Unit 4
Hold
A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator temporarily blocks the consideration of a bill or nomination.
Closed rule
A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments.
Cloture
A procedure for terminating debate, especially filibusters, in the Senate.
Rider
A provision attached to a bill-to which it may or may not be related-in order to secure its passage.
Differences Between House and Senate
House- 435 members with two-year terms More hierarchically organized (more centralized, more formal, stronger leadership) Power distributed less evenly Members are highly specialized Emphasizes tax and revenue policy More committees and subcommittees Senate- 100 members with six-year terms Less hierarchically organized (less centralized, less formal, weaker leadership) Power distributed more evenly Members are generalists Emphasizes foreign policy Fewer committees and subcommittees
Congressional demographics
House- 80% male, 80% white, mostly catholic Senate- 80% male, 94% white
what power does the rules committee have
The Committee on Rules, or (more commonly) Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. Rather than being responsible for a specific area of policy, as most other committees are, it is in charge of determining under what rule other bills will come to the floor.
list some of the powers of the speaker of the house
The Speaker exercises duties as a Member of Congress, as presiding officer of the House of Representatives, and as leader of the majority political party in the House.
Reapportionment
The allocation of seats in the House of Representatives to each state after each census.
Speaker
the presiding officer in the House of Representatives; always a member of the majority party and the most powerful and influential member of the House.
Bicameralism
the system of having two chambers with in one legislative body, like the house and the senate in the US congress
President pro tempore
the temporary presiding officer of the Senate in the absence of the vice president.
list 5 specific ways to kill a bill
1) The President vetos the bill (does not sign it) and there is not 2/3rds of both houses of Congress willing to override the veto. 2) A pocket veto - which means that the President gets it with less than ten days left in a Congressional term and does not sign or veto it, then when the term expires the bill dies automatically. 3) It fails to pass a vote in one of the houses. 4) It is not reported by committee. Bills go to committees to be reviewed after they are presented by members of Congress. If the committee does not report on the bill it does not get voted on. The committee either does not want a vote on the bill or doesn't feel the bill is important, or feels it isn't going to pass anyway. Most bills die this way (by not making it out of committee). related idea: see discharge petition 5) The House Rules Committee not granting a rule. In the House, after a committee reports on a bill it is placed on one of various calendars. The House rules committee has to decide to take it off the calendar and set rules for debating it. If they do not do this, the bill will not go to the floor for debate or be voted on. 6) Senate Majority Leader never takes it off calendar. In the Senate, the Majority leader has a similar function to the rules committee in that he chooses which bills from the calendar to debate. The senate doesn't have the debate rules that the House does (because there is less members in the Senate), so the Senate Majority leader doesn't have to set rules, but he does choose which bills to debate. Therefore, if he continuously passes up certain bills he can effectively kill them. 7) Filibuster. A filibuster is talking a bill to death. Because the Senate does not have the rules for debate that the House does, Senators can speak endlessly about a bill or about anything in general, even things unrelated to the bill. This endless talking prevents a vote on the bill. related idea: see cloture
How a bill becomes a law
1. A member of Congress introduces a bill. When a senator or representative introduces a bill, it is sent to the clerk of the Senate or House, who gives it a number and title. Next, the bill goes to the appropriate committee. 2. Committees review and vote on the bill. Committees specialize in different areas, such as foreign relations or agriculture, and are made up of small groups of senators or representatives. The committee may reject the bill and "table" it, meaning it is never discussed again. Or it may hold hearings to listen to facts and opinions, make changes in the bill and cast votes. If most committee members vote in favor of the bill, it is sent back to the Senate and the House for debate. 3. The Senate and the House debate and vote on the bill. Separately, the Senate and the House debate the bill, offer amendments and cast votes. If the bill is defeated in either the Senate or the House, the bill dies. Sometimes, the House and the Senate pass the same bill, but with different amendments. In these cases, the bill goes to a conference committee made up of members of Congress. The conference committee works out differences between the two versions of the bill. Then the bill goes before all of Congress for a vote. If a majority of both the Senate and the House votes for the bill, it goes to the President for approval. 4. The President signs the bill—or not. If the President approves the bill and signs it, the bill becomes a law. However, if the President disapproves, he can veto the bill by refusing to sign it. Congress can try to overrule a veto. If both the Senate and the House pass the bill by a two-thirds majority, the President's veto is overruled and the bill becomes a law.
list the top 5 powers of congress in order
1. The power to collect, levy, and raise taxes. 2. The power to make laws regarding bankruptcy, naturalization of its citizens, and otherwise regulate commerce. 3. The power to coin money, and regulate its value. 4. The power to create post offices and roads. 5. The power to declare war (including to raise armies, navies, etc.)
Party caucus
A meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and develop party policy. Called a conference by the Republicans.
Override
An action taken by Congress to reverse a presidential veto, requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber.
Who does the senate have the power to confirm?
As a result, the Senate does not have the power to initiate bills imposing taxes. Furthermore, the House of Representatives holds that the Senate does not have the power to originate appropriation bills, or bills authorizing the expenditure of federal funds
Why is bicameralism important in our congress?
Benefits of Bicameralism Promotes different modes of representation Smaller states favored Senate b/c they received equal votes Larger states prefer the House Checks "mob rule" Problems that panic the Senate will be checked by the House and vice-versa "Cools down" hot issues
describe and analyze the committee system in the law making process
Congressional committees are the "workhorses" of Congress. As the number of issues brought before Congress grows, lawmakers increasingly rely on the committee system to sift through the facts and determine how issues should be resolved.
What are some of the major differences in the different houses of congress?
