Parties and Committees in Congress

GOVT 2305

Previously we read through and analyzed the constitutional

language that established the U.S. Congress and the Texas

Legislature.

You should now be familiar with what is and is not said about the

design of each in the Constitution.

This week we breathe life into this picture by discussing how each

works dynamically.

Think about it like starting a car. Last week we checked the thing

out, this week we start it and see how it drives.

Specifically we will look at what happens in each institution and

what factors cause those things to happen.

In a sense, this section is simply about power in Congress. Who or what determines what it does?

There are four entities to investigate

Constitutional OfficesIndividual Members of Congress

Committees Political Parties

A brief note about each:

Now we analyze how legislative institutions have

evolved over American history. We will look specifically how internal institutions have developed over time and try to determine who or

what controls each institution.

We will try to understand how power flows within the institution. Who or what is actually in charge

of it.

The two dominant institutions are political parties and standing

committees.

Note that neither political parties nor committees are mentioned in

the United States Constitution. But each has evolved into critically

important power centers in Congress.

Parties are useful. They help recruit and run candidates for

office and organize the House and Senate once they are elected.

Currently parties re the dominant feature in Congress.

Committees are also useful. Bills once they are introduced in

Congress are – usually but not always – sent to a committee to be

marked up and debated.

Committees also allow members of Congress to specialize on policy

issues important to their constituents.

We will also look at the Speakers office and understand the nature

of its powers.

First, lets look at the websites of some of legislative branches on the national state and local levels. This gives us an idea about what each

institution has evolved into.

U.S. HouseU.S. Senate

Texas HouseTexas Senate

Alvin City CouncilPearland City CouncilHouston City Council

A good way to understand each institution is to take a closer look

at the complete bill making process on the national and state level. This allows us to see how each committee and parties are

integrated into the process.

Remember that Section Seven of Article One says nothing about the bill making process in

Congress other than that tax bills have to begin in the House.

This means that the bill making process is not fixed. The process described here only describes how a bill might become a law. The precise way

a specific bill will becomes a law – or is considered in Congress – varies.

To get a general idea of the process why don’t you review:

School House Rock: I’m just a bill on Capitol Hill, then The Simpsons:

I’m an Amendment to be.

Here are two graphical descriptions, the first simple, the

next complex

Click here for the full image.

For official a written descriptions click on any of these:

The US House: The Legislative Process.The US Senate: Flowchart.

The Legislative Process on the Senate Floor:An Introduction.

The Library of Congress: How Our Laws Are Made.Also: Government and Politics.

Note that bills can be stopped at anytime in the process.

While the official description of Congress is that it makes laws, it is just as easy to say that Congress’

job is to keep laws from being passed.

Major Steps in the Process

Note that the many links below take you to the Library of Congress’ page on the bill making process.

1 - Introducing the Bill and Referral to a Committee.

While only members of Congress can introduce legislation, they can originate from almost anywhere. Constituents – including interest

groups – often present legislation to congressional allies, as well as

the President and his administration.

There are four basic types of legislation:

BillsJoint Resolutions

Concurrent ResolutionsSimple Resolutions

The bill must have the signature of a sponsor, and will often also have

a number of co-sponsors. These are important in order to obtain

support for the bill once introduced. It is then assigned a

legislative number.

Then with the assistance of the Parliamentarian (House / Senate), the

Speaker refers the bill to the appropriate committee, which means

the committee that has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the bill.

These are called standing committees. Click here for the list of committees in

the House and the Senate.

Remember that these are the places where members of Congress can most effectively protect the interests of their constituents.

It is vitally important for members of Congress to be placed on committees that have jurisdiction over policies important to

their constituents. The political party caucus decides where members go, which gives them leverage over the rank and file.

2 - Committee Action: Hearings and Mark Up.

Once in committee, an internal decision is made to refer the bill to one of the many

subcommittees each committee is required to have by law. Click here for the list of subcommittees in the House Ways and Means Committee (the tax writing

committee) .Then input is requested about the bill from various sources both inside

and outside government.

