1. Chapter 12: Congress in Action

2. Chapter 12 Terms Speaker of the House Joint Committees
President of the Senate
President Pro Tempore
Party Caucus
Floor Leaders
Majority Leader
Minority Leader
Committee Chairman
Sonority Rule
Standing Committees
Subcommittees
Select Committees
Joint Committees
Conference Committees
Bill
Pigeonholed
Discharge Petition
Filibuster
Cloture
Veto
Pocket Veto

3. Who Am I???

4. Speaker of the House
Paul Ryan

5. House Majority Leader
Kevin McCarthy (R)

6. House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi (D)

7. President of the Senate
Joe Biden (D)

8. President Pro Tempore
Orrin Hatch (R)

9. Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell

10. Senate Minority Leader
Harry Reid (D)

11. Presiding Officers- House
Speaker of the House
Presides over House
Guides proceedings
2nd in line for presidency
House Leadership
House Minority Leader D- Nancy Pelosi
Paul Ryan Chosen as Speaker of the House
House Majority Leader R- Kevin McCarthy
Presiding Officers- House

12. Presiding Officers Senate
Constitution makes VP President of the Senate
Cannot speak or debate
Tiebreaker vote
President pro tempore- Leads Senate in VPs absence.
Senate Leadership
Vice President Joe Biden
Senate Majority Leader- (R-KY) Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader- (D-NV) Harry Reid
President Pro Tempore- (R-UT) Orrin Hatch
Presiding Officers

13. Party Officers Majority/Minority Floor Leaders
Controls order of business
Coordinate votes of party members.
Whips- Assist floor leaders
Kevin McCarthey (R-CA) House Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Senate Majority Leader
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) House Minority Leader
Harry Reid (D-NV) Senate Minority Leader
Party Officers

14. Committees Why committees? What do they do?
Divide workload
Specialization/Expertise
What do they do?
Craft Bills
Hold hearings
Oversight
Collect information
Hillary Clinton Benghazi Hearing
Committee Chair- Senior member of majority party
Seniority Rule
Committee Leadership
Committees

15. Standing Committees- Deal with matters of permanent importance.
Senator Carl Levin speaks before the Senate Armed Services Committee
Committees

16. Standing Committees House Standing Committees
Senate Standing Committees
Agriculture
Appropriations
Armed Services
Budget
Education and the Workforce
Energy and Commerce
Ethics
Financial Services
Foreign Affairs
Homeland Security
House Administration
Judiciary
Natural Resources
Oversight and Government Reform
Rules
Science, Space, and Technology
Small Business
Transportation and Infrastructure
Veterans’ Affairs
Ways and Means
Intelligence
Joint Economic Committee
Joint Committee on the Library
Joint Committee on Printing
Joint Committee on Taxation
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 Governmental Affairs
Judiciary
Rules and Administration
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Veterans' Affairs
Standing Committees

17. House Rules Committee- Attaches rules to bills governing debate
Only House has one
Touches every bill
Can effect passage of bill
Committees

18. Bills on the Floor Senate has unlimited debate
Filibuster- An attempt to “talk a bill to death”
Cloture- 3/5 vote can end filibuster
Senator Strom Thurmond attempting to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1957
Bills on the Floor

19. The Legislative Process
Step One: The Bill is Introduced
Assigned a number/name (HR: 1001/Help Americans Vote Act)
Assigned to a committee
Step Two: Committee Action
Mark-up (amend) bill
Report or pigeonhole bill
Step Three: Floor Action
Debate/vote
Step Four: Other Chamber Considers Bill
Repeat steps 1-3
Step Five: Congressional Approval
Step Six: Presidential Action
Capital Building Washington D.C.
Congress
The White House
President

20. Conference Committee- Temporary joint committee created to iron out differences in a bill.
Legislative Process

21. Pg. 345
What does this graphic display regarding the legislative process?
What do you like about the process? Why?
What do you dislike about the process? Why?
What would you change about the process? Why?