Congress Flashcards
What is the House of Reps made up of?
There are 435 districts and 435 representatives for those districts. Small districts like Alaska, Wyoming, Montana and more have only one representative. The biggest district, California, has 53 representatives.
What is the Senate made up of?
There are 100 senators that come from the 50 states, 2 from each. They are all equal - no exceptions.
What are the requirements for being a representative?
Representatives must be a minimum age of 25 years, a US citizen for 7 years and reside in the state from which they are elected
What are the requirements for being a senator?
You must be at least 30 years old, be a US citizen for 9 years and reside in the state you wish to represent
What are the powers of House of Reps?
The Power of the Purse.
They can impeach officials, including the President.
Elect a President should the Electoral College deadlock
What are the powers of the Senate?
Confirm Presidential appointments
Ratify Treaties
Try the accused in cases of impeachment
Elect the Vice President in the case of Electoral College deadlock
Filibustering. Senators can filibuster for as long as they like, to prevent or delay legislation.
Shared Powers?
Equal legislative power (bills can start in either house besides financial bills)
They can override presidential vetoes
Initiate constitutional amendments
Declarations of war
Confirm appointed VPs
Why are there two chambers?
Larger states wanted proportional representation (Virginia Plan) while smaller states wanted equal representation (New Jersey Plan). The bicameral system is a result of the Great Compromise.
What’s the difference between proportional and equal representation?
Equal representation sets out a number of people allowed and then equally divides this between the states/districts - regardless of population.
Proportional representation takes into account the number of people, then divides the number of people to each state/district dependent on population.
The Senate uses equal representation while House of Reps uses proportional representation - which is why the Senate has slightly more powers.
How do the two chambers legislate?
A member of Congress introduces a bill.
The presiding officer refers the proposed legislation to one or more committees.
Committee members review the bill and decide whether to hold public hearings, recommend it positively or set it aside for later review.
If the bill is returned to the original chamber, members debate and consider further amendments.
The bill is then considered by the full chamber. If it passes, the measure is referred to the other chamber, where this process begins anew.
When a majority in both agree the bill should become law, it is signed and sent to the president.
The president may sign the act of Congress into law, or he may veto it. This can be overturned with 2/3 support in Congress.