The procedure in the committee and subcommittee is overseen by

the chair.

Historically there has been tension between the leadership styles and relative power of committee chairs

and the other members of committees.

Generally, sub committees hold public hearings, especially if the bill is

considered to be important. These meetings are announced publicly and

are open to public testimony.

Often these are well attended by lobbyists who are hired to represent

the interests impacted by the bill under debate.

Here is a link to the schedule of committee hearing in the House

and in the Senate.

Markup sessions are held, generally beginning with the sub-

committee. The bill can be debated, amended and rewritten. When the sub-committee is done, the process begins again with the

full committee.

The full committee can either choose to accept the sub-

committee bill and report it to the House or Senate – depending on

which chamber the action is being taken in – or they can hold hearing and engage in mark-up just as the

sub-committee did.

If the original bill was heavily amended, the committee may decide to report a new bill (a

“clean” bill) with a new number.

The committee can also decide to table the legislation, which means that

it stays in committee and effectively dies there. If it chooses to do so, the

full chamber can vote to bring it out of committee over the committee’s

objection, with a discharge petition. This allows the rank and file to

consider bills over the objection of their leadership.

3 - Committee Report

When a bill is reported to the House or Senate, the committee

staff prepares a report that describes the bill and details its

history.

From the LOC: The report of a committee on a measure must include: (1) the committee's oversight findings

and recommendations; (2) a statement required by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, if the measure is a bill or joint resolution providing new budget authority (other than continuing appropriations) or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures; (3) a cost estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of

the Congressional Budget Office; and (4) a statement of general performance goals and objectives, including outcome-related goals and objectives, for which the

measure authorizes funding.

Here is a link to Congressional Reports created over the past two

decades.

4 - Floor Debate and Votes

House ActionSenate Action

Bills reported out of committee have to be placed on calendars in the House and Senate in order to

determine when they shall be heard.

- Calendars in the House.- Calendars in the Senate.

In the House, bills also have to go through the Rules Committee in order to determine how much

time can be spent debating a bill and whether amendments can be

added to it.

The House process is dominated by the majority party.

This process is unnecessary in the Senate since there is less need to manage 100 Senators than 435

members of the House.

The Rules Committee generally grants an hour for debate on bills – but can provide

more time for important bills. On the floor, the leaders of each party are given half of this time to parcel out to its members who

wish to speak on the floor.

This is an important power, it means that access to the floor during the bill making

process is controlled by each party.

The power to recognize members to speak on the floor of the House is given to the House Majority and

Minority Leaders. These are the people in charge of each party’s

caucus on the floor.

The Rules Committee also can issue a variety of rules regarding amendments, and whether they can be offered on the floor. Committee members generally do

not like amendments offered on their bills since they do not want them changed.

There are four types:

Open rules permit the offering of any amendment that otherwise complies with House rules, and allows debate under the 5-minute rule.

Modified-Open rules operate much like an open rule, but have some restriction on the “universe” of amendments, either through a pre-printing requirement or an overall time limit on consideration of amendments.

Structured rules specify that only certain amendments may be considered and specify the time for debate.

Closed rules effectively eliminate the opportunity to consider amendments, other than those reported by the committee reporting the bill

In the House – though not the Senate – everything added to or spoken about a bill must be on

topic.

This is called The Germaneness Rule.

- Basic Training from House Republicans.-

In the Senate there are no rules of germaneness, so anything can be added to a bill. If the bill is later

passed by the House and are signed into law, these become law.

Bills that are deliberately full of random items are sometimes called “Christmas Tree Bills.”

The point behind the rules in the House is to give party leaders control over the

legislative process. This facilitates action.

The process in the Senate is far looser and allow greater autonomy for each individual Senator. The rules also allow for a minority

of the Senate to prevent action on bills. This facilitates inaction.

Any bill reported out of a Senate Committee is placed on the Senate’s

Calendar of Business along with other items to be discussed. A bill can be

brought to the floor out of sequence by unanimous consent.

