US Congress Flashcards
Structure of Congress
Bicameral: Made up of two houses – Upper is the senate (100 members – 2 per state), Lower is the House of Representative (435 members – representative of population of each state)
Membership of Congress
Under-represented by women (78 in House, 20 in senate in 2014) – 2008 saw Democrat led House elect Nancy Pelosi as first women speaker – lack of representation due to low representation in recruitment (24% women state legislators in 2012)
How are the two houses equal in power
- Both Houses share the constitutional con-current powers in congress:
- They have equal right over passing of legislation
- Both declare war – only occurred 5 times, last 1941
- Override vetoes with 2/3 majority in both houses
- Initiate constitutional amendments - 2/3 in both houses
- Confirm VPs.
- Both Houses are also equal in pay
How does Senate have more power
- It is the Senate which tries them: In December 2010, Judge Thomas Porteous was found guilty by the Senate on four counts
- The Senate has the power to confirm presidential appointments – this is very powerful as it allows the Senate to influence appointments of nominees beneficial to their party – e.g. Mitch McConnell blocking Garland so that Gorsuch could become Justice on S.C
- An exclusive power of the senate is to ratify by a two thirds majority all treaties negotiated by the president. (In December 2010, the senate voted by 71 votes to 26 to ratify the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty negotiated by president Obama)
How does the Senate have more influence
- The senate is often seen as the more prestigious of the two chambers, and is referred to as the pinnacle of a congressmen’s career – in 2013 there were 50 former House members in the Senate but no ex- senators in the house
- The Senate is also a more exclusive house – 100 senators compared to 435 congressmen. Senators represent whole states, whereas congressmen represent congressional districts
- Senators also enjoy 6 year terms – senators can therefore push for their own agenda unlike congressmen - pursue a populist policy in fear of re-election
What is pork-barrel politics
- Refers to the appropriation of governmentspendingfor localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative’s district or state. This can be done by voting on bills and amending them
- This is to boost support from voters in a bid for re-election and to show electors that they can deliver on significant and important issues such as economic or employment opportunities
Pork barrel projects are added to the federal budget by members of the appropriation committees of Congress
How is pork-barrel politics useful for congressmen and hinders it?
- Very useful for incumbents – gives them the ability to show how much they can achieve in office, therefore giving them an advantage over competitors e.g. $2.5 million for potato research
- This hinders the ability of congress to change and allow new voices to come in
- Incumbents then have a better record of achievements through the use of pork barreling – (eg Ben Nelson who was able to Pork into the Obamacare bill and get re-elected in 2012)
- Incumbents are still under scrutiny from the electorate and therefore pork barrel politics allows them to better represent the will of their representatives
Why is pork-barrel politics a hinderance on Congress
- Many pork-barrel projects are wasteful - Pork-busters like Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn have highlighted extravagant projects to great effect, leading Congress to impose an outright ban on the practice.
- It raises government debt – lots of congressmen want to add benefits to their projects which the govn can’t afford - (eg $398 million project that only helped 50 people in Alaska)
- Anonymous projects represent more than 50% of the cost of earmarks - $6 billion was allocated to 35 anonymous projects in the Defense Appropriations Act alone - nobody claimed this
How are Congressmen affected by local issues
o Face re-elections
o This means there is greater pressure on congressmen that senators as they are campaigning for almost half their time in office for re-elections
o Senators are less concerned in the first few years of their term, however again there is pressure coming towards the end of the time in office, and will have to be pursuing a popular demand for re-election
o Congressmen also must reside in the district - forces them to remain in touch with the needs of the people
o The mass increase in numbers of letters and emails – by 2004 there was an average of 1000 emails per day
Why do congressmen’s concerns with local issues increase pork barrel politics
o This is to ensure the people are happy and that they can be seen doing their jobs effectively
o $2.5 million for potato research. Split between Idaho, Maryland, Maine and Wisconsin, $1.5 million of the cash will go to the competitive potato breeding research program
o Ben Nelson who was able to Pork into the Obamacare bill got re-elected in 2012
• It also makes them reluctant to vote to increase taxes to pay for federal spending, leading some commentators to argue that deficit spending in the USA is a consequence of the priorities of the legislators
What factors make congressmen more concerned with national interests
o Oversight – i.e. judicial appointments, ratification of treaties – both national and international issues
o Increase in partisan voting – members of congress will vote along the party line and whip – this is especially true in this era of hyper-partisanship and party rivalry – highlighted by the entire republican party voting against the Obamacare bill
o National party association/party factors may too cause members of Congress to vote in certain ways. E.g. affiliation with a pressure group might sway members of Congress to vote in a certain way. E.g. out of the 50 senators who voted against a gun control bill in 2015, 48 of them were supported by the NRA.
o The Senate looks at larger national interests E.g. California has 53 districts, would be very hard to know what local issues there are across all of them.
What national roles to congress hold
o Power to declare war, power of purse
o Part of its job is ‘to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.’
o Power of impeachment
o Founding Fathers’ must have intended Congress to work on national level as if members of Congress were only interested in local issues, no way that majority in both houses needed to pass any piece of legislation would be achieved.
o The Senate is seen as more prestigious then the House and thought of as a ‘launch-pad’ for roles in the executive branch, therefore Senators are likely to have a more national outlook.
