US Government; Congress - Legislative Branch; Composition, Legislative Function and Oversight, Committees

Question 1

The composition of Congress historically

Answer 1

Congress is often criticised for failing to reflect the diversity of US society, and the country is forecast to be minority white by 2045; Congress is comparatively pale, male and stale due to high numbers of white, old men who are members, with Christians being overrepresented

Question 2

The current composition of Congress

Answer 2

Gradually becoming more representative of society, with the 117th Congress being the most racially diverse in history, with the lowest amount of Christians and highest number of women. In the previous Congress, the first two Muslim women were elected, and a record 4 Native Americans.
- At 29, Democrat AOC is the youngest ever congresswoman and along with three other congresswomen of colour (Omar, Pressley and Tlaib) she became part of ‘The Squad’, a democrat group who represent a generation of progressive politics.

Question 3

Underrepresentation issues

Answer 3

Hispanics, women, African-Americans and atheists are still underrepresented significantly, with the 2018 midterms seeing a spike in women running for a Congress role following the success of Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote in the 2016 election, with the resulting Congress being composed of 24% women, the largest in US history.
In the 2021 Congress, this number increased to 27% female, despite the US population being majority female. More of these women are democrats, with only 37 being Republican out of the 142 currently in the HoR.
Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority group in the US and make up 18% of the population, but only 9% of the current Congress. Of the 52 Hispanic members, 46 were in the House and 6 in the Senate.

Question 4

Underepresentation cont.

Answer 4

• There were a record number of African-Americans in the the 117th Congress also, with 52 in the House and 3 in the Senate
• There was also a dramatic difference in terms of party affiliation - 58 African-American members of Congress were democrats and only 3 were Republicans
• Those with no religion remain the most underrepresented, with a total of 23% of the US population having no religion, but only one member of the 117th Congress is atheist (Sinema, Democratic Senator for Arizona) who is also the first openly bisexual senator; there were only 11 openly LGBTQ+ members of the 117th Congress, a record number

Question 5

What are the reasons for underrepresentation?

Answer 5

• Many Congress members first serve in the state legislatures, where women and AA are also underrepresented, and so a shortage of suitable candidates for Congress is evident
• Ethnic minorities are also better represented in the HoR than the Senate due to the existence of majority-minority constituencies, which does not apply to the Senate
• Congress has also traditionally been male dominated, with culture and traditions being slow to respond to the needs of women, creating an off-putting environment for them
• An example of this is the Senate swimming pool being for men only until 2009, with Senators being allowed to swim naked
• Senators also have to be physically present to vote, making it difficult or new parents to take maternity or paternity leave or nurse babies with the Senate in session; progress is however being made, with Tammy Duckworth in 2018 becoming the first Senator to have a baby in office, and she also convinced the Senate to change its rules to allow young children in the chamber

Question 6

The functions of Congress - Legislative

Answer 6

The legislative process in the US congress is best thought of in seven stages.

• First reading
• committee stage
• timetabling
• second reading
• third reading
• conference committee
• presidential action

Question 7

First reading

Answer 7

• A congress member introduces a bill.
• All ‘Money bills’ must be introduced into the House first.
• There is no debate and no vote
• It is just a formality
• In the House, bills are placed in a hopper on the clerk’s desk.
• In the Senate, the title is read out
• Bill are then immediately sent on to the committee stage

Question 8

Committee Stage

Answer 8

Bills are referred to one of the permanent, policy specialist standing committees.

• It is important to know that the committee stage comes before the second reading
• Committees have full power of amendment
• Because of huge numbers of bills being referred to each committee, many bills are merely put to one side and never considered.
• For a bill that is to be considered, a hearing is held with witnesses appearing before the committee.
• Hearings may be conducted either in the full committee or in sub-committee
• Hearings can last from hours to days, weeks or even months, depending on the length of the bill and whether or not it is controversial.
• Once the hearings have been completed, the committee holds a mark-up session - making the changes it wishes- before reporting out the bill, effectively sending it on to the next stage.