- CRS: The Senate’s Calendar of Business.- The Senate: Calendars and Schedules.

LOC: Senate Action.

With some exceptions, there is no limit on the amount of time a Senator

can speak on a bill. This is based on the idea that members of Congress

have a right to unlimited debate. Members of the House had this right

until 1842. This has turned into a legislative tactic allowing a minority to stop a bill that has majority support.

Notable filibusters include Strom Thurmond’s 24 hour failed effort against

the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the 57 day long filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of

1964.

US Senate: Filibuster and Cloture.Wikipedia: Filibuster in the US Senate.

In order to contain filibusters, in 1917 the Senate added Rule 22 to its procedures which allowed for a debate to be brought to a close if a

number of Senators (originally 2/3rds, but no 3/5ths) agreed to it.

- CRS: Invoking Cloture in the Senate.- Heritage Foundation support for the filibuster.

What this means is that 40 Senators can stop legislation.

Supermajorities are necessary to pass legislation.

Controversy: In recent years, filibusters – and most notably cloture motions – have

been increasingly common. The use of filibusters have changed, instead of

Senators speaking for long periods of time, the threat to do so has been sufficient to

stop legislation. Cloture motions are more commonly filed and if it can proved that a cloture motion can be passed, that can be

enough to kill a bill.

Once a bill is passed by one chamber. It has to be sent to the

other for consideration.

Votes in the House and Senate are regularly recorded and are readily

available online.

5 - Referral to the Other Chamber

Once a bill passes one chamber it is sent to the other for

consideration. Aside from revenue bill which must begin in the House,

these can come from either chamber. Since the process is

separate, it is unlikely that a bill will emerge from either chamber

in exactly the same language.

There are times when a bill passing one chamber has been accepted

by the other and the bill proceeds directly to the floor for a vote.

When there is a conflict between the two however, a conference committee has to be called to

reconcile that conflict.

6 - The Conference

When the chamber that originally considered a bill receives word

that the other chamber has amended the bill, they have the

opportunity to accept those changes. If they refuse they can

ask for a conference committee to be established to reconcile

differences.

Whatever compromise is made must be accepted on the floor of

the House and the Senate if it is to become a law.

The members of the conference committee are selected by party leaders and the chairs of the committees involved in the making of the bill.

They must have one open meeting, but their meetings are generally held in secret. A variety of often creative devises are used to persuade the members of each chamber to approve the

result. Sometimes these involve projects in members house districts that can make the members look good back home. These are

sometimes called “sweeteners.”

A conference committee can be especially difficult if parties split control of Congress – one party

controls the House and the other controls the Senate.

The agreed upon bill is called a conference report. If that bill is

passed by the House and Senate then it is presented to the president for a signature.

If not the bill could be dead.

After the conference report is accepted – or whenever a bill

passes both the House and Senate in the same language – it goes through a complicated process

called “enrollment” which reflects of all amendments agreed to by

each chamber.

This is what is presented to the President for a signature or veto.

7 - Action by the President

Here we finally hit part of the process that is mentioned in the

Constitution.

Once the bill passes Congress it is presented to the President for a

possible signature, or a veto.

As we noted last week, there is no real reason for the President to

sign a bill. It automatically becomes a law if he does not veto it within 10 days. He only needs to sign it if less than 10 days are left in the session of Congress. If he

does not, it dies. This is the pocket veto.

As we know from the previous section, if the President vetoes the bill, it gets sent back to Congress

and if they vote to pass it again by a 2/3rds vote, it overrides the veto

and becomes a law.

Vetoes were very rare until after the Civil War. Cleveland, FDR and

Truman vetoed the most bills, since then the number of vetoes

has actually declined.

APJ: Presidential Vetoes.Wikipedia: List of Presidential Vetoes.

The principle factor determining the number of vetoes a President

is likely to issue is whether the government is divided or unified, that is whether the President and

Congress are of different parties or of the same party.

