Chapter Ten: Congress Flashcards
Appropriations Committee
standing committee in House of Representatives and the Senate that look at discretionary budget bills and deny or approve them - spending - in house can originate budget bills but senate can’t
Rules Committee
standing committee in House of Representatives that controls over how bills are moved through the House of Representatives - sets closed and open rules
Ways and Means
standing committee in the House of Representatives -
bills on revenues and taxes
Senate Judiciary Committee
approve judicial appointments
Power of legislative branch
Most powerful branch in the government (bicameral - 2 house)
Constituents views
AKA delegate - a congressman makes decisions based on the will of the people that elected him
Party views
AKA partisan - a congressman makes decisions based on the platform of his party
Personal views
AKA trustee - a congressman makes decisions based on his own personal opinion of the matter
Congress’ expressed powers in the Constitution
- lay and collect taxes
- borrow money
- regulate commerce
- establish rules for naturalization and bankruptcy
- coin money
- fix standards of weights and measures
- establish a post office and post roads
- issue patents and copyrights
- create courts (other than SCOTUS)
- define and punish piracies
- declare war
- raise and support and army and navy
- provide for a militia
- exercise exclusive legislative powers over DC and other federal facilities
Elastic clause
AKA necessary and proper clause - Congress has the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying out their expressed powers
Exclusive powers given to the House
- Revenue bills must originate in the House
- House can make charges for impeach government officials
Exclusive powers given to the Senate
- Major Presidential appointments are confirmed by the Senate
- Senate approves treaties with foreign nations
- Tries the impeachment of officials
Other differences between House and Senate
- House terms = 2 years Senate terms = 6 years (1/3 of Senate up for reelection every two years)
- House = 453 members (by pop. of states) Senate = 100 members (2 per state)
- House requirements = 25 yo (years old), 7 yc (years a citizen) Senate requirements = 30 yo, 9 yc
Evolutionary powers
Congressional powers that evolved over the years because of the elastic clause
- Oversight of the budget
- Investigation
Oversight of the budget power
Congress reviews and restricts the annual budget prepared by executive - Congress must pass an authorization bill that states the maximum amount of money available - when budget is set, only Congress can set the appropriations (actual amount available in a fiscal year)
Investigation power
Congress may investigate both issues that warrant study and wrong doings by public officials e.g. Watergate Scandal and Clinton-Lewinsky
Leadership in Congress
Party with most representatives is the majority, and the other is the minority - Speaker of the House is the most important leadership position in the House
Powers of the Speaker of the House
- recognizing members who wish to speak
- ruling on questions of parliamentary procedure
- appointing members to select and conference committees
- Directs business on the floor
- Exercises political and behind-the-scenes influence
- Appointing members of the committees who appoint members to standing committees
- Exercising substantial control over which bills get assigned to which committees
- Appointing the party’s legislative leaders
Majority Leader
Speaker’s most important colleague - stepping stone to the Speaker’s position - responsible for scheduling bills and for rounding up votes for bills the party favors
Minority Leader
party power not parliamentary power
Party whips
Assist the floor leaders - serve as go-betweens for the members and the leadership - inform members when important bills will come up for a vote, do nose-counts for the leadership, and pressure members to support the leadership
President of the Senate
the Vice President
President Pro Tempore
usually the most senior member in the party
Senate Leaders
majority leader and minority leader
Standing committees
semi-permanent - most important type of committee because they handle bills in different policy areas, thus shaping legislation - may fluctuate but tend to “stand” for a long time
Select committees
formed for specific purposes and are usually temporary - some long standing select committees eventually become standing committees
Joint committees
similar purpose to select committees, but consist of members of both houses of Congress - help to focus public attention on major issues
Conference committees
consist of members from both houses and are formed to hammer out difference between House and Senate versions of similar bills - the newly formed compromise bill is sent back to both houses for final approval
Pigeonholed
bills forgotten for weeks or forever, and never make it out of a committee
Marked up
a changed or rewritten bill
Committee membership
party appointment - primarily controlled by the majority party - the chairman and majority of each standing committee come from the majority party
Committee chairmen
most important shapes of the committee agenda - selected by seniority system from 1910-1970s and then changed to secret ballots from all the majority members - most still get their positions through seniority
Seniority system
the committee member with the longest continuous service on the committee was placed automatically in the chairmanship
Closed rule
AKA gag rule - sets strict time limits on debate of the bill and forbids any amendments on the bill
Open rule
permits amendments and has less strict time limits on debate of the bill
Congressional caucuses
groupings of members of Congress sharing the same interests or points of view - currently more than 70 who all try to shape the agenda of Congress by elevating their issues or interests to a prominent place in the daily workings of Congress
Staff
more than 30,000 people work in paid bureaucratic positions for Congress
Congressional demographics
- 90% are male
- most are well educated
- most are from upper income backgrounds
- most are protestants
- most are white
- average age is 60 for senators and 55 for house reps
- 40% are lawyers, others business owners or officers, professors and teachers, clergy, and farmers
Incumbency advantage
incumbents’ names are more recognizable than their challengers, so they are more likely to be elected
Malapportionment
districts of unequal sizes and populations - some people were more able to access their representatives than others - Wesberry v. Sanders
Wesberry v. Sanders
SCOTUS ruled that districts be drawn so that one person’s vote would be as equal as possible to another - “one man, one vote”
Gerrymandering
district boundaries are drawn in strange ways in order to make it easy for the candidate of one party to win the election in that district
Bill
legislative act with long-term legal effect
Simple resolution
passed by either house, usually establishes rules, regulations, or practices that don’t have the power of law - not signed by POTUS
Concurrent resolution
comes from both houses and often settles housekeeping and procedural matters that affect both houses - not signed by POTUS and doesn’t have power of law
Joint resolution
requires approval by both houses and signature of POTUS and is essentially the same as a law - may be used for immediate action on an important issue e.g. 9/11
Discharge petition
brings a bill out of a committee to the floor
Congressional calendars
for a bill to come before either house, it . must first be placed on a calendar
Committee of the Whole
every member of Congress or whatever house the bill is in, sits as one committee to discuss a bill
Germane
relevant to the topic of the bill
Rider
amendment that is not relevant to the topic of the bill
Filibuster
the practice of talking a bill to death - debating so long that the bill is killed
Cloture
can stop a filibuster with 3/5 approval of the entire Senate membership
Christmas-tree bill
a bill with many riders
Roll call vote
consists of people answering “yea” or “nay” to their names - can be called for by 1/5 of the House membership
Veto
Presidential action on a bill that kills it - can be overridden by 2/3 of both houses
Pocket veto
If POTUS receives a bill within 10 days of adjournment of Congress, he may simply not respond and the bill will die
Pork
benefits for a Congressman’s district - pork barrel legislation was legislation that a Congressman wanted passed to please his constituents in hope of being reelected
Logrolling
when a member of Congress supports another member’s pet project in return for his or her own project - “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”
