Congress Flashcards
What do representatives represent?
Fach state must have at least one Representative, but the number that each state receives depends on their population.
House members are elected in small districts, with a population ranging from 500,000 to a little over 1 million people. Their role is to represent their district in Congress.
How many reps and senators? how long terms?
435 voting members in hor
100 senators, 2 per state
Reps have two year terms and sens have 6 years (1/3 elected every 2 years)
Constitutional to be reps and sens
Reps : 25 years old and citizen for 7
Sens: 30 years old and citizen for 9
Parts of legislative process
Introduction
Committee
Timetabling
Second reading and vote
Third reading and vote
Conference committee
House approval
Sent for presidential action
What happens in introduction stage?
A bill can go through the houses consecutively (one House and then the other) or concurrently (both Houses at the same time).
What happens in committee stage?
HOR:
Including sub-committee hearings and mark-up.
Committee chairs can ‘kill’ a bill by pigeonholing it (i.e. leaving it untouched). The House Speaker’s power in choosing a committee can determine a bill’s fate.
Senate:
Committee
Including sub-committee hearings and mark-up.
Committee chairs can ‘kill’ a bill by pigeonholing it (i.e. leaving it untouched).
What happens in timetabling stage?
HOR:
By the House Rules Committee, which is dominated 2-to-1 by the majority party. This stage is dominated by the majority party.
Senate:
By the Majority leader. The timetabling stage is therefore dominated by the majority party.
What happens in second reading and vote?
HOR:
A simple majority is all that is required.
Senate:
A simple majority is all that is required.
However, a filibuster can prevent this in the Senate.
Third reading and vote?
HOR:
A simple majority is all that is required.
Senate:
A simple majority is all that is required.
However, a filibuster can prevent this.
What happens in the conference committee?
The conference committee is made up of an equal number of House and Senate members who reconcile the bills, which then need agreement from both Houses.
What happens when sent for presidential action?
The president can sign, veto or leave the bill on his desk for ten days. A two-thirds majority in both
Houses can override any presidential veto.
Strengths of legislative process?
- High level of scrutiny
- Protects states’ rights
- Prevents a tyranny of the majority
- With unanimous consent in the Senate, bipartisanship is required
Weaknesses of legislative process?
-Incredibly slow
-Lack of bipartisanship leading
to gridlock
-Congressional politicians otter choose to focus on re-election over legislation
Congress oversight of executive powers:
-Impeachment and removal of members of executive branch (e.g. the attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998)
-Determining the funding available and agreeing on the budget for the president (e.g. the 2018 shutdowns)
-Declaring war (e.g. in the Second World War). Mostly this power iS now exercised by granting approval for military action rather than issuing a formal declaration of war.
-Investigation of actions of the executive branch (e.g. the ‘Russia’ investigation; see below)
-Ratification of treaties (Senate only) (e.g. the START Treaty
2010)
-Ratification of federal justices and other appointments (Senate only) (e.g. Neil Gorsuch in 2017)
What happened during the Russia Investigation?
Following President Trump’s election in 2016, allegations surfaced about Russian interference in the US election. Russian confirmation of meeting with members of the Trump campaign, and Trump’s unexpected firing of FBI director James Comey, led to a number of investigations being launched into potential Russian interference in US elections by the:
• House Intelligence Committee
• Senate Intelligence Committee
• House Oversight Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee.
Most investigations are ongoing and have called in high-ranking officials such as Comey to give evidence.
Of the claims, Comey said:
There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever: the Russians interfered in our election.’
Effective congressional oversight of the executive depends on:
• whether the House of Representatives, Senate and presidency are presided over by the same party or not
when the next election is, as Congress may be more focused on pleasing constituents than oversight
° which branch has the most recent mandate
° the poll ratings and popularity of the president, which can make Congress more or less likely to scrutinise him
“ national circumstances, as in times of national crisis, Congress often defers to the president.
Congress ways of overseeing Supreme Court:
• the ratification of judicial nominees, following hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee
• the creation of lower courts
• justices can be impeached if they do not act in line with the constitutional requirement of good behaviour’
• Congress determines the number of justices on the Supreme Court
• Congress can initiate a constitutional amendment to overturn a Supreme Court ruling.
Demographics of 117th congress
.
Areas/bodies Congress represents:
Congressional caucuses
Their party
Individual constituents
Districts/states as a whole
Descriptive representation
Interest groups
Effective features of each house:
HOR:
-Shorter election cycle makes House members more responsive to constituents.
-Congressional politicians represent smaller numbers of people (usually).
-Party discipline is stronger in the House than in
the Senate.
-As representatives are based on population, more populous states can be better represented.
Senate:
-Senators represent the view of the whole state, not minor districts.
-Unanimous consent allows individual senators to be powerful in representing their state.
-Unanimous consent also makes party discipline weaker so Senators can represent their state better.
-Six-year terms means they can ‘get on with the business of government’.
3 area where congressional power has changed and how:
Declaration of war:
Developments in weapons and technology mean wars are no longer fought or launched in the same way
Authorisations for the use of military force are more common than a formal
‘declaration of war
Passing the budget:
Increased bipartisanship in congress. Arguments over the budget are so frequent now that continuing resolutions have become more common place
Passing legislation:
A lack of bipartisanship has led to record low production of legislation, a power being usurped by some presidents through executive orders
A decrease in legislative output and a focus on the president as the head of government rather than a separation of powers
Parties are important because:
-increased partisanship is clear, and has led to a fall in legislative output, and even government shutdowns
-differing parties control the presidency and Congress
-they control significant appointments and roles, especially in the House.
Parties are not important because:
-parties are ‘broad churches’ - liberals and conservatives exist within both parties (see page 210 for more on party principles)
-party discipline is weak due to state loyalties
-unanimous consent gives individual senators greater individual power.
Power of investigation (joint power) is vs isn’t effective:
-
For: Congress can investigate any aspect of the executive branch and highlight problems that
need correcting.
Against:
Investigations end in recommendations and Congress cannot bring criminal proceedings, meaning it can only apply pressure.
