2.2 Congress - Lecture Outline

 

CONGRESS

MAJORITY + SENIORITY = POWER

www.house.gov Links to an external site.   www.senate.gov Links to an external site.   www.thomas.gov

 

1. Intent of the Framers

2. Oppose concentration of power in a single institution

3. To balance large and small states: bicameralism

4. Distribution of power between upper and lower classes

5. Senate was created as a check upon the House

6. Montesquieu- "dual" houses- one for the upper classes and one for the lower. "Therefore the Aristocracy may have a check upon the licentiousness of the rabble."

7. Congress as the dominant institution of federal government? - Checks and balances

8. Constitutional Underpinnings

9. Membership of House and Senate- why and how?

10. Powers of Congress were specific and enumerated

11. Expandable- Necessary and Proper

12. Non-Legislative- Constitutional Amendment, Impeachment

13. Senate- Treaties, Confirmations (Advise and Consent)

14. Congress has the power to be the "last word" in any conflict.

15. Roles of Congress

16. Representation

17. Lawmaking

18. Consensus Building

19. Oversight of the Bureaucracy

20. Policy Clarification

21. Confirmation (Senate)

22. Investigation- Watergate, Whitewater, Travelgate, Iran Contra

23. Requirements

24. Senate

25. 30 years old

26. nine years a U.S. citizen and a legal resident of their state

b.House of Representatives

1. 25 years old

2. seven years a U.S. citizen and a legal resident of their state

 

1. Evolution of the Framer's Intent

2. Congress generally has been dominant over the president for more than 140 years

3. Exception: periods of presidential activeness

4. Decline of House in 1820's against rise of Andrew Jackson

5. Political struggles were within Congress

6. Issues of national significance: slavery, new states, tariffs, etc.

7. Overriding political question: distribution of power within Congress

8. Early dominance of the House of Representatives

9. Questions of slavery and Civil War

10. Post Civil War Relations with Andrew Johnson

11. Radical Republicans and the Anti-Veto Congress

12. Congressional Control of Checks and Balances

 

1. Representational Problems

2. Apportionment- District lines drawn in most states by state legislatures

3. Redistricting- new lines drawn after Census.

4. Malaportionment- unequal districts based upon population

5. Baker v. Carr (1962)- one-person one vote -malaportionment is a "justiciable matter"

6. All districts must, as nearly as possible, have the same population to ensure the "one man one vote principle."

7. Gerrymandering- drawing of the district boundaries to ensure the election of a particular party.

8. Also used to limit or enhance minority representation

9. Gerrymandering with the intent to discriminate violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

10. 1990's Supreme Court is reversing districts drawn to "help" minorities. Shaw v. Hunt

11. Race, Class, and Gender- Equality?

12. Electoral Issues

13. Incumbency- incumbents have power- most likely to get re-elected

14. Safe Seat- by incumbent, or party- will not lose

15. Low voter turnout helps the incumbent. - Note: General v. Mid-term election

16. Local issues decrease party participation

17. Increase participation of well-organized interest groups in local area.

18. Tea Party target seat

19. Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs Map

        

1. The Organization of Congress

         Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference: Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans- “ nominating and electing party officers, reviewing committee assignments, setting policy, imposing discipline, setting themes and coordinating media. Conference and caucus chairs are recognized party leaders who work with other leaders in the House or Senate”

 

1. Leadership and Organization of the Senate (www.senate.gov Links to an external site. go to organization chart)

2. Leaders are the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader- elected by their respective party members

3. Majority Leader- Right to be first speaker recognized on the floor

4. Democratic Steering Committee-

5. Republican Policy Committee

6. Party Whips- keeps leaders informed about the opinions of their party members

7. President of the Senate- Vice President of the United States, President Pro-Tempore

 

2. Leadership and Organization in the House

3. Speaker of the House as leader

4. Elected by the body (Usually ranking member of the Majority Party)

5. Duties of the Speaker

6. Decides whom to recognize to speak on the floor

7. Rules on motions

8. Decides to which committee bills go

9. Appoints members of special and select committees

10. Some patronage power.

11. Majority and Minority Leaders

12. Party Whips and Deputy Whips- Communications and Party Loyalty

13. Party Caucus

14. Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference

15. Subgroups within a party- Congressional Black Caucus, Blue-Dog Democrats

 