This stage is very important because:

• The committee member are regarded as the policy specialists so other look to the committee for a lead
• It is as far as most bills get
• Committees have full power of amendment
• Committees really do have life and death powers over bills

Question 9

Timetabling

Answer 9

• By the time congress has been in session for a few months, a huge number of bills will be waiting to come to the floor of the House and Senate for their second reading.
• Whilst there are dozens of committee and subcommittee rooms in each house, there is only one floor in each chamber.
• There develops something of a legislative traffic jam, with bills queuing for their turn on the House and Senate floors. Each house has a procedure for dealing with this potential problem.
• The house of representatives deals with it though the House Rules Committee.
• The Senate deals with it though what is called unanimous consent agreements.
• These are agreements between the senate majority and minority leaders on the order in which bill will be debated on the senate floor.

Question 10

Second reading

Answer 10

• The first opportunity for most member to debate the bill
• In the house, most bills are debated in the committee of the whole house, allowing for different rules of debate.
  In the senate, bills can be subject to filibustering (the right of continuous debate. It can be ended by a closure motion, which must be approved by three-fifths of the entire senate) E.g. In 1957, Storm Thurmond conducted a filibuster against a civil rights bill that lasted for over 24 hours.
• In both houses, further amendments can usually be made
• Votes will be taken on amendments - simple majorities required to pass
• At the end of the debate, a vote will be taken on the bill
  The vote will either be a voice vote (for non-controversial bills) or a recorded vote.
• A simple majority is required to pass the bill

Question 11

Third reading

Answer 11

• A final opportunity to debate the bill
• If substantial amendments were made at the second reading, the third reading is likely to occur some weeks or months after the second reading and require another substantive debate
• If few amendments were made at the second reading, or these amendments were approved by large majorities, the third reading may follow on almost immediately after the second reading and be a very brief debate
• At the end of the debate, another vote will be taken.

Question 12

Conference committee

Answer 12

• An optional stage
• Member are drawn from both houses
• If the house version and the senate version of the bill are the same, these is no need for a conference committee
• If differences in the two versions of the bill can be sorted out between the two houses, there is no need for a conference committee.
• If there is substantial differences between the two versions of the bill and these cannot be sorted out between the two houses, then a conference committee may be used.

Question 13

Presidential Action

Answer 13

A bill can be passed to the president once the House and senate have agreed on a single version of the bill.

Question 14

The options of the Presidential Action

Answer 14

1. To sign the bill into law:
   - This he will do to bills he fully supports, wants to be associated with and take credit for’ he must sign the bill within ten congressional working days of receiving it.
2. To leave the bill on his desk:
   - This he will do to bills he only partly supports, those he takes no position on at all, or those he would wish to veto but has decided not to. These bills will become law without his signature within ten congressional working days.
3. To veto the bill:
   - This he will do to bills he clearly opposes. He must veto the bill within ten congressional working days of receiving it by sending it back to its house of origin with a note explaining his objections. To override the veto, the bill must be passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses. This is very difficult to achieve. Congress managed to override only two of Bill Clinton’s 36 regular vetoes in 8 years. However, they overrode four of George Bush’s 11 regular vetoes in his 8 years.
4. To pocket-veto the bill:
   - If, whilst the bill is awaiting the President’s action, the congressional session ends, the bill is lost. This is called a pocket veto and it cannot be overridden by Congress.

Question 15

Key features of legislation

Answer 15

1. It is a very complex process - Unlike in the UK, parties do not keep tight control over the agenda or act as a single unit in passing legislation. Any member of either House can initiate legislation and there are frequently several pieces of legislation going through both Houses on similar themes.
2. The volume of legislation is massively higher than in the UK. In the Queen’s speech there are usually around 25-30 pieces of legislation announced. In the US there are around 8,000 – 10,000 bills initiated in each Congress but less than 500 can be expected to be enacted into law.
3. Successful legislation inevitably involves compromise. This takes place in the ‘debate and amend’ stage. Legislation does not pass in a linear manner and similar proposals might be discussed in both chambers at the same time which then have to be reconciled.

