1. Congress Chapter 12

2. What do you already know? Think of good essay questions and share them! As we cover the legislative branch, (About Congress)

3. The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of the Government  Article I describes structure of Congress Bicameral legislature  Divided into two houses  Each state sends two Senators regardless of population.  Number of representatives each state sends to the House is determined by state population.

4. The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of the Government  Constitution sets out requirements for membership in the House and Senate House – 25 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 7 years; serve 2 year terms  Directly elected, thus more responsible to the people Senate – 30 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 9 years; serve 6 year terms ; originally chosen by state legislators, until 17 th Amendment (1913) Congressional members must be legal residents of their states. Do members of the House have to live in their district?

5. The Representatives and Senators  The Job Salary of $174,000 (2009) with retirement benefits. Who sets their salary? ($193,400 for leaders, $223,500 for the Speaker) Office space in D.C. and at home and staff to fill it.

6. The Representatives and Senators  The Job Travel allowances and franking (see below and next slide) privileges. Often requires 10 to 14 hour days, lots of time away from the family, and lots of pressure from different people to “do the right thing.”

7.  Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) franked mailer

8. The Representatives and Senators

9. A tough life

10. Who is in Congress?  The House has become less male and less white (Note: Important Trend)  Membership in Congress became a career  Incumbents still have a great electoral advantage But in 1994, voters opposed incumbents due to budget deficits, various policies, legislative-executive bickering, and scandal – Republicans took control! In 2006, the Democrats regained control of Congress

11. Congressional Demographics  Members tend to be Better educated than the population in general  Ninety-five percent are college graduates; over 2/3’s have advanced degrees. Richer  Nearly 200 are millionaires; 21 Senators are worth at least 3.1 million. 29 House members worth that much as well. Who is the richest Senator? Male White

12. Congressional Demographics  Members tend to be Average age is 63 for Senators; 57 for House members. Aaron Schock (R-IL) elected in 2008 at age of 27. George LeMieux (R-FL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are the youngest Senators (41 & 43). Both were appointed Occupations: No longer overwhelmingly lawyers  214 members (182 Representatives and 33 Senators) list their occupation as public service/politics  204 (152 Representatives and 51 Senators) list law  201 (175 Representatives and 27 Senators) list business

13. Blacks, Hispanics, and Women in Congress, 1971-2006 – Trends?

14. Actual numbers, not percentages. For the 111 th Congress (2009), the breakdown is: Women – 92 Afr. Amer. – 43 Hispanic - 28

15. The Representatives and Senators 111 th Congress House Senate 257 57 178 40 0 2 36083 7517 83 421 253 36093

16. Apportionment and Redistricting  Apportionment  Proportional process of allotting congressional seats to each state following the ten year census. Who is responsible for this?  Redistricting  Redrawing of congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within a state  1929: House size fixed at 435.

17. Congressional Elections  Who Wins Elections? Why? Incumbent: Those already holding office.

18. Percentage of Incumbents Reelected to Congress Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 1999-2000 (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2000), table 1-18; 2004 updated by Marc Siegal.

19. Incumbents in Congress Reelected by 60 Percent or More

20. Congressional Elections  The Advantages of Incumbents Advertising:  The goal is to be visible to your voters.  Frequent trips home & newsletters are used. Credit Claiming:  Service to individuals in their district.  Casework: specifically helping constituents get what they think they have a right to.  Pork Barrel: federal projects, grants, etc. made available in a congressional district or state.

21. Congressional Elections  The Advantages of Incumbents Position Taking:  Portray themselves as hard working, dedicated individuals.  Occasionally take a partisan stand on an issue. Weak Opponents:  Most opponents are inexperienced in politics.  Most opponents are unorganized and underfunded. Campaign Spending :  Challengers need to raise large sums to defeat an incumbent.  PACs give most of their money to incumbents. Why?  Does PAC money “buy” votes in Congress?

22. Running for Office and Staying in Office  Incumbency – Another Look The fact that being in office helps a person stay in office because of a variety of benefits that go with the position  Name recognition  Access to free media  Inside track on fund-raising  District drawn to favor incumbent creating  Safe Seats 1980 to 1990, an average of 95 percent of incumbents who sought reelection won their primary and general election races.

