Chapter 9 Congress (The Legislative Branch)

Bi-Cameral Two Houses House of Representatives and Senate Similar to England’s House of Commons and House of Lords

Parliament vs. Congress The members of Parliament are chosen by the people and then pick a chief executive from among themselves In our legislature, Congress does not choose the chief executive and is often at odds with the chief executive

House of Representatives Each state’s representation is based upon their population 435 members Must be 25 to serve Serve 2 year terms No term limits Each member represents about 750,000 citizens Decides the Presidential election if no one gets 270 Electoral College votes Lots of rules and strict leadership

U.S. Senate Two Senators from each state Must be 30 years old to serve Senators are elected to 6 year terms No term limits The senate has the power to approve treaties and Presidential appointments Few rules and limited power for the leadership

Powers of Congress Money – tax / borrow / coin Declare War / Support the Military Weights / Measures / Copyrights / Patents etc…. Gridlock has limited the power of Congress

Reapportionment / Gerrymandering Every 10 years following each census the 435 congressional seats are reapportioned (some states may lose seats others will gain) Gerrymandering – the drawing of Congressional districts to favor one group or another House members do not have to live in the district they represent

Salary and Perks Members of both houses make around $150,000 a year (leadership slightly more) After around ten years of service they retire close to that Incumbents are reelected at an over 90% rate Members are given budget for staff and franking Members are given office space based on seniority

Leadership / House Speaker most powerful position (John Boehner R) House majority leader assists the speaker and at times is the speaker in waiting (Kevin McCarthy R) House minority leader – leads the party out of power (Nanci Pelosi D) Leadership hands out committee appointments, office space, and at time reelection money These individuals have real power

Leadership / Senate Vice President – given the power by the Constitution, but most VPs pass on it unless they are called to settle a tie (Joe Biden D) President ProTempore’ – ceremonial position given to the most senior member of the majority party (Orrin Hatch R) Majority Leader – actual power of appointments, but does not rival the speaker (Mitch McConnell R) Senate minority leader (Harry Reid D) These individuals have limited power

Committees Committees and sub-committees are where the work of congress gets done Standing committees exist in every single session (lists pages 228 and 230) Select committees are put together to deal with a temporary problem Committee Chairmen have life or death power over legislation (these appointments are made by the party leadership)

continued… Joint committees – members from both houses meet to confer about legislation working its way through both houses Conference committees – meet to iron out the final versions of legislation

How A Bill Becomes A Law Know chart page 233 Know types of legislation page 234

Filibuster / Cloture In the Senate there are not rules for how long you may speak, so on occasions a single Senator or a small group will attempt to filibuster legislation to death The only way to stop filibuster is by cloture, a petition of 60 signatures will shut them up, but rarely happens

How Members Vote Trustee – vote what is best for the nation Delegate – vote for what is best in their home district House members tend to be more likely to vote as delegates Senate members more likely to vote as trustees

Riders / Line Item Veto Popular pieces of legislation have additions that are usually someone’s pork for back home State Governors have the ability to line item veto these items, the President did for a short time, but no longer has that power since the Supreme Court ruled Line Item Veto as unconstitutional

President’s Veto Powers When receiving legislation from Congress, the President can sign it into law He can veto the measure, but his veto can be over ridden with a 2/3s majority vote by both houses He can do nothing and the measure becomes law in ten days without his signature If less than ten days remain in the session, he may do nothing and the legislation must be passed again when Congress reconvenes

House Rules Committee The Speaker hand picks someone to chair this committee This committee has life or death power over all House legislation They decide when a bill goes to the floor, how much debate time, and what type of vote will occur The Senate does not have a similar committee in power, but does have a calendar committee