2. Legislature Flashcards
Advantages & Disadvantages of Congress’ bicameral nature
Advantages - Both chambers have similar powers to legislate meaning that bills are properly considered making it possible for stronger laws to be passed and preventing legislative excessive from a single chamber. E.g. The 2006 Flag Desecration Amendment would have impeded on the right to freedom of speech by making burning the American flag illegal. It passed in the House but failed in the Senate
Disadvantages - Lengthy process to pass legislation especially due to the concurrent legislative process. E.g. at the end of debating the Senate and House will likely have two very different-looking bills meaning sometimes a Conference Committee is required. In the 107th Congress, it was used 7 times
Advantages & Disadvantages of the election system for Congress
Advantage - Allows constant electoral scrutiny of the legislative branch by having elections every 2 years meaning while not all seats are re-elected those that are give a strong indication of the public’s attitude towards the current political context. E.g. Obama only had a majority of Democrats in the House during his first 2 years and for the remaining 6 the Republicans had control.
Disadvantage - with seats in both houses up for election every 2 years, the chances of divided government in the US are high which has become increasingly prevalent in recent history. E.g. between 1901-1969 in just 2 of the 34 Congresses were the House and Senate controlled by 2 different parties. On the other hand, the last 3 Congresses have been controlled by two separate parties
Advantages & Disadvantages of the distribution of seats
Advantage - there is roughly equal distribution of seats in Congress for population in the House and states in the Senate meaning both are represented evenly in the law making process E.g the lowest population state, Wyoming has 1 representaitve, whereas the largest California has 52.
Disadvantage - can be said that in the Senate there is an over-emphasis of the states as Wyoming, the state with the smallest population, and California, with the largest population, having equl representation in the Senate is clearly undemocratic
Composition of Congress - Gender
In 2001-2002 there was only 13.5% women in the House and 14% in the Senate.
Whereas, in 2017-2018 there was 19% women in the House and 21% in the Senate.
Despite not being proprotional to society, the nubmber of women has been steadily increasing over the years continuously.
Still quite far off the around 50% of citizens that are women
Composition of Congress - Black and Latino
In 2001-2002 there was 12.5% Black and Latino in the House and 0% in the Senate
In 2017-2018 there was 17% Black and Latino in the House and 7% in the Senate.
The number of African Americans in the Senate has varied over the years but the number in the House has steadily risen over the years.
Still far under the percentage of the country that is black and Latino at 31%
Composition of Congress - Religion
In 2017:
In the US population there are 69.5% Christians. In the House 90% of members are Christian and 88% of the Senate is Christian.
In the US population there are 2% Jewish. In the House 5.1% of members are Jewish and 8% in the Senate.
In the US population there are 1% Mulism. In the House 0.5% of members are Muslim and 0% in the Senate
Composition of Congress - LGBT
In 2001-2002 there were 3 openly LGBTQ members in the House and 0 in the Senate
In the 118th Congress, there are 11 openly gay LGBTQ members in the House and 2 in the Senate
However, LGBTQ people remain underrepresented in Congress. The 13 current members of Congress account for about 2% of Congress but they make up 6.5% of the population.