23. More on Incumbency Could there be an essay question here?

24. Congressional Elections  The Role of Party Identification Most members represent the majority party in their district.  Defeating Incumbents Some incumbents face problems after a scandal or other complication in office. They may face redistricting. (ex. Texas gerrymandering) They may become a victim of a major political tidal wave. (Watergate, or 1994)

25. Congressional Elections  Open Seats Greater likelihood of competition, although in some districts it may only be in the primary. Why?  Stability and Change Incumbents provide stability in Congress. Change in Congress occurs less frequently through elections. Are term limits an answer?

26. How Congress is Organized  The House 435 members, 2 year terms of office. Policy Specialists Initiates all revenue bills, more influential on budget. House Rules Committee Limited debates.  The Senate 100 members, 6 year terms of office. Policy Generalists Gives “advice & consent”, more influential on foreign affairs. Unlimited debates. (filibuster) American Bicameralism – Bicameral: Legislature divided into two houses.

27. The Evolution of Congress  The intent of the Framers: To oppose the concentration of power in a single institution To balance large and small states  Bicameralism  They expected Congress to be the dominant institution

28. How Congress is Organized  New Congress is seated every two years. When does the next Congress begin? Elect new leaders  Each house has a hierarchical leadership structure.

29. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy The House – Led by Speaker of the House - elected by House members. – Presides over House. – Major role in committee assignments and legislation. – Assisted by majority leader and whips. The Senate – Officially led by Vice President. – Really led by Majority Leader- chosen by party members. – Assisted by whips. – Must work with Minority leader. Congressional Leadership Summary – Who are they?

30. The House of Representatives www.house.gov  Speaker Presides over House Official spokesperson for the House Second in line of presidential succession (Others?) House liaison with president Great political influence within the chamber  John Boehner– current speaker,

31. Other House Leaders  Majority Leader (Eric Cantor) Elected leader of the party controlling the most seats in the House or the Senate Second in authority to the Speaker—in the Senate, is the most powerful member  Minority Leader –Nancy Pelosi Elected leader of the party with the second highest number of elected representatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate  Whips (Steny Hoyer)  Party caucus or conference A formal gathering of all party members

32. Party Structure in the House - Summary  Speaker of the House is leader of majority party and presides over House  Majority leader and minority leader: leaders on the floor  Party whips keep leaders informed and round up votes  Committee assignments and legislative schedule are set by each party

33. The Senate www.senate.gov  The Constitution specifies the vice president (Joe Biden) as the presiding officer of the Senate. He votes only in case of a tie.  Official chair of the Senate is the president pro tempore (pro tem), currently Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) Primarily honorific Generally goes to the most senior senator of the majority party True leader is the majority leader, but not as powerful as Speaker is in the House

34. Party Structure in the Senate  President pro tempore presides; this is the member with most seniority in majority party (a largely honorific office)  Leaders are the majority leader (Harry Reid, D-NV) and the minority leader (Mitch McConnell, R-KY), elected by their respective party members

35. Party Structure in the Senate  Party whips: keep leaders informed, round up votes, count noses (Jon Kyl, R-AZ, Dick Durbin, D-IL)  Each party has a policy committee: schedules Senate business, prioritizes bills  Committee assignments are handled by a group of Senators, each for their own party

36. The Senate  Senate rules give tremendous power to individual senators. Offering any kind of amendment even if not germane Filibuster (What was the change in 1975?)  Because Senate is smaller in size organization and formal rules have not played the same role as in the House.

37. Committee System  Standing Committees Continue from one Congress to the next—bills referred here for consideration  Joint Committees Includes members from both houses of Congress, conducts investigations or special studies  Conference Committees Joint committee created to iron out differences between Senate and House versions of a specific piece of legislation  Select (or special) Committees Temporary committee appointed for specific purpose, such as conducting a special investigation or study

38. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy  The Committees and Subcommittees The Committees at Work: Legislation and Oversight  Committees work on the 11,000 bills every session.  Some hold hearings and “mark up” meetings.  Oversight involves hearings and other methods of checking the actions of the executive branch.  As the size of government grows, oversight grows too.

39. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy  The Committees and Subcommittees Getting on a Committee  Members want committee assignments that will help them get reelected, gain influence, and make policy.  New members express their committee preferences to the party leaders.  Support of the party is important in getting on the right committee.  Parties try to grant committee preferences.