Question 16

Strengths of the legislative process

Answer 16

• The thoroughness of the process should mean that the laws which eventually emerge have been thoroughly debated and amended so as to be as effective as possible.
• It is possible for individual congressmen to introduce bills and see them through Congress, often with cross-party support. An example is the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002, which introduced tighter regulation of election campaign funding.
• The committee system means that committees contain a great deal of expertise in the relevant policy area. -Members often serve on the same committee for many years and hence become very knowledgeable in that policy area.
• In an emergency Congress can legislate swiftly, for example after 9/11

Question 17

Weaknesses of the legislative process

Answer 17

• The complexity of the process can lead to lengthy delays and it is common for bills to become ‘bogged down’ in congressional committees. President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, for example, took almost a year to get through Congress in 2009–10.
• Although many bills are tabled in Congress, the vast majority stand very little chance of becoming law.
• When the House of Representatives and the Senate are controlled by different parties, as between 2011 and 2015, gridlock can result. So, for example, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a major immigration bill in 2013, but the Republican-controlled House refused even to debate it.

Question 18

Factors that make the legislation process difficult

Answer 18

1) What the President wants, the President gets -
Presidents have their legislative agenda; must persuade Congress to join so they lose many issues
2) Bill won’t pass unless sponsored by majority party, congress(wo)men follow their own opinions
3) Increased bipartisanship, no middle ground, no agreement
4) Separation of federalism makes a weak government, parties are not a unit = weakness, power is limited, causes gridlock
5) If there is a majority in both houses they can pass legislation - noncontroversial legislation passed easily
6) Allows minority in Senate to delay and defeat any bills, threat foces small majority to negiotiate, changing legislation completely
7) Presidential veto - ⅔ majority in Congress can override, but this majority is hard to get
8) Committee’s decide the survival and introduction of legislation
9) Party leaders negotiate amongst themselves and this does not guarantee whole party follows suit
10) Small committees have lots of power

Question 19

Facts about Bill passage through Congress

Answer 19

• 3% of bills are vetoed by the President
• 4% of vetoes are overridden - often for political reasons; in divided government mostly
• Very few bills that are put forward become law (4-5%)
• ACA - Republicans don’t want to support Obama, and so opposed the legislation (bipartisanship)
• Weak party-discipline votes not predictable
• Committees can kill bills or fundamentally change a bill
• Cloture motion requirement in Senate means minorities can kill bills
• Senate more powerful

Cloture motion: (closure/guillotine)

• The only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of the bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster
• Under the the cloture rules the Senate may limit consideration of pending matter but only by vote of ⅗ of the Senate, normally 60 votes

Question 20

To what extent does Congress fulfil its legislative role effectively? - Strengths

Answer 20

Checks and balances - The legislative process encourages compromise and helps prevent tyranny of any one branch or party, as intended by the founding fathers
- Flag Desecration Amendment - whimsical legislation that was prevented from being law as it was not the general consensus protecting the integrity of the system

Quality - the long and detailed committee stages ensure that legislation, once agreed, is well considered and high quality

Individual and States Rights - These are protected by the process - preventing excessive use of federal power; Senators can insert amendments or filibuster to prevent legislation damaging their State’s interests
- Marijuana Legalisation, Same-sex marriage, Bill of Rights

Congress has brought about major social and economic change through legislation
- Civil Rights Act 1964

Question 21

To what extent does Congress fulfil its legislative role effectively? - Weaknesses

Answer 21

Inefficiency - the system for passing legislation is cumbersome and slow; the huge volume of bills proposed is evidence of this, and so Congress has never been an effective ‘policy-making’ institution

‘Pork barrelling’ - Congressmen and women are often more concerned about getting benefits from their states /districts than they are about legislation themselves
- Boston’s Big Dig and Abraham Lincoln’s trading of civil war contracts to Northern businessmen in exchange or patronage jobs and campaign support

Partisanship - there is an ideological tug of war at the heart of the legislative role of Congress itself - Republicans tend to think Congress should reign back and Democrats think it should intervene more
- Debates over second amendment following Columbine Shooting, Pulse nightclub shooting and many others

Congress has also failed to enact major pieces of legislation, some of which were mandated through electoral platforms
- DREAM Act (2009 and 2010) blocked in the Senate that would have allowed a path for the documentation of immigrants

