Congress Flashcards
Give three powers of the House of representatives.
- Initiate money bills -
- Issue articles of impeachment - e.g. Trump for alleged affairs with Ukraine.
- Pick the president if the electoral college is deadlocked (one in 1800 and twice in 1824).
Give three powers held by the Senate exclusively.
- Conduct trials of impeachment - e.g. 2020 - Trump was found not guilty.
- Confirm presidential appointments - e.g. Amy Coney Barret in 2020 - though Merrick Garland was refused hearing in 2016.
- Ratify treaties negotiated by the President - e.g. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 2010 (voted 71-26).
Give three concurrent powers of Congress (held by both houses).
- Can override presidential veto - 2/3/ majority - e.g. Trump’s veto of the National Defence Authorisation Act 2021 was overridden.
- Power of the purse - controls al federal spending - e.g. Foreign Assistance Act 1974 - ended the Vietnam war by truncating spending.
- Can confirm a newly appointed VP - in accordance with the 25th amendment - e.g. Gerald Ford in 1973 and Nelson Rockefeller in 1974.
Is congressional oversight effective?
No:
- Oversight can be said to only be effective during divided government.
- Majority of Senate rejections have occured during divided government - e.g. Robert Bork (1987) and Merrick Garland (2016).
- Rejecting treaties occurs during divided government - e.g. Clinton’s Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was rejected in 1999.
- ‘Rallying to the flag’ - little congressional scrutiny - Bush’s 90% approval ratings meant for congress to interfere would be risky - after 2006 - oversight increased massively.
Does oversight lead to better policy?
✔ ‘lack of administration leads to maladministration - Thomas Mann.
❌ Too much oversight can lead to governmental failure - e.g. 2018 government shutdown
- e.g.2 - Merrick Garland didn’t receive a hearing though Congress were constitutionally obliged to provide one.
Give three factors that influence voting in Congress.
- The party - party votes take place over controversial issues - e.g. American Healthcare Bill 2018 - only killed by one vote in the Senate (John McCain).
- Constituency issues - ‘locality rule’ - member must be a resident of their constituency - ignoring the will of the ‘folks back home’ proves fatal - e.g. Wayne Gilchrest and Albert Wynn (Maryland) were defeated in the 2008 congressional primaries.
- The Executive - typically vote in line with the president - although voting in favour of an unpopular president is detrimental - e.g. Elizabeth Dole - defeated in re-election because she was loyal with Bush.
Give an example of partisanship in Congress.
- Preventing Trump from taking military action against Iran without Congressional Approval (55-45 Senate)
- American Healthcare Bill 2018 - 217-213
Compare Parliament and Congress on the idea that Congressional scrutiny is better than parliamentary regarding the constitutional arrangements.
US - a divided government was the intention of the Founding Fathers - leads to better scrutiny - e.g. Obama faced difficulty passing the Affordable Care Act - used pork to persuade Sanders to support the bill.
UK - PM is the leader of the largest party - use party whips to ensure MPs favour the bill - e.g. 21 Con. rebels were dismissed when they voted against a bill that would prevent a no-deal Brexit.
Compare Parliament and Congress on the idea that congressional scrutiny is better then parliament regarding veto/royal assent.
US - presidential veto can be overridden by Congress - Trump’s veto of the National Defence Authorisation Act 2021 was overridden.
UK - royal assent is merely a formality - 1707 was the last time it offered any scrutiny.
Compare Parliament and Congress on the idea that congressional scrutiny is more effective than the UK regarding appointments.
US - presidential appointments are heavily scrutinised - Merrick Garland was refused a hearing in 2016 - due to the Republican Controlled Senate - the majority of rejections occur during divided government (Bork (1987) and Garland (2016).
UK - very little scrutiny of the powers of patronage - ‘cash for peerages’ scandal 2006 - it was more so the scrutiny of external organisations that highlighted the scandal.
Compare Parliament and Congress on the idea that Congressional Scrutiny is more effective than parliament regarding committees.
US - greater powers of subpoena - e.g. Mark Zuckerberg appeared before a Congressional committee earlier in the same year due to more austere consequences in the US.
UK - weaker powers of subpoena - e.g. Mark Zuckerberg refused to appear at a joint committee on misinformation in 2018
Give one way Parliament could be said to scrutinise better regarding the fusion of powers.
UK - Executive must be part of the legislature and are subject to face-to-face scrutiny by the opposition and backbench MPS - e.g. PMQs - BJ faced a particularly tough PMQs following allegations of sleaze in Nov 2021.
US - President rarely steps foot in congress.
Give one way Parliament scrutinises better then Congress regarding vote of no confidence.
UK - vote of no confidence - e.g. Callaghan’s government in 1979.
US - impeachment trials are similar - though chaired by chief justice of the SC - depending on philosophy, they may be more forgiving - e.g. Justice Roberts - chaired Trump’s first impeachment trial - appointed by Bush Jr.
Compare Congress and Parliament regarding their effectiveness at representing.
US - greater accountability in US - ignoring them may prove fatal - e.g. Albert Wynn and Wayne Gilchrest (Maryland) were defeated in the 2008 congressional primaries for ignoring the will of their constituents.
UK - Safe seats are common in the UK - e.g. Liverpool Walton - Labour regularly polls 85% of the vote - even if the MP were to blunder, the party would likely maintain support - little accountability in safe seats.
Compare Congress and Parliament on the idea parliament is more effective regarding legislating.
US - Congress is regularly deadlocked - e.g. Affordable Care Act - the only way to overcome this is pork barrelling - e.g. Sanders received $10 billion for healthcare in Vermont - also increases accountability and representation.
- Parliament Acts of 1911 and ‘49 place HoC above HoL - prevents legislative deadlock - e.g. Hunting Act 2004.
