Ch. 9 POLS 2311
the president has ___ days to either sign or veto a law
10 •If the president does not act while Congress is in session, the bill become law. •Vetoes are overridden by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
what is a bill?
A proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to clerk of House or Senate
appropriations:
Amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes that each unit or agency can spend
________ and _________ have the power to subpoena witnesses.
Committees; subcommittees
When control of _____ is divided, each party has representation in conference committees.
Congress
Many factors influence members of Congress when they vote on legislation.
Constituents are the most important. •Legislators take their constituents seriously if they believe it will affect their support at the next election. Interest groups may also play a role. •Can supply legislators with very detailed information and data about pending bills; can also make sizable donations Party leadership cares when the vote is highly partisan.
Joint committees
Formed from members of both Senate and House
The Constitution provides for a bicameral legislature (two chambers in Congress):
House and Senate.
Because House members seek re-election every two years and senators seek re-election every six years:
House members are more attuned to the legislative needs of local interest groups. •House members more effectively and frequently serve as agents of interests with specific legislative agendas. •Example: used-car dealers seeking relief from regulation
The House compared to the Senate
House: two-year term; must be at least 25 years old Senate: six-year term; must be at least 30 years old House: 435 members Senate: 100 members, two from each state House: elected by people of the district Senate: originally elected by state legislatures; today elected by people of the state
The full committee may accept the recommendations of the subcommittee or hold its own hearings and prepare its own amendments.
Many bills are simply allowed to "die in committee," without serious consideration. •In a typical session, 80-90 percent of the roughly 10,000 bills that are introduced die in committee.
impeachment
Removal of executive officials from government can occur through the process of impeachment. Constitutional standard for impeachment: "Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors" The House acts as a grand jury. The Senate conducts the actual trial.
________ may hold hearings, listen to expert testimony, and amend proposed legislation.
Subcommittees
Recent Congresses have been notable for their inability to pass laws.
The 114th, 113th, and 112th Congresses were the three least productive in modern history. In 2018, President Trump and congressional leaders were able to agree on a spending bill.
senate:
The leadership has much less control over floor debate.
presidency:
The president's support is a major criterion for party loyalty, and is used by party leaders to rally support.
house:
Virtually all the time allotted for debate on a given bill is controlled by the bill's sponsors and its leading opponent.
logrolling:
a means by which legislators with nothing in common trade support, effectively saying to each other, "You support me on bill X, and I'll support you on bill Y."
redistricting:
a process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives •Happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges to existing districts •Known as gerrymandering
Which sort of representation takes place when constituents feel they have the power to hire and fire their representatives?
agency representation
The process of allocating congressional seats among the 50 states is called
apportionment
______ and also affect who wins a seat in the House of Representatives
apportionment
__________ is the term for the amount of money approved by Congress in statutes that each unit or agency can spend.
appropriations
Congress is a __________ legislature with __________ members.
bicameral; 535
The rule that allows a three-fifths majority of the Senate to set a time limit on debate on a given bill is called
cloture
In which of the following ways does Congress exercise the power of oversight?
committees or subcommittees of the senate or the house conduct hearings and investigations
members of ______ must be responsive to their constituents
congress
A pocket veto occurs when
congress adjourns during the 10-day period during which a president has the bill and the president has taken no action
apportionment and redistricting:
done every 10 years
The use of the filibuster and cloture in the U.S. Senate
has increased to record highs
Under the Hastert Rule, the speaker of the House does not allow any bill to reach the floor unless
it has the support of a majority of the majority party members of the house
speaker of the house:
leader of the majority party
after the debate ends....
leaders schedule a vote on floor
_____ rarely comes to the floor unless it is certain to pass
legislation
An agreement between two or more members of Congress who may have nothing in common except the need for support is best described as
logrolling
Real day-to-day power in the Senate is in the hands of th
majority and minority leaders
the president has the power to ...
make treaties and to appoint top officials, ambassadors, and judges. Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution, however, requires the "Advice and Consent" of the Senate. For treaties, two-thirds of the senators who are present must concur. For appointments, a simple majority is required.
apportionment:
occurs after every decennial census, which allocates congressional seats among the 50 states
leadership PACs:
organizations members of Congress use to raise funds •These funds can then be distributed to other members of their party running for election.
access to the floor:
party leaders control access to precious floor time, as thousands of bills await passage.
committee assignments:
party leaders create debts among members by helping them get favorable committee assignments.