1. Member Voting

2. Partisan support- the party line-"If you want to get ahead in this party, you'll vote with us!"

3. Tom Delay and Clinton Impeachment

4. Constituents

5. Colleagues and Caucuses

6. Interest Groups, Lobbyists, and Political Action Committees

7. Staff and Support Agencies

8. Party Structure in the House

9. Committees and Policy

10. Democratic Steering Committee

11. Republican Committee on Committees

12. Makes Committee Assignments

13. Schedule Legislation

14. House Rules Committee (Direct appointment by Speaker- 2/3 majority members)

15. House Rules Committee- Not in Senate

16. Regulates time limit on bills coming to the floor

17. Established if Bill is under an OPEN or CLOSED rule

18. OPEN RULE- Bill may be amended

19. CLOSED RULE- Bill may not be amended

20. Committee System- "The little legislatures"

21. Why?

22. Consider bills or legislative proposals

23. Congress is too large for all members to work on all bills

24. Maintain oversight of executive agencies

25. Conduct Investigations

26. Equality- each committee "reflects" the partisanship of the body.

                                    "If the Republicans hold a 60% membership majority of the House then

                                    A ten member Committee would be made up of the following

                                             Six Republicans- One Republican serves as Chairman

                                             Four Democrats

5. Newtonian Revolution- Gingrich cut down the number of committees and sub-committees- why? less committees- less dispersal of power.

6. Special Interest Groups have less of an opportunity to influence policy

7. Types of Committees

8. Standing Committees- most important of committees

9. Committees "stand" from one congress to the next- Issue grouped

10. Areas of expertise- members become experts in area of committee content

11. Majority party has chairmanship and majority of seats

12. Chairmen are elected by the committee. "Traditionally" the senior most member will get the Chair.

13. Sub-Committees- - more specialized study unit- decentralize power

14. Same "structure" as Committee- Chairman has power

15. Select Committees- groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration

16. Investigations

17. Joint Committees- those on which both representative and senators serve

18. Conference Committees- a joint committee appointed to resolve differences in Senate and House versions of the same piece of legislation before final passage.

 

1. Committee Traditions

2. Control and staffing of committees is Majority Party power- a partisan matter

3. Chairmanship and sub-Chairmanship belong to majority party

4. Oldest member of the majority party, who has sat on the committee the longest, traditionally gets the chair (guideline-Senate)

5. House: Chair candidates are interview by leadership to ensure loyalty to party.

6. Chairs now have term limits of six years

7. If a member changes committees, then their seniority starts over again

8. Minority party gets seats proportionate to its membership

9. What happens when the Majority of the body changes- Bad Blood!

10. Committees must be changed to represent the new "demographics" of the body

11. A member's committee assignment may make or break a career

12. Members committee wants

13. A committee in which they may help their home district

14. A committee, which may make them powerful

15. “Membership on key committees is like adding value to a stock portfolio.”

16. Committee Assignments

17. House Republicans

18. Committee on Committees

19. House Democrats

20. Democratic Steering Committee.

21. Member Selection- Seniority Rule

22. Members may keep the committee assignment from one congress to another

23. Members may switch to a more prominent committee but lose seniority

24. New members seek to get place upon committees, which will enhance their career.

25. Most often freshman members get place upon committees that are dominated by the senior most members of the opposition (think comparative advantage?)

26. Incumbency- This is Seniority. Senior (majority) members chair or influence the most powerful committees. T/F, they control policy over a specific area. Special interest groups spend BIG money on SENIOR MAJORITY INCUMBENTS. Why?

 

1. Committee Prestige-

2. House

3. Exclusive Committees- Appropriations, Ways and Means, Rules-

4. Members may only sit on this committee and no other

5. Major Committees- Armed Services

6. May add service on lower status committees

7. Non-major Committees- Post Office, Fisheries

 

5. Floor Procedures- How a Bill becomes a law- "A System of Multiple Vetoes" (Figure 7.4)

                  Committee of the Whole-" a quorum of 100 members which may do business in the absence of a majority." This enables the house to conduct business without its entire membership.

