Legislative Branch Study Guide Flashcards
Expressed/Enumerated Powers?
National Powers: coin $, raise an army, punish counterfeiting
Concurrent Powers: collect taxes, enforce laws, fund & regulate education
State Powers: license professionals, regulate marriage & divorce, 10th amendment
Inherent Powers?
Assumed to be powers of the national government
Ex: foreign affair
Reserved/Police Powers?
10th amendment, unclear (allow for interpretation)
Not given to federal government or denied to states (“reserved to states”)
Ex: marriage & divorce, license professionals
Concurrent Powers?
Shared with federal govt
States can’t use reserved or concurrent powers to us up power of national govt
Ex: tax & borrowing
Denied Powers?
National Powers: suspend writs of habeus corpus (brought in front of judge & what their crime was), tax on exports, grant titles of nobility
Powers Denied by Both: pass bill of attainder, change state boundaries w/o consent, abridge bill of rights
State Power: enter into treaties, tax exports & imports, tax federal govt agencies
Implied Powers?
Congress has power to make laws that are “necessary & proper”
Relate laws to expressed powers
Ex: regulate commerce, declare war
Elastic Clause/Necessary and Proper Clause
Congress has power to make laws that are NECESSARY and PROPER with enumerated power & act where constitution doesn’t give Congress the authority to act
Gerrymandering?
Deliberate re-arrangement of boundaries of Congressional district in favor of a political party (Republican or Democrat)
Reapportionment?
Constitution requires that representative in House is reappointed every 10 yrs
Population of each state determines new # of representatives it’s entitled
Census counts EVERYONE
Redistricting?
Redrawing of district boundary lines done by each state legislature after Congress reappoints, with MANY GUIDELINES
Senate Basics (Requirements/Term/#) ?
30 yrs old
U.S. citizen for 9 yrs
Legal resident of state they are representing
Re-election every 2 yrs
TOTAL of 100 MEMBERS!!!!!
Term is 6 yrs long
House Basics (Requirements/Term/#)?
25 yrs old
U.S. citizen for 7 yrs
Legal resident of state they’re representing
Live in district they’re representing
Re-election every 2 yrs
TOTAL OF 435 MEMBERS!!!
Term is 2 yrs long
Congressional Basics?
Bicameral legislature (Senate and House of Representatives)
435 Reps, 100 Senators
Have ALL legislative power
President of Senate = Vice President (replacement is President Pro Tempore)
Presider of House of Reps = Speaker of the House
President of the Senate
Second person in presidential succession line
Presides over office
Responsible for breaking a TIED vote in Senate
Receive/count electoral ballots in election
Vice President who becomes President in emergencies (assassination, untimely death)
President Pro Tempore
“For the time being”
Senate elects this leader
Has to be from majority party
Most SENIOR member
Senate Majority Leader
Steer party’s bills through Senate
Plan’s Senate work schedule & agenda
Responsible for making CERTAIN majority parties attend Senate sessions
Organize their support on KEY BILLS
Senate Minority Leader
Develops criticism of majority party’s bills
Tries keeping senators in minority party working together
Speaker of the House
Appoint members of SOME committees
Schedule bills for action
Follows Vice president in line of succession
Sends bills to committees to study/discuss/review them
House Minority Leader
Promote & publicize party’s agenda
Confers with President & aides regularly about Congress issues, agenda, & political events
Committee Make-Up/Chairs
Committee Make-up: majority of member from majority party so they will ALWAYS win a vote
Chairperson: always for majority party
Committees (key committees and importance)
House Judiciary Committee
House Rules Committee
Senate Judiciary Committee
Senate Appropriations Committee
Standing Committees
“Stand” = exist all the time
Regular committee
Ex: Senate Judiciary Committee
Joint Committees
Includes members of BOTH houses
Debate and report on matters concerning the Congress rather than issues of public policy.
Select Committees
Created for special functions
They research specific issues or oversee government agencies.
Senate Judiciary Committee
Confirms federal judges
House Judiciary Committee
Impeachment
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Deliberate/report treaties submitted by President for the Senate to consider
Conducts public hearings for EACH treaty
House Ways and Means Committee
Taxation (ways to have means to pay for things)
Increase revenue to finance federal govt
Individual & corporate income tax
Excise/estate/etc
Bonded debt to the U.S.
House Rules Committee
Traffic cop
Decides what goes to the floor for discussion
How long debates last for
House and Senate Appropriations Committees
House: spending bills, budget
Senate: sending bills, taxation
Joint Conference Committee
Work out differences in bills between the House of Reps & Senate
A different committee for EACH bill
Seniority
Certain positions available to the most senior/most experienced in House of Reps & committees
Appoint own committee staff to deal with ONLY committee stuff
Powers of Congress
Make laws
Declare wars
Raise & provide $
Impeachment
Approve presidential appointment
Approve treaties from executive branch
Oversight & investigations
How a Bill Becomes a Law (ALL STEPS)
1) There’s an idea
2) Creates a bill
3) Bill goes to committee
4) Public hearings
5) House committee debate & vote
6) House for debate & vote (majority)
7)Senate committee debate & vote
8) Senate debate & vote
9) Conference committee
10) House & Senate vote on Compromise Bill
11) Speaker and Vice President sign FIRST
12) President signs/vetoes bill
13) Bill becomes law
14) IF BILL IS VETOED it goes to House of Reps and Senate for a ⅔ majority vote
14a) Bill becomes law W/O president signature
14b) IF THAT DOESN’T WORK!!!! Bill goes to court system all the way to supreme court
Public Bills
Measures applying to the nation (everyone)
Becomes Public Laws, or Acts, if approved by Congress and signed by the President.
Private Bills
Measures applying to CERTAIN people or places
After a bill is enacted, these bills become public acts and private acts, respectively
Simple Resolutions
Concerns 1 house of Congress
Adopt new rules
No force of law, no president signature
Ex: House of Res. 660 (authorize hearings on impeachment authority)
Joint Resolutions
Adopted by House together
Force of law UNLESS challenged
Deal with unusual/temporary matters
Ex: pull troops out of conflict situations (War Powers Act)
Concurrent Resolutions
1 house writes/passes while the other “concurs”
No force of law, no president signature
Set date for adjourning Congress
Used to state a position
Ex: foreign affairs
Filibuster
Attempt to block/delay Senate action on bill or other matter by debating long hrs, offering MANY procedural means, hold floor/talk/quorum calls/parliament maneuvers
Cloture Rule
Only procedure where Senate votes to place time limit on bill
Consideration or other matter
Overcoming a filibuster (signed by a minimum of 16 people with 60 Senators voting ⅗ vote)
Quorum
Minimum # of people who MUST be present to permit a legislative body to take official action
