Operations of Congress

Operations of Congress

Presiding OfficersHoR: Speaker of the HouseSelected by majority partyHoR also has House Majority Leader but the Speaker is true leaderPresides over HoR meetingsIs expected to be impartial in the way meetings are runGreat deal of power recognizing speakers, referring bills to committees, answering procedural questions, declaring outcome of votesNames members to all select (special) committees & conference committees (committee that meets w/ Senate to resolve differences in legislation)Votes only to break a tieAppoints temporary speakers (speakers pro tempore)Is 3rd in line to succeed the president

Senate: Vice PresidentCalled President of the SenateSymbolic officeSenate often chooses president pro tempore (temporary presiding officer) to run the meetingsOnly specific power: break tiesCan also:Monitor debatesCount electoral votes

Senate: Senate Majority LeaderHolds the real power in the Senate

Other LeadersHoR:Majority Leader: chosen by majority party, develops party goals & policies

Majority Whip: assistant to majority leader, pressures members to support party goals

Committee Chairpersons: from majority party, establish legislative calendar & schedule committee hearingsRules Committee Members: HoR leaders selected to make rules for legislative debates & amendment options for bills; control final agenda for HoR floor

Minority Leader: chosen by minority leader

Minority Whip: assistant to minority leader & liaison to minority party members

House Republican Conference: guides GOP bills & agendas

House Democratic Caucus: guides Democratic bills & agendasSenate:President pro tempore: (pro tem); required by Constitution; serves when VP is unavailableGenerally ceremonial role given to majority party Senator w/ longest tenure

Majority Leader: elected by majority party to lead procedures, set agenda

Majority Assistant: (aka Senate whip); same duties as House majority whip

Committee Chairpersons: from majority party, usually assigned through seniorityChairperson has power over when & how (& whether) bills are debated

Minority Leader: leads interests of minority party

Minority Assistant: (Senate whip); same duties as House whips

Conference Caucus: guides policies and agendas for the partiesThe Committee SystemStanding CommitteesPermanent committees to work on annual items, proposed bills20 in the HoR, 17 in the SenateExamples: Banking (S), Foreign Affairs (S), Energy (B), Govtal Affairs (S), Appropriations (B), Ways & Means (H), Judiciary (S)Most representatives members of at least 1 standing committee or 2 subcommitteesInfluence legislation by holding hearings & voting on amendments to legislation that has been referred to the committeeAfter 1994 elections: new rule limited terms of House committee chairs to no more than 6 years, reduced number of committees & their staffsJoint CommitteesMembers of HoR & Senate gather basic information for Congress on variety of subjects

Select/Special CommitteesTemporary & set up to investigate or research an issueAre disbanded when issue or conflict is resolved

Conference CommitteesIncludes members of HoR & SenateHas duty of reconciling differences between HoR & Senate versions of a billPresents both w/ a united bill

Key Committees of CongressHor committeessenateAppropriationsControls federal expenditures

BudgetOversight of govt spending

RulesDebates rules, bill sequence, sets rules of amendments

Ways & MeansTaxation legislation, Social SecurityAppropriationsSets federal discretionary spending programs

BudgetOversight of govt agencies & spending

FinanceSimilar to Ways & Means Committee in HoR

Foreign RelationsPolicy debates & treaty votes

JudiciaryQuestions, possibly confirms judges & justices

Who serves on which committee?Majority party of each house holds all committee chairsMajority party holds majority of seats on each committeeOn important committees majority holds 2/3 of seatsGenerally, committee member of majority party w/ most seniority is chair; senior member from minority party becomes ranking memberRanking member becomes chair if minority party becomes majorityAssignments in HoR & Senate determined by leadership & a caucus of the 2 political partiesMembers attempt to get on committees that will do their constituents the most good, get them reelectedCommittees serve as mini-legislaturesInvestigate & debate bills that due to time constraints that couldnt receive same consideration by whole houseOften assigns the bill to a subcommittee for initial considerationHas been recent proliferation of subcommittees, which often determine how $ is spent, therefore are powerful!

