How effective is Congress?

Question 1

What are the 3 ways you can judge congress?

Answer 1

-Representation
-Oversight
-Legislation

Question 2

How many people are there per representative in the US?

Answer 2

There is a representative for every roughly 740,000 people in the US.

Question 3

What did Bill Clinton want his cabinet to look like?

Answer 3

He wanted his cabinet to represent America, in other words “look like America” e.g. cabinet members in Biden’s cabinet have been appointed for representation [ethnic groups] over expertise in some cases.

Question 4

is the 118th congress the most diverse one yet?

Answer 4

Yes, however Congress remains less diverse than the country as a whole at 41%

Question 5

How much of Congress is female?

Answer 5

-20% of Congress is female
-51% of America is Female

Thus whilst it is the most diverse it has ever been there is still a while to go until Congress reaches total representation.

Question 6

How much of Congress is LGBTQ?

Answer 6

2% of congress is Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual compared to 6.5% of the US adult population [the number of openly LGB members in the 118th congress is the highest in history and tripled over the last decade with just four members in the 122th congress now that number is 13.

Question 7

What are the 3 forms of congressional representation?

Answer 7

*Constituency representation -interest pf the district and state.
*Party representation – interests of the party
*Functional representation – ‘look like America’

Question 8

What is congress’s biggest problem when it comes to representation?

Answer 8

Older generations still account for the largest share of lawmakers particularly in the Senate. Boomers (1946-64) make up 45% of the House, 66% of the Senate vs 21% of the US. Whilst the number from the Silent Generation (1928-45) has dropped from 19% in the 115th (2017-18) it is still at 8% compared to 5% of the US.

Question 9

What is Congress’s biggest strength when it comes to representation though?

Answer 9

Younger generations have been increasing their share of Congress especially in the House. Since the 115th (2017-18) Boomers have dropped from 62% to 45%, Gen-X (1965-1980) has increased to 38% compared to 20% of the US and Millennials (1981-1996) increased from 1% to 12% compared to 22% of the US. The House also has its first Gen-Z (1997-2012) member in Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and even the Senate has 3 Millennials.

Question 10

What is Congressional oversight?

Answer 10

Congress has an oversight role over federal agencies. Congress carries out this function by holding hearings and conducts oversight of agency enforcement operations, functions and policies.

Question 11

Example of Congress demonstrating its independent from the President’s legislation?

Answer 11

Congress demonstrated its independent from the President’s legislation – refused to repeal and replaced Obamacare, refused Build Back Better + Voting Rights Reform under Biden. Therefore stands up to the President – separation of powers. This is what the founding fathers wanted.

Question 12

Congressional oversight powers of congress?

Answer 12

-Can impeach a president
-Congress can reject nominations
-Congress has the power of the purse

Question 13

Example of impeachment?

Answer 13

Trump twice (Russian involvement in 2016 election + threatening Ukrainian PM for info on Biden’s son pre-2020 election) and Clinton once.

Question 14

Example of rejecting nomination?

Answer 14

Andrew Puzder – large Republican donor Trump wanted to reward with a Cabinet position.

Question 15

Example of Congress’s power of the purse?

Answer 15

Trump’s veto of NDAA 2021. Sole right to declare way – last used in 1941 for WW2.

Question 16

Why are congressional oversight powers to investigate weak?

Answer 16

Congressional oversight powers such as the power to investigate, impeachment and removal are a long drawn out process that take years to complete and rarely ends in any form of punishment or justice bar a light slap on the wrist.

Question 17

How does the issue of bipartisanship have an effect on the powers of congressional oversight?

Answer 17

It comes down to a matter of bipartisanship that makes oversight effective or not. In the recent inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election both Democrats and Republicans that were on the committee purposefully withheld information and didn’t work effectively together at all. Republican congressmen then went even further accusing the democrats of conducting a witch-hunt against the then president Trump in order to smear his name before the 2020 election campaign.

Question 18

What did the investigation into Russian interference find?

Answer 18

The investigation had found, through the CIA and FBI, that there had been Russian involvement in the US presidential election but by that point the election result couldn’t be overturned and the investigation couldn’t punish anyone thus resulting in a waste of 2 years and tax payers money.

Question 19

Main issue of the impeachment process?

Answer 19

Impeachment is v partisan – Trump not convicted despite inciting the Jan 6th attacks on Capitol Hill – via Twitter.

Question 20

How is congress effective with the idea of legislation?

Answer 20

Congress has shown that it can work together to pass legislation through such as Biden’s build back better plan which shows that through bipartisan support congress can work together to create legislation that benefits the American people massively.

Question 21

What does congress provide?

Answer 21

Congress provides scrutiny for the big legislation pushes.

Question 22

How is congress ineffective when it comes to legislation?

Answer 22

American politics is the most partisan it has been ever been in recent history, partly due to the rise in populism under Trump, this has led to a lack of bipartisan legislation being passed in recent years. Undoubtedly the most damming example of this was the rejection of Obamacare by congress.

Question 23

What is the current problem with the structure of congress and the government

Answer 23

Divided government currently [Republicans own the House, Democrats own the senate]