The powers of Congress - Overriding the president’s veto
e.g. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 - Trump’s Presidential Veto overridden by the House in a 322-87 vote and overridden in the Senate by an 81-13 vote
The 2/3 requirement to overturn a veto can make it quite difficult to overturn a veto even if a bill is largely bipartisan e.g. Iran War Powers Resolution – May 06 2020 - Trump vetoed bipartisan resolution of Congress to limit President’s use of military force against Iran
The powers of Congress - Confirming appointments
Congress can choose not to confirm cabinet positions e.g. In 2017 President Trump’s nomination for Secretary of Labor, Andrew Pudzer did not reach the required number of votes to be confirmed
President can choose to form policy with use of their EXOP advisors which the majority of don’t require Senatorial confirmation e.g. President Trump used the NSC as a more political role when he placed his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, as head of the NSC
The powers of Congress - Ratifying treaties
Congress can choose not to ratify a treaty made by the President e.g. On October 13th 1999, the Republican controlled Senate rejected the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed by Democrat President Bill Clinton
executive agreements are essentially just international treaties that don’t require ratification by the Senate
e.g. 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - the Iran Nuclear Deal. Was an agreement where Iran would reduce its stockpile uranium stopping it from mkaing nuclear bombs
The powers of Congress - Initiating Constitutional amendments
They are able to initiate amendment to the constitution e.g. 27 amendments have been successfully proposed by Congress and passed by the states
However, it still requires ratification by 3/4 of the states, placing a large check on this power e.g. DC Voting Rights Amendment to give full Congressional representation to DC which passed both houses of Congress in 1978, but only received 16 state ratifications by the end of the 7 year deadline
The powers of Congress - Impeaching and removing the president
The House of Reps can vote to order an impeachment of the President, and the Senate can vote on whether to remove them from office with 2/3
In February 2021, the second impeachment of President Trump began, after the US Capitol attack, though the Senate vote did not meet the 2/3 majority required
Has never actually worked before
The powers of Congress - Power of the purse (essay plan)
House of Representatives alone can begin appropriations bills, although Senate can amend
Are able to shape government policy through deciding which executive department get more or less funding when it comes to the annual budget for the US government e.g. In the 2018 budget, President Trump requested that the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) be cut by 1/3. Despite being from the same party, House Republicans instead proposed a budget cut of just 6% for the EPA
Are able to block action that the president is taking through withdrawing all funding to it e.g. Obama’s 2009 executive order aimed to close Guantanamo Bay within the year, but Congress passed the Supplemental Appropriations Act 2009 to block funds for transfer or release of detainees, despite a Democrat majority in both Houses
Can force the executive government to submit to congressional demand or face a government shut down e.g. In October 2013 no agreement was made and parts of the federal government shutdown for 16 days when Republicans demanded the spending bill include provisions to strip funding from Obamacare or delay its implementation
The powers of Congress - Declaring War
Only Congress can declare war on another country
Last used in WW2 but Congress has also been asked to authorize the use of troops most commonly through the Authorization for Use of Military Forces (AUMFs). Used by Bush, Obama and Trump to justify their actions in 14 countries since 2001
However, the President as commander in chief of the military does not need Congressional approval to deploy troops (but power of the purse)
The power of Congress - legilsation - timetabling
The House uses the House Rules Committee
The Senate has a unanimous consent agreement- an agreement between the Senate majority and minority leaders on the order in which bills will be debated on the Senate floor.
The powers of Congress - legislation - floor debate and vote on passage (fillibusters on the Senate floor)
Influencial - they can raise public awareness e.g. in 2013, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas spoke non-stop for just over 21 hours on the Affordable Care Act-making this the 4th longest filibuster in history. This also made him a leader of the conservative movement.
Not influencial - in the Senate restrictions have been introduced e.g. in 1975 the number of senators needed to pass a colture was reduced to 3/5 (60) of the Senate. In 2013 the use of fillibustering during ratification of nominees by the president was prevented expect for on Supreme court nominees but this was changed in 2017 to including SCOTUS nominees.
The powers of Congress - legislation - vote on passage
Influencial - they can effectivley scrutinise the bills enusirng they uphold their values. Obama’s healthcare reform legislation in 2010 had 7 separate votes- 4 in the House and 3 in the Senate (15 months)
Not influencial - The 112th Congress (2011-12) was the least productive in terms of legislation of any recent Congress with only 284/12,299 (just over 2%) bills introduced becoming law. A typical Congress gets, anything between 10,000 to over 14,000 bills but only around 2,496 actually make it into law- incredibly smal
The powers of Congress - legislation - presidential action
Signing into law - March 2010 signing by Obama of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shows off the Presidents support for the bill. Can become a big media event
Leaving it on the desk - the presidents has no position, or would like to veto but knows they would be overridden. Will become law without signature in 10 congressional working days.
Regular veto success - In the 228 years between 1789 and the end of Obama’s 2nd term in Jan 2017, presidents have used the regular veto 1,508 times, and only 111 (7%) have been overridden by Congress.
Regular veto failure - 2008, Congress overrode George W. Bush’s veto of the Medicare Improvements Bill by votes of 383-41 in the House and 70-26 in the Senate. It was Bush’s 4th defeat in 11 vetoes in 8 years.
Pocket veto success - Clinton was the last to use it on the Consumer Bankruptcy Overhaul Bill in December 2000.
