Congress Flashcards
Bicameral?
majority needed in both houses for legislation to be passed
Senate make up
2 per state
Representative make up
proportionate to the state e.g Alaska has 1 and Texas 38
Senate main positions
President of the Senate - held by V.P and has the power to break the tie vote in the Senate
Majority leader - elected by the party with the majority, spokesperson (currently Chuck Schumer)
Minority leader - elected by the party with a minority and is the spokesperson (Mitch McConnell)
both leaders coordinate their legislative agenda
Congress main positions
Speaker - de facto leader of the majority party and is the spokesperson for their parties position (Mike Johnson)
Majority leader - second highest ranked member and responsible for scheduling legislation
Minority leader - elected by the party with minority and spokesperson
Power given to Congress
Article 1 gives it the power to pass legislation, declare war and elastic clause, A.2 gives power to overturn P’s veto and Article 5 amendment process
Senate power?
try impeachment cases, ratify treaties (both need 2/3 agreement), confirm executive appointments
HoR power
impeach president or any other federal official, initiative revenue-raising bills and elect president if no candidate has over 50%
Senate more prestigious?
represent entire states, serve 6 term, only 100 so easier to gain important role, good launch pad for presidential campaign as can build national profile and important executive power
Example of senate being more prestigious
of the new 8 senators in 2022, 3 had been members of the HoR but none of the 74 Congresspeople elected had been senators AND Truman, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Obama and Biden had all served in the Senate
3 representation model
Trustee model - believes that elected reps are given responsibility to make own judgement (Senate)
Delegate model - should base decision on voting the wishes of their constituents (HoR)
Resemblance model - descriptively representative
Why are midterms importnat?
Referendum on the first two years of Presidency e.g in 2018 Democrats gained control of the House and in 2022 the Republicans also gained control of the house (anticipated red wave didn’t come)
Incumbency success
94% of incumbents who ran for re-election in 2022 in the HoR were elected and in 2022 in the senate 28 incumbents who ran won (only 9 defeated in 2022 in HoR)
significance of incumbency (use of office)
establish popularity and attract funding from major donors - greater name recognition ( in 2022 Senate incumbents raised 14X the amount challengers raised - $29M v. $2M) and gain a good reputation within their state/district through visits
safe seats (Significance of incumbency)
FPTP has led to a number of safe seats
Gerrymandering (Significance of incumbency)
Congressional District boundaries redraw to benefit a party e.g REDMAP 2008 where district lines were redrawn to benefit Republicans, Dems went from 12/18 districts to 5/18
Pork Barreling (Significance of incumbency)
amendments to legislation that would benefit a particular group in their constituency - $26B spent on earmarks in 2023, and Senator Richard Shelby alone passed 18. Bridge to nowhere - bridge to 50 residents cost $223M.
