US - Congress Flashcards
1
Q
Structure of Congress:
General info:
A
- Congress is bicameral - made up of 2 houses.
- The House of Representatives (lower house represented proportionally by the population - around 700,000 people per representative - 435 voting members.
- The Senate (upper house, representing states equally - 100 members ).
- This was one of the arrangements/compromises agreed at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, to ensure both PR and equality between states.
2
Q
Structure of Congress:
The Speaker of the House:
A
- Elected by the entire house at the start of each Congress (2 years) - will come from the majority party.
- 3rd in line to be President.
- They have a number of specific powers:
- To act as the presiding officer of the house.
- To interpret and enforce the rules of the house and decide on points of order.
- To choose which bills to refer to standing committees.
- To appoint select committee and conference committee chairs.
- To appoint the majority party members of the HRC.
- Therefore, they have considerable powers to exercise influence over legislation that comes through the house (and therefore the Senate).
- If the president and the majority leader of the house are from diff parties, the speaker becomes the de facto opposition (e.g. Pelosi v GWB).
- Speaker style can have serious impacts on how business is done in Congress - Reps have criticised Pelosi for being too autocratic (many decisions are taken by her and advisors) - all chairs of committees were a selection of Dems (known as friends of Nancy) and this increased hyper partisanship
3
Q
Structure of Congress:
Majority and Minority leaders:
A
Both the House and Senate have majority and minority leaders. Each party group elects their leader every 2 years.
- Their roles ares:
- Act as the day to day “director of operations in their chamber”.
- Hold press briefings to talk about their party’s policies.
- To liaise with the other chamber and the White House.
- The Senate majority leader brings bills for debate in the Senate.
- The House majority leader is the speaker’s ‘number 2’.
- The Senate majority leader decides which bills go to which standing committees.
4
Q
Structure of Congress:
Standing committees:
A
Congressional committees perform a variety of legislative and investigatory functions. Committees are the only place where members of the executive can be directly questioned.
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Standing committees:
- Exist in both houses.
- Permanent, policy specialist committees covering all issues.
- Senate committees have around 18 members, House around 30-40 - the party balance in the committees is the same as the whole chamber.
- House and Senate members tend to seek membership of committees that are closest to the interests of their state - EX: Joni Ernst from agricultural Iowa is on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
- Some are more prestigious e.g. Judiciary committee.
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They have 2 main functions:
- To conduct the committee stages of bills in the legislative process (that are to do with their policy area).
- To conduct investigations within the committee’s policy area (EX: House Foreign Affairs committee investigated Benghazi). They can subpoena witnesses and evidence to help the investigations.
- Senate committees have a third function: to begin the confirmation process for various presidential appointments, prior to the chamber vote on the appointment. (EX: the Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings on all federal judicial appointments, including SC appointment issues like Kavanaugh or Thomas). The Director for the OMB in EXOP also needs committee affirmation.
- Standing committees can put bills to one side and effectively kill them, this is known as pigeonholing.
- This is the stage at which pork barrelling happens the most (with members adding in amendments that will benefit their constituents).
- They are not all powerful - they can’t legislate and the other branches of govt are not legally bound to comply with their wishes.
- The chairman of the committee is the pinnacle role of a congressional career. They always come from the majority party in the chamber. They are elected by secret ballot and serve 6 year terms.
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Chairs have important powers:
- Control of the committee agenda, budget and frequency of meetings.
- Influence of memberships, meetings and hearings of sub-committees.
- Control of committee staff.
- Speak to committees on their policy area within congress, to the WH and public.
- Make requests to HRC and leadership for scheduling legislation.
- Report legislation.
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Select/special committee:
- These are ad hoc committees that are created as the area that needs focus is too niche for the current standing committees.
- They are created by a resolution passed by Congress.
- They are usually investigative committees.
- EX: The ‘January 6th Committee’, the ‘Investigations on the 2012 Terror Attacks in Benghazi Committee’.
5
Q
Structure of Congress:
House Rules Committee:
A
The HRC:
- A standing committee of the house, but with a distant function: prioritising bills coming from the committee stage to the house for a second reading - there is always a queue, so the HRC has a vital role in finding a date for the bill/debate. They are said to be the ‘traffic cops’ of the House.