Pocket veto failure - George W. Bush claimed to have used the power in Dec 2007 when he killed the National Defense Authorisation Bill. However, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected this, saying that the House was technically still in session at the time. In early 2008, Congress passed the bill again in a slightly amended form and the President signed it into law.
Strengths of the legislative process
Lengthy process - ensures scrutiny of legislation and ensures the quality, popularity and workability of laws that are passed e.g. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts began in November of 2017 and passed in December 2017. Went through both the Senate and House and then went to a Conference Committee where the disagreements were settled.
The equality of the houses - ensures that the need of both the people and the states are heard, with compromise being integral to the process e.g. conference committees, although the 2 houses in recent years have been able to settle difference informally such as in the 113th Congress (2013-15) the number of times it was used was just 2
Supermajorities - the requirement of them for the veto override and a cloture motions helps to prevent tyranny of the majority e.g. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 - Trump’s Presidential Veto overridden by the House in a 322-87 vote and overridden in the Senate by an 81-13 vote
Weaknesses of the legislative process
Lengthy process - makes the process challenging and as the congressional session is so short the chance of passing legislation is limited. E.g 2017-2019, the 115th Congress turned 443 out of over 10,000 (4%) bills into laws
The equality of the houses - when both houses are united in one political ideology scrutiny of legislation is reduced through party dominance. e.g. in Obama’s first 2 years as president 2009-2011 there was a Democrat majority in both houses
Supermajorities - can lead to tyranny of the minority e.g. In the 228 years between 1789 and the end of Obama’s 2nd term in Jan 2017, presidents have used the regular veto 1,508 times, and only 111 have been overridden by Congress.
Congress is significant at policy making
Congress can pass laws on a wide range of policy issues e.g. the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act was about increasing funding to educate disadvantaged students. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in 2010 which expanded the Medicaid program
In times of unified government, significant legislative achievements can be made e.g. the passage of Trump-supported Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017 which reduced taxes for businesses and individuals and removed the ‘individual mandate’ set up in Obamacare which made a requirement for each individual to have at least a minimum coverage of healthcare insurance. This was despite the Republican party not fully being united behind Trump
The Supremacy clause of the Constitution ensures that congressional law is superior to state law. States are therefore bound to follow legislation that they do not approve of E.g. In United States v Arizona 2012, the court struck down 3 provisions of an Arizona immigration law as they encroached on areas of congressional authority to regulate immigration
Congress is not significant at policy making
Being dependent on the states to enforce laws, Congress has found its laws ignored e.g. Marijuana remains federally illegal, yet an increasing number of states have passed legislation legalising it in 9 states recreationally and 30 medically
The difficulty of creating and passing legislation means that Congress does not pass huge amounts of legislation. E.g. 2017-2019, the 115th Congress turned 443 out of over 10,000 bills into laws. Additionally, Congress failed to pass any meaningful immigration reform despite bipartisan efforts in the Senate and support from President Obama
Laws passed by Congress can be overturned by both the president and Supreme Court e.g. In the 228 years between 1789 and the end of Obama’s 2nd term in Jan 2017, presidents have used the regular veto 1,508 times, and only 111 have been overridden by Congress. The Supreme Court ruled in the National Federation of Independent Business v Sebellius 2012 striking down the section of the 2010 Affordable Care Act which forced states to participate in an expansion of the federal-state Medicaid programme or lose all federal funding for Medicaid
The Committee system - standing committees - confirmation of appointments (senate only)
Influential - It was the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committees that refused to hold hearings on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland in 2016
Not influential - The vote is not decisive- only recommendatory- but it is a very important clue to the likely outcome of the nomination e.g. Clarence Thomas when in the Judiciary Committee failed to receive a favorable recommendation on a 7–7 vote yet he was still voted in by the Senate to the Supreme Court in 1991 on a 52-48 vote
The Committee system - standing committees - scrutiny of legilsation
Responsible for legislation and scrutiny of the executive branch. Also, begins confirmation of appointments (Senate only)
Influential - can dictate the legislation that goes onto the House and Senate floor by pigeonholing a bill, meaning it can stop legislation
Not influential - standing committee members are allocated proportionally to the chamber they are from meaning that the majority party has the majority of seats in the committee, undermining the effectiveness at scrutinising partisan legislation
