CONGRESS - shared powers, House powers, Senate powers. Flashcards
SHARED POWERS
- creating legislation
congress has the ability to create, amend, delay, and pass legislation.
June 2021 - (remember Senate split between 48 Dems and 50 Reps) legislation passed unanimously by Senate and by 415-14 vote to make June-teenth a federal holiday.
this is a celebration of the end of slavery.
SHARED POWERS
- overriding presidential veto
congress can overturn veto if two-thirds of both houses agree to do so.
this is 67 votes in the Senate and 290 votes in the House.
US Congress overrided Trump’s veto for the first time in the weeks before he left office 2021 Jan - this was on his defence spending bill ($740 billion) which will fund defence policy for years to come. Trump objected to certain provisions in the bill
Republican Senate suprisingly voted to override.
SHARED POWERS
- proposing constitutional amendments
2/3s vote of both houses + 3/4 of all state legislatures = constitutional amendment successful.
27th amendment to the constitution in 1992 was the last successful one - prohibits any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress from taking effect until after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred.
SHARED POWERS
- declaring war
agreement of both houses = formal declaration of war against another nation.
last formally declared war during wwII.
more commonly today, AUMFs, created in a joint resolution of Congress in 2001 following 9/11 attacks - force against any perpetrator of the attacks.
SHARED POWERS
- investigation
implied power that means congress can launch investigations in areas where it has created legislation - congress can subpoena witnesses which means they can order someone to attend a hearing which can compel them to give evidence.
SIGAR interviews: Special Inspector General for Aghanistan Reconstruction = 2021 lessons learned from 20 years of Afghanistan
HOUSE POWERS
- power of the purse
House alone can begin appropriation bills.
longest shutdown in us govt history - 2018-2019
116th United States Congress and President Donald Trump could not agree on an appropriations bill to fund the federal government.
HOUSE POWERS
- charges of impeachment
House alone can bring charges of impeachment.
Trump’s 2021 Capitol Riot incitement impeachment - 232 votes in favour = approved.
HOUSE POWERS
- choosing president if E.C is deadlocked
The president needs a simple majority in the Electoral College to win an election – out of 535, this is 270.
If no one can win this, the House of Reps will choose who becomes the next President.
Each state is given a single vote to exercise.
SENATE POWERS
- it doesn’t ratify treaties, but it either approves or rejects a resolution of ratification.
The Senate scrutinises treaties that are made and can choose to approve/reject them by two-thirds vote.
2010 - Senate voted by 71-26 to ratify the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) negotiated by Obama and his Russian counterpart.
Treaties don’t always have to be senate-approved –> Paris Climate Agreement was an executive order.
SENATE POWERS
- confirm appointments
Senate can confirm appointments but forward by the exec to - this entails hearings carried out by relevant committees.
Amy Coney Barrett Oct 2020 saw 52v48 vote in the Senate.
SENATE POWERS
- try cases of impeachment
A simple majority of senators are needed to find the accused guilty or innocent.
Trump = 57 Senators voted him guilty in 2021 BUT this didn’t mean 2/3s threshold, which would have been 67 Senators.
SENATE POWERS
- choosing the VP if deadlocked
Electoral college deadlock = House picks president and Senate picks VP.
Very, very rare.
