Congress

Question 1

What is pork-barreling ?

Answer 1

The utilizaiton of government funds for projects merely to please/win votes

Question 2

What is a Filibuster?

Answer 2

The process of pro-longing a debate so as to delay or completley block a decision

Question 3

How often are the Senate up for re-election and what does this say about their role?

Answer 3

1/3rd every 2 yrs as oppssed to whole house every 2yrs - means Senate less important?

Question 4

What are the three roles of Congress ?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Give an example of Congress overriding a president’s veto

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Give an example of Congress (Senate) confirming an appoitment

Answer 6

Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed on October 6th, 2018 by 50-48

Question 7

Which Congress was the most racially diverse andhad the highest % of women

Answer 7

117th Congress (2021-23) - 27% of Women

Question 8

23% of US pop have no religion but how many are athiest in Congress?

Answer 8

Just 1

Question 9

117th had record no of African - Americans - How many were thre?

Answer 9

52 in House, 3 in Senate - just 3 were Republicans

Question 10

What are ‘Majoirty-minority districts’?

Answer 10

where a majority of voters in the district are from the same minority ethnic group so allow for more representation in the House

Question 11

Who was the first Senator to have a baby in office and force a change of rules in the Senate?

Answer 11

Tammy Duckworth

Question 12

What exlusive poers does the Senate have?

Answer 12

Confirmation of appointments - power over whose in the SC an Executive
Ratification of Treaties

Question 13

What examples show that the Senate is usually a launching pad for a presidential campaign?

Answer 13

Trauman, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Obama and Biden were all Senators

Question 14

Arguements for the House being as important a role as the Senate?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Who has a say on what bill passes ?

Answer 15

Everyone - Decentralised power - president, senate + house all have power over the bill being passed

Question 16

3 examples of Congress’s effectiveness when passing legislation

Answer 16

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

Question 17

3 examples of Congress not performing effectively when passing legislation

Answer 17

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

Question 18

What is Gatekeeping Authority?

Answer 18

his power to control what ideas do or do not become bills - The chair of each committee has this power

Question 19

How many Standing committees in the House and Senate?

Answer 19

house 19 - Seante 16

Question 20

What else can the Chair do ?

Answer 20

Committees can kill bills by not voting on them

The chair determines the agenda by choosing which issues get considered

Control Committee budget

Question 21

Who appoints chairs of Committees?

Answer 21

The Speaker of each house gives chairmanships for loyalty - gives speaker power

Question 22

What is the power of subpeona ?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What does it mean if a bill is ‘pigeon- holed’?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

3 unique features and an example of a Stanidng committee

Answer 24

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

Question 25

3 unique features and function on Conference Committees

Answer 25

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

Question 26

3 features of Select Committees and example

Answer 26

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

Question 27

3 feautres of House Rules committee and example

Answer 27

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

Question 28

3 examploes of EFFECTIVE Congressional Oversight

Answer 28

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

Question 29

3 examples of INEFFECTIVE Congressional Oversight

Answer 29

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

Question 30

What happens when Congress cannot agree to pass the budget contrcuted by the executive ?

Answer 30

Govt Shutdown - most recent in 2018 for 35 days; 800k out of 2.1m furloughed

Question 31

3 reasons why representing Constituents is rated so highly ?

Answer 31

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.

Question 32

3 impacts of the Jan 6th Committee

Answer 32

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%

Question 33

Key issue with Committees in both UK and US

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Key differences between committees in UK and US

Answer 34

• Sep of powers allows investigations to have minimal intrference from executive
• in UK, most committees are dominated by executive - fused powers

Question 35

An example of a Bipartisan act

Answer 35

‘Bipartisan Safer Communities Act’ - Raised min age to purchase weapon to 21 - 14 house Republicans + 15 Senate Republicans