The Bill on the Floor

• Minor bills get a brief second reading and are passed or defeated.

• Major bills are addressed on the House floor by the Committee of the Whole, which consists of at least 100 members.

– The House session is suspended as the Committee reads the bill section by section, debating and possibly amending each section.

– The House then returns to session to adopt the completed bill.


• House members must have unanimous consent to speak for more than an hour.

• The Speaker can force a member to give up the floor.

• Any member can move for an up-or-down vote on an issue at any time.

Debate


Voting in the House

• Checkpoint: What are the four types of votes that the House can take?

– Voice votes in which the Speaker counts the “yes” and “no” votes.

– A standing vote, where those in favor and against are counted by the clerk.

– A roll-call vote that goes member by member can be demanded by one fifth of the members present.

– The rare teller vote has a teller count the votes for each party.


Debate in the Senate

• There are few limits on floor debate in the Senate.

• In general, a senator can speak on the floor as long as he or she pleases about any topic that he or she wants to. However, no senator may speak more than twice on the same question on the same day.

• Many Senate bills are debated under a unanimous consent agreement that limits the amount of floor debate.


• A bill introduced in the House follows the 4 steps shown in the graphic and then moves on to the Senate.

• Bills are often referred to more than one standing committee for study and approval.

How a Bill Becomes a Law, Pt. 1



• A bill introduced in the Senate begins with steps 5-7 and then moves to the House.

– How does the lawmaking process for the Senate differ from that of the House?


• Steps 8-9 are often not needed, as a bill approved by one house is often left unchanged by the second.

• The threat of a veto is often enough to block or force changes in a proposed bill.


chapter 10: congress

Documents

senate chapter

s house of representatives

presidential elections

majority party

midterm elections

powers of congress

majority vote

househouse majority