Congress Flashcards
Compromises of the Founding Fathers
To get the Constitution ratified by all 13 states, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had to reach several compromises.
1) The ‘Great Compromise’
- Created a bicameral legislature
- Senate having equal rep. for all states & House of Rep having proportional rep.
2) Means of election
- Some wanted direct, other indirect
- Members of House– 2 years, 2 year term
- Senators appointed by state legislatures
(no longer case, since 1914)
- Senators– 6 year term, elections every 2 years with 1/3 of Senators being elected each time
3) Electoral college?
- A body of representatives from every state in the United States who formally cast votes to elect the president and vice president
4) Three-fifths compromise?
- Counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a white person for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives
Congress (HoR and Senate)
House of Representatives
HoR– lower house
Number of representatives adjusted after each 10 year census - e.g. 2010- Texas House delegation 32–>36, New York 29–> 27
435 members
Proportional system
Min age = 25
House of Rep focus more on local issues- ‘locality rule’ (must be resident where they rep) –> “all politics is local”
E.g. Democratic Congressman Colin Peterson of Minnesota’s 7th district has often voted against gun control and pro-choice abortion laws because of conservative views of his district, despite his party’s liberal ideology
Usually means high re-election rate (90%+)
Also elected every 2 years- must tackle local issues to be re-elected
Also more Representatives so they represent less people than Senators
Senate
Upper
Two senators each
6 year term, elections every 2 years (1/3)
Min age = 30
More focused on national issues.
Because of 6 year term, Senators face a less immediate threat of being voted out, and can vote and legislate in ways which are less reflective of their constituent’s views
Also have to deal with foreign policy- e.g. UN Disabled Rights Treaty 2012
(question which house is more rep?)
Representation in Congress
118th Congress
- 72% male
- 28% female
- 74% white
- 11% black
- 10% Hispanic
- 88% Christian
- 0.2% unaffiliated
Democrats:
- 59% male
- 59% white
- 76% Christian
Republicans:
- 83% male
- 89% white
- 99% Christian
Age:
1983– House = 49
Senate = 54
2023– House = 58
Senate = 64
Women:
Dems- 1992- ‘Year of the Woman- doubled no. of women in Congress
1979-1980 = 16 (House), 0 (Senate)
2017-2018 = 83 (House), 21 (Senate)
Of 83 elected, 62 Dems, 21 Rep. Of 21 elected, 16 Dems, 5 Rep.
2016 = 19% (House), 21% (Senate)
2017 = 24.8% state legislatures women
**African-Americans:
**
1993-1994 = 38 (House)
2017-2018 = 46 (House), 4 (Senate)
Only rep. in Senate in 2005-2006 = 2
**Hispanic-Americans:
**
115th Congress
4 states represented by Hispanic in Senate (Florida, New Jersey, Nevada, Texas)
34 Hispanic house members: 25 Dems. 9 Reps
Hispanics = 8% house, 4% senate
Jobs:
House- 40% lawyers, Senate- 60% lawyers
House- 53% banking/business, Senate- 42%
60% previous politicians
Filibuster
Parliamentary device that can disrupt the passage of legislation. Can only be used in the Senate
Called ‘killing off a bill’
Group filibusters usually more influential than individual ones
A majority over 60 seats is deemed filibuster proof
Senator Strom Thurmond (1957)- Civil Rights Bill, 24 hrs
Senator Rand Paul- 12 hrs
Alfonse D’Amato- Defence Authorisation Act, 23 hrs
In the 113th Congress = 36 bills filibustered
If 3/5 of Senate vote to end a filibuster they can –> cloture motion
Pork-barrelling
The allocation of federal spending for projects specifically designed to bring money or benefit to an elected representative’s constituents
‘Pork’ usually public projects- roads, airport
Montana State University= $740,000 research into weed control through sheep grazing
Big Dig High Project= moved 3.5 miles of highway underground, initially cost $3 bn, ended up costing $14.6 bn
Gravina Island Bridge= Also known as the ‘Alaska Bridge to Nowhere’, costed $398 million but never got off the ground
2010– Citizens Against Government Waste organisation: 9,000+ examples of pork-barreling attached to legislation
Log-rolling
Where two or more lawmakers agree tp support each other’s legislative proposals, often exchanging votes to achieve their shared goals
- Compromise of 1850: 5 bills that resolved issues relating to slavery + territorial expansion after Mexican-American war
- Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare)– different lawmakers agreed to support the bill for different benefits. E.g. Senator Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) received funding for Medicaid expansion in her state for her vote
- Tax Reform bill (2017)
Gridlock
When legislation faces difficulties in being passed due to different party control in the legislature or executive
Can occur in two places:
– If the House of Representatives and Senate are controlled by different parties
– Congress is united under one party, but the Presidency is controlled by the opposing party
Key cause is filibuster
Gridlocks can lead to government shutdowns. There have been 4 shutdowns:
1) 1995-1996, President Clinton + Republican Congress unable to agree on spending levels, so the government shut down twice= 26 days.