Gridlock: partisanship or divided government can result in legislative gridlock where no legislation can be passed, leading to federal government shutdowns
- Partial government shutdown after Trump’s border wall bill was blocked funding

Question 22

Oversight of the Executive Branch

Answer 22

Congress not only has the function of passing legislation but also of oversight of the executive branch. This function is not specially granted by the constitution but is an implied power. Members of Congress have to know what is going on in order to make the laws, as well as see how the law they have passed are working.
Congress has given itself a number of significant powers;
• To demand documents and testimony
• To hold individuals in contempt if they fail to comply with Congress’s demands for information
• To make it illegal to lie to Congress
It is important to remember that the executive is physically separated from the legislature. Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden both had to resign from the Senate in order to become President and vice-President in 2009. This means that there cannot be anything resembling Question time in Congress.

Question 23

Oversight pt2

Answer 23

• As a result of this, most oversight of the executive branch occurs not in the chambers of the House or the Senate, but in the Committee rooms of Congress - mainly the standing committees. It is here that executive branch members - though not usually the President - appear on a regular basis to answer detailed policy questions from committee members. And because standing committee members themselves are policy specialists, questioning is often detailed and thorough.
• However, this leads to an important question regarding Congress’s effectiveness in its oversight function. Some suggest that congressional oversight works well only when congress and the president are controlled by different parties - at a time of divided government. At times of united government - such as during the middle 4 years of George W. Bush’s presidency (2003-06) - there is much evidence that congress operates more like a lapdog than a watchdog. An example of this would be the Republican Congress’s feeble oversight of the Iraq war between 2003 and 2006. Also in 2003 and 04 the Republican - controlled congress only carried out 37 investigative hearings.

Question 24

What happens to oversight in times of a divided government?

Answer 24

The trouble is that during times of divided government, congressional oversight often degenerates into political point-scoring and attempts to embarrass, rather than investigate, the administration. An example of this would be Democrats’ attempt to embarrass President Bush during the last 2 years of his administration 2007-08. Also the Republicans spent much of 1998-99 trying to make President Clinton look unethical.
- Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann (congressional scholars) said in 2007: ‘Oversight keeps an administration on its toes; the lack of oversight, and the expectation that there will be none, leads to complacency, arrogance and maladministration.’
- Obama (2011-2016)
Congress was hostile, and they were deliberately creating confrontation on Obama’s legislative agenda and preventing laws such as the Affordable Care Act after midterms caused Congress to shift and make the latter years of his presidency difficult

Question 25

To what extent does Congress fulfil its oversight function effectively?; Strengths

Answer 25

• The system of checks and balances
• The intention of the constitution was that Congress would prevent tyrannical behaviour by a president. It does this effectively as the legislative body.
• Congressional committees are powerful and influential bodies. The power of subpoena means that Congressional Committees have the ability to enforce accountability.
• Congress holds the purse strings. Presidents can do little without adequate funding and congress still holds this very important power.
• Congress has the ability to override the presidential veto.
• The Senate plays a very important role in vetting presidential appointments. Many presidential nominees are blocked or forced to withdraw.
• In foreign policy, Congress has the power to declare war and the Senate also has to ratify treaties that the president enters into.
• Congress has the power to impeach and remove executive appointments.

Question 26

To what extent does Congress fulfil its oversight function effectively? - weaknesses

Answer 26

• The presidency has a range of tools to bypass congressional checks. These include Executive Orders.
• Partisanship has also effected the working of committees, which are not always as rigorous as they could be in overseeing executives of the same party.
• It is difficult for Congress to overturn a presidential veto, whatever the constitution allows.
• Scrutiny of appointments focuses increasingly on personality and politics rather than fitness for office.
• Presidents have increasingly conducted foreign policy independently of congressional approval.
• Impeachment has only been very rarely used and again Congress may be restricted by the extent of presidential power.

Question 27

What happens to oversight in a time of a unified government?

