congress Flashcards
1
Q
congressional caucuses
A
a group of US legislators who have a common legislative goal e.g. black caucus
2
Q
divided government
A
when the house, senate, and executive are not controlled by the same party
3
Q
what amendment made it so the senate was elected?
A
17th amendment
4
Q
when does the number of representatives in the house change?
A
every ten year with census
5
Q
how many representatives are in the house?
A
435
6
Q
what is the main difference between changing of district lines in the US and constituency lines in the UK?
A
districts are changed by state legislatures whilst a non-departmental public body (Boundaries commission) is responsible for the altering.
this makes the process inherently political in the US
7
Q
do members of both houses have to live in the sate they represent?
A
yes - this is different to the UK where MPs can represent any constituency, for example Chris Clarkson for Heywood and Middleton lives in Accrington
8
Q
senate results after the 2022 midterms
A
51 democrats and 49 republicans
9
Q
house results after 2022 midterms
A
222 republicans and 213 democrats
10
Q
what is incumbency?
A
holding of an office and running for re-election
11
Q
how does name recognition make incumbency more significant to congress?
A
more recognisable which helps to win votes and raise money. 2020 McConnell spent $34 per vote to retain his seat. his democrat challenger spent $92
12
Q
in 2021, how many Americans said they preferred divided government?
A
41%
13
Q
what are the exclusive powers of the house?
A
- beginning consideration of all money bills
- bringing charges of impeachment
-choosing the president if the electoral college is deadlocked
14
Q
what are the concurrent powers of congress?
A
- creating legislation
- oversight of the executive
- overriding presidential veto
- proposing constitutional amendments
-declaring war
15
Q
what are the exclusive powers of the senate?
A
- ratifying treaties
- confirming appointments
- trying cases of impeachment
- choosing the vice president if the electoral college is deadlocked
16
Q
what must the president do if they want to make legislation?
A
ask congress/have it sponsored by a member of congress
17
Q
examples of congress passing legislation from presidents
A
- 2017 trumps tax cuts and jobs act
- Biden American rescue plan 2022
18
Q
what did bidens American Rescue Plan do?
A
introduced a $1.9 trillion package to bolster the US economy to tackle the economic crisis left by covid
19
Q
is Bush’s presidency, how many times did he use his veto and how many times did congress override it?
A
used 12 times and overridden 4
20
Q
How many times had Biden vetoed a bill in a single term so far?
A
8
21
Q
is congress’ power of investigation implied or enumerated?
A
implied from article 1 section 8
22
Q
what were key findings in the January 6th final report?
A
- trump purposely disseminated false allegations of fraud to provoke violence
- trump plotted to overturn the election outcome
23
Q
where must appropriation bill start?
A
in the house (money bills)
24
Q
how is the power of the purse significant in checking the power of the executive?
A
because the president submits the annual budget each year to the house budget committee to begin the approval process.
25
what example shows that the power of the purse is significant in checking the president?
2018 trump proposed cutting the environmental protection agency (EPA) by 1/3, despite the house being republican controlled they instead proposed a 6% cut
26
when could the power of the purse become less significant in checking the president?
during times of united government, the house may be more likely to approve the budget with less scrutiny as they belong to the same party
27
what must the house have to bring a charge of impeachment?
simple majority
28
what must the senate have to convict a president after an impeachment trial?
2/3 supermajority
29
how many presidents have been impeached?
3 - johnson, Clinton and trump but they were all acquitted
30
which president resigned before the impeachment process ended?
Nixon
31
what must the senate have to ratify a treaty?
2/3 supermajority
32
what treaty did the senate vote to ratify in 2010?
strategic arms reduction treaty (START) that was renegotiated by Obama which aimed to reduce American and Russian nuclear weapons
33
how is the president able to bypass the senate when it comes to treaties?
by using executive agreements
34
why is achieving a 2/3 supermajority hard?
polarisation and slim majorities
35
what executive agreement did Obama sign in 2015?
joint comprehensive plan of action with Iran
36
how are executive agreements weak?
future presidents can withdraw from them
37
which executive agreement did trump withdraw from?
