Congress
Chapter 13, AP Classes
2016-17
Wanted:
Wanted: Someone to fix the legislative mess.
Salary and benefits:
▪ Compensation: $174,000; potential to earn up to an additional 15%
of salary in outside speaking engagements;
▪ Office allowance enough to hire a bunch smart staffers;
▪ Free mail (“franking”);
▪ Travel allowance;
▪ Generous benefits package.
And for this we get…
…not much. The 114th Congress is likely to be a little more
productive.
Which may help explain ….
4
The low productivity may be due in
part to this:
▪ In 2016, the House has scheduled 111 “work days.”
They will be in recess from July 15 - Sept. 6, and then
again from Sept. 30 through the elections (Nov. 14).
▪ To be fair, MCs are doing other things while not in
session, but let’s save that discussion for another day.
A little bonus larnin’ for ya: some
“term”inology
• “Term” of Congress: last 2 years, each with 2 sessions.
Each term starts Jan. 3 in odd years.
• We just started the second session of the 114th Congress.
• Each session that begins in an even-numbered year
(called an “off-year session”) can begin whenever
Congress says so.
• Congress will often adjourn, but can’t adjourn sine die
(literally, “without day”) without consent of both chambers.
• If they can’t agree, the President may declare a session
adjourned (called “proroguing”). It’s never happened.
6
Another possible cause for low
approval ratings
1. MCs (i.e., Members of Congress) represent their constituents,
not their parties.
2. Moreover, MCs don't elect the President and thus have less
reason to care if he succeeds.
3. MCs have real power — legislative, oversight, casework.
1 + 2 + 3 = decentralized Congress (i.e., 535 MCs focused on
their goals).
This focus on the districts (which are progressively
more gerrymandered) has contributed to this:
8
So is this why we hate Congress but
love our Congressman?
▪ It’s probably part of the explanation. MCs have to represent
their constituents. But there are lots of different interests to
represent.
▪ As a result, any individual MC will be faithfully doing what his/
her constituents want. But, b/c another MC is representing
constituents with different views, the MCs bicker seemingly
endlessly.
▪ Congress thus is designed to be slow (even before you get to
its structure, which further adds to the delays).
▪ But it’s what the framers designed.
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And speaking of the framers’ designs….
A trip down memory lane (I hope).
More reminiscing:
Reasons for bicameral legislature
▪ Historical:
o We learned from Parliament.
o Also, the colonies were bicameral (except for GA and PA; FYI,
Nebraska is the only state today with a unicameral legislature).
▪ Practical:
o Needed to settle spat between VA and NJ plans.
vs.
(They weren’t always so welcoming.)
Connecticut (or “Great”) Compromise
Why bicameral (cont.)
▪ Theoretical:
o Check and balance. The
saucer that cools the
coffee. Congress was
expected to dominate, so
the Framers needed a way
to keep it in check.
o Yep, it's decentralized, and
yep it's slow b/c of all the
checks and balances.
o But! In theory we get a
more deliberative body and
one that is more responsive
to the voters.
The saucer that cools the, um, grape
How many Representatives are there?
▪ 435.
o Set by Congress, not the Constitution.
▪ Why 435?
o Because that’s how many we had when Congress put a cap on the
number in 1929.
o And, well, because 436 would be too many.
▪
Again, this is set by statute, NOT by the Constitution.
Number of Representatives (cont.)
▪ Who decides how many Representatives a State gets? Congress, in
the form of the Reapportionment Act of 1929.
▪ It requires the following:
Seats to be reapportioned among the States on basis of population as
shown in decennial census.
o Census Bureau does the reapportioning.
o Congress must approve it.
o
▪ Today, about 1 Congressman for every 710,000 +
o Using original formula in C, we’d have around 10,400 Representatives. Oy!
▪ Each district gets one MC (remember single-member districts?).
▪ Districts are frequently gerrymandered to make a seat safe.
Number of Representatives (cont.)
▪ After 2010 census, 10 states lost representatives and 8 gained
them (TX gained 4).
Gerrymandering is, of course, irrelevant
w/r/t Senators
▪ Constitution says 2 per state, regardless of population.
▪ This gives a huge advantage to the small states.
o California, for instance, has over 38 million residents while
Wyoming had 560,000; both get 2 Senators; such a deal!
o So small states can have a disproportionate impact on legislation.
It turns
into
Who can be in Congress?