In his first two years in office, when Democrats controlled Congress,

Clinton vetoed no laws, but would veto 37 (with only two overrides)

in the next six years when Republicans were controlled

Congress.

In his first six years in office, when Republicans controlled Congress,

W. Bush vetoed one law, but in the last two years when Democrats

controlled Congress he vetoed 11, and 4 were overridden.

Signing Statements

A controversial practice recently has been when Presidents issue

statements when they sign bills claiming what they regard as

unconstitutional and are therefore in no obligation to implement. Critics

argue Presidents should simply veto these bills.

8 - Publication

The final step in the process is that it be made public, so that the people

who have to follow the law are aware of it. It is given a number, for example if it is the 100th public law passed by the 112th Congress it is titled Public

Law 112-100.

Click here for where you can find lists of public laws on Thomas.

The law is then added to the United States Code.

See Wikipedia: United States Code.

But so what about this process?

As mentioned before, there is nothing in the Constitution

stipulating this process so bills can become bills in many different

ways.

Here are links to the legislative histories of recent bills:

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act

Also keep in mind that all these steps make it easier for a greater number of people to

not only get involved in the bill making process, but to block legislation. There are

multiple veto points throughout the process, and makes it unlikely that large

numbers of significant pieces of legislation actually get passed into law.

Almost 12,000 bills are introduced into Congress each session, but less than 500 are passed. Many of these bills concern

relatively mundane matters like the naming of Post Offices.

Here is an analysis of the activity of the 110th Congress (and a related story in Roll

Call). 11,056 bills were introduced and 442 were passed. Most died in committee.

So now that we are familiar with the process, lets look more in

depth at the actors in the process and try to determine which ones have the biggest impact on the

content of legislation.

Notice that as we went through the process, we mentioned a

variety of players.

Individual Members of CongressConstitutional Leadership Positions

CommitteesPolitical PartiesInterest Groups

Looking through each, gives us a good idea of who is in charge of

Congress plus a look at how each of these institutions developed and

have evolved over time.

First let’s look at the individuals members of Congress.

Here’s a good place to start:

Roles and Duties of a Member of Congress

Prepared by the Congressional Research Service

As we know, Congress is composed of 535 members, 100 in the Senate

and 435 in the House. We’ve discussed already that the

members of each institution have a unique connection to the

population given their terms lengths.

Obviously becomes a members of Congress, one has to run for office.

But who are these people?

This is an important question, because it is argued that Congress – especially the House – ought to have a composition that mirrors

the American public.

But the do not. Note this graphic:

Nearly half of the members of Congress are millionaires, can they

relate to the struggles of the middle class?

Here is a more comprehensive look at members of Congress

Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile

Membership of the 112th Congress: A Profile

US Senator: various data.

For reasons we will discuss later, members of Congress are more likely to be ideologically driven,

moderates tend not to be able to get elected.

Here are the members that represent the greater Houston area:

Ron PaulTed Poe

Pete OlsonAl Green

Sheila Jackson-LeeGene Green

John CulbersonKevin Brady

Michael McCaul

Are these people are really interested in representing the interests of their constituents?

Who do they consider to be their true constituents? What are their

goals?

People who study these types of things suggest that there are three dominant goals driving members

of Congress:

ReelectionPublic PolicyLeadership

First an important point: All members of Congress have to

prioritize re-election if they are going to accomplish any of their

goals. The more seniority a member attains, the more clout they get, meaning the more they are likely to get on the powerful committees and get other perks.

Here lists in Wikipedia of the members of the House and Senate

by seniority.

HouseSenate

Some members of Congress are content to simply serve out their terms without

seeking leadership.

These members are called the rank and file. Their primary concerns is to serve the interests of their constituents and are not

necessarily committed to their party’s agenda.

“Constituency Service” refers to a whole set of activities that

members of Congress can engage in that makes them more likely to be reelected by their constituents because they see them as being

responsive to their needs.

