The Legislative

Branch

Structure of Congress

• Designed to be the branch most responsible for the development of the Republic

• Only branch directly elected• It exists to pass legislation• Framers feared a too powerful Congress– So, they spelled out their duties more specifically than the

others

• To guard against legislative usurpation, both houses have unique but complementary powers– Addressed in Article I of the Constitution

• Passing laws was designed to be complex and deliberate and slow– Framers wanted it to bring

compromise– Over 10,000 bills introduced

every year– Most of them are never

passed– Few of them are passed in

their original form

StructureMembership

Terms of Office

Qualifications

Constituencies

Prestige

435 members apportioned by population

2 years – entire House elected every 2 years

25; citizen for 7 yrs; must live in state where district is located

Smaller, by district

Less prestige

100 members (2 from each state)

6 years: 1/3 of Senate elected every two years

30; citizen for 9 yrs; must live in state

Large, entire state

More prestige

House of Representatives Senate

Getting Elected• Each state guaranteed at least 1

Representative– MT, VT, AK, SD, ND, DE, and WY only

have 1

• Seats in the House are apportioned according to each state’s population– After each census, seats may be

reapportioned if the populations of the states changes

• Sometimes, districts are gerrymandered which means state legislatures have drawn districts to favor one party over another– To isolate minorities in one district is

called “packing” to spread them across many districts is called “cracking”

• Senators were originally chosen by state legislatures• In 1913, the 17th Amendment changed that– Now they are popularly elected

• After elected, Congress meets for terms of two years– Begins January 3 in odd-numbered years

• The President can call a special session in case of a national emergency if Congress is in recess

Leadership of Congress• House of Representatives:– Speaker of the House – presiding officer – always from the

majority party• Assigns bills to committee• Controls floor debate• Appoints party members to committees

– Majority Leader – major assistant to the Speaker – from majority party• Helps plan the party’s legislative agenda• Directs floor debate

– Minority Leader – major spokesperson for the minority party• Organizes opposition to the majority party

– Whips (both majority and minority) – helps the leaders• Direct party members in voting• Inform members of impending voting• Keep track of vote counts• Pressure members to vote with the party

House Majority WhipKevin McCarthy

House Minority WhipSteny Hoyer

House Minority LeaderNancy Pelosi

• Senate:– Vice-president - the presiding officer

• May not debate• May not vote – except to break a tie

– President pro tempore – a senior member of the majority party• Presides in the absence of the vice-president• More ceremonial

Daniel InouyePrez Pro Temp

Joseph BidenVice-president

– Majority Leader – majority party spokesperson• Most influential member of the Senate

– Minority Leader – minority party spokesperson• Organizes opposition to the majority party

– Whips – majority and minority• Help leaders• Direct party members in voting• Inform party members of coming vote• Pressure members to vote with the party

Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid

Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell

Committees• Most of the work of Congress is done in the committees• Everyone wants to be on the “right” committee

– Ex: ones from “farm” states want to be on the agricultural committees

• ALL bills are assigned to a committee– They then may be assigned to a sub-committee

• Jobs of the committees:– Investigate the bill– Hold hearings – Debate

• Most bills die in committee

• Each committee has a chairperson– Always a member of the majority party

• The majority party holds the majority of the seats– This means they basically have control

• The senior member of the minority party becomes the ranking member– If the majority party loses control in the next election,

he/she becomes the chairperson

• Committee assignments are determined by the House and Senate leadership and a caucus of the two

• Sponsors of the bills try to “steer” them towards committees that will be “sympathetic towards them– Supporters of bills also decide which house should consider

the bill first

• Bills can begin in either house, EXCEPT revenue bills which MUST begin in the House

• Types of Committees:– Standing – permanent – deals with specific policy issues

(agriculture, veterans affairs, budget)– Select – temporary – appointed for a specific purpose – mostly to

investigate and issue (Watergate)– Joint – permanent & temporary – members of both houses (Iran-

Contra – select) (Taxation – standing)– Conference – temporary – created to work out the differences in

House and Senate versions of a bill – made up of both houses

• Key committees:– House:

• Appropriations – project money (pork) and other expenditures are controlled here (earmarks)

• Budget – oversight of government spending

• Rules – debate rules, order of bills, rules of amendments

• Ways and Means – tax rules, tariff issues, benefits and Social Security are set

– Senate:• Appropriations – federal discretionary spending programs are set• Budget – oversight of government agencies and spending• Finance – similar to the House W&M• Foreign Relations – policy debates and treaty votes are main

duties• Judiciary – judges and justices are debated and possibly confirmed

• Most bills die in the subcommittees• However, if the subcommittee and the committee

decide to take up the bill, then the following takes place:– 1) call in people who have information to give (often

lobbyists)– 2) often have hearings– 3) once investigations are over, they begin amending and

rewriting the bill (called markup sessions)• Sometimes, they will refuse to vote a bill out of committee (want to

keep it from being considered by the House or Senate) – this is called “pigeonholed”

• Other members of the House and Senate can call for a floor vote (discharge petition) to force it out of committee.

