Congress Flashcards
What is pork-barreling ?
The utilizaiton of government funds for projects merely to please/win votes
What is a Filibuster?
The process of pro-longing a debate so as to delay or completley block a decision
How often are the Senate up for re-election and what does this say about their role?
1/3rd every 2 yrs as oppssed to whole house every 2yrs - means Senate less important?
What are the three roles of Congress ?
1 - Passing Legislation
2 - Representing the interests of their constituents - House members not Senators
3 - Oversight of the executive - checks and balances over potential ‘tyrannical’ government
Give an example of Congress overriding a president’s veto
1st Jan 2021 - US Congress overturned President Donald Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) - $740bn to fund defence policy - by 81 - 13 in the Senate
Give an example of Congress (Senate) confirming an appoitment
Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed on October 6th, 2018 by 50-48
Which Congress was the most racially diverse andhad the highest % of women
117th Congress (2021-23) - 27% of Women
23% of US pop have no religion but how many are athiest in Congress?
Just 1
117th had record no of African - Americans - How many were thre?
52 in House, 3 in Senate - just 3 were Republicans
What are ‘Majoirty-minority districts’?
where a majority of voters in the district are from the same minority ethnic group so allow for more representation in the House
Who was the first Senator to have a baby in office and force a change of rules in the Senate?
Tammy Duckworth
What exlusive poers does the Senate have?
Confirmation of appointments - power over whose in the SC an Executive
Ratification of Treaties
What examples show that the Senate is usually a launching pad for a presidential campaign?
Trauman, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Obama and Biden were all Senators
Arguements for the House being as important a role as the Senate?
Legislative powers are the same as in the House
Most other constitutional powers the same
Salary the same ($174)
House has power of the budget
Who has a say on what bill passes ?
Everyone - Decentralised power - president, senate + house all have power over the bill being passed
3 examples of Congress’s effectiveness when passing legislation
1) Bipartisan compromise is possible; the ‘First Step Act’ (2018), which reformed the criminal justice system, was worked on by both Dems + Reps
Passed 87-12 in Senate
Passed 358-36 in House
2) Emergency Legislation - Congress can pass emergency legislation when it needs to; it responded to the Covid-19 crisis with the largest ever economic stimulus in US history, ‘The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act’
3) Check on Executive - can do this by rejection legislation proposed by the executive
3 examples of Congress not performing effectively when passing legislation
1) Low number of bills pass - Only 2-3% of all bills become law - this figure has fallen since the 1980s, when 6-7% of bills became law
2) Gridlock is common, particularly in the current climate of polarisation, which makes bipartisanship difficult.
3) Filibustering - Members of the Senate can filibuster bills, contributing to gridlock
What is Gatekeeping Authority?
his power to control what ideas do or do not become bills - The chair of each committee has this power
How many Standing committees in the House and Senate?
house 19 - Seante 16
What else can the Chair do ?
Committees can kill bills by not voting on them
The chair determines the agenda by choosing which issues get considered
Control Committee budget
Who appoints chairs of Committees?
The Speaker of each house gives chairmanships for loyalty - gives speaker power
What is the power of subpeona ?
this power means that witnesses and evidence can be requested to come before the committee or face sanctions (Steve Bannon) - cant do this in the uk
What does it mean if a bill is ‘pigeon- holed’?
Once bill is in a committee, it is up to the committee to decide on which bills they are going to ‘hear’; can place bills in the bottom of the pile up to 3yrs wait
3 unique features and an example of a Stanidng committee
1) Permanent
2) Focuses on specific part of policy e.g. 3) Foreign Affairs or Agriculture
3) Committee can even influence whether a nominee is considered by the Senate;
e.g. Merrick Garland was nominated by Obama in 2016 - Rep members of the Senate Judiciary Committee supported Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell’s refusal to hold hearings on the appointment
3 unique features and function on Conference Committees
Temporary
Occurs when House and Senate have passed diff versions of same bill
Composed of both Democrats and Republicans
Function is to resolve bicameral differences on major/controversial legislatio
Used less frequently - 1995-7 Congress (104th) = 67 conference reports compared to just 7 in 2017-19
3 features of Select Committees and example
1) Set up to deal with specific urgent issues
2) High - Profile
3) Permanent Select Committee on intelligence
Possibility for congressional investigation creates powerful incentive for the executive to ensure its actions stand up to scrutiny
Jan 6th Committee
3 feautres of House Rules committee and example
1) Standing Committee in the House
2) It sets the ‘rules’ for bills i.e;how much time they will have on the floor of the House and whether amendments will be allowed
3)Chair of House Rules is very important
2013-2019 - Republican Pet Sessions received millions in donations to his campaign funds - he used his position to personally oppose relaxing of laws against Marijuanna
3 examploes of EFFECTIVE Congressional Oversight
1) Standing or Select committee investigations of the executive provide high-profile scrutiny
2) Congress can impeach and try the president for wrongdoing in office
3) Congress is better able to check the executive if a president is unpopular or at the end of their presidency
3 examples of INEFFECTIVE Congressional Oversight
1) Members of Congress are generally reluctant to criticise the president is they belong to the same party, so oversight is weaker during periods of united government
2) Investigations can be politicised and partisan - only 2 reps sitting on Jan 6th
3) No president has eve been removed from Office through the impeachment process
What happens when Congress cannot agree to pass the budget contrcuted by the executive ?
Govt Shutdown - most recent in 2018 for 35 days; 800k out of 2.1m furloughed
3 reasons why representing Constituents is rated so highly ?
1)The Constitution states they must be resident in the state they represent.
2) Typical Congress members are born, raised, educated and have worked in their state/district.
3) House members have to face the electors every 2 years.
3 impacts of the Jan 6th Committee
1) Power to subponea key Trump Ally, former cheif of staff, Mark Medows
2) Public Hearings Broadcasted Nationally - 13m ppl a day - some days 20m
3) CNN found that 69% of Americans deemed Jan 6th a crisis, but only up from 65%
Key issue with Committees in both UK and US
both lack enforcement power - Jan 6th only recommened to Department of Justice
- UK, select committees can only write reports, govt only has to answer, not accept
Key differences between committees in UK and US
- Sep of powers allows investigations to have minimal intrference from executive
- in UK, most committees are dominated by executive - fused powers
An example of a Bipartisan act
‘Bipartisan Safer Communities Act’ - Raised min age to purchase weapon to 21 - 14 house Republicans + 15 Senate Republicans