1. Introduction by a member of either house- sponsor

2. Bills of Revenue (Tax) must originate in the House

3. Congress shapes presidential drafted legislation

4. Resolutions

5. Simple- passed by one house to only affect that House

6. Concurrent- passed by both housed to affect both

7. Joint- passed by both houses and signed by the President- similar to law. (force of law)

8. After Introduction bill is assigned to committee (subcommittee) for study

9. Body holds hearings to receive opinions on the bill.

10. Mark Up Session- revised and amended

11. Reported out of committee vote by sub and parent committee

12. Die in committee- Pigeonhole

13. Discharge Petition (vote of majority of members to bring bill to the floor.)

14. House- Bill sent to Rules Committee- Power of the majority

15. Regulates time limit on bills coming to the floor

16. Establishes if bill is under an OPEN or CLOSED rule

17. OPEN RULE- Bill may be amended

18. CLOSED RULE- Bill may not be amended

19. An Amendment MUST be germane (related) to the bill.

20. Floor Debate- House

21. Time limits- Rules Committee

22. Committee sponsor of the bill organizes debate

23. Senate- No Rules Committee

24. Hold- Tactic to delay floor action as a Senator requests to become “informed” on an issue.

25. No rule on amendments

26. Riders - Attachments to bill which may be non-germane (unrelated)

27. Christmas Tree Bill- Large number of amendments

28. No rule on time limits of debate

29. Filibuster- tactic by minority party- continuous speech on Senate floor

30. Objective- stops all Senate functions as an all out effort to show disapproval of the bill.

31. Cloture- stops a filibuster- sets time on debate

32. After 30 hours of debate- vote must be taken.

33. Pre-Cloture Vote

34. Sponsor of the bill obtains 3/5ths vote before bill is introduced t/f filibuster is useless.

35. Presidential Action

36. President has 10 days to consider the bill

37. President signs the bill into law.

38. President can veto the bill.

39. Returned to Congress- Needs 2/3rds vote of Congress to override veto.

40. President can wait 10 days and allows the bill to become law without his signature

41. Congress goes out of session in less than 10 days, no signature. Pocket Veto

42. Filibuster- Pre-Cloture Congress

43. The majority now must have 60 votes lined up to stop a filibuster BEFORE the issue goes to the floor for a vote. (http://www.filibusted.us/congress)

 

1. Congressional "Folkways"

2. Respect of the "Institution"

3. Internal respect within each body "The Distinguished Gentleman from Florida"

4. Defense of one body against another- House v. Senate

5. Traditions

6. Reciprocity- doing favors for one another- "do unto others as you would have done to you."

7. Logrolling- vote trading

8. No member may specialize in all area t/f members "trade" votes on issues.

9. Pork Barrel- "Fatty" financial goods attached to a bill, which benefits a members home district.

10. Earmarks- Specific funds for projects in a member’s district.

 

1. Congressional "Roles"

2. Delegate

3. Member who believes that his job is to represent the views of the constituents

4. Republicans, non-leaders, non-southerners, and members w/ low seniority

5. Trustee

6. View themselves as knowing what is best for the nation. Their constituencies have sent them to Washington to make decisions, not to run errands back to the home district.

7. Democrats, House leaders, southerners, high seniority members.

8. Politicos

9. Professional politicians- act in the best interest of getting re-elected

10. Will vote with the party when they can. Will most often vote in personal self-interest.

 

1. Congressional "Oversight"

2. Congressional authority over Executive Agency power (budget and confirmation)

3. Congressional Review- Joint Resolution signed by President (within 60 days of rule passage) overturns agency rule

4. War Powers Act: The Act required the president get congressional approval before sending troops abroad and to notify Congress within 48 hours of any foreign troop deployment. The president must withdraw troops within 60 days unless Congress declares war.

5. Treaty Ratification-

6. Advise and Consent- Confirmation of Cabinet and Judicial Appointment

7. Impeachment –see Table 7.7

8. Congressional authority over Judiciary: Control over Size and jurisdiction of the Federal Courts.

 

 

Figure 7.4- How a Bill Becomes a Law

 

 

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