- They can add regulations on bills that they allow to be debated. E.g. they can decide whether the house is able to add amendments on the bill, and they can set time limits on the debates.
- They have huge influence on the legislative process, as they can simply stop a bill from ever appearing before the chamber (pigeonholing), or fast-track others.
- Membership is smaller and in favour of the majority party (more than other standing committees - currently there are 13 members and 9 are Dems, 4 are Reps.
- The chairman is Jim McGovern (D-MA).
- The Ranking Member (most senior) is Tom Cole (R-OK).
6
Q
Structure of Congress:
Conference Committees:
A
Conference Committees:
- They are necessary as US bills must come out of the House and Senate in the same state, (but each house can make their own amendments).
- If after the 3rd reading in each house, the 2 versions are different and they cannot be informally reconciled, a conference committee is formed to reach an agreement.
- Members are drawn from both houses - once an agreement is reached, it must be voted on again in both houses - and if the vote fails, the issue goes back to the original standing committee that considered it.
- CCs draw up the likely final version of the bill (but are checked as the vote is needed for it to pass by the chambers).
- Their usage is less frequent now as the chamber leaders have found other ways to resolve their differences.
7
Q
The distribution of powers within Congress:
The Enumerated Powers:
A
Powers of Congress are set out in Article 1, section 18 of the Constitution, there are 18 powers. The 18th power is the ‘necessary and proper’ clause, or ‘the elastic clause’ where Congress has the power to make any laws to do what it needs to (a catch-all power really).
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The Enumerated Powers:
- Lay and collect taxes
- To borrow money on the credit of the US
- To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states
- To establish a uniform rule of naturalization and uniform laws on bankruptcies
- To coin money and regulate the value of it
- To provide the punishment of counterfeiting
- To establish post offices and post roads
- To set up a system of copyrights and patents
- To set up lower-level federal courts that report to the SC
- To punish pirates
- To declare war
- To raise and support armies
- To provide and maintain a navy
- To make rules for the government and regulation of land and naval forces
- To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws… suppress insurrections and repel invasion
- To provide money, organising, arming, and discipling the militia
- To set up a national capital
- To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.
8
Q
The distribution of powers within Congress:
Exclusive powers of the House and Senate, and concurrent powers (shared):
A
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Exclusive powers of the House of Representatives:
- Power to initiate money bills (originally only the house was directly elected, so the FFs chose them).
- Initiate impeachment proceedings.
- If the electoral college is tied, the House elects the President (only happened twice in 1800 and 1824).
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Exclusive powers of the Senate:
- Power to confirm (by simply majority) many appointments made by the president (to the judiciary/executive branches).
- Power to ratify (by a ⅔ majority) all treaties negotiated by the president.
- Trial after the impeachment in the House.
- Elects the VP if the electoral college is tied.
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Concurrent powers:
- Equal in the passage of legislation.
- Both houses must vote (⅔ majority) to override a presidential veto of legislation (e.g. JASTA).
- Equal when initiating constitutional amendments (both houses pass a joint resolution by a ⅔ majority, which is then passed on to the state legislatures to hold a simple majority vote, and if ¾ of states vote in accordance, the amendment passes).
- They must agree to declare war (⅔ in both houses).
- They both have the power to appoint a new VP (⅔ in both houses to trigger the 25th Am).
9
Q
The functions of Congress:
Legislation:
A
The legislative process:
Around 14,000 bills are introduced to each Congress - only 2.4% make it into law.
Both Houses have equal legislative powers, so bills must pass through both chambers to pass (so conference committees are needed to iron out any differing versions between the two houses, to reach an agreed form of the bill).
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Stages of the passage of legislation:
- There are 7 stages of the passage of legislation:
- First reading
- Standing Committee (where most bills are killed/pigeonholed - Maurice Vile called them “committee sieves”).
- Timetabling (HRC)
- Second reading
- Third reading
- Conference Committee
10
Q
The functions of Congress:
Legislation:
Differences in the legislative process:
A
Differences in the legislative process:
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House of Representatives:
- First reading: the bill is placed on the clerk’s desk and the bill is sent to a standing committee.