2) 2013: standoff over funding for the Affordable Care Act= 16 days
3) December 2018 and January 2019, a dispute over border wall funding led to a shutdown= 35 days; partial shutdown because Congress had previously passed 5 / 12 appropriation bills.
2023: Congress struggled to pass the federal budget because policymakers couldn’t agree on whether (or how) to raise the debt ceiling
2013: Republicans blocked President Obama’s judicial nominations
Ronald Reagan + George W Bush faced divided Congress
Bipartisanship
When two opposing political parties occasionally find common ground through compromise and agreement
Logrolling- Obamacare
Easier to pass leg.
Examples:
When Dems worked with Rep Ronald Reagan during 1980s
Joe Biden + bipartisan group of Senators agreed on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package
Reps + Dems came together on Military Sexual Assault Prevention (2021)
Obama + Congress passed bipartisan leg = “Jumpstart our Business Startups” (JOBS) Act
The ‘Era of Good Feelings’ (1815-1825)
Cependant, only 10% of Americans say there’s lots of common ground between the parties on foreign policy
Partisanship + Polarisation
Partisanship= support that a party gets from its supporters in opposition to the parties political opponents.
Commonly used to refer Congress’ inability to conduct business.
Polarised- widening gap between ideologies of the main parties
Examples
During George Bush’s presidency, Senate Dems filibustered Rep leg & blocked his judicial nominations
Unanimous Rep opposition to health care reform in Obama’s first term
Rep forced a shutdown of federal govt. in 2013 when they initially refused to fund Obamacare
Trump made partisanship worse- promoting hatred of Democratic party + falsely accused Dems of planning to rig Presidential election of 2020
Veto
Veto- Where President kills off a bill so it doesn’t become law
Pocket veto- where President doesn’t sign a bill and there are less than 10 days before the end of a Congressional Session, the bill will die.
Examples
Clinton v City of New York– line item veto not allowed
Obama= 12
Trump= 10
Bush= 36
FDR= 635
Truman= 250
U.S Presidents have vetoed more than 2,500 bills
Clinton – Partial-Birth Abortion Bill Veto 1996
Bush – Stem Cell Research 2006
Bush – Withdrawal from Iraq 2007
Veto override
When legislation is passed even after a President has vetoed the initial passage
Since 1789- 2590 vetoes, 112 overridden
Bush- 4/12 vetoes overridden
Obama- 1/12 overridden
First veto override in 28th Congress over Pres. John Tyler’s veto of the Appropriation Bill
Congress overrides the Pres less than 5% of the time
Override Reagan’s veto of Civil Rights Act (1987) which banned discrimination based on gender
Override Reagan’s veto of the Comprehensive Apartheid Act
Powers of Congress
Both houses:
Law-making
- Both equal, can’t override each other
- Power given under Article I of constitution (‘All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress’)
- The elastic clause under Article I s.8 allows Congress to pass laws about things not directly said in the Constitution if it is “necessary and proper”. This sometimes causes conflict between what is federal jurisdiction vs state jurisdiction (e.g. Federal Income Tax)
- Both houses must pass + amend money bills, but only House can start them
Oversight of the Executive
- Not directly said but implied- Article I- investigate any subject in its legislative powers
- Voting on budgets of executive departments suggests it has oversight
- Oversight happens in committee rooms –> standing + select committees
Override President’s Veto
- Must vote 2/3 majority
- Previous examples
Initiating Constitutional Amendments
- Both houses equal in initiating amendments
- Must have 2/3 in both chambers
- There’s been 27 amendments
- More than 11,000 amendments have been proposed
— e.g. Federal Marriage Amendment has been introduced 4 times: 2003, 2004, 2005/2006, and 2008 (would prohibit same-sex marriage)
— Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment would repeal the ‘natural born citizen clause’, allowing people who’ve lived in US for 20+ years to be Pres
Declaring War
- Both must agree
- Only 5 times, last being 1941 when America declared war on Japan in WW2
- Since then Congress has been asked to sanction military action the Pres has already agreed to e.g. Iraq
Confirming an appointed Vice-President
- 25th amendment gave Pres power to fill a vacancy of the vice-president should one arise due to death/resignation
- Confirmed by both houses
- Only happened twice:
– 1973: Nixon appointed Gerald Ford following resignation of Spiro Agnew
– 1974: Ford appointed Nelson Rockerfeller
Just House of Representatives (Exclusive Powers)
- Initiate money bills (known as Power of the Purse)
— PoP= the ability to tax and spend public money for the Federal Government.
— Outlined in Appropriations Clause & Taxing and Spending Clause.
