Congress Chapter 12 1 congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, - - PDF document

congress powerpoint 90 slides 1 February 27, 2015

Congress

Chapter 12

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The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of the Government

• Article I describes structure of Congress
• Bicameral legislature
• Divided into two houses
• Each state sends two Senators regardless of

population.

• Number of representatives each state sends to the

House is determined by state population.

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The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of the Government

• Constitution sets out requirements for

membership in the House and Senate

• House – 25 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 7

years; serve 2 year terms

• Directly elected, thus more responsible to the people
• Senate – 30 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 9

years; serve 6 year terms ; originally chosen by state legislators, until 17th Amendment (1913)

• Congressional members must be legal residents of their

states.

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The Representatives and Senators

• The Job
• Salary of $174,000 (2009) with retirement
• benefits. Who sets their salary? ($193,400

for leaders, $223,500 for the Speaker)

• Office space in D.C. and at home and staff to fill

it.

• Travel allowances and franking privileges.
• Often requires 10 to 14 hour days, lots of time

away from the family, and lots of pressure from different people to “do the right thing.”

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The Representatives and Senators

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Who is in Congress?

• The House has become less male and

less white

• Membership in Congress became a

career

• Incumbents still have a great electoral

advantage

• But in 1994, voters opposed incumbents due

to budget deficits, various policies, legislative­ executive bickering, and scandal – Republicans took control!

• In 2006, the Democrats regained control of

Congress

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Congressional Demographics

• Members tend to be
• Better educated than the population in general
• Ninety­five percent are college graduates; over 2/3’s have

advanced degrees.

• Richer
• Nearly 200 are millionaires; 21 Senators are worth at least 3.1
• million. 29 House members worth that much as well.
• Male
• White
• Average age is 63 for Senators; 57 for House members.
• Aaron Schock (R­IL) elected in 2008 at age of 27.
• George LeMieux (R­FL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D­NY) are the

youngest Senator (40 & 42). Both were appointed

• Occupations: No longer overwhelmingly lawyers
• 214 members (182 Representatives and 33 Senators) list their
• ccupation as public service/politics
• 204 (152 Representatives and 51 Senators) list law
• 201 (175 Representatives and 27 Senators) list business

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Blacks, Hispanics, and Women in Congress, 1971­2006 – Trends?

congress powerpoint 90 slides 10 February 27, 2015 Actual numbers, not percentages.

For the 111th Congress (2009), the breakdown is: Women – 92

• Afr. Amer. – 43

Hispanic ­ 28

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The Representatives and Senators

111th Congress

House Senate 257 57

• 40

2 360 83 75 17 8 3 42 1 25 3 360 93

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Apportionment and Redistricting

• Apportionment
• Proportional process of allotting congressional

seats to each state following the ten year census

• Redistricting
• Redrawing of congressional districts to reflect

increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within a state

• 1929: House size fixed at 435.

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Congressional Elections

• Who Wins Elections?
• Incumbent: Those already holding office.

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Percentage of Incumbents Reelected to Congress

Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 1999­2000 (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2000), table 1­18; 2004 updated by Marc Siegal.

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Incumbents in Congress Reelected by 60 Percent or More

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Congressional Elections

• The Advantages of Incumbents
• Advertising:
• The goal is to be visible to your voters.
• Frequent trips home & newsletters are used.
• Credit Claiming:
• Service to individuals in their district.
• Casework: specifically helping constituents get what

they think they have a right to.

• Pork Barrel: federal projects, grants, etc. made

available in a congressional district or state.

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Congressional Elections

• The Advantages of Incumbents
• Position Taking:
• Portray themselves as hard working, dedicated individuals.
• Occasionally take a partisan stand on an issue.
• Weak Opponents:
• Most opponents are inexperienced in politics.
• Most opponents are unorganized and underfunded.
• Campaign Spending:
• Challengers need to raise large sums to defeat an

incumbent.

• PACs give most of their money to incumbents. Why?
• Does PAC money “buy” votes in Congress?

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Running for Office and Staying in Office

• Incumbency – Another Look
• The fact that being in office helps a person stay in
• ffice because of a variety of benefits that go with the

position

• Name recognition
• Access to free media
• Inside track on fund­raising
• District drawn to favor incumbent creating
• Safe Seats
• 1980 to 1990, an average of 95 percent of

incumbents who sought reelection won their primary and general election races.