House
Senate
Minimum age
25
30
Min # of years of
citizenship
7
9
Resident of state
when elected?
Yes
Yes
MC qualifications
▪ Congress is the judge of MCs’ qualifications, sorta.
o All it really gets is the right to interpret
whether the Constitutional requirements have
been satisfied.
o See Powell v. McCormack (1969): USSC said
that Congress can’t refuse to seat someone if
they meet the C’al requirements.
• Powell held in contempt of court
• Misappropriated travel $
• Paid his wife for Congressional work not
done.
• Congress refused to seat him.
• He sued, and won.
Adam Clayton Powell
Congressional qualifications (cont.)
▪ What Congress CAN do is expel a member, upon a 2/3 vote.
▪ Grounds: conduct that is “inconsistent with the trust and duty
of a Member.” So, pretty darn broad.
▪ See the (in)famous case of William Jefferson (LA). Among
other things, he –
o Set up a company in his wife’s and children’s names.
o Used that company to accept bribes from a company in return for
helping that company get contracts with foreign countries.
o The FBI did a sting in which they used an informant to pass along
money to Jefferson.
o Here’s what they found in Jefferson’s refrigerator in his
Congressional office:
Jefferson’s bank
Jefferson is due to be released from prison in 2023.
More Congressional Discipline
▪ Congress can take other disciplinary actions by a simple
majority vote.
▪ Ex: reprimand, censure, or fine.
▪ These acts are often seen as a sufficient response (although
it doesn’t always hurt with the voters; see, e.g., Rep. Charlie
Rangel)
▪ Congress may remove an MC from a committee, strip
someone of seniority, etc.
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How are MCs elected?
▪ House: by da people in single-member districts.*
▪ Senate: by da people in at-large elections (but it wasn’t always
that way).
o Formerly: Senators were chosen by State legislatures.
o The 17th Amendment gives “the people” of each State the power
to vote for 2 Senators, at staggered times.
*“Please stop talking about single-member districts,” the class begged.
Various types of elections: A review
▪ Primary — a contest between candidates of the same party.
▪ General — a contest between the party nominees and any
independent candidate who qualifies.
▪ Special — a contest to fill a vacancy created when a
Congressman resigns/dies before a term ends.
▪ Midterm (a/k/a “off-year”) — a congressional election
between presidential elections.
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So who is in the House and Senate in
2015?
House
Senate
▪
240 Republicans, 194 Democrats
(LA has a runoff)*
▪
51 Rs, 46 Ds, 2 Independents (who
caucus w/the Ds) (LA in runoff here, too)
▪
84 women
▪
20 women
▪
45 African Americans
▪
2 African Americans
▪
29 Hispanics
▪
2 Hispanics
▪
8 Asian Americans
▪
1 Asian American
▪
Average age: 57
▪
Average age: 61
▪
Average length of service in
Congress: 9.1 years
▪
Average length of service: 10.2 years
*Party affiliations are for 115th Congress; all other info for 114th.
Race and gender at a glance
2014: 49.2% male
As a point of reference, the Census
Bureau says that 62.1% of Americans
are white as of 2014.
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27
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Uh, what?
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Who
represents
Alabama?
First, the
Congressional
map:
Alabama members in U.S. House of
Representatives
▪ 6 out of 7 Republican.
▪ 5 out of 7 men.
▪ 6 out of 7 white.
▪ Terri Sewell the exception (a black woman representing an area that
includes Tuscaloosa and surrounding areas, including parts of Jefferson
County)
Our Congressional delegation:
Cong. Bradley Byrne
Senator Richard Shelby
Senator Jeff Sessions*
*Nominated for AG
Frequent progression: from House to
Senate
▪ 51 have served in the House and then Senate.
▪ 0 have served in Senate and then House.
(A picture of people running from the House. Work with me, alright?)
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Term of Representatives
▪ 2 years. As a result, they are ALWAYS in campaign mode.
▪ How long can he/she serve? Until he/she dies.
o
House record: John Dingell served 59 years and 3 months. He retired last January.
Being sworn in
More recently
N.B. There are no term limits — i.e., no limits on the NUMBER of terms
an MC may serve.
Term of Senators
▪
6 years. A little less campaigning 24/7, but only a little.
▪
Terms are staggered as a check on “excessive democracy.”
▪
As with Representatives, there is no limit on how many terms a Senator
may serve.
o
Record: Robert Byrd (D, WV); 51 years.
