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Congress Flashcards

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1
Q

How many members of the House of Representatives are there?

A

435

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2
Q

How are House seats allocated?

A

Split proportionally according to state population - calculated every 10 years in a census

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3
Q

How often are House elections?

A

Every 2 years

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4
Q

How many Senators are there?

A

100

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5
Q

How many Senators per state?

A

2 - ensure small states aren’t overlooked

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6
Q

How long have Senators been directly elected for?

A

Since 1918 - before they were appointed by State legislatures

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7
Q

How often are Senate elections?

A

Every 2 years for 1/3 of the Senators

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8
Q

How long are Senate terms?

A

6 years

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9
Q

How much of the population do the smallest 25 states make up?

A

25%

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10
Q

Why are there anti-democratic features?

A

Prevent Mobocracy and prevent the tyranny of the majority

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11
Q

How is the power in the UK and US different?

A

UK = centralised
USA = dispersed

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12
Q

Where can bills originate?

A

Either the house or the Senate

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13
Q

What is the first stage of the legislative process?

A

Standing Committee Stage

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14
Q

Who are members of Standing Committees?

A

Members of Congress who are experts on the subject of the bill

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15
Q

What do they do at the Committee stage?

A

Amend the bill and decide whether it passes through to the main chamber. Most bills end their passage through congress at this stage.

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16
Q

What happens if the bill is released?

A

Bill is timetabled for debate

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17
Q

Who determines the rules set for the bill?

A

The House rules committee

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18
Q

What rules can the House instate?

A

No amendments, time allowed for debate

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19
Q

How is the legislative process different from the UK?

A

Concurrent - the bill goes through the house and Senate at the same time

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20
Q

What comes out of the end of the two houses?

A

Two different bills

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21
Q

How do the two bills become one?

A

Discussed in a conference committee

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22
Q

What must a bill do to become law?

A

Be passed by both houses

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23
Q

Who makes up the Conference Committee?

A

Members of the standing committees for both houses.

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24
Q

What happens at the conference committee stage?

A

Agree upon a modified version of the bill and release as a conference report

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25
Q

What must the final bill be?

A

Approved of by both houses

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26
Q

What options does the president have?

A

Sign it, veto it, leave it on his desk

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27
Q

What happens if the president leaves a bill on his desk?

A

Automatically becomes law after 10 days

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28
Q

What is a pocket veto?

A

When the president leaves it on the desk but Congress adjourns before the 10 days

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29
Q

What bill did Biden veto?

A

A resolution that would change the definition and classification of Waters in the US - April 6th

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30
Q

What is the first reading?

A

A formality - no debate - bill is printed and given to the clerk in the House - Senate - bill’s title is just read aloud

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31
Q

How many standing committees are there in the House?

A

20

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32
Q

Example of House committee?

A

Judiciary Committee

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33
Q

Member of the Judiciary House committee?

A

Victoria Sparks - was CFO of Indianna’s Attorney General’s office

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34
Q

How many Senate committees?

A

16

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35
Q

Example of Senate Standing Committee?

A

Agriculture Committee

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36
Q

Example of members of the Agriculture Committee

A

Heidi Heitkamp and John Hoeven

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37
Q

How many members are there of the House committees?

A

40-50

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38
Q

How many members of Senate committees?

A

20

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39
Q

What subcommittees are the in the House?

A

Science, Space and Technology has sub-committees for energy, environment, oversight, research and technology and space.

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40
Q

How many bills were referred to Committees in 113th Congress?

A

8565

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41
Q

How many bills were reported on in 113th Congress?

A

613

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42
Q

How many were made into law?

A

296

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43
Q

What happen to most bills?

A

Get pigeon-holed

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44
Q

Example of a Bill that was pigeon-holed?

A

Clear Skies Act 2005

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45
Q

How long was Obamacare Act discussed by the Senate Finance Committee?

A

60 hours

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46
Q

What are mark-up sessions?

A

Where the original bill is marked up by amendment or even replaced by an entirely new text - following debates and votes by committee members.

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47
Q

What is the Hastert Rule

A

Majority of the majority rule - adopted by Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert - Republican Speakers will not allow a floor vote on a bill unless a majority of Republicans support the bill.

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48
Q

What is a Discharge Petition?

