CHAPTER 6
Congress
Learning Objectives
6.1
Define the role the U.S. Congress plays as the legislative branch of government.
6.2
Identify the structure and powers of Congress, explain bicameralism, and
distinguish between the roles of the House and Senate.
6.3
Assess the role that political parties play in the leadership of Congress.
6.4
Identify key leadership positions and their functions in Congress.
6.5
Explain reapportionment and redistricting.
6.6
Compare and contrast the different types of committees found in Congress.
6.7
Describe the various steps necessary for a bill to become a law.
6.8
Explain why Congress often delegates its lawmaking authority to regulatory
agencies.
6.9
Describe the role of the Senate in confirming presidential appointments, and the
congressional procedures for impeachment and removal of executive and judicial
officers.
6.10 Assess the “casework” functions of members of Congress in assisting
constituents, educating them on policy issues, and performing other services on
their behalf.
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Article I and the Creation of
Congress
Congress: First Branch
Legislative branch of federal government
Ultimate authority for enacting laws
Ensures representation
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North Wind/North Wind Picture Archives
Joseph Rainey of South Carolina was the first
African American elected to the House of
Representatives. He took office in 1870 and
was reelected four times.
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Confidence in Congress (2014)
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Bicameral legislature-two separate
chambers. Passing laws is difficult because
must have absolute agreement before
passage.
Checks and balances causes the delay
Positive in that well contemplated before it is
adopted. ( sometimes that is not the case
though)
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Senate (100)
House of Representatives(435)
Equal in power-not always the case with
other countries. British Parliament, House
of Lords has little power and House of
Commons wields the most authoritative
power.
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Bill Clark/Getty Images
The Hispanic delegation in Congress is organized into two
different groups. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus was
formed in 1976 and now includes 27 members. It is chaired by
Texas Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (pictured above). In
2003 the Republican members split ranks over policy
differences and formed the Congressional Hispanic
Conference, which currently has 12 members and is chaired
by Florida Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart.
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
The House of Representatives:
The “People’s House”
Two-year terms-keeping attentive to the
people's concerns, reflecting popular will
All 435 members are up for reelection
every 2 years.
Representation based on population
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
The Senate: A Stabilizing Factor
Equal representation (two senators)
Six-year terms-less prone to drastic
changes in membership.
Senators are elected every 6 years. Only
34 of the 100 senators up for election every
2 years. Ex.2012 then next up for election
in 2018. If elected in 2014/2020.)
Safeguard against tyranny of the masses
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
The House of Representatives:
The “People’s House”
Congressional districts-a geographic region
whose residents select one member to
represent it in the House of Representatives.
Total of 435 Congressional districts.
Reapportionment-the allocation of a fixed
number of House seats (435) to the states.
Based on the population changes through
the census every 10 years.
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Texas used to have 32 representatives but
now has 36 due to increased population.
So total in the entire Congress 36+2
Senators=38. Some states have lost
representation (New York)
Redistricting-the act of redrawing
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congressional boundaries to achieve equal
representation in each of the congressional
districts (within the states). The state
legislatures
are responsible for redistricting.
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© 2016 Cengage Learning
Some states have commissions.
The Structure and Organization
of Congress
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Gerrymandering-The drawing of
House district boundaries to the benefit
of one political party over another. (now
cannot have a bizarre configuration,
must be contiguous with adjacent areas)
Majority-minority districts-A
congressional district drawn with
geographic boundaries that promote the
chances of electing a minority member
to represent that district
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
House only
Impeaches President/Judges/majority
Not involved with confirmation of
appointments or treaties. Exception: approval
of a Vice President
More attuned to Rules; remember (435)
members
More responsive “chamber” in that they are
elected every two years and so keen to public
sentiment
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Senate only
Removes President/Judges
Confirm appointment (judges, executive
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officials, ambassadors
Confirmation of Treaties (2/3 of the Senate
(67)
Elected every 6 years (only a third up for
election every 2 years) and so more
deliberative body
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No©rules.