Some of this simply involves having a sizable enough staff to be able to respond to calls from constituents regarding services from executive

agencies such as the Social Security Administration or the Veteran’s

Administration.

More controversially this includes efforts to ensure that the district

gets federal projects – and the accompanying spending – in their

districts. These can include the preservation of military

installations and funding for items built in that district which employs

district residents.

These are called pork barrel projects. In our area, this includes funding for manned space flight and the Johnson Space Center.

Earmarks also fall under this category.

Each allow members of Congress to direct spending in their districts, which many argue is a legitimate part of their power of the purse, but other argue is at least partly responsible for increases in the

budget.

Here’s an irony though. While people criticize this spending,

voters tend to reward members of Congress that obtain these funds

for them and punish those that do not.

This creates the obvious tension.

The job of leadership to try to organize these members in order

to pursue common objectives over their individual interests.

Party leaders are evaluated based on their ability to do so.

Some members run for Congress with the intent to have an impact on some aspect of public policy.

Ron Paul – and his focus on monetary policy, etc – is a good

example.

Other members come to Congress with the intent to attain leadership

positions. This means that they work within the parties and work

themselves up the ladder. The ultimate prize is to become leader

of the party.

2 - The Constitutional leaders of each chamber

We already mentioned that very few positions are established in

the Constitution. The chambers are said to be presided by respectively, the Speaker of the House and the

President of the Senate.

Here’s some info on each.

The idea of a Speaker dates back to the Speaker of the House of

Commons who was given the responsibility to recognize

speakers, retain order in the House and speak for the House of

Commons before the King. That last job could be dangerous.

Some Links:

US House: Speakers of the U.S. House. Wikipedia: Speaker of the United States House

of Representatives

The Speaker of the House of Commons is not member of the

House. There is no clear statement that the Speaker of the House

should be either.

Officially the Speaker is meant to be neutral, but since the position is held by the leader of the majority party, they are not really neutral.

The role of the Speaker is not specified in the Constitution,

though it was expected that the Speaker would be a neutral

presiding officer.

This remained the case until the development of strong parties and

the discovery that the ability to recognize speakers on the House floor could be used for political

advantage.

The early Speakers were in fact neutral, and the office was not

especially important until Henry Clay took advantage of the power

the position offered.

The early Speakers were in fact neutral. Henry Clay is considered

to have been responsible for using the office this was.

The Power of the Speaker reached its zenith with the speakerships of

Joseph Cannon and Thomas Reed.

A revolt against them in the early 20th century led to a restructuring

of the positions power.

The power of the Speaker is conditional, based on power over

committee appointments, the Rules Committee, and the bill making process. Once these

powers are minimized, the Speaker becomes less powerful, but other

institutions fill the vacuum.

One of the more powerful Speakers was Texan Sam Rayburn who held the office for about two decades in the mid- 20th Century

Two other Texans served as Speaker during the 20th Century

John Nance GarnerJim Wright

The Texas Speaker has far more powers that the U.S. Speaker due to his ability to staff committees,

select committee chairs, and send legislation to committees for

markup.

Current Speakers

U.S.: John BoehnerTexas: Joe Straus

The United States Senate is headed by the President of the Senate who

is also the Vice President in the executive branch.

The Texas Senate is headed by the Lieutenant Governor, who is also

called the President of the Senate.

The President of the Senate

Vice PresidentLieutenant Governor

Joe BidenDavid Dewhurst

The United States Vice President is also President of the Senate, but

has no real power. He can break tie votes, but his role in the governing process generally stops after the

election.

This is the only position that serves in two branches, though there is a

dispute about whether each is primarily a legislative or executive

office.

Vice Presidents who have unique skills and are allowed discretion by the President have been known to exercise considerable power. Dick Cheney up until 2006 is the classic

example.

3 – Committees

The Workhorses of Congress

Congress in session is Congress on display, Congress in committee is

Congress at work. - Woodrow Wilson

Note: Whoever has control over committees, has control over the

legislature. Who ever wants to get on a particular committee has to

do what that person or institution wants.

