Quiz Flashcards
speaker of the house
The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer and its most powerful leader.
- Nancy pelosi
majority leader of the house
the Speaker’s top assistant whose job is to help plan the majority party’s legislative program and to steer important bills through the House
-HOYER, Steny Hamilton
Minority leader of the house
The minority party in the House elects its own leaders—the minority leader and the minority whip. Their responsibilities parallel the duties of the majority party, except that they have no power over scheduling work in the House.
- MCCARTHY, Kevin
House majority whip
_Jim Clyburn
an assistant to the party floor leader in the legislature
House minority whip
an assistant to the party floor leader in the legislature
-Joseph Scalise
VP
The vice president may recognize members and put questions to a vote, but he or she is not an elected senator so this person may not take part in Senate debates or cast a vote except in the event of a tie.
- Kamala Harris
Pres pro temporate
the Senate member, elected by the Senate, who stands in as president of the Senate in the absence of the vice president
-Patrick Leahy
Senate majority leader
The job of the majority leader is to steer the party’s bills through the Senate, which is done by planning the work schedule and agenda in consultation with the minority leader. The majority leader also makes sure that party members attend important sessions and gets support for key bills.
- Chuck Schumer
Senate minority leader
critiquing the majority party’s bills and keeping his or her own party united.
-Mitch McConnell
Senate majority whip
do the detailed work that supports leaders. A key job is making sure that legislators are present in the chamber when key votes come up.
-Senators Dick Durbin
Senate minority whip
-John Thune
do the detailed work that supports leaders. A key job is making sure that legislators are present in the chamber when key votes come up.
caucus
an event held before an election where members of a political party select delegates to send to the national party convention, where they will also vote to nominate a candidate
concurrent jurisdiction
authority shared by both federal and state courts
quorum
the minimum number of members who must be present to permit a legislative body to take official action
unanimous consent
a motion by all members of the Senate who are present to set aside formal rules and consider a bill from the calendar
filibuster
a method of defeating a bill in the Senate by stalling the legislative process and preventing a vote
cloture resolution
a procedure that allows each senator to speak only one hour on a bill under debate
What is a committee
the real work of crafting bills takes place in the committee rooms. There, the members of Congress hear testimony from experts on different sides of an issue, propose amendments, and vote on whether to send the bill to the full House or Senate. While bills can still be amended on the floor, most of the final language will resemble what the committee members wrote.
purposes of a comittee
- The committee system serves several important purposes. First, it allows members of Congress to divide their work among many smaller groups. Lawmakers can become specialists, over their years of service, on the issues that their committees consider.
- Second, from the huge number of bills that are introduced in Congress, committees select those few that are to receive further consideration.
- Third, by holding public hearings and investigations, committees help the public learn about key problems and issues facing the nation.
standing committee
a permanent committee in Congress that oversees bills that deal with certain kinds of issues
subcommittee
a group within a standing committee that specializes in a subcategory of its standing committee’s responsibility
select committee
a temporary committee formed to study one specific issue and report its findings to the House or Senate
joint committee
a committee that consists of members from both the House and Senate, formed to act as a study group that reports back to the House and Senate on a topic or bill
conference committee
a temporary joint committee set up when the House and the Senate have passed different versions of the same bill