Which type of legislation specifies a project to be funded within a particular district to help a legislator with re-election, even though that project is likely not essential?
pork-barrel
A type of patronage that proposes some kind of relief, special privilege, or exemption to the specific person named in the bill is called a
private bill
cloture:
procedure to end the filibuster; requires approval of three-fifths of the Senate
seniority:
ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee
constituency:
residents in the area from which an official is elected
In 2015, this type of committee held hearings to investigate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.
select
In general, each committee in Congress is chaired by the person in the majority party who has been in Congress the longest, which is also known as having
seniority
within each committee, hierarchy is based on ______
seniority
The Constitution gives the power of advice and consent
solely to the state
The leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives is the
speaker of the house
Every member of Congress has _____ _____
staff members.
filibuster:
tactic to prevent action on legislation by holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down
The name for the legally prescribed maximum number of years an elected official can serve is
term limits
oversight
the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies •Done to analyze and evaluate bureaucratic agencies and the effectiveness of their programs •Most programs and agencies subject to oversight on appropriations
Unlike in the House, Senators have used the right to talk without interruption for as long as they want to prevent action on legislation they oppose, which is known as
the filibuster
___ ______ ______ is the dominant career of most members of congress prior to election
the legal profession
Once a bill clears one chamber it is sent to ___ ______ ________, where the process starts over.
the other chamber
Which of the following best describes recent trends in the use of the congressional oversight power?
the power has been used as a tool of partisan politics
The senator with the greatest seniority in the majority party is designated as ____ _______ ___ _____
the president pro tempore. •The position is primarily ceremonial.
The idea of the representative as agent is similar to ......
the relationship of a lawyer to a client.
A presidential veto can be overridden by a
two-thirds vote in both houses of congress
Among other things, the House Rules Committee determines
what opportunity there is for amendments to be proposed to a bill on the floor
A party __________ is elected for each party in each chamber and is responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes.
whip
whip system:
whips take polls of all members to learn their intentions on bills. •Helps party leaders know whether they have enough support to allow a vote or need additional time to put pressure on undecided members.
Conference committees serve to
work out a compromise on house and senate versions of a piece of legislation
Bill
•A bill is submitted by a senator or representative to the clerk of the House or Senate. •Only the House can introduce "money bills." A bill is assigned to a committee, which typically refers it to a subcommittee. •Bills that are taken seriously are given a hearing.
Additional powers of oversight:
•Administering oaths •Cross-examining witnesses •Compelling testimony •Bringing criminal charges for contempt or perjury A hearing is usually held for a specific bill, whereas an investigation examines a broad area or problem.
African Americans, women, Latinos, and Asian Americans have increased their numbers in Congress.
•All have had major gains in the last two decades, but for most of American history, these groups had no representation. •Even now, their representation is not comparable to the proportions in the general population.
In general, each committee is chaired by the most senior member of the majority party.
•But the principle of seniority is not absolute. •In 1995, Republicans selected committee chairs based on party loyalty and fund-raising abilities. •In 2007, Democrats returned to the seniority principle but offered freshmen a choice of committee assignments.
Party leadership is determined by the members of Congress through a party election.
•Called a conference by House Republicans •Called a caucus by House Democrats
Formed temporarily to focus on a specific issue
•Cannot present bills to the chamber •Instead, hold hearings to investigate particular problems •Bring attention to issues that fall outside the jurisdictions of existing committees
Speaker of the House: leader of the majority party
•Chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives •Has the most influence over the legislative process
incumbency advantage
•Constituency services; a war chest of money; being well liked and well known, which can intimidate potential challengers •Some people argue that term limits are the only way to get new faces into Congress.
drawing of house districts
•District lines are often drawn to create "safe" districts (in which one party's candidate has a large advantage).