A

Forces a debate on a bill - requires an absolute majority of 218

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49
Q

Example of this?

A

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act - 240-189 vote

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50
Q

What is the Second reading?

A

First time the entire chamber can debate and amend the bill.

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51
Q

What is a voice vote?

A

Used for non-controversial bills

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52
Q

What is a Roll Call Vote?

A

Used if a fifth of members request it, records each individuals vote.

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53
Q

What is the Committee of the Whole?

A

The whole House operates as one large committee involving all 435 representatives, to avoid the normal rules that govern the House in session.

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54
Q

What does the Speaker select?

A

Someone to act as presiding officer

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55
Q

What quorum is required?

A

100

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56
Q

What exists in the Senate?

A

The fillibuster

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57
Q

What is the Cloture Rule?

A

Ends the debate on a bill but requires 16 Senators and a super majority.

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58
Q

What is the third reading?

A

final one before it is passed to the other chamber.

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59
Q

What happens if the Bill is rejected at the third reading?

A

Ping pong back for debate and vote

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60
Q

How long did Strom Thurmond speak for to stop civil rights legislation passing?

A

24 hours

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61
Q

What did Bernie do in 2010?

A

Blocked legislation that Obama wanted on tax reform

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62
Q

What kind of committees are there?

A

Standing Committees
Select Committees
House Rules Committee
Conference committees.

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63
Q

What impacts the effectiveness of committees?

A

Hyperpartisanship

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64
Q

What is the government designed around?

A

Compromise

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65
Q

What can divided government lead to?

A

Gridlock

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66
Q

What does Congress require?

A

both parties and both houses to work together and hyper partisanship destroyed compromise

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67
Q

What are Standing Committees?

A

Permanent committees - focus on a specific area of policy - foreign affairs, agriculture.

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68
Q

What are standing committees full of?

A

Experts - concerned with high quality legislation

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69
Q

What drives the concern over high quality legislation?

A

Permanent campaign - poor legislation won’t get re-elected

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70
Q

How is the party representation decided?

A

Same as in the House or Senate - majority party has majority

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71
Q

What do Standing Committees carry out?

A

Investigations and oversight of the executive - focussed on the policy area of the committee

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72
Q

What does the Senate have in addition to the normal stuff?

A

Presidential appointments - consider suitability and committee vote

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73
Q

What do Standing Committees allow?

A

Handles the issues it needs to legislate on and investigate

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74
Q

What do long term members become?

A

Experts in their policy area - ideally placed to scrutinise in relevant legiskation

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75
Q

What do their expertise allow?

A

Enable them to carry out more effective oversight than the chambers as a whole

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76
Q

How do hearings provide important check on the executive?

A

Often high profile and attract more media attention

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77
Q

What are Select Committees?

A

Set up to deal with a specific urgent issue - prevent the relevant standing committee being overloaded.

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78
Q

What are most select committees?

A

Temporary

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79
Q

Example of permanent select committees?

A

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

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80
Q

What happened between 2017-2020?

A

The SSCI investigated Russian interference in 2016 election

81
Q

What does the possibility of congressional investigation do?

A

Creates a powerful incentive for executives to ensure its actions stand up against scrutiny.

82
Q

What can investigations be?

A

Politicised - reduce credibility. Committees may even be divided on the conclusions they reach.

83
Q

Which committee investigated Benghazi

A

House Select Committee on Benghazi

84
Q

What did the House Select Committee on Benghazi do?

A

Investigate the 2012 terrorist attack on the US embassy - US ambassador killed

85
Q

How long did the House Select Committee on Benghazi investigation take?

A

2 years and cost $7 million

86
Q

How long was Clinton questioned for?

A

11 hours in 2015 - political point scoring

87
Q

How long was the committee’s report?

A

800 pages

88
Q

What lines did the Committee divide on?

A

Party lines - Republicans emphasised her role, Democrats exculpated her

89
Q

What is the House Rules Committee?

A

Standing committee in the House and is uniquely important - sets rules for bills determining how much time they have on the floor and whether amendments will be allowed.

90
Q

What do open rules allow?

A

Suggestion of amendments

91
Q

How many members are there of the HRC?

A

13

92
Q

How is the membership weighted?

A

2:1 to the majority party - 9:4

93
Q

What does the speaker use?