Before
Final day in Congress
Term limits
▪ A “term limit” is a limit on the number of terms a politician
may serve. It has nothing to do with the length of any
individual term (i.e., 2 years for Representative, 6 years for
Senator).
▪ We have term limits for the president (thanks to the 22nd
Amendment) and for many state and local offices, but not for
the U.S. Congress.
Term limits (cont.)
▪
States (23 of them, to be precise) have tried to impose term limits on their
members of the U.S. Congress.
▪
The USSC said these were unconstitutional in U.S.Term Limits, Inc. v.Thornton
(1995).
▪
Court:
o
o
The Constitution specifies the requirements for getting elected. Term limits
are not mentioned.
Moreover the 17th Am. transferred the power to elect Senators from the
state legislatures to “the people.”
•
“[T]he right to choose representatives belongs not to the States, but to the people.
... Following the adoption of the 17th Amendment in 1913, this ideal was extended
to elections for the Senate. The Congress of the United States, therefore, is not a
confederation of nations in which separate sovereigns are represented by
appointed delegates, but is instead a body composed of representatives of the
people.”
Term limits (cont.)
▪ Why no term limits for MCs? Time for a debate!
▪ Resolved: Members of Congress should be prohibited from
serving more than 12 years as a Representative or Senator (or
a combination thereof).
Term limits (cont.); some pros and cons
Pro:
Con:
1. Term limits downgrade seniority, favor
meritocracy.
1. Terminates the good politicians along
with the bad.
2. Increases competition, encourages
new challengers.
3. Breaks ties to special interests.
4. Improves tendency of MC to vote on
principle.
5. Introduces fresh thinking, new ideas.
6. Reduces power of staff of outgoing
MC and ability of bureaucrats and
lobbyists to exert power through
contacts with the MC.
2. Instead of term limits, a reform of
Congress' procedures would be easier.
3. Reduces range of voter choice.
4. Loss of knowledge and experience.
5. Increases power of permanent staff
and the ability of bureaucrats and
lobbyists to exert power through those
staffers.
Incumbency is a POWERFUL
advantage.
First, some wonk-talk:
▪ Marginal districts
▪ Safe districts
District where the winner had
less than 55% of the vote.
District where the winner had
55% or more of the vote.
There are roughly 35 marginal
districts today – out of 435
(see next slide).
Incumbents win a lot. A whole lot.
First, the House:
Incumbency reelection rates in Senate
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Why the higher reelection rate for House
incumbents (as opposed to Senate incumbents)?
▪ One theory: House districts, b/c they usually are just parts of a
state, tend to be more homogenous. Thanks to gerrymandering,
the politicians pick their voters.
▪ A Senator must capture an entire state; to do that, a Senator
may have to be more centrist in his/her views, given the
diversity of opinion in a given state.
▪ As an incumbent Senator tries to appeal to the more diverse
interests state-wide, this provides a better base for opponents
to criticize things like RINO-ness (or its democratic equivalent).
▪ But remember, incumbent Senators win most of the time, too.
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Why do incumbents in general win so
often?
Several possibilities:
o Perqs of the office (franking, travel budgets) allow much free
communication with voters
o Relatively easy access to the media
o Casework (i.e., solving individual problems of constituents)
o Pork (i.e., getting federal tax dollars spent in your district/
state)
o From al.com: “A new six-year transportation spending bill
and a proposal authorizing the construction of three more
littoral combat ships highlighted ‘probably the biggest day
I've had here for my district’ in the U.S. House for Rep.
Bradley Byrne.” Nov. 6, 2015
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Incumbency (cont.)
Many of preceding advantages also lead to better ability to raise
campaign funds. Incumbents have a huge financial advantage. In
2016 races:
▪ House
o Incumbent raised $1.5 million
o Challenger raised $214,000
▪ Senate
o Incumbent average $ raised: $12.2 million
o Challenger: $1.5 million
Source: http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/incumbs.php
Incumbency (cont.)
o Seniority begets power which begets more seniority
o Longer tenures = better committees = more ability to
bring home the pork = people want to reelect you
o All of the above leads to better name recognition
o And it leads to self-fulfilling prophecy: Incumbents scare off
potentially good challengers.
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Incumbency (cont.)
Incumbents also may benefit from gerrymandering (but only if
they are in the majority party).
▪ Don’t forget packing and cracking.
▪ And don’t forget: “Minority-majority districts.”
