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Roots of the Legislative Branch

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1 Roots of the Legislative Branch
Great Compromise leads to bicameral legislature.- 2 chambers- upper-Senate, Lower-House of Reps, Two per state in Senate, House by population. House district size determined by apportionment- determined after 10 year census- winners and losers after each- (Ohio lost 2 seats after 2000 and 2010 census)- First House had 65 members- (37000 people per 1 rep) Today, fixed at 435- (725,000-1) House district shape determined by redistricting (every 10 years)- decided by state legislature- favors party in power-very partisan Senators must be 30, serve six-year terms, US citizen for 9 years, be resident of state, (carpetbagging can happen)! Appointed before 17th amendment Representatives must be 25, serve two-year terms, US citizen for 7 years, resident of state

2 115th Congress Back

3 Current US Senate Distribution

4 Figure 7.3- Female and Minority Members
Back

5

6 Republican Majority Leadership-House of Reps
Kevin McCarthey (Ca)- majority leader Steve Scalise (La) Whip Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (Wis)(10/29/15)

7 House Minority Democratic
Steny Hoyer (Md)-Whip Nancy Pelosi (Calif)

8 Senate Majority Republican
John Cornyn (Tx) -Whip Mitch McConnell-(R. Ky) Majority Leader

9 Senate Minority- Democratic
Minority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill) Minority Leader Chuck Schumer(NY)

10 President Pro Tempore of Senate-Orrin Hatch

11 Powers of Congress Most important power is to make law.
Bill cannot become law without both branches passing the legislation in the exact same form. Also declare war, coin money, raise military. Regulate commerce, immigration, courts. Revenue bills must begin in House. House impeaches, Senate handles impeachment trials.

12 Figure 7.1- Organization of Congress
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13 Role of Political Parties
Majority party has most members-sets rules, appoints committee members, decides schedules-very powerful Minority party - serve on committees, always in minority, vote on bills Key role in committee system and organization. Party caucuses also choose policy priorities.

14 Table 7.1- The Powers of Congress
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15 House of Representatives
More tightly structured, governed by more rules. Party loyalty plays a more important role-lots of party line votes Powerful Speaker of the House chosen by all members. Speaker has become more powerful since Gingrich in the mid 1990’s First female speaker- was Nancy Pelosi Now John Boehner (R-Oh), Paul Ryan (Wis) Members sit on less committees, more specialized Party caucuses pick majority and minority leaders. Whips assist party leaders- job is to line up votes, maintain contact, rally support for legislation- (Tom Delay-”The Hammer” used other methods as well)

16 Senate Vice president is the official presiding officer-Only votes in case of ties-Swears in members Official chair is the president pro tempore- Mostly ceremonial True leader is the majority leader. Also have whips. More informal than House- More deliberative, slower- More general knowledge base, more concerned with foreign affairs Controlling Senate challenging, run by traditions. Members are more independent, courteous- “Gentleman’s Club” Importance of rules such as filibuster and cloture.

17 Table 7.2- House Versus Senate
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18 Committee System Much of the actual work gets done by committees Only 10 percent of 8000 bills every two years moves beyond committee stage Standing committees-permanent, where bills are referred for consideration Joint committees include members from both houses- speed up the business between the Houses Conference committees finalize bills-reconcile bills to make them identical in both chambers Select committees deal with temporary issues- special investigations, studies Importance of House Rules Committee!- Selected directly by speaker Discharge petitions force bills out of committee.

19 Table 7.3- Congressional Committees
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20 Committee Membership Members serve on multiple committees at a time.
Request assignments based on interest or district. Often want access to pork or earmarks. Some assignments are good for campaigning. Membership represents party division in house. Chairs have tremendous agenda-setting power.

21 Members of Congress Professionalization after World War I.
Members must please those in D.C. and in district- 2 constituencies- One at home, one in DC (Fenno-Homestyle) Incumbency helps members to stay in office. 90 percent of incumbents win reelection. Members more educated, white, and male than U.S.

22 Table 7.5- Advantages of Incumbency
Back 22

23 Table 7.4- A Day in the Life of a Member
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24 How Members Make Decisions
Party has become important in divided government. Is divided Government a good thing? Constituent opinion, especially on important issues. Colleagues and caucuses- most specialize in one area, defer to colleagues who know better Role of logrolling- trading votes Interest group lobbying and money. Staff and support agencies( GAO, CBO, and the Congressional Research Service

25 Table 7.6- Support Agencies
Back

26 Theories of Representation
Trustees hear constituents and make own judgments- based on what they think is right Delegates vote as their constituents want- Whatever is popular- (especially on visible votes or “votes of record” Most members act as politicos-vary between the two depending on the issue

27 How a Bill Becomes a Law Stage-by-stage process offers many opportunities to fail- One failure stops process. Parallel processes in House and Senate. Committee is first step, role of markup- making changes that are suitable to bring to a vote Moves to floor, Senators may use hold or filibuster. Conference committee if both chambers approve, where it is rewritten identically (reconciled) Back to both chambers for up or down vote, no amendments President can sign or veto, or pocket veto

28 Figure 7.4- How a Bill Becomes a Law
Back

29 Congress and the Executive
President has become increasingly powerful- From FDR to the present Congress, in turn, has increased oversight hearings in times of divided government only Also uses congressional review- process in which Congress can nullify executive agency resolutions within 60 days War Powers Act should give Congress role in war- 48 hours notification of troop deployment, 60 days for Congress to declare war- very ineffective Congress confirms presidential appointments. Congress can impeach president.

30 Table 7.7- Impeachment Back

31 Congress and the Judiciary
Courts can overturn laws if unconstitutional. Congress reviews judicial nominees –Part of the Senate’s role of “advice and consent”. Judicial nominees must be approved by a simple majority. Role of senatorial courtesy - Process of Senators deferring to a Senator from the state where circuit court vacancy is located. Congress also sets courts’ jurisdiction.

32 AV- Congressional Approval
Back

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