There are four types

Standing CommitteesJoint Committees

Special CommitteesConference Committees

standing committee - Permanent committees established under the standing rules of the Senate and

specializing in the consideration of particular subject areas. There are currently 16 standing committees.

joint committee - Committees including membership from both houses of

Congress. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and

normally lack authority to report legislation. Chairmanship usually

alternates between the House and Senate members from Congress to Congress.

select or special committee - A committee established by the

Senate for a limited time period to perform a particular study or

investigation. These committees might be given or denied authority to report legislation to the Senate.

conference committee - A temporary, ad hoc panel composed of House and Senate conferees which is formed for the purpose of reconciling differences in legislation that

has passed both chambers. Conference committees are usually convened to

resolve bicameral differences on major and controversial legislation.

Standing committees in Congress date back to the establishment of the Ways and Means Committee when the Treasury Department

was created.

A standing committee is sometimes established when a new executive department is

established.

The most recent example is the Committee on Homeland Security.

Standing Committees in

US HouseUS Senate

Texas HouseTexas Senate

Principle Functions of Standing Committees

MarkupHearingsOversight

Constituency Service

Members must get on right committee in order to successfully provide benefits for constituents.

They will be in a position to ensure that legislation contains language that benefits their constituents.

The most powerful standing committees are those that have

jurisdiction over money, be it taxing, budgeting or

appropriations.

House Ways and MeansSenate Finance

House and Senate BudgetHouse and Senate Appropriations

The Ways and Means committee is very difficult to be appointed to.

Parties can use this as leverage to get their support for party

positions.

The partisan composition of each committee reflects the party

composition in the chamber as a whole. The majority party is a

majority in each committee and holds the party chair.

The precise ratio is up for negotiation following each

election.

The Committee Chair

The process for determining the committee chair is established by

the majority party.

Means used in the past

Discretion of Party LeaderStrict Seniority

Open Party BallotSecret Party Ballot

The Strength of Committee Chairs is largely based on the process by which each gets the position. The more it is based on seniority, the stronger and more autonomous

they are.

An exceptionally strong committee chair can override the preferences

of the party.

The Committee Chair

The consequence of strict seniority in the mid 20th Centrury

Factors facilitating strength of committee chairs

Ability to table legislationAbility to override decision of rest

of committeeLack of sub-committees

The Sub-Committee Bill of Rights.

An effort in 1973 to restrict the power of Committee Chairs. Each Committee is mandated to have a number of subcommittees which allow

for further specialization, and restricted the ability of the Chair to dominate committee

activities.

4 - Political Parties

Political Parties are the dominant organizing feature in the United States Congress. They are less

important in the Texas Legislature due to the strength of the Speaker

and Lieutenant Governor.

Currently almost all members of Congress are members of either

the Democratic or Republican Parties.

Parties are responsible for:

Recruiting CandidatesFunding Campaigns

Organizing CampaignsStaffing Committees

Setting the Congressional Agenda

Political Parties date to the early days of Congress and helped members organize to either

support of oppose the policies of the Washington Administration.

Parties are far more important in the United States Congress than in

the Texas Legislature.

Texas had a long history as a one party state, but parties are

becoming more important in the legislature.

In the U.S. Congress parties are referred to as “caucuses” and

“conferences.”

House Democratic CaucusHouse Republican Conference

Senate Democratic CaucusSenate Republican Conference

Parties were not held in favor by the framers of the Constitution, nevertheless two founders were

responsible for the establishment of the first two parties.

Alexander Hamilton: The Federalist Party

Thomas Jefferson: The Democrat-Republican Party

Washington opposed them.

He argued that their existence would only lead to further

contentiousness in society. Other claimed that he simply didn’t like there to be an opposition party.

His Farewell Address

Contemporary commentators argue that political parties are

necessary in order for Congress to function at all and to overcome the

impediments created by the checks and balances.