▪ This is redistricting in order to ensure that racial minorities
are in the majority. This is permissible.
▪ It’s the exception to the general rule that gerrymandering
on the basis of race is impermissible.
One last incumbency slide: I like my MC more than
I like yours (but ain’t none of ‘em prize winners)
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Remember that partisanship thang?
Revisiting the big picture in a little more detail:
Congress has grown more polarized.
Great video on congressional
polarization
▪ https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Politics/videos/
1008662935876705/
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Partisanship (cont.)
Effects of polarization:
▪ Much more partisan sniping.
▪ Parties get dug in and refuse
to budge.
Partisanship (cont.)
Why the partisanship?
o It’s important to remember that there always has been
partisanship.
o But partisan voting seems to have increased in the past several
decades, due to lots of things, including:
•
Gerrymandering making districts more extreme (but remember you
need the Governor and the state legislature to pull this off).
•
Media, fanning the partisan flames, giving air time to extremes.
•
Growing presence of large, very ideological donors.
•
The move to awarding committee chairmanships based in part
on loyalty (instead of strictly on seniority).
Partisanship (cont.)
▪ Don’t forget the earlier slide in this chapter about
decentralization. MCs must please their constituents first and
foremost.
▪ Much of this is done of late by trying to move the parties
more towards the ends of the political spectrum. That’s where
the squeakiest wheels are.
More Congressional sorting:
Congressional caucuses
▪ While MCs will play ball with the party leadership much
(most?) of the time, they ultimately will do what they need to
do to get reelected.
▪ This may involve joining a Congressional caucus.
▪ In this context, a “caucus” is an association of MCs created to
advance a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic
interest.
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Congressional caucuses
▪ There is a Republican Caucus and Democratic
Caucus in both the House and Senate.
▪ There are 100s more, including some as
obscure as the Algae Caucus, the Albanian
Issues Caucus, and the Anti-Bullying Caucus, to
name a few. See http://tinyurl.com/q27n6w5. For
more information about caucuses, see, e.g., http://
www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3193.html.
Caucuses (cont.)
▪ Some of the more prominent caucuses
include, for instance, the Congressional
Black Caucus and the Tea Party
Caucus.
▪ Caucuses are becoming another
rival of political parties for
leadership in Congress.
▪ On its way out: The Blue Dogs.
Segue to new topic: Congressional
leadership
But first a cute picture:
Congressional Leadership
Let’s start with the House
Speaker
Paul Ryan
Majority Leader
Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy
Nancy Pelosi
Majority Whip/
Assistant Whips
Minority Whip/
Assistant Whips
Speaker of House
The Speaker is the most important person in the House. The
speaker is –
▪ One of 3 Congressional offices required by the Constitution
(the other 2 being President of the Senate and President Pro
Tempore (or, “President Pro Tem”))
▪ Next in line in presidential succession after the Vice President.
▪ Selected by the majority party
Speaker (cont.)
Some powers of the Speaker:
o Recognizes someone to speak on the House floor (no one can
address the House until “recognized” by the Speaker)
o Rules whether a motion is “germane” (about which more later)
o Refers bills to committees
o Has a big say on committee assignments
o Selects majority of people for the House Rules Committee (more
to come on that, too) Puts motions to a vote and decides whether
the motion passed or was defeated
Historically, there has been more party discipline in House than in
Senate. Speaker in a good position to reward or punish.
The Speaker (cont.)
The current speaker: Paul Ryan
Trivia: Who is the only person from Alabama to
serve as Speaker?
William Bankhead (1936-40).
The Bankhead Tunnel (finished in 1940)
was named for his father, who also was a
US Representative (but not Speaker) and a
Senator.
House Majority and Minority Leaders
▪ One might reasonably think that Ryan would
be the Majority Leader.
▪ One would be wrong. It’s Kevin McCarthy
(who almost was Speaker).
▪ The House Minority Leader is Nancy Pelosi
(former Speaker, and the first woman to hold
that position, by the way).
What does the House “majority
leader” (and whip) do?
Well, let’s watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUDSIJuFQ9c
(or http://www.mcgill-toolen.org/apps/classes/show_class.jsp?
classREC_ID=610751)
House Majority and Minority Leaders
(cont.)