Fate of a new bill depends on more than contentMembership of the committee that considers it is crucialBill sponsors attempt to draft bills in a way to steer them toward sympathetic committeesMust also decide which house of Congress should consider a bill 1st have it introduced in the more sympathetic house

House has more committees than SenateHowever, House members tend to be more specialized b/c they serve on fewer committeesCommittee FunctionsThe way it works:Most bills die almost immediately in subcommittee due to lack of interestUnless committee member takes special interestInvestigations:Calling interested parties & expert witnesses w/ info Lobbyists often testify as expert witnessesCan subpoena reluctant witnessesCommittees begin amending & rewriting sections of bills markup sessionsWill sometimes refuse to vote a bill out, hoping to keep it from being considered by the houseBill stuck in committee is called pigeonholedParliamentary mechanism to force a bill out of committee is called a discharge petition

Additional responsibilities to writing lawsOversight of many bureaucratic agencies, deptsHeads of regulatory agencies (the ones that enforce the laws) often appear to give testimony before committees w/ oversight jurisdictionIf agency has not followed intent of the law, head will be questionedHear testimony from agency heads asking for $, personnel

Nonlegislative ResponsibilitiesConstitutional amendments

Election of president & VP if no electoral college majority

Impeachment

Approval of executive appointments

Public educationIncrease public awareness of govt & societal problems

Representing constituents w/in the govtScholarships, federal contractsSuggestions about how to improve govtAct on complaints about federal services

Congressional oversight Gather info useful for formation of legislationReview operations and budgets of executive depts & independent regulatory agenciesConduct investigations through committee hearings

Legislative ActionsDistributive legislation: distribution of goods/services to general populationExamples: highway construction, health research, defense appropriations

Redistributive legislation: taking $ from 1 segment through taxes & giving it back to another through entitlementsExample: Welfare, Social Security

Regulatory legislation: sets limits on groups & individualsExamples: Clean Air & Water Acts, setting requirements for industry & states to protect the environment

Legislative ProcessFramers intended it to be a slow, complicated process, to generate compromiseSponsor of the bill: Whoever introduces a billCan only be proposed by a member of CongressSame bill must pass both houses of CongressBut process is differentHoR has many rules on debate b/c is so bigSenate has fewer rules

HoR Rules CommitteeResponsible for determining how long a bill will be debated & whether to allow an open or closed rule for amending the billIs considered most powerful committee in HoRControls crucial aspects of legislative processCan kill a bill by delaying a vote or allowing opponents to add killer amendmentsCan bring bills up for immediate floor vote

Senate regulationsNo time restraints on debateFilibuster tactic used to delay vote on a bill & tie up work of the SenateUsually by a senator making a speech that continues for hoursCan also happen w/o actual continuous speeches, but Majority Leader may require an actual traditional filibusterNo closed rules for amending legislationAmendments = riders; do not have to be relevant to a billAllows senators to add amendments to prohibit actions of executive agencies or pet projects (pork barrel) for their home stateEarmarks: provisions w/in legislation that appropriate $ to a specific projectAppear in appropriation bills & authorization bills

After debates bill passes HoR & Senate in different formsBoth versions then sent to Conference CommitteeMembers come from respective committees of 2 houses that wrote the billTries to negotiate compromise bill, acceptable to both houses of CongressFailure to pass a bill from conference committee kills a billCompromise version goes back to both houses for another voteIf it passes both houses, is sent to presidentPresidents optionsSigns the bill into lawDoes nothing for 10 days:Bill becomes law w/o signatureIf congressional session ends in those 10 days bill is pocket vetoedRequires entire legislative process againVeto the entire billMust give his reasons in writing & return the bill to house of originationIf he vetoes Congress canMake the required changesAttempt to override the presidents veto by a 2/3 voteIf house of origination does nothing, the bill dies

