Congress Flashcards
What % of bills has congress managed to pass into law since 2013
3%
2017-2019 how many bills pigeonholed
1319 out of 1517 bills were pidgeonholed by the house judiciary committee chair
Example of bipartisan legislation
CARES Act
Financial support package in response to covid. No house democrats voted against, only 6 republicans did. Passed unanimously in the Senate
Example of congress being productive
Laken Riley act 2025 passed early in 119th congress. Requires undocumented migrants who are arrested for violent crimes to be held in jail pending trial
Example of congress not being productive
118th congress (2023 to 2025) only 4% of bills made it out of committee stage, 1% successfully passed
What is the nationalisation of the midterms
Parties now tend to run on a national platform and act as an opposition to the president
Eg Obama lost 63 house seats in the 2010 midterms in response to Obamacare
What is earmarking
A process of amending an appropriation bill to include funding for a congress person’s own state/ district eg a new bridge
Example of legislation only receiving GOP support
2017 tax cuts and jobs act passed along party lines in both houses and the committee stage
Example of a piece of legislation being prevented from passing by congress
American healthcare act 2017 which aimed to repeal parts of Obamacare was defeated in the senate 51-49 after McCain casted deciding vote against
Congress descriptive representation stats on women, African Americans, age and education
-28% of all members of 119th congress are women- 59% improvement from 112th congress but still below 50%
-119th congress over 25% are black (12% senate, 28% HOR) compared to around 13% of the population. This is the most ethnically diverse ever
- over 95 percent of congress people have at least a bachelors degree compared to 38% of Americans
Analyse how united the main political parties are in the USA and UK
1) party discipline
2) two party system in us makes parties broad coalitions with disagreement between their members whereas in the uk hard line brexiteers had the option to join the Brexit party/ reform/ ukip, thus keeping the conservatives more united. AOC said she and Biden wouldn’t be in the same party in another country
3) uk system discourages bipartisanship with an official opposition who are supposed to oppose the govt as a united front. us system is designed to encourage bipartisanship which means parties are not two united blocs facing eachother as they are in the uk
Example of the senate blocking legislation
John Lewis voting rights act 2022
2025 JR examples
Noem v Garcia- trump objection to returning man wrongly deported to El Salvador. Trump lost 9-0
Trump v JGG- trump plan to deport people under Alien Enemies Act. Trump won 5-4