Four such committees
•Economic, taxation, library, and printing •permanent but cannot present legislation Gather information Cover issues internal to Congress
majority leader
•Elected by the majority party; second in leadership after the Speaker
Standing committees cover a particular subject matter.
•Examples: Agriculture, Armed Services, Energy and Commerce, Ethics •The most important standing committees are in charge of finances: the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees.
Staffers
•Handle constituent requests and services •Formulate and draft legislative proposals •Organize hearings •Deal with administrative agencies •Negotiate with lobbyists
Permanent committees in Congress
•Have power to propose and write legislation
However, that is not the case when a single party controls both the House and Senate.
•In 2003, Democrats complained that the Republicans took this to the extreme by excluding them on major laws. •In 2007, Democrats returned to power and largely bypassed conference committees. •The began making closed-door agreements between top leaders in the House and Senate.
Congress placed a moratorium on earmarks in 2011.
•In 2018, President Trump suggested that Congress should consider restoring earmarks in order to "grease" the legislative wheels.
If passed with the same wording, the bill is sent to the president; if not, it goes to the conference committee.
•In conference committee, the bill must be reconciled and then passed by a vote of the full House and Senate or it will die.
whip
•Keeps a tally on how party members will vote on legislation; builds support for the leadership's agenda •Coordinates the party's legislative strategy
minority leader
•Leader of the minority party
temporary committees
•Members are appointed by the Speaker of House and the presiding officer of the Senate.
Intervention with federal administrative agencies
•Members of Congress spend large amounts of time helping constituents with government bureaucracy. •Examples: helping seniors with Social Security or Medicare issues The use of private bills
pocket veto
•Occurs when there are less than 10 days left in the congressional calendar •If the president does not sign the bill into law then, it dies.
Building blocks of congressional organization
•Political parties •Committee system •Congressional staff •Caucuses Parliamentary rules of the House and Senate
agency representation
•Representatives can be hired or fired by their constituents. •This creates an electoral incentive to act on constituent interests.
sociological representation
•Representatives have the same racial, gender, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents.
classic logrolling:
•Republicans got more money for the military and Democrats got more money for domestic programs Congress is more polarized today than at any time in the last century.
patronage
•Resources are available to officials to provide to supporters. •This includes partisan appointments to offices and the conferral of grants, licenses, and special favors.
Different constituencies in the U.S. House and Senate
•Senators usually represent much larger and more diverse constituencies than their House counterparts.
Party leadership determines committee assignments. The committee system comprises
•Standing committees •Select committees •Joint committees •Conference committees
Shelby county v. holder (2013)
•The Court invalidated some sections of the Voting Rights Act. •It ended the requirement for Justice Department approval of redistricting plans of jurisdictions with history of racial discrimination.
miller v. johnson (1995)
•The Court ruled that race could not be the predominant factor in creating electoral districts.
For a bill to become law, the same wording of the bill must be passed by both chambers of Congress.
•The conference committee handles this. •It writes the final wording when both the House and Senate pass similar bills that need to be reconciled.
Senators serve more heterogeneous constituencies.
•They better serve interests organized on a statewide or national basis.
The real power lies with the majority leader and the minority leader.
•They control the Senate's calendar and the agenda for legislation.
pork barrel legislation (or pork)
•This involves money spent for local projects that are often not needed but are intended to help legislators get re-elected. •The "earmark" is a common form of pork-barreling.
Representatives should seek to discover the interests of their constituencies.
•This is done through constant communication with constituents. •Email, websites, blogs, and Twitter make this easier. •They spend considerable time and staffing on constituency service (casework). •This includes presenting special bills, helping constituents apply for federal benefits, and assisting with immigration cases.
The use of earmarks grew: from 1,439 per year in 1995 to 15,268 in 2006.
•This led to several scandals. •One involved Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was sent to jail for accepting bribes from companies hoping to receive earmarks.
private bill:
•a proposal in Congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief (often involving citizenship)