40. Committee Practices  The number of committees has varied; significant cuts in number of House committees in 1995, and in the number of House and Senate subcommittees  Majority party has majority of seats on the committees and names the chair

41. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy  The Committees and Subcommittees Getting Ahead on the Committee: Chairs and the Seniority System.  The chair is the most important position for controlling legislation.  Chairs were once chosen strictly by the seniority system.  Now seniority is a general rule, and members may choose the chair of their committee.

42. Role of Parties in Organizing Congress  Parties and their strength have important implications in Congress. Committees are controlled by the majority. Committees set the agenda. All committee chairmen are from the majority party.  Why is this important?

43. Committees  Committees are the most important organizational feature of Congress  Consider bills or legislative proposals  Maintain oversight of executive agencies - Examples  Conduct investigations – Examples

45. Congressional Committees

46. Committee Membership  Members often seek assignments to committees based on Their own interests or expertise A committee’s ability to help their prospects for reelection  Pork/ earmarks: legislation that allows representatives to bring home the “bacon” to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs designed to benefit their districts directly.  Access to large campaign contributors

47. Committee Chairs  These individuals have tremendous power and prestige. Authorized to select all subcommittee chairs Call meetings Recommend majority members to sit on conference committees Can kill a bill by not scheduling hearings on it Have staff at their disposal  Seniority vs. loyalty to the party in the House  Seniority still important in the Senate  Both chambers have term limits for chairs.

48. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy  Caucuses: The Informal Organization of Congress Caucus: A group of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic. Caucuses pressure for committee meetings and hearings and for votes on bills. Caucuses can be more effective than lobbyists.

49. Congressional Caucuses  Caucus: an association of members of Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional or economic interest  Intra-party caucuses: members share a similar ideology  Personal interest caucuses: members share an interest in an issue  Constituency caucuses: established to represent groups, regions or both

50. Congressional Caucuses

51. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy  Congressional Staff Personal staff: Work for the member. Mainly providing constituent service, but help with legislation too. Committee staff: organize hearings, research & write legislation, target of lobbyists. Staff Agencies: CRS, GAO, CBO provide specific information to Congress.

52. Congressional Support Agencies

53. Pearson Education, Inc. © 2006 WHAT ARE THREE NON-LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF CONGRESS? FOR WHAT REASONS IS IT DIFFICULT TO GET LEGISLATION PASSED THROUGH CONGRESS? CONGRESS: REVIEW

54. Congressional Staff  Constituency service is a major task of members’ staff  Legislative functions of staff include devising proposals, negotiating agreements, organizing hearings, and meeting with lobbyists and administrators  Members’ staff consider themselves advocates of their employers

55. The Growth in Staffs of Members and Committees in Congress, 1930-2000

57. Constitutional (Formal) Powers of Congress  The authority to make laws is shared by both chambers of Congress. No bill (a proposed law) can become a law without the consent of both houses. Each chamber also has special, exclusive powers as well.  Other shared powers Declare war Raise an army and navy Coin money Regulate commerce Establish the federal courts and their jurisdiction Establish rules of immigration and naturalization Make laws necessary and proper to carrying out the powers previously listed  Special powers House – origin of revenue bills, impeachment, (but Senate tries) Senate – treaties (2/3 vote), presidential appointments

58. Table 7.1

59. Constitutional Powers of Congress – Other Lawmaking Groups  Presidents can issue proclamations and executive orders with the force of law.  Bureaucrats issue quasi-legislative rules  Supreme Court and lower federal courts render opinions that generate principles that also have the force of law.

60. The Congressional Process  Legislation: Bill: A proposed law. Anyone can draft a bill, but only members of Congress can introduce them. More rules in the House than in the Senate. Party leaders play a vital role in steering bills through both houses, but less in the Senate. Countless influences on the legislative process.

61. How a Bill Becomes A Law  Only members of the House or Senate can submit a bill.  Once a bill is introduced: usually a dead end. Of about 9,000 or so bills introduced during a session of Congress, fewer than 10 percent make it into law. System of multiple vetoes; power is dispersed as the Framers intended. Explain.