- Committee: each bill is assigned to a standing committee, and the committees (mainly sub-committees) hold hearings and make amendments - they then report the bill out, or kill it.
- Timetabling: passage through the HRC which timetables a second reading for it.
- Second reading: opportunity for the whole house to debate the bill - amendments can be passed through with a simply majority and the bill must achieve majority supply at the end of the debate to proceed.
- Third reading: if the 2nd reading has been incident free, then the 3rd reading is often a formality, sometimes more substantial debate is needed.
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Senate:
- First reading: same as the House, however in the Senate the title of the bill is read out.
- Committee: same as House.
- Timetabling: this is agreed between the majority and minority leader - known as a Unanimous Consent Agreement.
- Second reading: same as the House, but with far fewer members to add to the debate, so the dynamic of debate is different - filibuster is used by the minority to delay or kill bills (3/5 for a cloture motion to stop the filibuster) (the House doesn’t have filibusters).
- Third reading: same as in the House.
- (Conference Committee: happens after the 3rd reading if no agreement is reached between the chambers.
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Presidential action:
- They can sign the bill into law - normally done with a bill signing statement which creates good press (for bills the president supports or promised the public - e.g. Obama with the PPACA 2010).
- The president can ‘leave the bill on their desk’ - this occurs when they have no particular view or want to veto but know it will be overruled - this bill becomes law 10 days after.
- Veto (used around 1,500 between 1789 and Obama) - only around 110 have been overridden (⅔ vote in both houses). A pocket veto is also done in the final 10 days of the congressional session.
11
Q
The functions of Congress:
Legislation:
Effectiveness of legislation:
A
Effectiveness of legislation:
-
US PATRIOT Act 2001:
- An act to deter and punish terrorists in the USA and globally.
- It gave authorities more power of surveillance, eased interagency comms, increased penalties for terrorism and gave a larger list of actions to be considered terrorism.
- Effective as it was able to give law enforcement more strength and was very popular (passed 99-1).
- Difficult to know if it really prevented terror attacks.
- Critics say it allowed the surveillance state.
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Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 2009:
- Direct response to the SC decision to restrict time during which one can file a complaint over employer discrimination
- Law allows the 180-day period when lawsuits about unequal pay can be filled to rest with each unequal paycheque not just the first
- Effective as it forced employers to retain records surrounding pay decisions and encourages self-assessment
- However, doesn’t prevent unequal pay from happening in the first place.
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009:
- Stimulus package of $787 billion in order to save existing jobs and create new ones as soon as possible
- Gave money to aid low income workers and the unemployed as well as tax incentives after the 2008 financial crisis
- Very effective as was able to slow the rate of unemployment
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Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 2010:
- It put significant regulation on the sectors that caused the 2008 GFC (mortgage lenders, banks, credit rating agencies, etc).
- Effective as it was the first stage and success in Wall Street regulation.
- Critics said it made the US less competitive economically to foreign markets.
- Was slightly repealed in 2018 under Trump.
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Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill 2006-7:
- Created due to failure of 3 previous immigration reform bills
- Would provide legal status and a path to citizenship for around 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US
- Included funding for 300 miles of vehicle barriers and 20,000 more border patrol agents
- Ineffective as it didn’t pass but bill gained lots of publicity and highlighted the failure of congress to act.
- Shows that legislation can still be effective, without passing.
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The American Healthcare Bill 2017:
- Partially repeals the PPACA 2010 and would’ve likely cause millions to lose health insurance coverage
- Tax cuts of $883bn mostly benefiting wealthy
- Not effective as didn’t pass (John McCain moment).
12
Q
The functions of Congress:
Legislation:
Why is it so hard to pass legislation?
A
Why is it so hard to pass legislation?
- Reasons:
-
Practical:
- Overcrowding
- Weak party discipline (e.g. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, John McCain, on the American Healthcare Bill).
- Supermajorities needed for some votes.
- Two chambers, means complication.
-
Political:
- Filibuster
- Hyperpartisanship
- Divided govt? Houses controlled by different parties? President of different party to Congress?