Joint comprehensive plan of action with Iran (JCPOA) which invalidated obamas executive agreement
38
for a motion to be discussed on the floor of the senate, what must there be?
unanimous consent
39
what happens if a single senator objects and blocks the motion?
it cannot go forward to be discussed
40
for trumps second impeachment trial, what was the house vote?
232-197, 10 republicans joining all 222 democrats
41
after trumps second impeachment trial, what was the senate vote?
57 found him guilty and 43 not guilty. ten short of the supermajority
42
what must occur for congress to effectively fulfil its representation function? standards
- should broadly resemble the country
- stand up for their constituents and not just special interests
- must involve a variety of views/ideologies
- electoral systems for choosing congress people should be fair
43
which congress is the most racially diverse ever?
118th
44
how many black Americans make up the house?
14%
45
the improved diversity in congress could be due to what?
majority-minority districts
46
what is the percentage of black Americans in CONGRESS (not just the house)?
12%
47
what % of black Americans are in the us
12.1%
48
what % of women are in congress?
28%
49
what % of women are in the US?
50.8%
50
what % are christians in congress?
57%
51
what % are christians in the US?
65%
52
what's the average age in the house?
58
53
what's the average age in the senate?
64
54
what's the average age in the US?
38
55
what's the trustee model?
making decisions on behalf of others using experience and knowledge
56
what's the delegate model?
act on behalf of the constituents, exercising little private judgement - links to popular sovereignty
57
why did republicans arguably not want to impeach trump?
because of his popularity with republican voters = delegate model
58
what was part of the Brady Amendments to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and how does this show the delegate model to be popular?
defined copyright songs as capital assets and a lower tax rates for them. delegate model as it improves songwriters in Nashville and pushed by their representative
59
who pushed for the Brady amendment?
Diane Black whose district covered parts of Nashville with is famous for its songwriters
60
what are the re-election rates in the US?
typically above 80%
61
what are factors that lead to such high incumbency rates?
- constituency services and name recognition
-franking privileges
- pork barrel politics
62
what are franking privileges?
congresspeople can mail their constituents on the expense of congress. whilst this can't be used for election purposes but it bolsters name recognition of representatives in their state/district
63
how long has Michael mccaul been an incumbent for?
19 years/ since 2005
64
where does Michael McCaul represent?
texas' 10th congressional district
65
what is pork barrel politics?
funds provided for superfluous projects in a district/state. designed to show interests in an area ad hopefully secure re-election
66
the 'big dig highway' project, Boston 1991-2007
project to move 3.5 mils of highway underground was supposed to cost $3 billion but actually cost $14.6 billion and overran by 10 years. example of missuse of funds
67
Alaskas bridge to nowhere 2005-2015
large federal transportation bill that included concessions for Alaska. congress initially approved 223 million for the bridge. this was going to be funded by federal tax payers but would only benefit very few
68
arts program Washington DC 2018
$2.8 million was allocated for the national capital arts and cultural affairs grants programme
69
how many incumbent candidates were there for house races 2021 - 2022?
405
70
what was the total raised by incumbent candidates in 2021-2022?
ober $1 billion
71
how many challenger candidates were there 2021- 2022?
1,216
72
what was the total raised by challenger candidates?
over $350 million
73
what is gerrymandering?
the deliberate shaping of congressional district borders to give one party a political advantage
74
what can gerry maddening be done to create?
political advantage
majority-minority districts
75
in 2022, how many districts were majority minority?
31%
76
what factors can affect the voting behaviour of representatives in congress?
political party
congressional caucus
administration
constituency
interest groups
lobbyists
77
what does the weak whipping system in the US mean for voting in congress?
threats of de-selection and promotions have less impact in the US unlike in the UK, meaning congresspeople are more likely to vote against party lines
78
how many republicans voted against Trumps Tax Cuts and Jobs act?