62. How a Bill Becomes Law How are the House and Senate different?

63. How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version  Introduction (sponsorship)  Sent to clerk of chamber Bill printed, distributed, and sent to appropriate committee or committees (referred by Speaker in House)  Committee refers bill to one of its subcommittees  Subcommittee researches bill and decides on hearings Hearings provide opportunity for both sides of issue to voice their opinions  Bill then revised in subcommittee and vote is taken  If vote is positive, the bill is returned to full committee  Full committee either rejects bill or sends it to House or Senate floor with a recommendation (special note: Discharge petition – 218 signatures)

64. How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version  Next stage of action takes place on the floor  In House, goes to Rules Committee, given a rule (open, closed, restrictive), placed on calendar (but not budget bills) Rules limit debate and determine what kind, if any, amendments (germane) are allowed  House may choose to form a Committee of the Whole Allows for deliberation with only 100 members present  On the floor, bill debated, amendments offered, and a vote taken  If bill survives, it is sent to the Senate for consideration—if it was not considered there simultaneously.

65. How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version  In the Senate, bill may be held up by: A hold – a tactic by which a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill is brought to the floor. A filibuster – a formal way of halting action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate on the Senate.  Cloture: Mechanism requiring sixty senators to vote to cut off debate.  Riders and Christmas trees How could stealth bombers end up attached to a National Parks bill?

67. How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version  Third state of action takes place when the two chambers of Congress approve different versions of the SAME bill.  Conference committee  Returns to each chamber for final vote. If it does not pass in each chamber it dies.  If bill passes, it is sent to the president.

68. How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version  President can either sign it or veto it.  The president has 10 days to consider a bill.  Four options: Can sign the bill, at which point it becomes law. Can veto the bill; congress can override the veto with a 2/3 vote in each chamber. Can wait the full ten days, at the end of which time the bill becomes law without his signature IF Congress is still in session. If Congress adjourns before the ten days are up, the president can choose not to sign the bill. The bill is then pocket-vetoed.  Bill would have to be reintroduced and go through the entire process again in order to become a law.

69. The Congressional Process  Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists Presidents have many resources to influence Congress (often called the “Chief Legislator”). What are they? In order to “win” in Congress, the president must win several battles in each house. Presidential leadership of Congress is at the margins and is most effective as a facilitator.

70. Congress and the President  Constitution envisioned that Congress and the president would have Discrete powers One branch would be able to hold the other in check. Since the 1930s, the president has had the upper hand.  But Congress still has ultimate legislative authority to question executive actions and  Congress can impeach and even remove him from office.

71. Shifting Balance of Power  Congressional Oversight Congressional review of the activities of an agency, department, or office  Foreign Affairs Oversight War Powers Act  Passed by Congress in 1973: Limits the president in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty day period in peacetime unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period.  Confirmation of Presidential Appointments  The Impeachment Process

72. The Eight Stages of the Impeachment Process

73. Congress and the Judiciary  Congress exercises its control over the judiciary in several ways Can establish the size of the Supreme Court, its appellate jurisdiction, and the structure of the federal court system Senate also has the authority to accept or reject presidential nominees for the federal courts  Senatorial courtesy: process by which presidents, when selecting district court judges, defer to the senator in whose state the vacancy occurs.

74. The Congressional Process  Party, Constituency, and Ideology Party Influence: Party leaders cannot force party members to vote a particular way, but many do vote along party lines. Constituency versus Ideology: Most constituents are uninformed about their member. It is difficult for constituents to influence their member, but on controversial issues members can not ignore constituents.

75. How Members Make Decisions  Party Divided government  Constituents  Colleagues and Caucuses Logrolling (vote trading)  Interest Groups, Lobbyists, and PACS  Staff and Support Agencies

76. The Congressional Process  Lobbyists and Interest Groups There are several thousand lobbyists trying to influence Congress - the bigger the issue, the more lobbyists will be working on it. Lobbyists can be ignored, shunned and even regulated by Congress. Ultimately, it is a combination of lobbyists and others that influence members of Congress.

77. Understanding Congress  Congress and Democracy Leadership and committee assignments are not representative. Congress does try to respond to what the people want, but some argue it could do a better job. Members of Congress are responsive to the people, if the people make clear what they want.

78. Understanding Congress  Congress and Democracy Representation versus Effectiveness  Congress is responsive to so many interests that policy is uncoordinated, fragmented, and decentralized.  Congress is so representative that it is incapable of taking decisive action to deal with difficult problems.  Defenders argue because Congress is decentralized, there is no oligarchy to prevent comprehensive action.

79. Understanding Congress  Congress and the Scope of Government The more policies Congress works on, the more ways they can serve their constituencies. The more programs that get created, the bigger government gets. Everybody wants government programs cut, just not their programs.

80. The End