Increasing challenges to incumbents
1982 - 2016 74 incumbents lost primaries in 2022 there were 14 alone
Incumbents challenges by extremists
AOC winning New York 14th congressional district or 6 republicans supported the second impeachment of DT and 4 were unseated by Trump backed challengers
Incumbents becoming more extreme
threats of challengers have led to changing behaviour e.g John McCain toughened up stance on immigration
Parties (factor affecting Congressional voting behaviour)
not as united and voting on party lines not common - party leaders aren’t in charge of government and so lack patronage power. BUT there still is pressure as every week the party caucuses meet to try and united behind proposals. Society is more partisan and divided on party lines
example of unified parties
half of all votes in the first few years of the 21st century being party voters
example of partisanship in society
No democrats voted for Trumps Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and no Republicans voted for Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act
Caucuses (factor affecting Congressional voting behaviour)
different factions within and between political parties who often vote together and act as a group to increase their importance and influence
Two examples of caucuses
House Freedom Caucus - played a key role in removing Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker in October 2023. Congressional Progressive Caucus which is the furthest left wing faction and sought to pass legislation like Green New Deal and Medicare for All
Example of Caucuses for represenation
Congressional Black Caucus
lobbyist (factor affecting Congressional voting behaviour)
pressure from these groups to vote a certain way as they have a certain political agenda and seek to convince in a way that benefits them. 12,000 lobbyists and in 2021 $3.78B spent
interest groups (factor affecting Congressional voting behaviour)
AARP have large, active membership so members can mobilise to create the threat of removal of members and can mobilize public opinion or NRA which was successful in preventing Obama administration from passing legislation limiting guns after a number of school shootings
Electoral incentives and public opinion (factor affecting Congressional voting behaviour)
if they don’t take public opinion into account they run the risk of failing to be re-elected, sometimes means voting against the party line to win support for voters. Congresspersons with safer seats or intend to stand down at next election will vote against party line more
example of Congresspeople voting against party line for constituency
Two House democrats voted against impeachment as they represented districts which had voted for Trump in 2016 and Joe Manchin often votes with Republicans due to representing West Virignia, was the reason for Biden’s Build Back Better Bill in 2021
Percentage of women in Congress
28% (150 vs. 100 10 years ago)
Percentage of ethnic minorities in Congress
25% (137 v. 86 10 years ago)
Congress people LGBTQ+ v. population
2% in Congress identify v. 6.5% of US
Congress people with college degrees v. public
94% v. 38%
1st stage of legislative function
- pass through both chambers
- send to a standing committee which can either reject it (majority) or accept it to continue)
Committee stage
Standing committees hold hearings in relation to the bills that they accept - different standing committees for different areas
How many committees in senate and HoR
16 in Senate and 20 in the House
Timetabling stage
Decides which bills get to be debated and voted on in the floor - and how
Example of differing house views
Supreme Court Security Funding Act was passed in the House but in Senate significant amendment including its name being changed to the CHIPS and Science Act
Conference committee/reconciliation
bill looks different at the end of the stages in both houses and so the Conference Committee - members in both houses, come together to create a version of the bill which is then voted on again in the chambers
How bills did the 117th congress pass?
365, but 10,000 bills introduced in each congress
Filibustering?
doesn’t require speaking but shows and intent and then needs 60 votes to pass it in the Senate e.g For the People Act which would expand voting rights and reform campaign finance was filibustered
Why was the 2010 DREAM Act prevented from passing?
Due to filibuster and they failed to reach a closure motion
How many committees and subcommittees?
200
Important Committees
House Appropriations controls legislation involving government expenditure and the Senate Foreign Relations committee plays a key role in scrutinising the executive’s foreign policy
why are committees important?
use their specialist knowledge in a particular area or represent the particular interests of their district
Strengths of legislative process?
- Bipartishanship in times of crisis - can be overcome like the CARES ac in 2020
- Multiple veto points to ensure scrutiny
- committees have experts - informed and effective legislation
- president check on congress
Weaknesses
- high failure (2%) passed
- partisanship and divided government leads to gridlock
- filibustering is a tool for minority obstruction
- Complex and there are too many veto points as barriers
- influence of lobbying and special interest
filibuster good?
During 1930s Senator Long filibustered against bills that he through favoured the rich over the poor. Senator Morse used it to educate the public on issues he considered to be of national interest
Example of bills Biden has passed?
- reduction act, American rescue plan, infrastructure and investment act and appoint Ketanji Brown Jackson
Why is oversight powers of Congress weaker on foreign policy?
enacted by president alone and through executive orders and agreements rather than through legislation or treaties
Example of Senate Committee hearing?
Senate Intelligence Committee investigated Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election for 3 years
Example of HoR committee hearing
2023 they held a high profile on if the US government was covering up the existence of aliens
Example of distance between Democrats and Republicans
voting patterns with cross party collaboration has become less common e.g near universal Republican opposition to the ACA 2010 and the universal Democrat opposition to Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Example of Congress controlling military spending
National Defence Authorization Act