12
79
US political parties are broad churches, what does this mean?
that sometimes party votes mean that most republican and democracts but this cannot be guaranteed
80
in the democrat, who often votes with the republicans?
conservative democrats like Jim Cooper of Tennessee
81
in the republicans, who often votes with the democrats?
moderate republicans like Susan Collins in Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
82
what's a caucus?
a group of representatives in congress
83
what is the congressional Hispanic caucus?
a bipartisan group focusing on policies to benefit hispanic and latino communities
84
technically, how many congressional caucuses are there?
4
85
what are the 4 congressional caucuses?
House republican caucus, the house democratic caucus and parallels in the senate
86
what are the three main functions of the congressional caucuses?
- educational
- agenda setting
- encouraging support
87
What does the Congressional Black Congress do?
represents African American members of congress and set up a 'war room' to defend Ketanji Brown-Jackson when she was nominated to the supreme court
88
The congressional steel caucus
when Trump introduced a 25% tariff on steel imports, the leader of this caucus praised Trump for 'listening to their call'
89
where is a large amount of congressional legislation initiated from?
the administration
90
what is the locality rule?
representatives must reside in the state they represent
91
what makes representatives more loyal to their constituents in the US than the UK?
the constant election cycle in the US makes representatives more dependent and therefore loyal to their constituents
92
what methods does the interest group the NRA use?
uses its Victory fund PAC to donate to republican campaigns or create positive ads for republican pro-gun candidates
93
why is funding from interest groups important?
candidates rely on money and finance for their campaigns for re-election
94
how do interest groups use lobbyists?
to express their concerns/wises to representatives and the most influential groups will sometimes draft legislation on the issue
95
what is D.C often referred to as?
K Street Corridor
96
why is D.C referred to as the K Street Corridor?
due to the extremely high number of lobbyists working there
97
in 2021, how much did lobbyists spend lobbying congress?
$3.73 billion
98
what must occur for congress to effectively fulfil its legislative function?
- important laws should be passed
- enough laws should be passed
- laws must be appropriately examined
- ideally using a bipartisan approach
- process shouldn't be too difficult or too easy
99
how does the legislative process run?
concurrently
100
what stage I the senate can be fast tracked if there is unanimous consent?
floor action
101
what can the president to to bills?
- sign the bill
- leave the bill for ten days, if congress is still in session it becomes law regardless of the presidents signature
- veto the bill
102
what can happen if the president vetos the bill?
congress can attempt to override it
103
what must congress have to override the presidential veto?
2/3 supermajority in both chambers
104
why is it unliekly that congress will achieve a supermajority to override a veto?
because of polarisation and slim majorities
105
in the 117th congress, how many pieces of legislation were introduced./
over 17,000
106
in the 117th congress, how many pieces of legislation became enacted law?
228
107
what percent of legislation gets passed by congress on average?
2-3%
108
due to the small amounts of legislation passed, they are often __________?
omnibus
109
what does the filibuster allow?
the protection f a singular state by just on senator holding up the bill
110
what is a criticism of the filibuster?
it prevents the majority from passing legislation
111
what is oversight?
scrutiny of the executive
112
what must occur for congress to effectively fulfil its oversight function?
- actions of the presidency must be kept in check using congress' constitutional powers of impeachment and appointments
- through its powers of investigation, scrutiny should not be subject to partisanship
- must be strong in united gov as it is in divided gov
113
in what type of government does congress fulfil its oversight function more effectively?
divided
114
where have almost all examples of senate rejections of a presidential nomination come from?
divided government such as when the republican senate refused to vote on Obamas SCOTUS nomination, Merrick Garland
115
what was the rate of oversight of the budget committee in the 116th congress?
11.8%
116
what was the rate of oversight of the budget committee in the 117th congress?
0%
117
was the 116th congress divided or united?
divided
118
was the 117th congress divided or united?
united
119
is congressional oversight stronger in domestic or foreign policy?
domestic
120
how can the executive overcome oversight of foreign policy
by using executive agreements
121
when did Obama use an executive agreement?
2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of action concerning nuclear weapons in Iran (JCPOA)
122
what did trump face oversight with in domestic policy?
2019 trump faced difficulty with border wall plans when the democrat house passed a resolution against it
123
how many of the presidential vetoes have not been overturned?
92%
