1. House of Representatives and Senate
CONGRESS
House of Representatives and Senate

2. TERMS OF CONGRESS Each term of Congress lasts 2 years
The term starts on January 3 of odd-numbered years and lasts for 2 years.
A “new” Congress is given an identifying number. The term that began in 2009 would be the 111th Congress.
What about the Congress that began in 2013?

3. CONGRESSIONAL SESSIONS
Each term of Congress in divided into 2 sessions
A session usually runs from January to December.

4. TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS House of Representatives Senate 435 members
Representation decided by population
The Census adjusts representation every 10 years
If you gained a higher % of people, you get more representation
Senate
100 members
Each state is equally represented
2 per state

5. CONGRESSIONAL POWERS Congress has two types of powers:
1. Expressed Powers – Powers that are literally written in the Constitution
2. Implied Powers – Powers that Congress has, but are not written down
Comes from the ELASTIC CLAUSE!
Or, the “necessary and proper” clause

6. CONGRESSIONAL POWERS Congress does not have the power to:
1. Deny Writ of Habeas Corpus
You have the right to be brought before a judge to make sure your imprisonment is legal
2. Issue Bills of Attainder –
Government can’t declare someone guilty without a trial
3. Enforce Ex Post Facto Laws –
Can’t punish someone for something they did before it was illegal

7. House of Representatives
Age: 25+
Must live in the state they represent
Have lived in the US for 7 years
435 members
Serve for a Term of 2 years
Leader: Speaker of the House

8. Speaker of the House Chosen by the House of Representatives
Decides what bills will be debated
Leads floor debates
3rd in line to be President

9. John Boehner (R- OH) – Speaker of the House

10. Senate Age: 30+ Must live in the state they represent
Have lived in the US for 9 years
100 members
Serve for a term of 6 Years
Leader: Vice President
Presiding Leader: President Pro Tempore

11. President Pro Tempore Means: “President for the time being”
Runs the Senate when the Vice President is absent
Chosen by
Senators
Patrick Leahy
(D – VT)

12. TERMS OF OFFICE House of Representatives Senate 2 years 6 years
1/3 of the Senate is up for re-election every 2 years.
There can never be a completely new Senate!
But there CAN be a completely new House.

13. How long can they stay?
FOREVER

14. Majority Leaders The people who lead the party in power.
They speak for their party, try to sway votes.
Mitch McConnell, R-KY
Senate Majority Leader
Kevin McCarthy, R-CA
House Majority Leader

15. Minority Leaders Leaders for the party not in power.
They speak for their party also.
Nancy Pelosi, D-CA
House Minority Leader
Harry Reid, D-NV
Senate Minority Leader

16. Whips The Whips are the guys who help the leaders. Jon Cornyn, R-CA
Senate Minority Whip
Dick Durban, D-IL
Senate Majority Whip

17. FRANKING PRIVILEGE
Congresspersons are allowed free postage to constituents of their home district

18. Congressional Districts
Each state is divided into Congressional districts.
Each district elects one representative.
Each state gets a certain number of districts, depending on how big their population is.
The more people in a state, the more districts there are!

19. CONSTITUENTS The people who are represented by someone.
The people who can vote for a person.
Who are Barack Obama’s constituents?
Thom Tillis’s constituents?
George Holding’s
constituents?

20. Congressional Apportionment

21. North Carolina
Has 13 districts – How many representatives does NC have?
What’s the deal with
the 12th district?

22. NC Representatives 4th District 2nd District 13th District
George Holding, R-NC
David Price, D-NC
2nd District
(formerly) Heath Shuler, D-NC
Renee Ellmers
R-NC

23. Gerrymandering A weirdly shaped district
Designed to increase the voting strength of a particular group
Why would they design it like this?

24. COMMITTEES Committees are where bills are written 3 types:
Standing (these are permanent committees)
House Standing Committees include:
Agriculture, Budget, Energy, Education, Transportation
Senate Standing Committees include:
Banking, Budget, Environment, Finance, Foreign Relations
Select, Special Committees (limited time)
Intelligence, Homeland, Indian Affairs
Joint Committees (members of both Houses)
Economics, Taxation, Printing, Library

25. Congressional Stuff Seniority System Pork-barrel Projects Cloture
The best committees are usually headed by the most senior members
Pork-barrel Projects
Bills and grants that mostly only benefit the home district or state of the representative
Cloture
Used in the Senate to stop debate on a bill
Filibuster
“Talking a bill to death”
Only can happen in the Senate

26. Impeachment Impeach – to accuse officials of misconduct
The House has the authority to decide whether or not to impeach officials (bring charges)
If a majority of the House votes to impeach:
Then the Senate has the power to hold a trial and act as the judge
If two-thirds (2/3) of the Senate votes to do so, then can convict or remove a public official from office.

27. NOMINATIONS
The Senate has the power to confirm or deny the president’s nomination for:
Supreme Court
Ambassadors
Other Officers
Attorney General
Secretary of Defense
Etc.