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Incumbency

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Congressional Elections

• The Role of Party Identification
• Most members represent the majority party

in their district.

• Defeating Incumbents
• Some incumbents face problems after a

scandal or other complication in office.

• They may face redistricting. (ex. Texas

gerrymandering)

• They may become a victim of a major

political tidal wave. (Watergate, or 1994)

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Congressional Elections

• Open Seats
• Greater likelihood of competition, although

in some districts it may only be in the

• primary. Why?
• Stability and Change
• Incumbents provide stability in Congress.
• Change in Congress occurs less frequently

through elections.

• Are term limits an answer?

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How Congress is Organized

• The House
• 435 members, 2 year

terms of office.

• Policy Specialists
• Initiates all revenue

bills, more influential on budget.

• House Rules

Committee

• Limited debates.
• The Senate
• 100 members, 6 year

terms of office.

• Policy Generalists
• Gives “advice &

consent”, more influential on foreign affairs.

• Unlimited debates.

(filibuster)

• American Bicameralism
• Bicameral: Legislature divided into two houses.

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The 109th Congress ­ Senate

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The United States Senate 2009

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House of Representatives – 2005­2006

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Party Membership by District 2009 House of Representatives

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The Evolution of Congress

• The intent of the Framers:
• To oppose the concentration of power in a

single institution

• To balance large and small states
• Bicameralism
• They expected Congress

to be the dominant institution

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Organization of the House

• Historically, power struggles have
• ccurred between members and

leadership

• 1994 brought changes:
• Committee chairs hold positions for only 6

years

• Speaker limited to 8 years
• How can these changes be reversed?

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Organization of the House – Post­1994

• Reduced the number of committees

and subcommittees

• The Speaker dominated the selection
• f committee chairs
• The Speaker set the agenda (Contract

with America) and sustained high Republican discipline in 1995

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Evolution of the Senate

• The Senate escaped many of the

tensions encountered by the House

• The major struggle in the Senate was

about how its members should be chosen; 17th amendment (1913)

• The filibuster is another major issue:

restricted by Rule 22 (1917), which allows a vote of cloture

• Define filibuster and cloture

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How Congress is Organized

• New Congress is seated every two

years.

• Elect new leaders
• Each house has a hierarchical leadership

structure.

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How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

The House Led by Speaker of the House ­ elected by House members. Presides over House. Major role in committee assignments and legislation. Assisted by majority leader and whips. The Senate Officially led by Vice President. Really led by Majority Leader­ chosen by party members. Assisted by whips. Must work with Minority leader.

• Congressional Leadership Summary – Who are they?

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The House of Representatives www.house.gov

• Speaker
• Presides over House
• Official spokesperson for the House
• Second in line of presidential succession (Others?)
• House liaison with president
• Great political influence within the chamber
• Henry Clay, first powerful speaker (1810)
• Joe Cannon (1903­1910), was so powerful, that a revolt

emerged to reduce powers of the speakership.

• Newt Gingrich (1995)
• Nancy Pelosi – current speaker, first woman speaker

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Other House Leaders

• Majority Leader (Steny Hoyer, D­Md)
• Elected leader of the party controlling the most seats in the

House or the Senate

• Second in authority to the Speaker—in the Senate, is the

most powerful member

• Minority Leader (John Boehner – Ohio)
• Elected leader of the party with the second highest number
• f elected representatives in the House of Representatives or

the Senate

• Whips (Eric Cantor, R­VA, James Clyburn, D­SC)
• Party caucus or conference
• A formal gathering of all party

members

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Party Structure in the House ­ Summary

• Speaker of the House is leader of

majority party and presides over House

• Majority leader and minority leader:

leaders on the floor

• Party whips keep leaders informed

and round up votes

• Committee assignments and

legislative schedule are set by each party

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The Senate www.senate.gov

• The Constitution specifies the vice president

(Joe Biden) as the presiding officer of the Senate.