Modern Additions & Revisions to ProceduresTraditional committee procedures for debates, amendments, and votes have been modified by Congress to allow for more efficiencyFast tracking: no amendments allowed; take the bill as is, or not; b/c amendments are often lengthy & difficult to debate

Slow tracking: sequential committee hearings are required; usually a sign a bill being delayed through lengthier processing

Multiple referrals: many bills need to be seen by different committees, so can be sent to these committees simultaneouslyOutside amendments: revisions may be made by congressional leaders outside of committee meetings

Unanimous consent rules: allow for usual voting procedures to be suspended, as long as no single member objects (avoids long vote counts)

King of the Hill votes: several amendment versions voted on in order; as long as amendments pass, voting continues; when an amendment fails, the last one to win becomes version selected for the bill

Queen of the Hill votes: gives amendment w/ biggest margin of approval the victory over all other amendments

Where Legislation can be BlockedLeaders can assign bills to openly hostile committees or committee chairpersons

Chairpersons can delay the bills consideration (pigeonhole)

Subcommittee & committee members can vote no (done often)

Subcommittee and committee amendments can change the bill so much that the original sponsors w/draw their support

Lobby groups can create opposition & pressure to kill the bill

Debate rules can case changes in votes or amendments

Members of the Senate can filibuster or threaten filibuster; can force compromises when the minority cannot stop a vote in any other manner

Individual senators can place a hold on any bill & keep it from being debated on the floor

Floor votes in either chamber can be against a bill

Conference committee can change the bill enough to change support in the 2 chambers

President can veto/pocket veto & Congress is unable to override

ReformCongress has lowest approval ratings of the 3 branchesBut every election keep sending in the incumbentsSuggestions to improve & reform organization & productivity of Congress poll points out following beliefs:

Gridlock is a problemIs seen as inefficient, b/c of legislative process, most bills never see light of dayWant reforms to streamline committees, coordination of information between houses, require some kind of action on all bills

Congress does not reflect views of constituentsMajority believe they should do what is in the national interest rather than what constituents wantSuggested that w/ Internet representatives should interactively get info from constituents before voting on crucial issues

Representatives take advantage of their perksAfter abuse of House franking & checking services, many felt House members unethicalRepresentatives taking $ from PACs & double standard of application of laws between Congressmen & the publicEthics bills have been passed, public disclosure required for income & property holdings

Representatives running for office beholden to special interest groups & PACsSome state voted to establish term limits, ruled unconstitutional by S Court

Congress delegates too much power to president OR tried to take control becoming an imperial CongressShould Congress let the president & executive agencies make important decisions?Should Congress take an adversarial approach by suing threats of legislative vetoes, demanding balanced budget, rejecting presidential appointments & treaties, overriding vetoes, challenging presidents authority in the area of foreign policy?Contract with AmericaRepublican majority of HoR elected 1994 campaigned on platform Contract with AmericaBlueprint for legislative action in first 100 daysBalanced budget amendment & line item vetoCrime bill that funds police & prisons over social programsReal welfare reformFamily reinforcement measures that strengthen parental rights in education & child support enforcementFamily tax cutsStronger national defenseRise in Social Security earnings limit to stop penalizing working seniorsJob creation and regulatory reform policiesCommon sense legal reforms to stop frivolous lawsuitsFirst vote on term limits for members of CongressRepublican majority succeeded in passing a number of pieces of legislation to reform HoR by cutting number of committees, setting term limits for committee chairs, changing rules of the HoRSenate stymied HoRs attempt w/ a number of provisions modified or defeatedOne significant success: mandate representatives to follow same civil rights legislation & minimum wage laws as the publicStruck chord w/ public increase in approval ratingsBy 1996: Republican agenda was less extremeDems & Clinton reached compromise on welfare reform, healthcare, minimum wage, balancing federal budget

Impeachment trial in 1998Relations between Congress & public deteriorated again

Public relationship w/ Congress on a see-sawEspecially when it comes to approval for Congress as a whole versus their particular representatives