Powers of Congress

________________________________ Limited Government -Article One How Congress will work -Congress is given certain powers -defined in Article 1 of the Constitution Enumerated powers (listed) Implied powers (“necessary and proper” clause) -Congress is denied certain powers -defined in Article 1 Told what they can and cannot do When the founders created our federal government, they wanted a limited government. How did they achieve this when they drafted the plan for the Legislative Branch? What sorts of things should Congress be able to control? What sorts of things should they NOT be allowed to control? ________________________________

-Expressed, Delegated, Enumerated, Exclusive the same Expressed Powers -Expressed, Delegated, Enumerated, Exclusive the same Congress and federal gov. only -Powers given to Congress in Article One -Examples: Declare war and form army Coin/make money Regulate foreign trade Regulate interstate commerce Why do you think things like declaring war, making money, and regulating trade (both inside and outside the United States) are left ONLY to the federal government? What sorts of problems might we run into if these powers were reserved? What about if they were concurrent?

Implied Powers -Powers given to Congress by the Necessary and Proper Clause Elastic clause - Congress can stretch powers to meet needs -Interpretation of the Constitution Loose interpretation Examples: Creating an air force “Bailout” plan

Additional Powers -Power to Investigate Reviews laws, government activities, special investigations -Power to Propose Amendments By a 2/3 vote of BOTH houses -Power to Impeach Can charge (poss. remove) federal official with wrongdoing in office President/Vice President/judge

-Must start all Appropriation Bills Powers of the House -Must start all Appropriation Bills -”power of the purse”-- Power of the House whereby all revenue producing bills must be introduced in the House of Representatives Closer to the people -Picks President if no winner in Electoral College -Begins the Impeachment Process Investigates and charges an official with misconduct in office How is having the “power of the purse” an influential power of the House of Representatives? Why do they have it? What do they use it for? How does that give them more power?

Impeachment, charging a federal official of misconduct or wrongdoing while in office, is a two-part process. The first part of impeachment happens in the House of Representatives. The House acts as a grand jury, surveying the evidence to decide if there is enough to officially charge the official with committing something illegal. If the house finds enough evidence, they will officially charge the official. That is the impeachment. The second part of the process happens in the Senate. The Senate will hold a trial for the federal official to determine whether or not that official will be removed from office and potentially serve time in jail. The Senate, then, acts as the jury in the process. Therefore, it is possible for a President to be impeached but not removed from office. We have had two Presidents impeached, but we have never removed a President from office.

______________________________ Powers of the Senate -Approves Presidential Appointments Supreme Court justices, federal judges, ambassadors - checks and balances -Approves all Treaties -Acts as jury in Impeachment cases The impeachment trial occurs in the Senate The most recent major Presidential appointment was that of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As with all Presidential appointments, John Roberts had to gain approval from the Senate. Why is it important for the Senate to approve all Presidential appointments and treaties? ______________________________

Reserved powers for the states Other Limits -10th Amendment Reserved powers for the states Congress cannot interfere with reserved powers -Checks and Balances System Judicial can declare laws unconstitutional President can veto laws -Two Party System No real power for 3rd party groups Why is it important to put limits on the laws Congress is able to pass? What is the President’s role in checking Congressional power?

How Congress Works

-Developed to help Congress operate Congressional Rules -Developed to help Congress operate Everyone has a different opinion and different goals -House has more rules than Senate why??? More people in one space -Parliamentary Procedures both Houses of Congress use a formal system of debate which keeps the debate orderly What do you think Congress would be like, and achieve, if there were not rules?

Speaker of the House John Boehner House Leaders Speaker of the House John Boehner Leaders from majority party -Speaker of the House -basically runs the House of Representatives 3rd in line to be President -sets up the calendar and schedules bills for debate Senate Leaders -Vice President -official leader but only votes in a tie and is rarely present -President Pro-Tempore -mostly symbolic position given to the longest serving Senator from the majority party Vice President Joe Biden is the official leader of the U.S. Senate. However, he rarely attends and only votes in a tie. Therefore, the President Pro Tempore, the day-to-day leader of the Senate, is Senator Daniel Inouye.

Congressional Leadership -Majority Leader -each House chooses a leader of the majority party to be floor leader Party with most representation -Minority Leader -each House picks a minority party member to its floor leader Party with least representation -Party Whip -each party in each House has a Party Whip to keep track of voting on important issues Get party members to vote with the rest of the political party House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid House Minority Leader John Boehner Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell House Majority Whip James Clyburn Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin

Congressional Leadership House of Representatives Senate Speaker of the House – Always from MAJORITY party Vice President – Rarely attends and only votes in a tie Majority Leader Minority Leader President Pro Tempore – Always from MAJORITY party, day-to-day leader Majority Party Whip Minority Party Whip Majority Leader Minority Leader Majority Whip Team Minority Whip Team Majority Party Whip Minority Party Whip House Committee Chairpersons – ALWAYS from majority party Majority Whip Team Minority Whip Team Senate Committee Chairpersons – ALWAYS from majority party

Staff Support -personal staff of each member of Congress Run home and D.C. offices -Committee staff who function as experts in the committee’s area Gather information for speeches and meetings -Library of Congress Congressional Research Office gathers facts/arguments for bills -General Accounting Office investigates and reports on gov’t spending Looks for ways to improve government spending -Government Budget Office -predicts costs of gov’t programs The Library of Congress is an essential tool for Congressional operations. In researching new bills (also called “legislation”), the Library of Congress helps to gather historical facts, arguments, and old related bills for the discussion on the new bill.

Committee Government -developed committees to divide the work load of Congress Committee membership important to Representatives -standing committees-- Permanent committees of Congress who study, revise, and pass legislation Continue from session to session – education, commerce -select committees--committees which study more temporary problems in society -joint committees-- committees which involve members of both Houses of Congress meeting together Both houses of Congress operate in committee government as an attempt to divide the Congressional workload and achieve better and faster legislation.

-Party leaders make committee assignments Committee Membership -Based on seniority -Term that refers to how long a member has been in Congress and is important in assigning committee memberships -Party leaders make committee assignments From majority and minority -majority party of each house appoints the chairperson of each committee Decide when committees will meet, what bills will be studied, and forms subcommittees Friday, October 12, 2007