• He votes only in case of a tie.
• Official chair of the Senate is the president

pro tempore (pro tem), currently Robert Byrd, D­WV

• Primarily honorific
• Generally goes to the most senior senator of the

majority party

• Actual presiding duties rotate among junior members
• f the chamber
• True leader is the majority leader, but not as powerful

as Speaker is in the House

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Party Structure in the Senate

• President pro tempore presides; this is the

member with most seniority in majority party (a largely honorific office)

• Leaders are the majority leader (Harry

Reid, D­NV) and the minority leader (Mitch McConnell, R­KY), elected by their respective party members

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Party Structure in the Senate

• Party whips: keep leaders informed,

round up votes, count noses (Jon Kyl, R­AZ, Dick Durbin, D­IL)

• Each party has a policy committee:

schedules Senate business, prioritizes bills

• Committee assignments are handled

by a group of Senators, each for their

• wn party

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The Senate

• Senate rules give tremendous power

to individual senators.

• Offering any kind of amendment even if

not germane

• Filibuster
• Because Senate is smaller in size
• rganization and formal rules have

not played the same role as in the House.

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Committee System

• Standing Committees
• Continue from one Congress to the next—bills referred

here for consideration

• Joint Committees
• Includes members from both houses of Congress, conducts

investigations or special studies

• Conference Committees
• Joint committee created to iron out differences between

Senate and House versions of a specific piece of legislation

• Select (or special) Committees
• Temporary committee appointed for specific purpose, such

as conducting a special investigation or study

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How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

• The Committees and Subcommittees
• The Committees at Work: Legislation and

Oversight

• Committees work on the 11,000 bills every session.
• Some hold hearings and “mark up” meetings.
• Oversight involves hearings and other methods of

checking the actions of the executive branch.

• As the size of government grows, oversight grows

too.

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How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

• The Committees and Subcommittees
• Getting on a Committee
• Members want committee assignments that will

help them get reelected, gain influence, and make policy.

• New members express their committee

preferences to the party leaders.

• Support of the party is important in getting on the

right committee.

• Parties try to grant committee preferences.

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Committee Practices

• The number of committees has

varied; significant cuts in number of House committees in 1995, and in the number of House and Senate subcommittees

• Majority party has majority of seats
• n the committees and names the chair

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How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

• The Committees and Subcommittees
• Getting Ahead on the Committee: Chairs

and the Seniority System.

• The chair is the most important position for

controlling legislation.

• Chairs were once chosen strictly by the seniority

system.

• Now seniority is a general rule, and members may

choose the chair of their committee.

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Role of Parties in Organizing Congress

• Parties and their strength have

important implications in Congress.

• Committees are controlled by the majority.
• Committees set the agenda.
• All committee chairmen are from

the majority party.

• Why is this important?

congress powerpoint 90 slides 46 February 27, 2015 The Organizational Structure of 109th Congress

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Committees

• Committees are the most important
• rganizational feature of Congress
• Consider bills or legislative proposals
• Maintain oversight of executive

agencies ­ Examples

• Conduct investigations – Examples

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congress powerpoint 90 slides 49 February 27, 2015 Congressional Committees

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Committee Membership

• Members often seek assignments to

committees based on

• Their own interests or expertise
• A committee’s ability to help their prospects

for reelection

• Pork/ earmarks: legislation that allows

representatives to bring home the “bacon” to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs designed to benefit their districts directly.

• Access to large campaign contributors

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Committee Chairs

• These individuals have tremendous power and

prestige.

• Authorized to select all subcommittee chairs
• Call meetings
• Recommend majority members to sit on conference

committees

• Can kill a bill by not scheduling hearings on it
• Have staff at their disposal
• Seniority vs. loyalty to the party in the House
• Seniority still important in the Senate
• Both chambers have term limits for chairs.

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How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

• Caucuses: The Informal Organization
• f Congress
• Caucus: A group of members of Congress

sharing some interest or characteristic.

• Caucuses pressure for committee meetings

and hearings and for votes on bills.

• Caucuses can be more effective than

lobbyists.

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Congressional Caucuses

• Caucus: an association of members of

Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional or economic interest

• Intra­party caucuses: members share a

similar ideology

• Personal interest caucuses: members

share an interest in an issue

• Constituency caucuses: established to

represent groups, regions or both

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Congressional Caucuses

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How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

• Congressional Staff
• Personal staff: Work for the member.

Mainly providing constituent service, but help with legislation too.

