US Congress in 2014

• In 2014 the President is a Democrat• The House is Republican• The Senate is Democrat• So Congress is said to be split and the decision process

becomes considerably more difficult to pass legislation.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives, often called the “Lower House is the part of Congress that Represents the

people due to the fact, the number is based on the population of each individual state.

How many?

• The House of Representatives has 432 members.

• 232 of which are currently Republican• 200 being Democrat• So the House is said to be controlled by the

Republicans

Republicans (232)

Democrats (200)

Vacant (3)

Speaker of the House• The key leader of the House of

Representatives is called the “Speaker of the House” and a member of the controlling party. The current Speaker of the House is John Boehner from Ohio.

• The Speaker of the House presides over the entire chamber of the House. Republicans and Democrats.

• The Speaker is chosen by the entire House.

• He is also the 3rd most powerful person in the US behind the President and Vice President.

House Majority Leader

• House Majority Leader is the leader or voice of all the member that currently control the House.

• As of right now our House is controlled by the Republicans and Eric Cantor of Virginia is the House majority leader.

• The House Majority leader is selected by their party member to be their voice.

House Minority Leader• House Minority Leader is the leader

or voice of all the members that currently in the minority of the House.

• As of right now and Nancy Pelosi of California is the House majority leader.

• The House Majority leader is also selected by their party member to be their voice.

• Nancy Pelosi is the first woman to serve as House Minority leader and is considered, arguably, to be the most powerful woman in American political history.

The Senate

• The Senate is considered to represent the state since every state in the union has 2 for a total of 100 Senators

• The Senate is currently controlled by the Democrats which has 53 members

• The Republican currently have 45 seats in the Senate • 2 seats in the Senate are Independent

Democrats (53)

Republicans (45)

Independent (2)

Vice President is President

of the Senate• The Presiding officer over the

Senate is the Vice President of the United States, currently Joseph Biden of Delaware

• Often times the Senate President is unable to preside over the Senate so a second in charge is put into place, the Senate Pro Tempore.

President pro tempore

• In the event that the Vice President has other engagements (which is quite often) the President pro temp. presides over the Senate

• The Senate pro tempore is the 4thh most poerful person in US government behind the President, Vice President and Speaker of the House

• The current President pro temp is Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Senate Majority Leader

• The Senate also has the majority and minority leader to be the voice of each party.

• The current Senate Majority Leader is Harry Reid a Democrat from Nevada (since the Democrats currently control the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader

• The Senate Minority Leader of the Senate is currently Mitch McConnell a Republican from Kentucky.