Congress - legislation and oversight Flashcards
What happens at the Introduction?
Formality: no debate and no vote
What are the stages of legislation in congress?
- Introduction
- Committee Stage
- Timetabling
- Floor debate and vote on passage
- Conference committee (optional)
- Presidential action
How many bills are introduced each congress?
anything between 10,000 and 14,000
What % of bills produced make it into law?
2-4%
What happens at the committee stage and what makes it important?
More bills fail here than at any other stage, because there’s too many bills to handle.
A significant number are pigeon-holed (put to one side) with no action taken
However, those with a wide range of support are given hearings, so it’s largely in committee’s hands which legislation is sieved out
Standing committees are regarded as policy experts and they can amend what they like- anything can be added or taken away
What happens at the timetabling stage and why’s it important? How does it vary in each house
This helps to deal with the legislative traffic jam and decide what is debated on the floor of each house
Senate uses a unanimous consent agreement: an agreement between the Senate majority and minority leaders on the order in which bills will be debated on the senate floor
House deals with it through the House Rules Committee: they decide which bills make it onto the floor and the ruling of the bill (the level to which amendments can be made)- this makes the chair of the House Rules Committee one of the most influential posts in Congress
What can the House do if the House Rules Committee doesn’t give a bill a rule?
The discharge process: a discharge petition must be signed by an absolute majority of House members - 218. Once this has been fulfilled, the bill is discharged from the Rules Committee and comes automatically to the floor of the house
What happens in the floor debate and vote on passage?
First opportunity for the full chamber to debate the bill, with simple majorities required to make amendments and pass the bill
The bill must pass each house in the same form and if there are any differences, these can be reconciled in informal discussions
What is the filibuster and where does this happen?
In the senate, there is a possibility of a filibuster, where senators can exercise their right of unlimited debate to delay a bill
The number of filibusters has significantly increased in recent years
How can the filibuster be ended
Ended by a closure - this is a petition which must be signed by 16 senators and then voted for by at least 3/5th - 60- senators
What happens in the conference committee stage
This is an optional stage and occurs if there is significant differences in the passed bills between the two houses
How has the conference committee stage changed?
The use of the conference committee has declined in the last 25 years. Although it’s still used for important acts like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017. Increasingly, a UK style of ‘Ping-ponging’ has become prevalent, where bills from one house are offered on a take it or leave it basis
What can the president do when a bill lands on their desk?
-Sign the bill into law
-Leave the bill on their desk- this is if he doesn’t like the bill but knows Congress would override his veto. It then automatically becomes law in 10 days
-Regular veto- bills he strongly opposes
-Pocket veto- within 10 day of the end of the session
Why did the Founding Fathers purposefully make it difficult to carry out the legislative process?
- so it couldn’t be dominated by one group
- compromise would be needed
- only law which was necessary passed
- Allows the states to keep quite a considerable amount of power over their own state laws
What has recently made passing legislation so incredibly difficult?
The rise of partisanship