Filibuster and unanimous consent
The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Need both the House and the Senate:
Pass legislation/bills (only majority vote (218)
but Senate usually will ask for the 60)
Pass a Constitutional Amendment (2/3 of the
House (290) and the Senate (67)
Overrule a Veto (2/3 of the House (290) and
2/3 of the Senate (67)
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
The House of Representatives:
The “People’s House”
Qualifications for the House
At least 25 years old
U.S. citizen for seven years
Residency established in the state(though not
necessarily from the congressional district from
which they have been elected from)
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
The Senate: A Stabilizing Factor
Qualifications for the Senate
At least 30 years old
U.S. citizen for nine years
Residency established in the state
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
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Leadership in Congress
Driven and organized by political party
system
Majority caucus-members of the party
that has a majority of seats in a particular
chamber. House of Rep -Rep/237
Dem/193; vacancies 5 (Total 435).
Senate Rep/52 Dem /46 Indep /2 (Total
100) Pompeo ( R ) Kansas(CIA director;
Becerra ( D) resigned on 1/24/2017 to
become California Attorney General;
The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Price ( R ) resigned on 02/10/2017 to be
Health and Human Services; Mulvaney (R)
, SC resigned 02/16/2017 to be OMB
Director; Zinke 9 R) MT resigned
03/01/2017 to the Interior Secretary
Minority caucus-Currently the Democrats
are the minority caucus in both chambers.
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Leadership in Congress
Majority caucus-will assign the following:
– Leadership (Speaker of the House and
Majority Leader of the Senate)
– The chairman of the committee
– The numbers on the committee
(majority party will have more on the
committee so they make sure they can
vote legislation out and not bottled up
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Leadership in the House of
Representatives
Speaker of the House- A lot of power in
this chamber. Assigning new bills to to
committees, recognizing members to
speak in the House chamber, appoints to
the Rules and Conference committees
Assigns chairs of committees and
influential in assigning members to
particular committees.
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Leadership in the House of
Representatives
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– Committee chairs are influenced by
seniority.
– Seniority more important in the Senate
than in the House in that the House
Speaker has been known to “hop over'
more senior members to assign the
committee chair to a member who is a
better fit
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Leadership in the House of
Representatives
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– Majority leader-second in command who
helps the speaker to oversee the
development of the party platform
– Minority leader-the leader of the minority
party in each chamber (Pelosi) Counter
the majority party bills/proposals
– Referred to as ranking members
– Whips-Determines if the votes to pass
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The Structure and Organization
of Congress
Leadership in the Senate
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• Vice president (presiding officer)-votes in case
of a tie
• President pro tempore-in the absence of a vice
president, the senator who presides over the
Senate session. The senator from the majority
party who has has the longest consecutive
years( usually gives this to a junior senator)
• Majority Leader-In the Senate, the controlling
party's main spokesman,who leads his/her
party in proposing new laws and crafting the
party's platform (McConnell)
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• Also makes committee assignments
The Committee System
Four categories of work for a
member of Congress
Running for re-election
Serving constituents
Working on legislation
Providing oversight of federal agencies
A lot of these actions help incumbents
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The Committee System
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Advantages of Incumbency
(representatives and Senators who are
already there):
Gives them an advantage in fund
raising
Allows them to do casework (positive
comments to others)
Franking privileges (mail)
Credit claiming (“pork” monies for
projects at home
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The Committee System
The bulk of the work on legislation
consists of what members do in
committees and subcommittees
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Generating new laws
Debating the merits of the ideas
Holding hearings/testimony of experts
Conducting investigations
Offer modifications and additions to
proposed bills (mark-ups)
Advice to other members
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The Committee System
Bill-Formally proposed legislation
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Members assigned to committees
Becomes experts
Subcommittees more specialized
Why committee system so powerful force
in legislation? Deference that most
members give to the work of their
colleagues in committees, recognizing
specialized knowledge. Often members
will vote on the basis of committee
recommendation
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The Committee System
Types of Committees in Congress
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Standing committees-Permanent
committee that exists both in the
House and Senate.
Bills will come out of these
committees.
Focus on a particular substantive area
of public policy such as transportation,
labor,foreign affairs, and the federal
budget.
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The Committee System
Standing committees (continued)
Reporting legislation-The exclusive power of
standing committee to forward legislation to
the Full House or Full Senate. Neither
chamber can vote on a bill unless the
committee votes to approve first.
Standing committees
Bills can be killed , amended, hurried through
the process, and tabled (put on the table and so
delayed
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The Committee System
Types of Committees in Congress
What happens if other members want to force
legislation bottled up in committee?
