Congress: The People’s Branch

Chapter 11

Your Congressmen:

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

Reapportionment, 2000

The Original Gerrymander

Gerrymandering

Packing Lumping oppositionvoters in one area

Cracking Splitting up groups of voters so

they do not constitute a majority in any district

Congress in Session

A Divided Branch

The architecture and floor plan of the Capitol building in Washington reflect the bicameral division of Congress

Party Structure in the House

• 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

Leading the House of Representatives

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 and the minority leader, elected by their respective party members

Party Structure in the Senate

• Party whips: keep leaders informed, round up votes, count Senators present

• Each party has a policy committee: schedules Senate business, prioritizes bills

• Committee assignments are handled by a group of Senators, each for their own party

Leading the Senate

Who’s in Congress?

• The House has become less male and less white

• Membership in Congress has become a career

• Incumbents have a great electoral advantage

Diversity in the HOR

Number of Women in US House and Senate

Percentage of Incumbents Reelected to Congress

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

Congressional Committees

• Committees are the most important organizational feature of Congress

• Purposes:– Consider bills or legislative proposals– Maintain oversight of executive agencies– Conduct investigations

• Committees more important in House because the House is so large that more work can be done in committees

Types of Committees

• Standing committees: permanent bodies with specified legislative responsibilities

• Select (or special) committees: groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration– Ex.) to conduct an investigation

Types of Committees

• Joint committees: those on which both Representatives and Senators serve

• Conference committee: a joint committee appointed to resolve differences in Senate and House versions of the same piece of legislation before final passage

Types of Committees

• Authorizing committees – pass the laws that tell govt. what to do– make the most basic decisions about who gets what,

when, and how from govt.• Appropriations committees – make decisions

about how much money govt. will spend on its programs and operations– Decide who gets how much from govt.– Have a lot of power to undo or limit decisions by

authorizing committees– Appropriations bills often contain earmarks

• no. of earmarks increased from 1,400 in 1995 to 16,000 in 2005

Types of Committees

• Rules Committees – determine basic operations of their chamber– Ex.) How many staffers congressmen can

have– House Rules Committee determines what

amendments to a bill may be permitted

Types of Committees

• Revenue and Budget committees – deal with raising the money that appropriating committees spend while setting the broad targets that shape the federal budget– House Ways and Means Committee is

single most powerful committee in Congress because it both raises and authorizes spending

• only committee in Congress that can originate tax and revenue legislation

Committee Practices

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

• Seniority rule – practice in which chair of committee assigned to member of majority party with longest service on the committee

Congressional Committees

Special committees may conduct investigations or hold hearings, such as Supreme Court confirmation hearings

Bureaucratic Oversight and Investigations

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

Congressional Caucuses

• Caucus: an association of members of Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional or economic interest– Ex.) Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, Women’s

Issues Caucus, Pro-Life Caucus, Children’s Caucus, Urban Caucus

How a Bill Becomes a Law (Step 1: Bill Introduction)

• Bill must be introduced by a member of Congress

• Bill is referred to a committee for consideration by either Speaker or presiding officer of the Senate

• Revenue bills must originate in the House

• Most bills die in committee

How a Bill Becomes a Law (Step 2: Committee Action)

• After hearings and mark-up sessions, the committee reports a bill out to the House or Senate

• Bill must be placed on a calendar to come up for a vote before either house

• House Rules Committee sets the rules for consideration and amendment of legislation

How a Bill Becomes a Law (Step 3: Floor Action)

• Bills are debated on the floor of the House or Senate

• If there are major differences in the bill as passed by the House and Senate, a conference committee is appointed

• The bill goes to the president

How a Bill Becomes Law (Step 4: Presidential Decision)

• The president may sign it = Bill becomes law

• If the president vetoes it, it returns to house of origin– Both houses must support the bill, with a two-

thirds vote, in order to override the president’s veto

How Bills Become

Laws

A Quick Word About Laws….

Amendments are usually added to popular bills

Remember that the President can not “line-item” veto

Amendments usually provide benefits to the Congressperson’s district. Known as “Pork”

Non-germane amendments are called “riders”

A bill with many riders is known as “Christmas Treed”

Congress in Your Life…

Make the Laws

Oversight

Inform us of the laws

Constituent services