Differences are each state has equal representation in the Senate, whereas population determines representation in the House (of Representatives) House terms are 2 years, Senate is 6 years. Senate can filibuster, House cannot. Only the House can introduce taxation bills. Only the Senate must confirm all Presidential appointments to office, and confirm all treaties with foreign governments. Only the House can impeach (bring charges against) office holders, only the Senate conducts the trial and removes from office.
What congressional portion does it take to ovveride a presidential veto?
If the Congress overrides the veto by a two-thirds majority in each house, it becomes law without the President's signature. Otherwise, the bill fails to become law unless it is presented to the President again and he or she chooses to sign it.
Committee System
Members of Congress are assigned to committees to investigate the merits and problems with suggested bills, sometimes holding public hearings to learn more before sending it to the full House or Senate for debate and a vote.
How members of Congress are elected
Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are considered for reelection every even year. Senators however, serve six-year terms and elections to the Senate are staggered over even years so that only about 1/3 of the Senate is up for reelection during any election.
What checks does the congress have on the presidency and the judiciary?
Neither the president nor Congress has any power to override a Supreme Court decision, but the executive and legislative branches still do have important levers to check and balance the judiciary, mainly by influencing who gets to serve on the Court in the first place
What's the difference between redistricting and reapportionment?
Reapportionment The redistribution of congressional seats among the states among the states every ten years, following the census. Redistricting The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population
Explain who has more power- a representative or a senator
Senator, without a doubt. If you make the rough assumption that each house of congress is of equal influence, then a senator has 1/200th influence over congress and each representative has 1/870th influence. In addition, the speaker of the house and the rest of the house leadership have much more control over each individual member relative to the control the senate leadership has. Due to this fact, the average Senator is able to be significantly more influential than the average representative.
What is the most powerful job in Congress?
Speaker of the House
Powers of Congress
Taxes- lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises Borrowing- borrowing money for the U.S. Commerce- regulate trade with foreign countries Naturalization- bankruptcy foreigners become citizens, person or business can't pay its debts Coins; weights; measures to coin money, it must have a value Counterfeitin-g making an imitation of U.S. money Post Offices- Gov. has power to set up and control delivery of mail copy rights- patents protects authors and inventors; makes them owners of their work for a limited amount of time federal courts- CHECK AND BALANCE, gov. can set up lower federal court under supreme court piracy- gov. can punish robbing of ships at sea declaration of war- only congress can declare war, granted at request of President army, navy, rules for the military- U.S. gov places these things under control of Congress, congress decides on size, money used and writes rules to govern forces militia- body of citizen soldiers, suppresses insurrections and foreign invasions rules for the Militia Congress- has power to create laws and rules, appoints officers etc. National capital- congress controls district around nation's capital necessary laws -Congresss can make laws as needed, "elastic clause", or "necessary and proper clause" writ of habeas corpus- court order, requires gov. officials to bring a prisoner to court and explain why they are being held, prevents unlawful imprisonment ex post facto- can't make a low and blame you if you did it years ago, enacted after the fact
Seniority rule
The informal congressional norm of choosing the member who has served the longest on a particular committee to be the committee chair
Attentive public
Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.
Safe seat
a district that returns a legislator with 55 percent of the vote or more.
Whip
a member of Congress who aids the majority or minority leader of the House or the Senate. Their work consists of passing information from the majority and minority leaders to the regular party members, conducting polls among those members and reporting them to the majority and minority leaders, gathering information about votes among the members for the leaders, and persuading members to support their leaders' policies and positions.
Delegate
a member of congress who loyally represents constituents' direct interest
Enumerated powers
a power specifically granted to the national government by the Constitution; the first seventeen clauses of Article I, Section 8, specify most of the enumerated powers of Congress.
Discharge petition
a procedure by which a bill in the House of representatives may be forced (discharged) out of a committee that has refused to report it for consideration by the House. The petition must be signed by an absolute majority (218) of the representatives and is use only on rare occasions.
Filibuster
a tactic used by senators to hold the floor and speak --under the senate rule of unlimited debate-- until the bill's supporter's back down
How does a whip keep party members in line?
a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. The term originated in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and derives from the "whipper-in" at a fox hunt. Whip is also used to mean the voting instructions issued to members by the Whip
Log rolling
an arrangement in which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other's bills
Gerrymandering
attempting to use the process of redrawing district boundaries to benefit a political party, protect incumbents or change the proportion of minority voters in a district
Select committee
committees in the house or senate created to address a specific issue for one or two terms
Standing committee
committees that are a permanent part of the house or senate structure, holding more importance and authority than other committees
Joint committee
committees that contain members of both the house and senate but have limited authority
Open rule
conditions placed on a legislative debate by the house of rules committee allowing relevant amendments to a bill
Earmarks
federally funded local projects attatched to bills passed through congress
Trustee
member of congress who represents constituents' interests while also taking into account national, collective, and moral concerns that sometimes cause the member to vote against the preferences of a majority of constituents
Constituents
one of the persons represented by a legislator or other elected or appointed official
Incumbent
politician running for reelection to the office he or she currently holds
Redistricting
redrawing the geographical boundaries of legislative districts
Who draws US congressional district lines and how often are these redrawn?
state legislature, and the majority party controls the process
Conference committee
temporary committees created to negotiate differences between the house and the senate versions of a piece of legislation that has passed through both chambers
Pocket veto
the automatic death of a bill passed by the house and the senate when the pres fails to sign the bill in the last ten days of legislative session
Majority leader
the elected head of the party holding the majority of seats in the house or senate
Minority leader
the elected head of the party holding the minority of seats in the house or senate
