1. Congress Rules of Lawmaking: How a Bill becomes a law

2. Committee Deliberation All bills must go through a committee process Many bills die in committee/subcommittee Once a bill’s committee in the House has acted affirmatively the bill is then transferred to the Rules Committee Rules Committee determines the specific Rules under which legislation will be considered by the full house Supporters of the bill typically want closed rule puts severe limits on the floor debate and amendments Opponents would like to see open rule which permits potentially damaging floor debate and makes it easier to add amendments that would make the bill weaker.

3. Debate In general the party in a leadership position in the House has total control over debates – Speaker has power of recognition In the Senate each member has substantial power to block the close of a debate It takes just a majority in the House to override opposition but 3/5 (60) to close debate in the Senate Therefore the Senate is much more tolerant of debate and less partisan Filibuster a tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak. Cloture a rule allowing a majority of 2/3 or 3/5 of the members in a legislative body to set a time limit on debate over a given bill

4. Debate continued In Senate besides power of recognition much less control Filibuster = 3/5 Cloture in order to stop Continuous amendments to bills Place holds on bills as well secretly However, most bills are not lost on the floor

5. Conference Committee: Reconciling House and Senate Versions of a Bill Iron out differences between bill versions in Conference Committees Senior members of the committee and subcommittees are apart of the Conference Committees Conference Report must then be approved on both floors before it moves on Leaders do not bring legislation on the floor unless they are fairly certain it will pass

6. Presidential Action Signs bill into law or can veto it President must veto bill within 10 of getting it. He then returns bill to house it originated in with his objections If he does not sign it and congress is well underway… what happens? If it is 10 days or less before Congress is out of session and he does not sign it into law it is known as a “Pocket Veto” Congress might shelve bill if think it will be vetoed or let the President pay political cost if bill was popular Takes 2/3 of both houses to override a veto.

7. The Distributive Tendency Congress has an authorization policy – gives authority to government agencies in order to carry out policies Congress also has appropriations power – controls the moneybags to put into place different programs Large list of people to go through (please) in order to pass legislation Distributive tendency – The Tendency of Congress to spread the benefits over a large # or range of member’s districts Distributive tendency – Who knew driving Saddam Hussein from power would have an effect on Catfish farmers in Mississippi? Or how ‘bout the “Corn for Porn” agreement?

8. How Congress Decides Constituency, Interest Groups, Party Discipline, logrolling, and the Presidency

9. Constituency Huge goal of politicians is to get voted back in – remember the Career Politician However, following what your constituency wants is not always that straightforward Attentive public is actually quite small Politicians worry a lot about what constituents will think – because it could become ammo later Which constituents should a politician follow?

10. Interest Groups Large PACS do not necessarily effect voting patterns – good rhetoric…. BUT… It Interest Groups/PACS do effect legislation outside the public eye in committees, subcommittees, mark-ups in bills Tendency to exclude bills that negatively effect PAC/Interest groups (gatekeeping)

11. Party Discipline Partisan lines are back up again post Reagan years Parties have a great deal of control in Congress 1. Committee Assignment, 2. Access to the floor, and 3. The Whip System

12. Party Discipline Continued Committee assignments – As a Congressman/woman want to be assigned to good committees. Once assigned are not going to be removed, but creates bond with your party Access to the Floor – most important to parties. In Senate determined by Senate ranking committees and in House determined by House Speaker and minority leader. The Whip system – Communications network inside of party. Actually helps eliminate putting pressure on people to vote a certain way.

13. Logrolling An agreement between two more members in Congress that have nothing in common except for the need of support. “If you support me on this bill, I will get you on the next bill you want” Makes for strange bedfellows Example in book : oil production and healthcare

14. The President Most important in keeping clarity of party lines in congress Since Truman in the 1940’s presidents have identified a number of bills to be considered part of their administrations program By mid-1950’s both parties in Congress began to look for these proposals and became most significant part of Congress’s agenda

15. Beyond Legislation and additional Congressional Powers Need 2/3 of Senate approval for a treaty to pass Executive Agreement bypass Congress But Case Act – must tell Congress within 60 days Appointments need a majority Can put on hold lower-level appointments Usually has nothing to do with person being put in position

16. Beyond Legislation Impeachment Simple majority in House to bring to trial 2/3 majority in Senate What is considered “Treason, bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”?