— US Federal Budget will be passed by Congress, but typically presented to Congress by Pres, who add amendments
— (e.g. ended the Vietnam War, through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1974 = suspended all federal funding for war)
- Vote on Impeachment
(19 times since 1789, most rec. with federal judge Thomas Porteous in 2010. Others: Pres Clinton in 1998 for perjury + obstruction of justice)
- Elect a President should the Electoral College deadlock
— e.g. 1824: John Quincy Adams chosen by house, even tho Andrew Jackson got more votes
Senate (Exclusive Powers)
- Confirm Presidential appointments
- Ratify Treaties
— e.g. Treaty of Paris (1763)
— e.g. United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (2018)
- Try the accused in cases of impeachment
- Elect the Vice President in the case of Electoral College deadlock
— e.g. 1837 Richard M. Johnson first to be elected by Senate
Committees
Committees can hold investigations into any topic that comes under its remit
More powerful than UK committees because of power of subpoena= witnesses and evidence can be requested to come before the committee or face sanctions
Legislative Process [House and Senate]
Investigations [House and Senate]
Confirmation Hearings [Senate Only]
(Hear Presidential nomations to executive + judicial offices. Senate’s ‘advice and consent’ responsibility under the Appointments Clause)
1) Standing Committee
- Permanent
- 20 in House, 16 in Senate
- Can also investigate issues
— e.g. Senate Foreign Relations Committee which investigated the effect of NATO Enlargement
— Senate Banking Committee’s investigation of President Bill Clinton’s Whitewater investments
2) Select Committees
- Ad hoc
- Same powers as standing
- Investigate issues too complex for standing committees
- Don’t usually draft legislation
- Some meant to have limited lives (e.g. sc’s to investigate assassination of JFK + Martin Luther King)
- Others, like Select Committee on Indian Affairs, have lasted longer + produce leg.
— e.g. ‘Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi’
3) Joint Committees
- Similar to select committees with members from H+S
- Help focus public attention on major issues
— e.g. Joint Committee on Printing
— Joint Committee on Taxation
4) House Rules Committees
- Type of standing committee
- Seen to be the ‘traffic cop’ of the House
- Job= prioritise bills, up to them which bills submitted to floor
- Can attach time limits to debates, set rules on debates + attach rules on the bill as to whether the bill can have amendments
- Made up of 15 members, 9 from maj. party, 4 from min. party
5) Conference committees
- To reconcile different versions of the same bill + agree on a revised compromise to be approved by both houses
- Temporary ad hoc
Legislative process
1) First Reading
- Introduced in either house
- Name of Bill read out, quick vote, formality, no debate
2) Committee Stage
- Bill allocated to a committee
- Committee gets to choose which bills to hear (could get pigeonholed)
- Will hold hearings + investigations to see what effect of bill would be
- Bill then proceed to be ‘marked up’ (where amendments added)
- If they sup bill they will ‘order the Bill to be reported’
(many still die in this stage even after being marked up)
3) Timetabling
- Done differently in each chamber
House:
– Bills given to House Rules Committee which decide whether or not bill will make it to floor, how long debated + whether amendments will be added
Senate:
– Bills agreed though unanimous consent agreements. Senate leadership will agree which bills make it to floor
(If bill scheduled in 1 and not other, rip)
4) Second Reading
- Debated and amendments added
- May filibuster here in S
- All debates followed by a vote
(May have diff versions)
5) Third Reading
- Final opp. to debate before final vote
- Debate small + non-controversial
6) Conference Committees
- Called to reconcile two diff versions of bill
- Happens around 10% of bills
- When reconciled, final vote
(If fails to proceed in one chamber, it dies)
7) Presidential Action
3 options for Pres
[I] Sign bill into law
[II] ‘Be left on the desk’ (law after 10 days) (pocket veto if less than 10 days left)
[III] Veto- bill sent back to cong. who must vote 2/3 maj to override
–> 2001-2016: 10,000-14,000 bills introduced, but 200-500 passed
–> Obama’s congress failed to pass immigration reform despite bipartisan efforts
–> Weak party leadership makes it harder
–> Both houses being equal= checks + balances
–> Even when united govt, success not guaranteed (Obama having trouble passing health insurance reform despite Dems controlling Congress)
–> Partisan politics makes gridlock more common
–> But still passed major leg= e.g. Obamacare, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017), Civil Rights Act (1967)
House Speaker
3rd in line for Presidency
Constitution: Article I, s.2= “HoR shall choose their speaker and other offices”
Each party represent candidate to become speaker and House members vote
( can abstain- 1923: 9 recall votes)
Roles:
- Appoint members to committee posts
- Keep decorum in chamber
- Determine which bills get to be debated & voted on = 1-5% debated in HoR
- Sets voting agendas
- Provides political leadership
(Limited by their party & opposition)
Examples:
Dennis Hastert = longest serving Republican Speaker, Clinton - Bush administration.
Longest serving= Sam Rayburn (17 years)
2007- Nancy Pelosi first woman elected as speaker
Speaker Gingrich was removed by Republicans after the worst performance by Republicans when not holding the Presidency in the 1998 elections.
Kevin McCarthy ousted as Speaker - voted by Dems + 8 Reps because of the Continuing Resolution (CR), which forestalled a government shutdown for 45 days along with an alleged side deal with the Administration to provide funding for Ukraine