Two important terms

Unified GovernmentDivided Government

Unified Government:

The term used to describe periods when one party controls both the legislative and executive branches.

It is assumed that during these times, it is easier for legislation to

be passed, and for the executive to be free from investigative activites.

Having the two elected institutions dominated by groups of individuals

committed to the same policies and principles makes it easier for

policy to be passed into law.

It then allows the general population to evaluate the policies

and determine whether they approve or disapprove of it.

Proponents of unified party control of government argue that it

provides the only opportunity for a democratic choice to be made by

the general population.

Divided Government

The period when one party controls the legislative branch and

the other controls the executive branch. It is assumed that it

becomes more difficult to pass laws and to effectively implement

policy.

Divided government is favored by those who wish to minimize

governmental action.

Although 3 out of the 4 most recent sessions of Congress have been unified, divided government

has been the rule recently.

The United States Congress is dominated by two political parties which are organized as caucuses.

The Democratic Caucus.The Republican Conference.

As we will see, that is because of the existence of rules which give

the bulk of power within the Texas House and Senate to the Speaker of the House and the President of

the Senate.

Specifically, they can staff committees and direct the flow of

legislation through each institution.

Since there are only two major parties in each legislature, there is inevitably a majority party and a

minority party.

Its good to be the majority party, mostly in the U.S. Congress.

Perks for the Majority Party in the U.S. Congress:

You select the SpeakerYou hold a majority in all the

standing committeesYou hold the committee chairs

You set Congress’ agenda

The best the minority can do is slow down the legislative process

in the Senate by threatening to filibuster and taking advantage of

the many rules that require 60 votes to proceed with legislation.

Back to History

Political parties in Congress date back to the first Congress.

Political disputes of this time:

The Hamilton Tariff.The Establishment of the State, War and Treasury Department.

The Compromise of 1790.

Many of these disputes came down to support or opposition to

the economic policies proposed by Alexander Hamilton. He presented

a series of proposals during the first Congress that would

strengthen the nation’s economic system.

First Report on the Public Credit.Operations of the Act Laying Duties on

Imports.Second Report on Public Credit.

Report on the Establishment of a Mint.Report on Manufactures.

Internal conflict over these policies became organized around the

personalities and efforts of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas

Jefferson.

Originally these factions were simply called pro and anti –

administration, but the pros would become the Federalist Party and

the antis would become the Democrat-Republicans.

The Federalists promoted pro-commercial policies under the direction of Alexander

Hamilton. They promoted further expansions of national power, a strong currency, the development of national

infrastructure and the creation of a national bank. They represented the

interest of the commercial classes, urban bankers and businessmen.

The Democratic – Republicans promoted agrarian, state oriented

policies under the direction of Thomas Jefferson. They

represented the interests of the working classes – shop owners,

farmers, and laborers.

This was the birth of the political party system in the United States.

Despite the fact that some opposed parties, they proved to be

effective ways to organize Congress internally, and to recruit

candidates to run for offie.

Until the early 1820s, congressional parties dominated the presidential selection process

through a process that became known as King Caucus.

As the country – and suffrage – expanded, parties became

controlled more by external forces, not the parties in Congress.

Over the years, parties in the United States Congress have

evolved considerably.

History of Parties in the United States House

Party Leadership, etc. . Party Divisions in the U.S. House

History of Parties in the United States Senate

Political Parties and Leadership.Party Divisions.

Wikipedia: Party Divisions in Congress and the Presidency

Officially, parties do not really exist in Congress. Members are simply affiliated with one of two major

caucuses in each chamber.

House Democratic CaucusHouse Republican Conference

Senate Democratic CaucusSenate Republican Conference

The term “caucus” is used to refer to any political group. The term also refers to informal collections of

members of Congress who wish to influence some aspect of public policy.

Congressional Caucus. List of Caucuses in Congress.

Members, with very few exceptions, are elected into

Congress as members of parties and meet first in their party’s

caucus where they receive committee assignments.

They must work within the party in order to achieve personal goals. Parties also have certain powers they can use to coerce members

not to stray.