▪ The House Majority Leader:
o Schedules legislation for floor consideration;
o Plans the daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas;
o Consults with Members to gauge party sentiment.
o Usually becomes Speaker (assuming no change in majority party)
▪ The House Minority Leader:
o Serves as floor leader of the "loyal opposition" and is the minority
counterpart to the Speaker.
The Whips
▪ Their job is to count likely
No:
votes, advise on whether
to have a vote, and whip
up support among party
members.
▪ The term "whip" comes
from a fox-hunting job –
the "whipper-in" – to
keep dogs from straying
during a chase.
Yes:
Steve Scalise,
(R) LA
Steny Hoyer (D)
MD
Some key House leadership
committees
Democrats
Republicans
▪ Democratic Caucus
o All the House Ds
▪ Republican Conference
o All the House Rs
▪ Steering and Policy Committee
o Advise on policy; make committee
assignments
▪ Policy Committee
o Advise on policy
▪ Campaign Committee
o Raise money for candidates
▪ Committee on Committees
o Make committee assignments
▪ Campaign Committee
o Raise money for candidates
Senate Leadership in the 115th Congress
(differences from House in red)
President of the Senate
(the V.P. of the U.S.)
Mike Pence
Minority Leader
President Pro Tem
Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer
Orrin Hatch
Mitch McConnell
Minority Whip
Majority Whip
Dick Durbin
John Cornyn
The V.P.’s role in the Senate
Virtually nothing.
▪ Has power to preside over the
Only real power as head of the
Senate: cast a tie-breaking vote.
Senate but almost never does.
▪ Is prohibited by the Senate
rules from participating in
debates (see Rule XIX if you
really wanna know more).
▪ Presides over impeachment
trials that do not involve the
President.
VP thumbs in action while presiding over
Senate
President Pro Tem
▪ A Constitutionally-required office.
▪ 4th in line for presidential succession (President, VP, Speaker,
then President Pro Tem).
▪ Like the president of the Senate, this is largely a ceremonial
role.
▪ Usually given to the senior-most member of the majority party
(assuming that person isn’t majority leader).
▪ Presides over the Senate if V.P. is not there (or, likelier, hands
the gavel over to some junior Senator).
The real power in the Senate
▪ Majority and minority leaders (a/k/a “floor leaders”)
▪ Majority leader –
o Schedules legislation and debate (in consultation with minority
leader)
o Is the spokesperson for the majority party (and in theory the
entire Senate)
o Gets to speak first, which allows him to offer motions and
amendments first (a key tactical advantage)
o Working with the minority leader, he will schedule “unanimous
consent” motions – which is how most business gets done in the
Senate.
Senate Leadership (cont.)
Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell
Who looks like:
Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer
Who looks like:
Senate Leadership Committees
Democrats
▪
Democratic Conference (or
Caucus) Committee.
o
▪
▪
▪
o
▪
▪
Gives candidates money
Develops and supports policy
Committee on Committees
o
▪
All the Rs in the Senate
Policy Committee
o
Makes committee assignments
Campaign Committee
Republican Conference (or
Caucus) Committee
o
Schedules legislation; develops
and supports policy
Steering Committee
o
▪
This is all the Ds in the Senate
Policy Committee
o
Republicans
Makes committee assignments
Campaign Committee
o
Same as Ds
And while we’re on the topic of money…
“Leadership PACs”
These coordinate with the parties’ Campaign Committees.
Politicians collect money for their own campaigns—we all
know that. But many of them also raise a separate pot of
money, commonly called a leadership political action
committee, to help other politicians. By making donations
to members of their party, ambitious lawmakers can use
their leadership PACs to gain clout among their colleagues
and boost their bids for leadership posts or committee
chairmanships. Politicians also use leadership PACs to lay
the groundwork for their own campaigns for higher office.
OpenSecrets.org
A leadership cheat-sheet: A
comparison of counterparts
House
Senate
Alpha Dog: Speaker of the House
Alpha Dog: Senate Majority Leader
No equivalent in H to S President
President of the Senate (but useless)
No equivalent in H to Pres Pro Tem
President Pro Tem (but useless)
House Majority Leader
No good equivalent in Senate
House Minority Leader
Senate Minority Leader
Majority and Minority Whips
Majority and Minority Whips
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Reflections of a new Senator
▪ http://www.npr.org/2015/11/03/454368957/freshman-senator-
to-his-colleagues-the-people-despise-us-all (6-12 minutes and/
or 18-25 minutes)
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And with that, we move on to the
second deck of Congressional slides.
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