Congress in Action

CH. 10

Congress Convenes

• Each term of Congress begins Jan 3 of every odd numbered year

• Terms last for two years

Congress Convenes

• Within each term of Congress, there are two sessions which last nearly a year

• During these sessions, Congress conducts its business

Opening Day in the House

• There are a lot more things to do than the Senate because ALL 435 of the House’s members are up for reelection at the same time– Choose a Speaker– Swear in the Speaker– House members are sworn in– Change/adopt rules– Members of the 20 permanent House committees are

appointed by vote

Opening Day in the Senate

• There are less things to do because it is a continuous body

• Only 1/3 of its members are up for reelection at the same time since its members’ terms are staggered– New/reelected members are sworn in

– Vacancies in Senate organization and committees are filled

Breakdown of Senate53 Dem. 45 Rep. 2 Ind.

Breakdown of House200 Dem. 232 Rep. 3 Vacant

Fun/Lame Facts of 113th

• 13 - New senators.

• 84 - New House members.

• 98 - Women in the new Congress: 78 in the House, 20 in the Senate.

• 95 - Percent of the U.S. Senate that is white.

• 38 - Years in office of the longest currently serving senator, Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont.

State of the Union Message• Once both houses are

settled, the President will give a speech to a joint session of Congress, the Supreme Court, and other dignitaries

• Speech is on domestic and foreign policies, as well as legislative recommendations

Fun/Lame Facts of the 113th

• 3 - States with two women senators: California, New Hampshire, and Washington.

• 89 - Age of the oldest-ever member of the House, Ralph Hall, R-Texas. He broke the previous record on Christmas Day.

• 7 - Members who are openly gay or bisexual.• 12 - New members who have served in the U.S.

military.

The Presiding Officers• Speaker of the House – John Boehner

– May vote (but usually don’t)– No member may speak until they are recognized by the Speaker– Applies rules– Refers bills to committees– Signs all bills passed by the House– Rules on points of order– Puts motions/questions to a vote– Can take the floor to speak/debate– Appoints select and conference committee members

The Presiding Officers

• President of the Senate (Vice-President)– Joe Biden

• President Pro Tempore– Patrick Leahy– Leading (longest serving) member of the majority

party

• Same duties as the Speaker except:– Cannot take the floor to speak/debate– May vote only to break a tie

Party Caucus

• Party caucus - closed meeting of the members of each party in each house

• Meet several times during a session

• Deal with matters of party organization:– Select the party’s floor leaders

– Take stands on particular bills

House and Senate Floor Leaders

• Floor leaders– Carry out the decisions of their parties’

caucuses

– Steer floor action to their parties’ benefit

– Main party spokesperson

• Picked by their party colleagues (one majority and one minority)

Floor Leaders

• Assistant floor leaders - whips– Chosen by the party caucus– Whips will check with party members to see how many

votes can be counted on and reports this to the floor leader

– Try to make members vote with the rest of the party– Make sure party members are present for important votes

• There are 4 whips – one for each house and one for each party

Committee Chairmen

• Committee Chairmen are chosen from the majority party in a caucus– Decide when their committees will meet– Which bills they will discuss– Whether to hold public hearings– What witnesses the committee should call

• The chairmen are based on seniority rule and come from the majority party

• The “ranking member” would take over if majority membership in Congress would switch to the other party