The Legislative Branch – Congress

Paul Ryan (R) Speaker of the House Leadership Kevin McCarthy (R) Majority Leader House of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) Minority Leader House of Rep. Leader of the House is the Speaker of the House, who controls floor debate, deciding which bills to send to which committees, and assigns the chairmen of the committees, and committee assignments, and appoints the chair of the Rules Committee. The Senate has a president (normally the president pro-tem), which is the Vice-President of the United States. The Vice-President only gets a vote if the Senate vote is tied. The rules are more informal in the Senate, and are more flexible in procedures. Orrin Hatch (R) President, Pro-Tempore Senate Mitch McConnell (R) Majority Leader Senate Harry Reid (D) Minority Leader Senate

Committees Committees are groups or House members or Senate members that focus on a particular part of the U.S. government, like the Senate Armed Forces Committee, or the House Judiciary Committee These committees are responsible for legislation within the area of their expertise. The most powerful committees are the Rules, Budget, Appropriations, and Ways and Means (economic) Committees. Winner Take All

Committees in the House Agriculture Appropriations Armed Services Budget Energy and Commerce Ethics Financial Services Foreign Affairs Homeland Security House Administration Judiciary Natural Resources Oversight and Government Reform Rules * (Most Powerful) Science, Space and Technology Small Business Transportation and Infrastructure Veterans Affairs Ways and Means * (Tax, Trade)

Committees in the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Appropriations Armed Services Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Budget Commerce, Science and Transportation Energy and Natural Resources Environment and Public Works Finance Foreign Relations Health, Education, labor and Pensions Homeland Security and Government Affairs Judiciary Rules and Administration Small Business and Entrepreneurship Veteran’s Affairs

Congress: Institutions and Processes (the “Law-Making” Branch) The Legislative Process Most legislation starts with the executive branch, though Congressional members, committees, and interest groups also initiate legislation.

Introduction and Committee Assignment First a bill is written, then it gets introduced (97% get killed at this point). After that, the bill goes to the appropriate committee which may rewrite it or add to it, has hearings and investigations. The committee then decides whether to kill the bill, amend it, or report it out. If the bill makes it past the committee, then it goes up to the floor.

Rules and Debate In the House, the Rules committee can put the bill on the calendar, or prevent it from going to the floor. Once on the calendar, the bill comes to the floor for debate, amendments by the House, appropriations or riders are added, and then a vote. Debate time is limited and is at the discretion of the Speaker

Filibuster The Senate does not have a rules committee to kill a bill, though debate is unlimited, and may have a filibuster to prevent cloture (end of debate). If debate does not end, there is no vote. It takes 60 votes in the senate to end a debate.

Reconcilliation Once each chamber has voted a bill out, then there is a committee assigned to reconcile the two different versions, and the final bill is again presented to both chambers for a vote. If the bill is approved, it goes to the president for a signature.

Floor Votes Votes can be taken in different ways, including voice vote, standing vote, teller vote (when electronic voting is down), or a roll-call vote. Though votes are normally timed, the vote can be held open (unusual and controversial).

Legislative Oversight Each chamber of Congress has oversight powers with regard to the Federal Government, including the use of subpoenas. Congress can assign special prosecutors which are “independent” counsels for investigations – Whitewater – Iran-Contra Finally, Congress has the power to Impeach any officeholder in the Federal Government

Party Affiliation Virtually all members of Congress belong to either the Republicans or the Democrats The political system we use is a “winner take all” system, where the majority party, even if by only 51% to 49%, takes total control of the proceedings Does this represent the majority of Americans?

Is this representative? “Although members of Congress pride themselves on being close to the people, Congress does not closely reflect the population characteristics of the nation.” Heineman Gerrymandering – Manipulating district boundaries Nonpartisan biases – wealthy, white men Member attitudes

Congressional Reform Cozy Triangles – Military/Industrial/Congressional complex Budget Process Budget Impoundment and Control Act (1974) gave Congress more control over the budgetary process Balanced Budget and Emergency Control Act (1985) passed to help Congress control spending and reduce the deficit and debt Congressional Ethics – Abramoff, PACs, Lobbying, etc… Term Limits Clean elections