The legislative branch of government: Congress

Question 1

Structure of Congress

Answer 1

• bicameral: House of Reps and Senate
• 435 congressmen who serve 2-year terms
• 2 senators per state that serve 6-year terms

Question 2

Roles of Congress

Answer 2

• passing legislation
• representing the people
• overseeing the executive
• declaring war (approval needed from both houses, not been used since 1941 on Japan)

Question 3

Senate only powers

Answer 3

• ratifying treaties (presidents negotiate treaties, but need a senate supermajority to be ratified)
• confirming presidential appointments

Question 4

Legislative power

Answer 4

• either chamber can block legislation, approval in both chambers is needed for a bill to become law
• senators can filibuster a bill
• the president decides whether to sign, veto, or leave a bill
• if the president vetoes a bill, Congress can amend it, abandon it, or override the veto with a supermajority in both houses

Question 5

How effective is Congress at legislation?

Answer 5

• only 2-3% of bills become law
• presidential vetoes are rarely overturned as a supermajority is needed
• gridlock happens often if the House and Senate are controlled by different parties
• transformative legislation has been passed, including Obamacare

Question 6

Gridlock

Answer 6

• when Congress fails to agree on legislation
• often caused by divided govt. when parties refuse to compromise

Question 7

Filibuster

Answer 7

• a tactic used by the Senate to prevent a vote
• Senators can debate for as long as they want, so filibustering senators make long speeches to use up all voting time

Question 8

Cloture

Answer 8

• the process for ending a filibuster
• a 3/5 supermajority of senators is needed, and the filibustering senator must stop talking so the Senate can move to voting

Question 9

Oversight

Answer 9

• an implied power (not written in the constitution)
• oversees and investigates the activities of govt.

Question 10

How does Congress carry out oversight?

Answer 10

• investigating the executive
• confirming presidential nominees
• impeaching officials
• ratifying treaties

Question 11

Oversight - Confirmation of nominees

Answer 11

• the confirmation process is highly politicised, and a president whose party controls the senate generally has their nominees approved, even if they are not a good choice
• Trump’s education secretary displayed a lack of basic education policy during her confirmation hearing, and she was still confirmed
• nominations are also blocked for partisan reasons, like in 2016 when Republican senators refused to hold hearings on Obama’s SC nominee, Merrick Garland

Question 12

How is Congressional oversight effective?

Answer 12

• both impeachment and the threat of it encourage govt. officials to behave properly
• the Senate can refuse to confirm presidential appointments
• standing/select committees of the executive provide high-profile scrutiny

Question 13

How is Congressional oversight NOT effective?

Answer 13

• members of Congress aren’t likely to criticise the president if they belong to the same party
• no president has been removed from office by impeachment
• the confirmation process is highly politicised

Question 14

Power of the Purse

Answer 14

• only Congress can raise revenue (tax people)
• all tax bills must start in the House
• the Senate can amend tax bills
• the approval of both chambers is needed for the bill to become law

Question 15

How is the Power of the Purse effective?

Answer 15

• it is one of the most powerful check on the President
• govt. shutdown is rare
• the executive may compromise to avoid a shutdown

Question 16

How is the Power of the Purse NOT effective?

Answer 16

• Trump’s use of emergency powers to bypass Congress’ POTP has created a precedent that can be used by future presidents
• govt. shutdowns are extremely disruptive and unpopular

Question 17

Trump’s 2018-19 Government Shutdown

Answer 17

• the shutdown lasted 35 days (longest in history)
• due to deadlock between Trump and Congress over the Mexican border wall
• 800,000 federal workers were affected, as well as numerous govt. services

Question 18

How does the legislative process work?

