Congress Flashcards
What is the role of congress?
-based in Capitol Hill,DC and acts as legislative branch
-pass legislation i.e bipartisan pandemic response(CARES act which provided financial support)
-representing their constituents
-scrutinising and overseeing the executive
The structure of congress
-bicameral
- House of representatives(lower):
-435 reps from different congressional districts(no. of districts per state depends on population i.e 53 reps for CA
-2 year terms with all seats contested
- Senate(upper house):
-100 members
-6 year terms
-elections every 2 years with 1/3 seats contested
How does their terms in office affect roles?
-HOR having a shorter term helps public opinion be reflected
-Senate have longer terms so can be more experienced
-can make unpopular decisions in the short term but necessary
How was congress founded?
-designed by the founding fathers as a compromise between small and large states
-smaller states favoured the New Jersey plan(all states have equal no. of seats)
-larger states favoured the Virginia Plan(population of seats would determine no. of seats)
-at the Philadelphia convention 1787, the Connecticut Compromise was announced where HOR depended on population but there were always 2 senators per state
Power of congress
-legislative process: both must approve a bill so it can be sent to president
-overriding presidential veto: can decide whether to amend/abandon bill or override veto
-initiate const. amendments: 2/3 majority then sent to states for approval
-need 2/3 majority from senate to ratify treaty
-both houses vote to declare war(not since ‘41)
-senate confirm presidential appts to federal judiciary
-HOR can impeach a public official/president via simple majority and Senate can try them in court
Legislative process: Introduction
-formal, with no debate or vote
-placing a copy of the bill on the clerk’s desk in the House/reading the title of the Bill on the Senate floor
-i.e in 2023, 10,598 bills were introduced and only 206 were enacted
Legislative process:
Committee stage
-bill examined by standing committee(congressmen who are experts in that subject area)
-can amend it and decide whether to release it to main chamber
-i.e the House committee on ways and means deals with bills to do with tax and finance
Legislative process: Timetabling
-happens due to the high no. of bills making their way to House/Senate floors:
-Senate use a unanimous consent agreement (majority and minority leaders agree on order of debates)
-HOR use the House Rules Committee(decide what bills go through to debates) and if reps disagree then they can get 218 signatures on a ‘discharge petition’ to automatically get to House floor i.e the Bipartisan Campaign reform act 2002(banned unlimited contributions to campaigns)
Legislative process: Floor debate and vote
HOR:
-considered in the Committee of the Whole House(debates and proposed amendments)
-both amendments and final bill are voted on and require simple majority
SENATE:
-a filibuster can take place(senators use unlimited debate time to delay bill) i.e Ted Cruz famously reciting ‘Green eggs and Ham’ during 21 hour filibuster on the Affordable Care Act
-can be ended with cloture(petition signed by 16 senators and voted for by 3/5 of senate) i.e 144 filed and 44 passed in 2023
Legislative process: Conference committee
IF REQUIRED
-to reconcile the differences between House and Senate versions of bill
-in decline since republicans had control of both houses in 1995–} one chamber began to be asked to accept legislation of other chambers
Legislative process: Presidential action
-can sign a bill they are in support of i.e Obama signed off the Affordable Care Act 2010(expanding access to healthcare)
-can leave the bill on desk(takes no position on so becomes a law without signature)
-can do a regular veto(can be a bargaining tool)–} can be amended or overridden i.e Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism 2016(families of victims can sue foreign govts for terrorist involvement), Obama’s veto overridden
Composition of congress
AS OF 2024
-28% women, 51% in US vs 72% men
-22% POC, 23%
-88% Christian, 71% in US BUT 0.2% with no religion, 23% in US
-2% LGBTQ, 4.5% in US
-average age 59, 38 in US
Criteria of congress
-25+ in congress, 30+ in senate
-have to be a US citizen for minimum 7 years, 9 for senate
-must reside in state they represent
Progression in Congress
-117th congress(2021-23) was the most racially diverse in history–} 58 AA reps, 4 Latino senators(record numbers)
-first 2 Muslim women and record of 4 Native Americana in 116th congress
-AOC became the youngest ever congresswomen and rose to fame alongside Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib
-more women ran for 2018 midterms than ever before(rose from 24% to 27%)
Underrepresentation in Congress
-Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority in US(18% of population) but made up 9% in 117th congress
-52 AAs in House and 3 in Senate BUT 58 belonged to Dems and only 3 Reps
Reasons for underrepresentation
-shortage of POC/women candidates in state legislatures
-Hispanics and AAs are better represented in HOR than senate because of majority-minority districts(majority of voters are from one minority ethnic group in a district)
-congress has been traditionally male dominated which may seem off-putting i.e male only swimming pool where they were allowed to swim naked in Senate until 2009
-i.e Congressman John Conyers jr was accused of sexual harassment e.g. inappropriate touching in 2017 and resigned amid metoo movement
-i.e Tammy Duckworth became the first senator to have a baby while in office and convinced senate to change rules and allow young children in chamber
Congress DOES perform its legislative function well
-have passed transformative legislation i.e Safer community act 2022(‘red flag’ law to block people who seem like a danger to themselves/society from buying a gun)
-bipartisanship i.e Reps and Dems worked together to pass the First Step act 2018(promote rehab and reduce excessive sentences) 87-12 votes in senate
-can pass emergency legislation i.e CARES act in face of COVID(financial support)
-recent overturning of presidential veto i.e national defence authorisation act overturned 81-13
Congress DOESN’T perform its legislative function effectively
-only 2-3% bills become law in comparison to the 80s where it was 6-7%
-Senators can filibuster bills which can contribute to gridlock
-increased use of ‘close rules’ by the House rules committee has reduced the number of amendments made to House bills(prevents legislation from being improved
What is the oversight function?
-congress oversees and scrutinises actions of federal govt
-implied power(not specifically mentioned in constitution)
-works better in divided govt as there is incentive to investigate opponents i.e Dems launched investigation into Trump in 2018–} first impeachment
-inter-party disagreement i.e Trump couldn’t achieve campaign pledge of repealing ObamaCare in first 100 days
-may depend on public approval ratings i.e Bush’s shot up 90% after 9/11 and got less scrutiny for the next few years
Standing and select committees
-hold hearings and can compel witnesses to provide info for investigations
-threat of investigation should motivate executive to ensure actions are legal
-televised investigations may be used to smear the opposition with bad publicity
-govt accountability office(GOA) supports congress to investigate executive–} staff in the GAO alongside other congressional offices were cut by 45% between 1975 + 2015
Select committee example: House select committee on Capitol Hill attacks
-held a series of televised public hearings after Trump supporters attacked Capitol Hill, Jan 6 2021, protesting to prevent Biden’s formal win
-174 police officers injured
-examined text messages between Trump’s advisors and family members via confidential tip line
-led to Trump’s second impeachment on the grounds of ‘incitement of insurrection’ as the committee revealed the attack as part of a 7 part plan to overturn the election
Confirmation of nominees
-senate confirmation is needed for many presidential appts including supreme court justices
-criticised for being highly publicised i.e Trump’s education secretary Betsy DeVos showed lack of basic policy knowledge and suggested guns should be in some schools to protect students from bears in 2017 confirmation hearing (senate vote tied 50-50 with only 2 republicans voting against her)
-can block nomination i.e Republican senators blocked Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland as supreme court justice as it was election year in 2016