A

Party control to determine what is debated on the floor of the house.

94
Q

What % of bills were under closed rule in the 115th congress?

A

56%

95
Q

What does closed rule do?

A

Prevents legislation from being improved by congressmen and gives the minority party less ability to shape government bills.

96
Q

Who was the chair of the HRC in 2013-2019?

A

Pete Sessions - millions of dollars of donations to campaign from pressure groups and corporate donors due to his influence

97
Q

What did Pete Sessions use his positions to do?

A

Advance his personal opposition to marijuana, preventing amendment that would have relaxed federal laws against marijuana in states where it is legal.

98
Q

When did Reagan get his budget passed?

A

1981 - bipartisan agreement

99
Q

What are conference committees?

A

Temporary committees set up to consider a specific bill - occurs when the House and Senate have passed different versions of the same bill.

100
Q

How many conference reports in 1995-97?

A

67

101
Q

How many conference reports in the 115th congress?

A

7

102
Q

How many times has united government occurred?

A

5 times in the past 40 years

103
Q

What act passed without Democrat support?

A

Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017

104
Q

How much has party votes risen?

A

40% to 70%

105
Q

What does Congress need to override a veto?

A

2/3 of both houses

106
Q

What is the average age of the House?

A

58.8

107
Q

Who is the youngest representative?

A

Maddison Cawthorn - 25

108
Q

Who is the oldest representative?

A

Hal Rogers - 83

109
Q

How many members of the House worked in law?

A

173

110
Q

How many representatives worked in business?

A

273

111
Q

How many representatives worked in politics?

A

297

112
Q

How many representatives have a bachelors?

A

93.8%

113
Q

How many have beyond a bachelors?

A

67%

114
Q

How many have a masters?

A

108

115
Q

How many have a law degree?

A

32.7%

116
Q

How many have doctoral degrees?

A

5.1%

117
Q

How many house members are protestant?

A

54.3%

118
Q

How many representatives are Catholic?

A

30.8%

119
Q

How many representatives are Jewish?

A

5.7%

120
Q

How many representatives are Mormon?

A

1.4%

121
Q

How many representatives are Buddhist?

A

0.2%

122
Q

How many representatives are muslim?

A

0.68=9%

123
Q

How many congress people are women?

A

27.9%

124
Q

How many representatives are white?

A

72%

125
Q

How many representatives are African American?

A

13.3%

126
Q

How many representatives are Native American?

A

1.4%

127
Q

How many representatives are disabled?

A

2.5%

128
Q

What is a representative’s income?

A

$174k

129
Q

What is the average age of a Senator?

A

64.3

130
Q

Who is the youngest Senator?

A

Jon Ossoff - 33

131
Q

Who is the oldest Senator?

A

Dianne Feinstein - 87

132
Q

How many Senators worked in politics?

A

64%

133
Q

How many worked in Law?

A

57

134
Q

How many Senators have a bachelors degree?

A

100%

135
Q

How many Senators have further than a bachelors?

A

76%

136
Q

How many Senators are protestant?

A

58%

137
Q

How many Senators are Catholic?

A

24%

138
Q

How many Senators are Jewish?

A

9%

139
Q

How many Senators are Mormon?

A

3%

140
Q

How many Senators are women?

A

24%

141
Q

How many Senators are African American?

A

3%

142
Q

How many Senators are White?

A

83%

143
Q

How many Senators are disabled?

A

4%

144
Q

How many americans are white?

A

61%

145
Q

How many americans are African American?

A

13.6%

146
Q

How many Americans are Native Americans?

A

2%

147
Q

How many americans are women?

A

50.5%

148
Q

How many americans are protestants?

A

48.9%

149
Q

How many americans are Catholics?

A

23%

150
Q

What is the average income?

A

$56,310

151
Q

How many americans have a bachelor’s degree?

A

35%

152
Q

What do Senators have?

A

More name recognition

153
Q

What are Senators?

A

Trustees not delegates

154
Q

What can Senators do?

A

Senate can appoint Judges, try impeachment cases, confirm presidential appointments etc - the house only votes to impeach a president.

155
Q

What do the House initiate?

A

Money bills

156
Q

What is oversight?

A

Not mentioned in the Constitution - seen as an implied power.