Discharge petition-218 signatures to get out of
a committee if bottled up
Not done too often because you don't want to
anger the chairperson of that committee
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The Committee System
Types of Committees in Congress
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One of the main standing committees in
House is the Ways and Means and
Appropriations. In the Senate Finance and
Appropriations
Why is Appropriations important? Congress
grants funds to federal agencies and
programs
Usually majority party has more members of
their own party than the minority party so they
can© 2016
getCengage
stuff
out of committee.
Copyright
Learning
The Committee System
Types of Committees in Congress
Select committees-temporary. For a specific
purpose and usually, for a limited time. Select
Committee on Energy independence and
Global Warming (2009)
Conference committees-A joint committee
of Congress appointed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate to resolve
differences on a particular bill
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The Committee System
Types of Committees in Congress
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Joint committees-A committee composed of
members of both the House and the Senate
that is investigative in nature. Permanent and
focus on broader policy areas. Usually have
the same number or Republicans and
Democrats on the committee. Ex. Congress's
Joint Economic Committee. Tabs of the
nation's economy and oversight to the Federal
Reserve Board
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continued
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The Committee System
Leadership of Congressional
Committees
Chairs: members of majority caucus-
great deal of power in determining what
gets done and when it gets done
Time spent on a bill, who will testify
Seniority and party allegiance factor in
with choosing choosing committee chairs
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The Committee System
Partisan Nature of the Committee
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System Chair of committee is always part of
the majority caucus. At this time,
republicans will be chair of the House
committees and Senate committees. To
control the committee agenda and the
committee votes, the majority party will
have a supermajority of seats on the
most powerful committees ( so can get
out of committee)
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The Committee System
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Congressional Staffing
Congressional personal staff-A group of
workers who assist an individual member
of Congress in performing his or her
responsibilities
Tracking bills that the members have
introduced/conducting research on bills
How a member has voted
Responding to numerous constituent
inquiries in the district
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The Committee System
Congressional Committee staff- A
group of workers assigned to
congressional committees to support
each committee's legislative work
Congressional agencies-Government
bodies formed by and relied on by
Congress to support members of
Congress in performing their functions
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The
Committee
System
Three
Congressional
Agencies
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)-
monitors the nations' economic situation
and provide objective information to the
national budget. Estimates how much
bills will “cost” the taxpayer and add to
the debt. It is supposed to be nonpartisan.
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The Committee System
Three Congressional Agencies
General Accounting Office GAO)-
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Overlooks the actions and spending of
the executive federal agencies
Congressional Research Service
(CRS)- Information and statistical data
archive. Provide research for writing a
bill, conducting a hearings or
investigation, or making a speech.
Information and statistical data archive
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The Steps
in a Bill
Becoming
a Law
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Step 1: Bill Is Introduced
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Step 2: Bill Is Sent to a Standing
Committee for Action
Mark-up, testimony, statistical data,
what has worked/not worked
Voted out of subcommittee and
standing committee and goes to Full
House but first must go to Rules
Committee
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Step 3: Bill Goes to the Full House
and Senate for Consideration
House Rules committee-The chair and
members were appointed by Speaker
How they will be debated, the type of
amendments and the ordering of those
amendments
Open and closed rules
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Step 3: Bill Goes to the Full House
and Senate for Consideration
– Voted out of House and then goes to
Senate. So in summary:
– Bill introduced, assigned to committees
(full and sub), voted out of both
committees, Rules committee, and then
to full House. Now off to the Senate.
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Step 3: Bill Goes to the Full House
and Senate for Consideration
– Voted out of House and then goes to
Senate. Once again, goes to
subcommittees and full committees in
the Senate, and amendments are
generally added to House Bill and
presented to Full Senate (100 members
to vote)
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Step 3: Bill Goes to the Full House
and Senate for Consideration
– No rules committee in the Senate
– Filibuster-The action by a single senator
or a minority of senators to block a bill
from a passage by refusing to end
discussion. Need 60 members in the
Senate to end a filibuster. To do that
you call a cloture vote
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Step 3: Bill Goes to the Full House
and Senate for Consideration
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Cloture rule-a Senate debate procedure
that permits that body to end debate and
force a vote on a bill by a vote of 60
senators
Christmas Tree Amendment- Filling the
tree up so some members can't offer
amendments.
