Legislative Branch Flashcards
Name the two branches of congress
Senate and House of Representatives
How many years can the senate serve and how many members does it have?
Serve 6 years, 100 members
What does Congress write?
Laws
What are constituents?
Citizens
Name five powers of Congress
- Raise and collect taxes
- Borrow money
- Coin money
- Post office
- Declare war
Who is the current speaker of the house? And what are his jobs?
Paul Ryan, reps decide the committees each member will serve on and the order in which bills are read (all money bills start at the house)
Who is the head of the Senate? And what are his jobs?
Mike Pence, he decides the committees each member will serve on and the order in which bills are read
Name for senate powers
- Senate approves all treaties
- Approves all appointments for the president
- Acts as a jury in all trials of impeachment
- Cannot be arrested in Congress for minor offenses while Congress is in session
What is a bill?
A proposed law that applies to everyone
What is joint resolution?
Hey proposed action that acts as a law for a special circumstance (temporary)
What is step one on how a bill becomes a law?
Think of an idea
Step two?
Write a bill
Step three?
Please fill in the hopper (wooden mailbox)
Step four?
Clerk takes bill and gives it a number and either a S or a HR
Step five?
Speakers sends to committee (speaker appoints committee chair)
Step six?
Chair determines order they are read
Step seven?
- Pass the bill to the floor
- Pigeonhole (refuse to read it)
- Report an amended bill (add to it)
- Report unfavorable (we don’t like it, but…)
- Report a committee (Committee rewrites it)
Step eight?
Rules committee makes for bill on the floor
Step nine?
Debate on the floor
Step ten? What is Quorum
Vote; a certain number of people necessary to vote
What happens after step 10?
The bill goes to the opposite house (step 3)
Step eleven?
Goes to president:
- Sign it
- Veto it
- Not sign (after 10 days it becomes a law anyway)
- Pocket veto (9 days or less before recess - it disappears)
Who is the speaker of the house elected by?
Party in control
Who becomes the president of the Senate?
Vice President