• Committee staff: organize hearings,

research & write legislation, target of lobbyists.

• Staff Agencies: CRS, GAO, CBO provide

specific information to Congress.

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Congressional Support Agencies

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Congressional Staff

• Constituency service is a major task
• f members’ staff
• Legislative functions of staff include

devising proposals, negotiating agreements, organizing hearings, and meeting with lobbyists and administrators

• Members’ staff consider themselves

advocates of their employers

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The Growth in Staffs of Members and Committees in Congress, 1930­2000

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Constitutional Powers of Congress

• The authority to make laws

is shared by both chambers

• f Congress.
• No bill (a proposed law) can

become a law without the consent of both houses.

• Each chamber also has

special, exclusive powers as well.

• Other shared powers
• Declare war
• Raise an army and navy
• Coin money
• Regulate commerce
• Establish the federal courts and their

jurisdiction

• Establish rules of immigration and

naturalization

• Make laws necessary and proper to

carrying out the powers previously listed

• Special powers
• House – origin of revenue bills,

impeachment, (but Senate tries)

• Senate – treaties (2/3 vote),

presidential appointments

congress powerpoint 90 slides 61 February 27, 2015 Table 7.1

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Constitutional Powers of Congress – Other Lawmaking Groups

• Presidents can issue

proclamations and executive orders with the force of law.

• Bureaucrats issue

quasi­legislative rules

• Supreme Court and

lower federal courts render opinions that generate principles that also have the force of law.

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The Congressional Process

• Legislation:
• Bill: A proposed law.
• Anyone can draft a bill, but only members of

Congress can introduce them.

• More rules in the House than in the Senate.
• Party leaders play a vital role in steering

bills through both houses, but less in the Senate.

• Countless influences on the legislative

process.

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The Congressional Process

• How a Bill Becomes a Law (Figure 12.2)

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How a Bill Becomes A Law

• Only members of the House or

Senate can submit a bill.

• Once a bill is introduced: usually a

dead end.

• Of about 9,000 or so bills introduced during

a session of Congress, fewer than 10 percent make it into law.

• System of multiple vetoes; power is

dispersed as the Framers intended. Explain.

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How a Bill Becomes Law How are the House and Senate different?

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How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version

• Introduction (sponsorship)
• Sent to clerk of chamber
• Bill printed, distributed, and sent to appropriate committee or

committees (referred by Speaker in House)

• Committee refers bill to one of its subcommittees
• Subcommittee researches bill and decides on hearings
• Hearings provide opportunity for both sides of issue to voice

their opinions

• Bill then revised in subcommittee and vote is taken
• If vote is positive, the bill is returned to full committee
• Full committee either rejects bill or sends it to House or

Senate floor with a recommendation (special note: Discharge petition – 218 signatures)

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How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version

• Next stage of action takes place on the floor
• In House, goes to Rules Committee, given a

rule (open, closed, restrictive), placed on calendar (but not budget bills)

• Rules limit debate and determine what kind, if

any, amendments (germane) are allowed

• House may choose to form a Committee of the

Whole

• Allows for deliberation with only 100 members

present

• On the floor, bill debated, amendments
• ffered, and a vote taken
• If bill survives, it is sent to the Senate for

consideration—if it was not considered there simultaneously.

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How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version

• In the Senate, bill may be held up by:
• A hold – a tactic by which a senator asks to

be informed before a particular bill is brought to the floor.

• A filibuster – a formal way of halting action
• n a bill by means of long speeches or

unlimited debate on the Senate.

• Cloture: Mechanism requiring sixty senators to

vote to cut off debate.

• Riders and Christmas trees
• How could stealth bombers end up attached

to a National Parks bill?

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How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version

• Third state of action takes place when the two

chambers of Congress approve different versions

• f the SAME bill.
• Conference committee
• Returns to each chamber for final vote. If it

does not pass in each chamber it dies.

• If bill passes, it is sent to the

president.

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How a Bill Becomes a Law: Textbook Version

• President can either sign it or veto it.
• The president has 10 days to consider a bill.
• Four options:
• Can sign the bill, at which point it becomes law.
• Can veto the bill; congress can override the veto with

a 2/3 vote in each chamber.

• Can wait the full ten days, at the end of which time

the bill becomes law without his signature IF Congress is still in session.