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Power (devolved):
- Houses of equal power
- HRC
- Standing Committee stage (pigeonholing)
13
Q
The functions of Congress:
Representation:
Descriptive representation:
A
Descriptive representation:
This is improving every new Congress, but still not perfect.
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114th Congress (2015-2017): Obama last Congress
- Average age: 57 in House, 61 in Senate.
- Minorities: 8.8% black, 7% latino, 2.5% asian, 0.4% native.
- 83% white.
- Religion: 89.7% Christian, 5.6% Jewish, 0.56% Buddhist, 0.37% Muslim.
- Gender: 19.4% female.
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117th Congres (2021-2023): Biden first Congress
- Average age: 58 years (in both houses).
- Minorities: 12.4% black, 9% hispanic, 4.1% asian, 1.2% native.
- Religion: 84.4% Christian, 6.4% Jewish, 7% other.
- Gender: 28% female.
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General:
- Base salary: $174,000 per year, compared to $44,000 for the average American.
- Education: 95% hold a bachelor’s degree compared to 31% nationally.
However, the general trend here is that the most represented demographic in Congress is old, white, straight, christian men, because they are considered the ‘safe option’ to voters.
This has significant policy implications, as women in Congress are more likely to vote for more progressive policy than men. Minority members will vote for race issues, etc. Younger members will vote for young people issues. The importance of representation in terms of the things the members choose to believe are important, is highly determined by their personal demographic characteristics.
14
Q
The functions of Congress:
Representation:
Congressional elections and the significance of incumbency:
A
Incumbency factor:
This factor, where 80-90% of incumbents in Congress are re-elected, plays a huge part in descriptive representation, as it means that it is harder to change the mould of Congress when it is decided, and have more minorities in Congress. Not only is it hard to remove an incumbent, but it is even harder to expect the incumbent to be removed and replaced by a minority person, or a woman, etc.
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Reasons:
- The incumbent has a track-record in that position (hopefuls can only promise things, but the incumbent can boast things they have achieved).
- They have name recognition and so publicity is not such a problem for them.
- Their name recognition means they will have an easier time raising funds for election campaigns, adverts, posters, etc.
- They can use government resources to campaign whilst in office (e.g. the franking privilege - sending mail free of charge, and using their name as the sender).
15
Q
The functions of Congress:
Representation:
Substantive representation: Constituents
A
Constituent representation:
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Models of substantive representation:
- Trustee model: The legislator is vested with formal responsibility for making decisions on behalf of others. It is said to be based on ‘mature judgement’ This is how most Congress members see their role. This is the model used in the US today.
- Delegate model: The legislator is not a free agent, and can exercise little private judgement. They are to act based on the behalf of their constituents and solely be an ambassador/gateway between them and Congress. This principle is linked to the idea of popular sovereignty, where the people’s voice is sovereign. The reps just follow instructions. Referendums are examples of this model in use.
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Why Congress members represent their constituents:
- The Const states that they must be residents of the state they represent, so this gives them a good understanding of what their ‘home town folks’ want.
- Some states even force reps to live in the district they represent (the ‘locality rule’).
- Almost all legislators represent the state or district they were born in, raised and educated.
- They also face re-election (2 years for reps, 6 for Seantors), meaning they want to keep their constituents happy, so they will get re-elected.
- How legislators fulfil their representative duties:
- They vote on legislation.
- They are members of standing committees that have interests to their constituents.
- Lobbying the executive depts and agencies of relevant policy areas.
- Performing constituency casework, helping constituents with federal matters (student loans, visas, taxes, passports, documents, etc).
- Try to gain money for pork spending.
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Engagement with constituents:
- Congress members must engage with constituents, when they are in D.C., they will call, e-mail and send letters to their offices in their state. They will read local news, have people come to their office in person, etc.
- Some will regularly go back home to make in person visits and engage. However, it is harder for some to do this (Oregon’s congress members).
- In their state, members will:
- Hold parties and ‘town hall meetings’.
- Conduct surgeries with individuals.
- Make visits around the area.
- Appear on local TV, news or radio.
- Have interviews with reps of local media.
- Address groups like NGOs and local businesses.
- Visit local schools, hospitals, etc.
- However, the people that approach the legislator will often be people opposed to them/their policy goals, so it is not representative of the whole state/district.
