CONGRESS - influences on how congressional members vote

Question 1

PARTIES (partisanship)

Party Unity Vote

Answer 1

$1 trillion Infrastructure Bill Biden Nov 2021 =

only 19 Senate Reps and 13 House Reps voted in favour for it.

Question 2

CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUSES

House Freedom Caucus

Answer 2

45 members

considered the most right-wing of all the caucuses in the House of Reps.

2017 - Trump failed to repeal and replace Obamacare when he failed to convince the House and most of the Freedom Caucus to support it - because they wanted a more purist bill.

Question 3

ADMINISTRATION - president + exec

Nancy Pelosi in 2010

Answer 3

2010 – Nancy Pelosi was named House Speaker and played a key role in ensuring that concessions were made to get enough votes from the Blue Dog Coalition to pass Obama’s healthcare reform.

Blue Dog Coalition - fiscally conservative Dems.

Question 4

CONSTITUENTS

AOC success

Answer 4

Democrat Joseph Crowley served as a representative for N.Y 14th district between 1999 and 2019 until Democrat primary challenger AOC went on to retain the seat for the Democrats.

April 2021, AOC and 3 other senators called a press conference to announce a bill they introduced to implement postal banking programs in rural and low-income urban neighborhoods where millions of households can’t access or afford standard banking services

Question 5

INTEREST GROUPS

2020 election cycle expenses

Answer 5

2020 election cycle saw the financial sector donate over $75 million to candidates of both parties

Question 6

LOBBYISTS

2020 increase in spending on lobbying

Answer 6

open secrets outlined how in the first quarter of 2020, the industry increased spending by 6.3% on lobbying.

There are nearly 1300 registered lobbyists for pharmaceuticals and health products - more than 2 lobbyists per congress.