Done
by
Reid
(D)
and
now
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McConnell (R)
How a Bill Becomes a Law
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Voting “aye” or “nay”
1. Personal opinion and judgment.
2. Constituent opinion.
3. Interest groups and lobbying.
4. Political parties.
5. The president.
6. Logrolling-The trading of influence or
votes among legislators to achieve
passage of projects that are of interest
to one another.
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Step 4: Conference Committee
Action-Sent to this committee and a
conference report is developed.
Sometimes has information in the bill
that was not even in some of the
original House and Senate Bills. The
people are usually people who have
worked on the bills in committee.
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
 Speaker and majority leader in
Senate appoint the members of the
conference committee
A committee report is given to House
and Senate and they have to vote up
or down. No amendments
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
 Step 5: Presidential Action
– Sign the bill- Great fanfare. Pens and many
supporters around the president
– Veto the bill-In which case the Congress can
overrule the veto by getting 2/3 of the House
(290) and 2/3 of the Senate (67)
– Example: The House voted to override a veto
and came up with 270. The Senate got 71. Did
they override the president's veto?
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
 Step 5: Presidential Action
– Not act on a bill(If Congress in session,
becomes a bill in 10 days regardless if the
president has not signed the bill so if a
president wants to kill a bill while in
session, he must veto the bill if the
Congress is in session)
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
 Step 5: Presidential Action
If Congress goes home and places the bill on his
desk, the president can elect not to sign it and
the law is void. It will have to be brought up
again in Congress. This is a pocket veto.
Usually wait until president returns
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President Obama signs the health care reform
bill into law at the White House in March 2010.
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Oversight and Personnel
Functions of Congress
Legislative Function- Passing Bills
through Congress. Need just a majority
in the House(218) and Senate (51) but
given the possibility of a filibuster in the
Senate, often need to overcome the
threshold of 60 to prevent a filibuster.
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Oversight and Personnel
Functions of Congress
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 Budgetary Function -Congressional action
on the annual budget resolution,
appropriation, reconciliation, and any other
revenue bills. Congressional Budget Act
(1974)u
Omnibus bill, very large, detailed bills
covering more than one subject
Reconciliation-a procedure that allows
consideration of controversial matters
affecting the budget by limiting debate to 20
hours, thereby ending threat of a filibuster.
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Obamacare used this to get through.
Oversight and Personnel
Functions of Congress
Congressional Oversight
Functions
Congressional Review
Monitors activities of agencies
– Congress delegates authority to
bureaucratic agencies. Ex. Federal
Reserve Board and Joint Economic
Committee in Congress monitors Feds
performance
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Oversight and Personnel
Functions of Congress
Congressional Oversight
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Congressional Review Act (1996) Allows
Congress to nullifying agency regulations via
congressional review. Congress has 60 days
after the implementation to pass a resolution.
The president must sign though.
War powers resolution- President initial
reaction of placing troops but 60 days to allow
for troop withdrawal (Power of the Purse)
Usually not as effective as public opinion.
Many presidents address after the fact.
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Oversight and Personnel
Functions of Congress
Congressional Oversight function
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Confirmation of Presidential
Appointees-President appoints and
Senate confirms. Can be contentious.
House not involved with confirmation of
executive appointments, judges, or
ambassadors. Vice presidential vacancy:
25th Amendment (Only time the House is
involved where both the House and
Senate must approve of the new vice
president)
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Oversight and Personnel
Functions of Congress
Congressional Oversight
Impeachment of President or
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federal judges. Usually resign.
House impeaches only by majority
of 435 (218)
Senate removes only by 2/3 of 100
(67)
Congress wanted deliberation
before removal
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Constituent Service:
Helping People Back Home
Casework Function
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Raises visibility- Social Security,
information on federal programs
Helps navigate the federal bureaucracy
Provides a direct connection-giving a
speech at local Rotary club, ribbon cutting,
face time
Pork-barrel legislation- local projects or
appropriation that yields jobs or other
benefits to a specific locale and patronage
opportunities
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Chris Maddaloni/Getty Images
House members holding a town hall meeting with college
students at the Capitol. From left to right: Rep. Debbie
Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Rep.
Stepanie Herseth (D-SD), and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL).
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