157
Q

What factors impact how effectively Congress performs oversight?

A

Divided government, majority of one or both houses of Congress has an incentive to investigate their opponents in the executive.

158
Q

What happened in 2018?

A

Democrats won the House, launched investigations into Trump - resulted in his first impeachment.

159
Q

When is oversight weakened?

A

United government - Congress dominated by members of the president’s party.

160
Q

What couldn’t Trump do?

A

Repeal Obamacare during his first 100 days even though he controlled both houses

161
Q

What means that Congress find it difficult to scrutinise?

A

High public approval ratings

162
Q

Example of this?

A

George Bush’s popularity ratings shot up to 90% following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As a result his administration enjoyed low levels of congressional scrutiny for the next few years.

163
Q

How does Congress carry out oversight?

A

Investigating the executive, confirming presidential nominees, impeaching officials and ratifying treaties.

164
Q

What is Earmarking?

A

Money given to states to incentivise them to vote a certain way.

165
Q

What can investigating the executive be?

A

Partisan point scoring

166
Q

What can result in a prison sentence?

A

Lying to Congress

167
Q

What can committees do?

A

Subpoena witnesses

168
Q

Wha are some investigations intended to do?

A

Smear the political opposition with bad publicity instead of as a positive form of oversight.

169
Q

Who supports Congress to investigate the executive?

A

The Government Accountability Office

170
Q

How much was the staff in the GAO, the Congressional Research Service and the Congressional Budget Office were cut by?

A

45% between 1975 and 2015

171
Q

What can investigations encourage?

A

Turnout - opposition to someone

172
Q

What is the issue with hyperpartisanship?

A

Nothing in terms of scrutiny of their own party - lap dogs.
Loads in terms of scrutiny of the opposition - attack dogs.

173
Q

What is confirmation of nominees?

A

Senate confirmation is needed for many presidential appointments including SC Justices

174
Q

What is rare?

A

Refusal of an appointment

175
Q

What happened to Betsy Devos?

A

Displayed a lack of knowledge of basic policy during her hearings - argued that guns in school would protect children from bears. Senate vote - 50-50. VP Mike Pence broke the vote and confirmed her.

176
Q

Who was blocked from having a hearing in 2016?

A

Merrick Garland

177
Q

What is impeachment?

A

Congress impeach and try the president for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanours.” Ultimate sanction - threat prompting Nixon to resign in 1974.

178
Q

Who never recovered from their impeachment?

A

Clinton 1998

179
Q

What is the theory of impeachment?

A

The threat should motivate all members of the executive.

180
Q

What has never happened?

A

Conviction or removal from office of a sitting president

181
Q

By how much was Trump acquitted?

A

52-48 - all but one Republican voted to acquit

182
Q

Who negotiated treaties?

A

President

183
Q

Who ratifies treaties?

A

Senate - forces the president to work closely with the Senate during treaty negotiations

184
Q

What treaty did the Senate reject in 1919?

A

Versaille

185
Q

What treaty did the Senate reject in 1999?

A

Comprehensive Test Ban

186
Q

What treaty was rejected in 2012?

A

Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

187
Q

What have recent presidents done?

A

Use executive agreements

188
Q

What is the power of the purse?

A

Congress has the power of the purse - only congress can raise revenue - has to be agreed by both houses - can lead to shut down of government. Threat can mean that people have to compromise. Expensive.

189
Q

What is the reason for the drinking age being 21?

A

10% more budget for states - pork barrelling

190
Q

How long was Trump’s shutdown?

A

30 days

191
Q

How do congress members communicate with constituents?

A

Through state visits/district visits - town hall meetings. Social and letters and emails to keep informed of views - represent those views in Congress.

192
Q

What % of seats are safe seats?

A

90%

193
Q

Who was deselected because they didn’t support Trump?

A

Liz Chaney

194
Q

How much was spent on the road to nowhere?

A

$223 million

195
Q

What Bill did Joe Manchin vote for?

A

$1.5 trillion Inflation Reduction Act

196
Q

What is gerrymandering?

A

Changing boundaries of districts

197
Q

How do pressure groups impact congress members

A

They fund campaigns

198
Q

Where does the budget come from?

A

The Administration

USA Government and Politics (7 decks)

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