Congress Flashcards
The Senate
100 member, 2 Senators per state
Term length of 6 years, 1/3 senators up for election every 2 years
President of the Senate = Vice President (Kamala Harris), the Majority Leader (Chuck Schumer) and the Minority Leader (Mitch McConnell)
2023 Senate - 48 Democrat, 3 Independent, 49 Republican
The House of Representatives
435 members called Congressman/Congresswoman
Represents disctricts population size -> smallest is Alaska with 1, biggest is California with 52
Elected every 2 years - Presidentional election years and 2 years after that (midterms)
Speaker (Kevin McCarthy), majority leader (Steve Scalise) and Minority Leader (Hakeem Jeffries)
Membership of the House
Members must be at least 25 year old and a US citizen for 7 years
435 voting memeber and 6 non-voting memebers (for Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, the US Virign Islands and Guana) -> can sit in committees and introduce legislation
Must live in state they wish to represent at the time of election
Membership of the Senate
Must be at least 30 years old and a US citizen for at least 9 years
100 members
Must live in the state they wish to represent at the time of election
Constitutional powers of Congress are being fufiled - effective oversight
Senate ratification of appointments - Obama’s nomination of Merrick the Supreme Court in 2016
Overturn Presidential veto - using a 2/3 vote in Congress can stop the president from overriding its legilsative goals -> Obama issued his 12th veto against the Justice against Sponsers of Terrorism Act in 20116, a bill which would allow families of 9//11 to sue the Saudi Arabian government for an involvement they had was easily overturned 97-to-1 in the Senate and 348-77 in the House
Constitutional powers of Congress aren’t being fulfilled - lack of over turning a presidential veto
Need a two-thirds vote Congress - only used once on Obama (Justice against terrorism)
- Unified government with one party holding the presidency, House and Senate, partisanship may lead to a major increase in the power of the presidency
- Congress was accused of ‘forgetting’ to provide oversight of the Bush administration (Republican majority between 2003-2008), despite controversies over the Iraq War, the Patriot Act and the creation of the Guantanamo detention camp
Constitutional powers of Congress are being fufiled - legislation
Quality policy comes from detailed consideration of bills and filters to remove undesirable aspects.
- Congress can pass laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers- allowed congress to expand its power- Maryland v McCulloch- right to create a national bank
- Bipartisanship-bipartisan group of senators announced a gun safety deal on Sunday which increases mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can’t purchase weapons- support of 10 Republicans - a critical number needed to get any major bill through the 50-50 Democratic-controlled Senate
Constitutional powers of Congress are being fufiled - amending the constitution as allowed for development of constitution in line with democracy
27 amendments- 10 from bill of rights
25th amendment (1967), passed after the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. This amendment allows the vice president to become the president on a temporary basis
Constitutional powers of Congress aren’t being fulfilled - partisanship
Parties unwilling to compromise leading to gridlock Legislative gridlock due to lack of agreement on - Continuing Appropriations Resolution (to settle key budget policies). Disagreement centred on spending levels, budget deficit and the Affordable Care Act which the House insisted on defunding
- No Republicans voted for Obama’s stimulus budget in 2009, arguably due to partisanship
Constitutional powers of Congress aren’t being fulfilled - difficult to get wide suppor to make necessary changes
Original document over 200 years old so society has changed dramatically i.e. the use of the elecoral college was made due to fears people would not make rational decisions
Only 27 amendments
Congress does fufil its representative function - seperation of powers
Voter have seperate votes for executive and legislature - maximises voter choice and allows the electorate to select a member of Congress according to their ability to respond to the wishes and interests of the constituency.
Lack of executive influence over members of Congress ensures accountability to the public, not the president - moderate Republican Senators, Susan Collins of Maine, represents a moderate constituency and often votes against her own party
Congress doesn’t fufil its representatiive function - social represenation
Does not reflect the make-up of society. Debate about the extent to which this matters.
Liberals - under-representation of minority groups, especially in the Senate -> In 2017 non-whites make up 38% of the population only 10% in the Senate, Female: 26.4% (2020), men 74%
White people may not fully understand the wishes and interests of other racial groups, so that they might not be able to directly respond to their constituents
Congress does fulfil its representative function - frequent elections
HoR elections every 2 years, 1/3 senators up for election every 2.
Congresspersons have to keep up with public opinion or risk loss of election - 2014 mid-term elections, the unpopular Democrats lost control of the Senate, allowinf Republicans to take control
This pushes Congresspersons to be highly representative of constituency views, and a strong level of accountability means that public opinion is reflected in the House
Congress doesn’t fulfil its representative function - pressure group influence
- Distorts the wishes of the public- Politicians respond to the interests of unelected pressure groups, which then gain disproportionate representation in Congress.
- Richer pressure groups dominate, gaining over-representation
- Elite theory suggests that Congress is not at all democratic because it responds only to the wishes of a small group in society -> After the 2012 Newtown shootings, Obama was unsuccessful in passing legislation to limit guns, despite clear majority public support. Pressure from the NRA and the vocal (and sizeable) minority apparently carried more weight than public opinion.
- US Chamber of Commerce campaigned for the confirmation of SC Nominee Brett Kavanagh