Answer 27

Unified Government
- This can lead to the President having excessive, unchecked power because -
- Oversight might be limited/indirectly led by the executive
Increase party loyalty and create one-sided legislation
Creates unchecked legislation

Example - President Bush (2003-2008)
- Oversight was nonexistent during these years; homeland security, the Iraq war, allegations of torture and surveillance of domestic telephone calls by the National Security Agency (NSA) went unchecked by Congress
It ignored its responsibilities, not investigating and properly scrutinizing policy, creating a host of issues and long term ramifications for the relationship of the government and the people and the pursuit of peace in the Middle East

Question 28

Examples of oversight powers in use in Congress - 1

Answer 28

Amend/delay/reject legislation: Example 10/11/21

• US Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, may delay Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ plans for social care until next year due to inflation concerns
• This is an example of Congress blocking funding for executive legislation

Override the President’s Veto: 23/12/2020
- National Defence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 was vetoed by President Trump - this veto was overridden by the House and the Senate in December and January, forcing the legislation through

Power of the Purse: (control of funds)
- Notably ended the Vietnam war through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1974 which suspended all federal funding for the war

Declare War: (get out of this with claims it was an emergency)
- World War II was the last war declared by Congress

Ratify treaties: (Senate) (can be ignored if document isn’t called a treaty to avoid gridlock)
- G7 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Investigation: (investigating legislation or members of government)
- The Watergate Hearings 1973-74 investigated Richard Nixon’s 1972 election campaign and were triggered by a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate in June 1972 - they resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon just before impeachment votes in the House and conviction in the Senate

Question 29

Examples of oversight powers in use in Congress - 2

Answer 29

Impeachment:
- Donald Trump was impeached in January of 2020, and consequently acquitted in February of the same year, after being charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress

Subpoena documents and testimony: (production of documents for an investigation)
- Following the Capitol riots, subpoenas were issued seeking documents and testimony from six associates of former President Donald Trump, including aides from his re-election campaigns that focused on a way to overturn the election results - there was scrutiny over the cause of the riots and whether Trump was to blame, with 25 subpoenas being issues and 150 witnesses giving testimony

Hold individuals in contempt: (contempt of Congress has generally applied to the refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by a congressional committee or subcommittee—usually seeking to compel either testimony or the production of requested documents)
- Robert Randal - attempted to bribe Representative William Smith of South Carolina in 1795 and was consequently convicted

Illegal to lie Congress:
- Caspar Weinberger - indicted on felony charges in 1992 for lying to Congress about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration in which officials sold arms to the Iranian government to support militant rebels in Nicaragua

Reject presidential nominees:
- Tom Daschle was nominated by Barack Obama to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services in December of 2008, and this was rejected but the decision then withdrawn later

Question 30

The functions of leaders, parties and committee’s

Answer 30

• After each legislative election the party that wins the most representatives is designated the MAJORITY in each house, and the other party is called the MINORITY.
• These designations are significant because the majority party holds the most significant leadership positions, such as Speaker of the House AND Committee leaderships.
• The majority party is largely able to control the agenda of congress and has the potential to alter the rules of procedure in congress to suit their needs.
• Usually, the same party holds both houses, but occasionally they are split. For example, from 1983-1985, the House majority was Democratic and the Senate majority was Republican.
• At the beginning of each new Congress, the members of each party gather in special meetings to talk party policy and themes and to select their leaders by majority vote. Democrats call their meeting a caucus, and the Republicans call there’s a conference
• Next, when each house convenes in its first session, Congressional leaders, such as the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE and the MAJORITY LEADER in the Senate, are selected. And even though the whole house votes for its leaders, the majority party makes the real selections ahead of time behind the scenes when they select party leaders.

Question 31

What is the role of the Speaker?

Answer 31

• Their main responsibility is ensuring that the House passes legislation supported by the majority party - in pursuing this goal, the speaker may use their power to determine when each bill reaches the floor
• They also chair the majority’s party’s steering committee in the House
• They also call the House to order and chair debates preserving order and decorum in the House of Representatives - they ensure oath is followed
• They also preside over the joint sessions with Congress
• They also represent their congressional district

Question 32

What is the role of the Majority Leader?

Answer 32

• Schedules the daily legislative program and is spokesperson for their party’s position on issues
• Alter the rules of procedure in Congress to suit their needs
• Voted for in Caucuses for Democrats and Conferences for Republicans
• Become speaker with experience

Question 33

What is the role of the Minority Leader?

