2.1 The structure of Congress. Flashcards
What does a gallop poll show how many Americans approve of the job Congress is doing?
13% - done in 2016
What is having two chambers of government called?
bi cameral
How many members in the HoR and Senate
435, 100
What do congressmen/women represent in both chambers
HoR: representing congressional district
Senate: represent entire state
Whats the age requirement on congress
HoR: at least 25
Senate: at least 30
How are the number of HoR proportional
reapprotioned after a 10 year census,
What is a congressional district
A geographic subdivision of a state
represented by a member of the House of Representatives. The
American equivalent of a constituency in the UK.
How many women are there in the Senate?
24 - record number highest number
How many women in HoR
27% - record high
Wht is representation by race better in the HoR than in the Senate
the federal courts have
allowed states to draw congressional district boundaries to create
districts that are likely to return a Representative from an ethnic
minority group. These so-called ‘majority-minority districts’ are often
geographically distorted as they attempt to group together sometimes
scattered pockets of minority voters.
Who was the only black senator between 2005 and 2008?
Barack Obama of Illinois
How many African Americans are there in the senate?
3
How many of Congress members were in buiseness or banking?
53% of House members and 42% of senators
What are the powers of Congress?
- Law Making
- Overseeing the executive branch
- Overriding the president’s veto
- Confirming appointments
- Ratifying treaties
- Initiating constitutional amendments
- Impeaching and removing public officials
- Confirming an appointed vice president
- Declaring war
- Electing the president and vice president if the electoral college is deadlock
What special law making power does the HoR have?
the consideration of money bills
Where is the power of oversight (investigation) seen in the constitution
No explicit statement - implied by powers granted in Article I section 8 - states legislative body may investigate any subject within the scope of its legislative powers
Congress establishes votes on budges on all exec departments implies congressional oversight
How many times has congress overrode Obamas vetos
once - Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act that would have
allowed families of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks to sue
the government of Saudi Arabia for 9/11
How many times has Trump vetoed legislation
10 times
When did Trumps veto get overidden
The US Congress has overturned President Donald Trump’s veto of a defence spending bill, the first time this has happened in his presidency.
What is a senatorial courtesy
An informal agreement allows a
president to confer with any senator of their own party from a particular state before they make a nomination to fill a vacancy for a federal office affecting that state. This is important when it comes to
appointments that the president makes to the federal trial courts
How many votes did Amy Comey barret get?
Senate voted 52–48 in favor of confirming Amy Coney Barrett
What appointments do the Senate confirm?
- Appointments to federal judicary and all of the executive branch
What was the last treaty ratified by the senate?
United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement - 2020 - free trade agreement
89-10
How much did the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement pass in the senate
89-10 senate
How much votes is needed to ratify treaties?
2/3 majority - means that
the president needs to keep the Senate fully informed throughout
treaty negotiations, to avoid concluding treaties that the Senate is
unlikely to ratify.
How does Congress impeach public officals
Article II section 4
When did congress impeach judge?
Thomas Porteous in 2010 on
charges that included corruption and perjury
What was the most bi-partisan impeachment
Trumps second impeachment - 10 Republicans broke the line and voted to impeach
Who has ‘the sole power to try all impeachments’
the Senate
How does impeachment work bro
HoR - simple majority
If they are found guilty by a two-thirds majority in senate, the person is immediately removed from office
Why can’t congress members been impeached
seen as representatives of the people, whilst members of congress are not considered ‘officers of US’ - would be expelled for disordetly behavior with 2/3 majority
What did the 25th Amendment do?
(1967) gave to both houses the power
to confirm a newly appointed vice president. But note carefully that
this power relates only to a vice president who is appointed, not to
those who are elected.
When did congress appoint vice pres
1974 - Nixon resigned and Ford became president - Nelson Rockerfeller was appointed by ford, and HoR and Senate voted him in
When was the last time the US declared war
1941 - declaring war on Japan in WW2
How has congress been sidelined with war?
in Korea or Vietnam, for example — or
merely being asked to sanction military action that the president has
already decided to take, for example in Iraq
What happens if the electoral college is deadlocked (no candidates win an absolute majority)
HoR elects president
Senate elects VP
Happened in 1800 and 1824
What are the sole powers of the senate?
confirming appointments
Ratifying rtreaties
Sole powers of HoR
beginning consideration of money bills
Stat on prestige of senate over HoR
In 2017 there were 50 former House members in the Senate but no exsenators in the House of Representatives.
What prestige do senators have over HoR ppl
Senators are more likely to chair a committee or sub-committee
or hold some other leadership position.• The Senate is seen as a recruiting pool for presidential and vice
presidential candidates.
• Senators possess significant exclusive powers.
• House members frequently seek election to the Senate, but not
the other way around.
