Congress

Part II The Legislative Workings

Congressional Leadership

• Based on Party Leadership

• Power is dispersed widely to Committee Chairs

Speaker of the House

• Formal Powers• Presides over the

House• Makes committee

assignments• Control over

where bills are sent

The Speaker’s Men

• Majority Leader• Eric Cantor• Rounding up votes• Scheduling bills

• Appoints party leadership staff

• Whips • Work with the leader

to round up votes and report views

• (The minority party is organized the same way)

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Senate Leadership

• Vice President Chairs the Senate• Their only significance

is to break a tie

• Senate Majority Leader

• Aided by whips• Floor action• Appointments• Scheduling

• Senator Harry Reid D-NV

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Creating and Introducing Bills

• Most Bills originate from the Executive Branch after coordination by the OMB

• Interest groups suggest bills• Private citizens

Mr. President (Chief Legislator)• Based on Party

Platform• White House will

lobby congressional leadership to pass their Agenda

$$$$Money Bills$$$$

• Any revenue-raising bill must start in the House

• Why?• Close to the People• Taxation without Rep

Types of Bills and Resolutions

• Bills• Proposed laws presented to Congress• Public Bills apply to the entire nation• Private Bill pertain to certain persons

or places

Bills and Resolutions Cont.

• Joint Resolutions• Temporary or unusual matters• Can have force of law• Must be passed by both Houses• Must be signed by President

Bills and Resolutions Cont.

• Concurrent Resolutions• Common concerns of both Houses• Have the force of Law• DO NOT Require President’s signature

Bills and Resolutions Cont.

• Resolutions• Voted on by either House• No force of law• Deal with House rules and do not

require President’s Signature

Bills and Resolutions Cont

• Rider• Not likely to pass on its own merit• Attached to an important measure.• Source of Pork Barreling• X-Mass Tree Bills

Bill to law

• 1st Reading• Assigned a Number• Short title• Entered into the House Journal• After the 1st Reading the Speaker

refers the bill to a standing committee for consideration

Committees and Subcommittees

• Committees dominate policy-making

• They hold hearing to investigate problems and possible wrong doings

• They control the Congressional Agenda

4 Types of Committees

• Standing – permanent subject matter• Joint – study committees that exist in

few policy areas with membership drawn from both Houses

• Conference – sole function to reconcile different versions of the same bill

• Select – specific purpose (I.E. Watergate)

Committees at Work• 11,000 bills every

term• Report bills

out/send to subcommittee

• Hold hearings/mark up bills

• Members serve as “floor managers” for the bill

Committees at work

• Legislative oversight• Hearings• Investigations capture public

attention• Keeps tabs on routine activities of the

Executive Branch

Getting on a Committee• New members write

to congressional leaders about committee preferences

• Work in policy areas that the member can make a difference in.

• The majority party has a majority on the Committee as well as the CHAIR

Committee Chairs

• Dominate Committee Agenda• Hearings, hiring staff, managing

bills• Up until the 70’s chairs were

selected by the SENIORITY RULE

The Fall of the Seniority Rule

• Chairs could “bottle-up” legislation• After the 70’s• Seniority general rule BUT now

members vote on chairs• These reforms have reduced the

clout of chairs.

Congressional Caucus

• Members who share some interest or characteristic • Black, Hispanic, Sunbelt, Etc.• Regional, ideological, and economic

groupings.• NOT A POLITICAL CAUCUS

The Bill in Committee• Most work done by subcommittees that

investigate and debate bills• Sub to full committee, The full

committee can:• “do pass”• Refuse to report/pigeonhole• Report bill in amended form• Report unfavorably.• Report an entirely new bill.

Rules and Calendars

• Calendar – lists of business eligible for consideration

• House Rules Committee must approve or give a rule. (The Rules Committee can kill a bill)• www.house.gov• www.senate.gov

The Bill on the Floor

• Most important bills are considered by the Committee of the Whole (The Whole House)

• Debate – Strict Rules limit the length of debate

• Voting – amendment may be added. A QUORUM must be present

Ways of Voting

• Voice Vote – “aye” or “no” (Chair decides result)

• Standing (division) vote• 1/5 of quorum may demand a

teller vote• 1/5 may demand a Roll-call vote

• (Vote becomes public record)

Final Steps in the HOUSE

• Approved bill is engrossed, read a 3rd time, voted on again, and signed by the Speaker

• A signed bill is sent from the Speaker of the House to the president of the Senate.

Bill in the Senate

• Debate in Senate is almost unlimited

• FILIBUSTER (60 members can invoke cloture) Cloture would close debate on a bill and end a filibuster

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/07/congress.economy/index.html

The Cloture Rule

• Limits debate in the Senate• Petition signed by 16 senators• Approved by 3/5 of the Senate• Many senators will not use this out

of fear that it will limit free speech

Conference Committees

• If the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill a conference committee is formed to iron out differences.

• Appointees are usually the senior, most powerful members of each committee

The President Acts

• After a bill passes both Houses of Congress it must be sent to the President

• The President Can:• Sign into law• Veto• Not sign for 10 days while Congress is in

session• Pocket-veto by not acting before Congress

adjourns.

Veto Override

• After a veto the bill is returned to the chamber of origin

• Congress can either:• Alter the bill to the President’s liking

or• Cast a 2/3 vote to override the Veto• (In 200 years only 100 vetos have

been overridden.)

How Things Work: How a Bill Becomes Law

Congressional Committees

• http://10.187.3.241/?a=29782&ch=3