Answer 18

1. Introduction (no debate or vote)
2. Committee stage (hearing and vote)
3. Timetabling
4. Floor debate and vote on passage
5. Conference committee (to reconcile differences between both versions of the bill)
   (both chambers vote on the final bill before…)
6. Presidential action (sign, veto, ignore)

Question 19

Congressional caucuses

Answer 19

• Republicans belong either to the House or Senate Republican caucus, ditto with Democrats
• smaller congressional caucuses act as ‘sub-groupings’ of members with similar idealogical interests to advance (eg. House Freedom Caucus represents conservative Republicans w/ a commitment to limited govt.)
• some caucuses have members of both parties, like the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force
• they can also have members from both houses, like the Congressional Black Caucus

Question 20

Influence of smaller caucuses

Answer 20

• they can act as an alternative influence to the party leadership
• at the start of 2018 the House Freedom Caucus opposed Trump’s budget, forcing the Republicans to depend on Democrat votes to pass the bill

Question 21

Party leadership

Answer 21

• members of each party caucus elect a leader (the majority leader if the party has a majority in that chamber, or the minority leader if not)
• the majority and minority leaders act as ‘floor leaders’ in both chambers
• both leaders coordinate their parties of votes and debates, and the majority leaders plan the legislative agenda

Question 22

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Answer 22

• the most high-profile leadership in Congress (second only to the VP in the line of presidential succession)
• the Speaker is elected by all members of the house and is a member of the majority party
• they preside over debates and keep ordering in the House, and choose members of conference and select committees

Question 23

Case Study: Nancy Pelosi

Answer 23

• the first female speaker, served from 2007-11 and was re-elected in 2019
• this was ground-breaking as it was the most important position held by a woman in Congress (until Kamala Harris became VP in 2021)

Question 24

Party discipline

Answer 24

• party discipline has traditionally been weak, as the ability of whips and leaders to influence their membership is limited
• the separation of powers prevents party leaders from offering govt. positions to members of Congress in exchange for their support (unlike in the UK w/ PM’s patronage powers)
• as Congress has become more partisan, members have become more likely to vote along party lines

Question 25

Standing committees

Answer 25

• permanent, each focussed on a specific area of policy, eg. foreign affairs
• represented in the same proportions as in the Senate or House
• hold hearings during the committee stage of bills
• Senate standing committees consider presidential appointments
• permanency allows members to become experts in their policy area
• provide crucial oversight of the executive

Question 26

Select Committees

Answer 26

• most are temporary, and generally made up from members of the House
• usually investigate a specific question
• prevent the relevant standing committee from being overloaded by a single urgent issue

Question 27

Select Committee for Jan 6th attack

Answer 27

• in June 2021, the House voted to establish a select committee to investigate the assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters
• it was quite controversial and partisan as most House Republicans boycotted committee, because the Democrat Speaker didn’t let certain Republicans on the committee

Question 28

House Rules Committee

Answer 28

• a standing committee in the House of Reps with only 13 members
• favours the majority party in a 2:1 ratio
• determines how much time bills have on the floor and whether amendments are allowed (‘closed rules’ or not)
• in the 115th Congress, a record 56% of bills were debated under closed rules

Question 29

Conference Committees

Answer 29

• temporary, existing only to consider specific bills
• members come from both houses
• consider two version of the same bill (from each chamber) and merge them into one (a conference report)

Question 30

How do members of Congress perform their representative function?

Answer 30

• communicating with their constituents via town hall meetings, visits, and social media to better understand their views and represent them in Congress
• sitting on relevant standing committees (Pat Roberts, senator for Kansas (an agricultural state) was chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee)
• lobbying the government for funds that will benefit their constituents (often involves pork barreling)

Question 31

Pork Barrel politics

Answer 31

• lobbying the govt. for funds or policies that would benefit their constituents but are really unnecessary)
• projects are used as a political weapon to secure re-election
• for example, ‘the bridge to nowhere’, a proposed $400 million project that would have joined a town in Alaska to Gravina Island (home to 50 people). it was never built!

Question 32

Relationship of Congress to the Executive

Answer 32

• there is regular contact between the president’s administration and members of Congress
• the executive may subtly modify its legislation to win the support of Congresspeople
• the Office of Legislative Affairs (governmental department) lobbies members of Congress to vote for the president’s legislation

Question 33

Relationship of Congress to the Supreme Court

Answer 33

• the court can rule that acts of Congress are unconstitutional and therefore no longer law (like Obergefell v Hodges striking down the Defense of Marriage Act that gave states the right to refuse to recognise same-sex marriages)
• Congress could overturn the ruling of the court by passing an amendment, but this would be extremely difficult
• Congress can impeach and try judges of the SC, as well as confirming their appointments