• If Congress adjourns before the ten days are up, the

president can choose not to sign the bill. The bill is then pocket­vetoed.

• Bill would have to be reintroduced and go through the

entire process again in order to become a law.

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The Congressional Process

• Presidents and Congress: Partners

and Protagonists

• Presidents have many resources to

influence Congress (often called the “Chief Legislator”). What are they?

• In order to “win” in Congress, the

president must win several battles in each house.

• Presidential leadership of Congress is at

the margins and is most effective as a facilitator.

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Congress and the President

• Constitution envisioned that Congress and

the president would have

• Discrete powers
• One branch would be able to hold the other in check.
• Since the 1930s, the president has had the upper

hand.

• But Congress still has ultimate legislative authority

to question executive actions and

• Congress can impeach and even remove him from
• ffice.

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Shifting Balance of Power

• Congressional Oversight
• Congressional review of the activities of an agency,

department, or office

• Foreign Affairs Oversight
• War Powers Act
• Passed by Congress in 1973: Limits the president in

the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty day period in peacetime unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period.

• Confirmation of Presidential Appointments
• The Impeachment Process

congress powerpoint 90 slides 76 February 27, 2015 The Eight Stages of the Impeachment Process

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Congress and the Judiciary

• Congress exercises its control over

the judiciary in several ways

• Can establish the size of the Supreme Court,

its appellate jurisdiction, and the structure of the federal court system

• Senate also has the authority to accept or

reject presidential nominees for the federal courts

• Senatorial courtesy: process by which

presidents, when selecting district court judges, defer to the senator in whose state the vacancy

• ccurs.

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The Congressional Process

• Party, Constituency, and Ideology
• Party Influence: Party leaders cannot force

party members to vote a particular way, but many do vote along party lines.

• Constituency versus Ideology: Most

constituents are uninformed about their

• member. It is difficult for constituents to

influence their member, but on controversial issues members can not ignore constituents.

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How Members Make Decisions

• Party
• Divided government
• Constituents
• Colleagues and Caucuses
• Logrolling (vote trading)
• Interest Groups, Lobbyists, and PACS
• Staff and Support Agencies

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Theories of Representation

• Trustee
• Role played by elected representatives who listen to

constituent’s opinions and then use their best judgment to make final decisions

• Delegate
• Role played by elected representatives who vote the

way their constituents would want them to, regardless

• f their own opinions
• Politico
• Role played by elected representatives who act as

trustees or as delegates, depending on the issue

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Member Behavior – Another Look

• Representational view: members

vote to please their constituents, in

• rder to secure re­election
• Organizational view: where

constituency interests are not vitally at stake, members primarily respond to cues from colleagues

• Attitudinal view: the member’s

ideology determines her/his vote

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The Congressional Process

• Lobbyists and Interest Groups
• There are several thousand lobbyists trying

to influence Congress ­ the bigger the issue, the more lobbyists will be working on it.

• Lobbyists can be ignored, shunned and

even regulated by Congress.

• Ultimately, it is a combination of lobbyists

and others that influence members of Congress.

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Understanding Congress

• Congress and Democracy
• Leadership and committee assignments are

not representative.

• Congress does try to respond to what the

people want, but some argue it could do a better job.

• Members of Congress are responsive to the

people, if the people make clear what they want.

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Understanding Congress

• Congress and Democracy
• Representation versus Effectiveness
• Congress is responsive to so many interests that

policy is uncoordinated, fragmented, and decentralized.

• Congress is so representative that it is incapable
• f taking decisive action to deal with difficult

problems.

• Defenders argue because Congress is

decentralized, there is no oligarchy to prevent comprehensive action.

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Understanding Congress

• Congress and the Scope of

Government

• The more policies Congress works on, the

more ways they can serve their constituencies.

• The more programs that get created, the

bigger government gets.

• Everybody wants government programs cut,

just not their programs.

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Post 9­11 Congress

• 9­11 Commission recommended

Congress make fundamental changes in how it oversees agencies involved in intelligence­gathering and counter­ terrorism

• Congress passed some of those

proposals after some opposition in both parties

• What is next for Congress?

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Summary of the November 7, 2006 United States Senate election results

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You want to be popular?

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Why the drop in pork­barrel spending in 2007?

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The End