Congress essay plans Flashcards
How are senators more saught after as a job than HoR ppl
Senators are elected every 6 years (with 1/3 of the Senate being replaced every 2 years) giving them greater power to act independently and make their own self-interested choices. This can be seen in the 12 republican senators who approved a proposal to revoke Trump’s declaration of an emergency on the US-Mexico border in March 2019.
What are the exclusive powers of the senate?
- trial of public official
- Exec power to ratify treaties
- Ability to confirm exec appointments
How many republican senators voted in favour of Trumps impeachment
7
When did senate reject treaty?
Treaty of Versailles, also w Obama backed treaty on disabled rights in 2012
Ability to confirm appointments
over 1200 senior appointments of Cabinet members, some members of EXOP and all federal judges including Supreme Court judges are scrutinised through the senate committee hearings and Senate can confirm presidential nominations by a 50% + vote.
. Really important aspect of scrutiny increasingly politicised given increasing partisanship; as seen in when the Republican-controlled Senate refused to the nomination of Merrick Garland by Obama – the nomination remained before Senate for 293 days, and with the failure of the nomination, Trump could then nominate Neil Gorsuch successfully. So, this power is crucial as it can shift the ideological balance of the supreme court for many years (with Merrick having been set to replace the very conservative Antonin Scalia)
How does the senate have more powers?
House have exclusive powers e.g impeach, elect president if split electoral college and consideration of all money bills
How are hor consideration of money bills limited?
For example, when a bill that would have sent relief money to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria was rejected by Senate republicans after being passed by House democrats
What shows the importance of representation within American politics?
: In a letter, James Madison established his intentions for ‘a republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place’
What shows huge diversity in America?
o 116th Congress most representative ever. The populism and shift of the Overton window by Trump has been reciprocated by a far more diverse democrat base.
Talk about all these ppl dem
What shows huge inequalities in 116th Congress
NPR - majority of 116th congress are millionaires
What shows that Congress is still representative despite consider the ‘resemblance’ model not necessarily relevant for analysis of representation?
Mitch McConnel got 64% in 2004 of the vote whilst AOC got 57%
How much did AOC get in 2020
71%
How many House democrats are not white compared w. republicans.
34% democrats
2% republicans
Whats age dominates congress
54% of congres but 23% of population
How can it be argued that representation is shit in congress through actual models of representation?
Winner take all in single plurality winner districts, voters
highest total vote-getter winning election, even if he or she has received less than half of the vote.
How does the structure of congress ensure lack of represenation?
o Not only is this aspect of the voting system flawed, but the way Congress is structured is flawed: whilst in the House of Representatives, the number of Representatives per state is allocated based on population, with the Senate, each state regardless of size gets two votes. It takes more ‘votes’ to elect a representative in California than in Wyoming. Translates into contentious issues like Kavanaugh vote: the 51 Republican senators of the 115th Congress represented about 143 million people, according to July ‘18 Census Bureau state population estimates. The 49 Democratic senators represented about 182 million people, nearly 40 million more. That’s about 2.8 million people per Republican senator and 3.7 million people per Democratic senator. So, when the Senate voted for Kavanaugh to be elected, this isn’t representing the people as the delegate or trustee model sets out.
How does structure of congress ensure representation
Lack of executive influence over Congress ensure accountability to the public not president as seen in how Susan Collins as a moderate Republican often voters against her own parties.
How does the delegate model ensure lack of representation
the latest Gallup poll illustrates how only 18% of people approve how Congress is handling its job (which ostensibly is representation.)
How does the trustee model not follow through
o Nowadays, Congress can also be said to be unrepresentative; for example, in 59% stating that say Russian interference in the election is a serious matter that should be investigated. It’s arguable that increased partisanship has meant that politicised issues are dealt with poorly; More recently, House Speaker Paul Ryan has resorted to verbal jujitsu when asked about the president’s behaviour as it relates to the Russia investigation, calling the legitimate attempts to safeguard our democracy a “political distraction.”
What did Paul Ryan say in the Ben Shapiro interview as well as how mid-terms are referendum on president
o In Gallup’s polling history, presidents with job approval ratings below 50% have seen their party lose 37 House seats, on average, in midterm elections
What shows presidents actions being a factor in mid terms?
- since 1994, mid-terms have arguably become ‘nationalised’ and elections such as 1994, 2006 and 2010 were all elections in which the president’s record was a factor in his party’s loss of seats
What is a major factor in mid terms being a referendum for Presidents (think mulla)
o President also won’t be able to move legislation through Congress easily. But Senate victory for Trump will mean easier appointing of judges and position strengthening. The very nature of the checks and balances system means that if the populous want the president to be able to do stuff over coming two years they have to vote for his party in the elections. E.g., Barack Obama’s promise to revive the federal assault weapons ban hit a wall with Congress.
What was the biggest issues for ppl in the 2018 mid terms
Noteworthy to members of the life science community, healthcare was the number one issue for voters cited in exit polls.
What significance did the 2018 mid terms have against Trump
- With 2018 midterms especially, underlying current that Dems would use victory in House of Representatives to make life difficult for Trump by taking over committees to scrutinise the President
o For example, demanding that he release tax returns and launching further investigation into the possibility of collusion with Russia - Mueller report and 2019 impeachment attempt at obstructing justice
What are the two most significant mechanisms of HoR oversight onto exec
Two of the most significant mechanisms include holding congressional hearings as well as sending letters to executive branch agencies and to individuals involved in executive branch operations.
Was the 116th congress a lame duck?
Nothing lame about this lame duck: 116th Congress had busiest post-election session in recent history
just under 1/3 of all bills were past post election
What was Trumps coattrail saying?
Of the 241 Republican House candidates elected at the same time, Trump outran just one out of 10. i.e barely existant
Could you argue there is negative coattail
Ye, esp with Trump and Obama
Since 1952, control of the House has changed hands five times, all of which were in midterm elections (1954, 1994, 2006, 2010 and 2018) and all of which were at the expense of the incumbent President’s party.