– 4) when the bill is in its final version from the committee, it will be scheduled to be debated on the floor of the House and/or Senate• The House has a Rules Committee – it

determines how long a bill will be debated and whether to allow an open or closed rule for amending the bill– Open rules – allows amendments– Closed rules - prohibits amendments

• The Rules Committee is the most powerful committee in the House– They can kill a bill or delay a vote by

making it easy for opponents to add killer amendments

– Can also bring bills up for an immediate floor vote

• In the Senate, debate is not controlled– There are no time restraints– Filibuster – tactic used to delay

a vote on a bill and tie up the work of the Senate» Usually a senator will make

a speech which will last for hours

» The only way to end a filibuster is to vote for cloture – 60 members have to vote for it (very hard to get)

– The Senate has no closed rules for amendments» Called riders, they don’t

even have to be relevant to the bill

» Many Senators add their “pork barrel” projects to “bring home the bacon” to their home states

– 5) after debates, the bill usually ends up passing the House and Senate in different forms• If this happens, both versions are sent to conference committees• Those members must come from the committees of the two

houses that wrote the bill• They have to negotiate a compromise bill

– 6) then comes the vote - the bill must pass both houses in the exact same form• Failure to pass a bill from a conference committee ends with its

death

– 7) if the bill passes both houses, it goes to the president for his signature• Options:

– A) sign it – becomes law– B) do nothing within 10 days – it becomes

law– C) if Congresses session ends within that

10 days, he must sign all bills (it becomes law)» If he doesn’t, it is called a pocket veto

and must go through the entire process again

– D) veto – must give his reasons in writing and return it to its original house.» Congress then has choices

• A) both houses may make the required changes

• B) override the veto with a 2/3 vote from both houses

Powers of Congress• Types of Powers:– 1) Expressed (actually written in Article I, Section 8)

• Lay and collect taxes• Pay debts• Provide common defense & welfare• Borrow money• Regulate commerce• Rules for naturalization• Bankruptcy laws• Coin money• Set weights and measures• Counterfeiting punishment• Establish post office• Piracy punishments• Declare war

• Raise and support an army• Provide for a navy and call militia as needed• Regulate national forts and arsenals• Ratify treaties (Senate ONLY)• Approve major appointments (Senate ONLY)

– 2) Implied :• Make laws that may be “necessary and proper” to carry out the powers above

• Limits on power:– Cant suspend habeas corpus except in emergency– No bills of attainder– No ex post facto laws– No taxes without a census– No taxes no exports– No preferential laws to ports or states– No titles of nobility– No taking money from the Treasury without a law

Conflicting Duties of Congress• Delegate – represent the wishes of their district or

state, not their own• Trustee – do what they believe is best for the

country, not just their district or state• Politico – must support party goals and party leaders

and do what needs to be done to gain power• Partisan – being consistent with the ideas of

liberalism or conservatism.

• Other duties of Congress:– Oversight of many bureaucratic agencies and departments– Heads of these agencies often appear before committees

with oversight jurisdiction to make sure they are following the law

– They also hear testimony from agency heads begging for money• When Congress cuts an agency’s budget, it has a big effect on their

ability to carry out its policies

– Propose amendments– Admit new states and control federal territories– Create federal courts– Monitor states’ actions over imports, exports and with

other countries– Help their constituents with problems– Help with local disasters and conflicts– Work with state and local leaders

– One of the most important duties – preparing the annual budget• This requires lots of meetings and compromises• Fiscal year – October 1 – September 30• The Office of Management and Budget creates the budget outline• But Congress has to prioritize thousands of items and vote it

through• They also have to create the tax system that will fund the budget –

or borrow

Incumbency Advantages• 1. Name recognition – neutral voters often select a name that is

familiar• 2. Campaign costs – access to many groups that fund campaigns –

often wealthy themselves• 3. Franking – free mail home• 4. Pork Projects – local jobs and local contracts help build local

support (aka casework)• 5. Seniority powers – the more influential their position, the less

likely they will be voted out• 6. Party support – groups are reluctant to turn on loyal members• 7. Lobby support – interest groups are reluctant to gamble on

challengers

Privileges• 1. allowances for offices in their home state• 2. travel allowances• 3. franking• 4. immunity from arrest while conducting

congressional business• 5. immunity from libel or slander suits for speech or

debate in Congress