Political parties place members on committees and determine

whether a member’s goals will be realized.

Party support conditional on member loyalty to party.

Parties can punish members who do not support party, but

members can switch parties if prompted, or lured.

All important assignments are made in the party caucus. Each

side votes for their leader, which they nominate for Speaker. This

means that the Speaker is always the leader of the Majority Party.

Caucuses meet often in closed sessions to establish legislative

agendas, select committee members and chairs, and hold

elections to choose various floor leaders.

Party Leadership Positions

- Floor Leaders- Party Whips

- Caucus Chairmen- Policy and Steering

Committee Chairs- Congressional Campaign

Committee Chairs

Click here for financial information about the congressional leadership

each from OpenSecrets.

Floor Leaders

These are the majority and minority leaders. Each is

responsible for scheduling business on the floor, planning party

strategy, and keeping the party as united as possible when casting

roll call votes.

One of the principle powers the floor leader in the House has is selecting which members of the party can and cannot speak on legislation before the House.

Party Whips

The Party Whip (majority or minority) is in charge of the Whip System, which is the organization

responsible for counting votes and pressuring party members to vote

with the party.

Caucus Chairmen

These are the individual in each party who organize caucus related activities and work to coordinate

the party’s communications.

Policy and Steering Committee Chairs

They are responsible for advice and analysis concerning policy

proposals advanced by each party and the proper means of

advancing them through Congress.

Congressional Campaign Committee Chairs

These individuals oversee the party’s recruitment of candidates, fundraising, and the organization

of races in districts where the party is expected to be competitive.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

National Republican Congressional Committee

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

National Republican Senatorial Committee

Party Cohesion

This is a vitally important factor for party success. A party is only

strong if it is unified.

The Democratic Party tends to be less unified than the Republican

Party.

This is argued to be due to the greater diversity within the party.

In recent years, the two major parties have become increasingly distinct ideologically. Very few members are moderate. This is

argued to be due to gerrymandering, which organizes congressional districts

along partisan lines, and primary elections, which allows party identifiers to select

candidates for the general election. This has made moderate candidates from

either party less competitive than extremists.

Republicans are increasingly conservative and Democrats are

increasingly liberal. Moderates are uncompetitive in either party.

For evidence read: Pulling Apart

A driving force leading to this is argued to be the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which positioned the Democratic

Party as the party of civil rights and drove conservative members out of the party.

But this process took decades. Democrats continued to control Congress which

meant they controlled committees, so there was little reason to shift alliances.

Republicans developed the Southern Strategy to encourage

Southern Democrats to shift parties. This process did not begin significantly until the 1994 election

when the Republican Party became the majority Party in

Congress and was then attractive to Southern members Democrats.

Some argue that party polarization has led to the current level of

dysfunction in Congress.

Was Washington right to counsel against them?

Additional Institutions

Congress has developed a variety of additional institutions to provide

information for bills and other related matters

Congressional Budget Office.

Provides “Objective, nonpartisan, and timely analysis to aid in

economic and budgetary decisions on a wide array of programs

covered by the federal budget.”

Congressional Research Service.

Conducts research for members of Congress about matters that are

the subject of legislation.

Government Accountability Office.

“Assists Congress in reviewing and monitoring the activities of government by conducting

independent audits, investigations, and evaluations of federal

programs.”

Study Guide:

- What institutions have been developed to assist Congress in the creation of legislation and especially in the preparation and evaluation of the budget.- Which are the most powerful committees and why?- What do committees do? - How do members of Congress get their committee assignments? - What types of committees exist?- What functions do political parties perform in Congress? What positions exist in each party? - What factors drive individual members of Congress?- What constitutional functions do parties perform?

- What functions does the Speaker of the House perform? - What is unified government? What is divided government?- Why is it advantageous to be the majority party in Congress? - How do parties attempt to rally maintain cohesiveness among their members? - What factors have led to party polarization?- Why did parties form in the early Congress?