Answer 33

• The floor leader of the second largest caucus in the legislative - less power and decision on what is discussed, but they have power in blocking legislation through filibusters (prevent a deadline but can be overridden) that they organise to frustrate the majority

Question 34

Why has Congress changed?

Answer 34

There has been a marked trend towards stronger party leadership, greater party unity and discipline in the last 30 year, typified by increased partisanship in Congress. There has been a steady decline in bipartisanship.

• In 1982, there was a lot of ideological overlap between Democrats and Republicans, leading to a more effective Congress that had debate and effective legislation
• However, in 2015, the Senate had a clear divide in ideology, with no overlap between the two parties - this creates a lot of conflict over decisions and a decrease in the likelihood of members voting against their party - less compromise, less effective political process

Question 35

What is the house rules committee?

Answer 35

• Responsible for the rules under which bills are presented to the House of Representatives
• It decides what is discussed and when, and so it is the most powerful committee in Congress

Question 36

What is a caucus / conference?

Answer 36

A meeting at which local members of a political party register their preference among candidates running for office or select delegates to attend a convention

Question 37

Are parties important to the work of Congress? - Yes

Answer 37

• They act as representation of the views and legislative desires of those that they represent
• They act as opposition to the Executive branch by having party controlled houses, ensuring that legislation is right and serves people
• They allow the oversight function to be fulfilled effectively, as having a differently aligned legislative branch to the Executive means oversight is done correctly and critically
• They allow legislation to be properly debated, meaning the legislative process happens effectively

Question 38

Are parties important to the work of Congress? - No

Answer 38

• Causes conflict within Congress and prevents legislation that is important from passing due to shutdowns over disagreements in funding, for example in 2018/2019 over Trump’s border wall
• They complicate systems of Congress when bipartisanship is weak, making the legislative function sometimes ineffective - e.g. voting along party lines prevents legislation such as the ACA getting though - add more blockage to an already long and hard process
• In times of political flooding, or when the executive and legislation are of the same political ideology, oversight function is not always effective

Question 39

Why is the power of the purse so significant?

Answer 39

• The power of the purse is an important power because it applies to all legislation that directs federal spending; controlling the purse means controlling what legislation is effective and therefore the power of the purse is important for many aspects of democracy and presidential action.
• Notably, this power helped to end the Vietnam War in 1974 by removing all unding for it, and so it is the main check on any presidential or executive action. It makes the legislative branch one of the most powerful as it is the foundation of administration and the changes within America.
• They also have the power to edit the Federal Budget and make amendments to the original core budget proposed by the President. It is the ability to ta and spend money for the Federal Government.
• It is easier to deal with the funding of laws rather than amending them, and so this is the most significant power in Congress.

Question 40

Committees

Answer 40

• Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are divided up into committees in order to make them more efficient. The most common committee are the standing committees which are relatively permanent and handle the day-to-day business of Congress.
• The House has 19 standing committees and the Senate 16. Congressmen and Senators serve on multiple committees.
• Each committee has a chairperson, or chair, who is the one who usually gets mentioned in the press, which is why you would know the name of the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Question 41

What are special committees?

Answer 41

• Congress creates special or select committees to deal with particular issues that are beyond the jurisdiction of standing committees. Some of them are temporary and some, like the Senate
• Select Committee on Intelligence, are permanent. Some of them have only an advisory function which means they can’t write laws.
• The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming has only advisory authority which tells you pretty much all you need to know about Congress and climate change.

Question 42

What are joint committees and conference committees?

Answer 42

• There are joint committees made up of members of both houses. Most of them are standing committees and they don’t do a lot although the joint Committee on the Library oversees the Library of Congress
• Other committees are conference committees, which are created to reconcile a bill when the House and Senate write different versions of it

Question 43

Why does Congress have so many committees?

Answer 43

• The main reason is that it’s more efficient to write legislation in a smaller group rather than a larger one. The Congressional committee also allow Congressmen to develop expertise on certain topics.
• E.g. A Congressperson from Iowa can get on an agriculture committee because that is an issue he presumably knows something about if he pays attention to his constituents.
• Committees allow members of Congress to follows their own interests, so someone passionate about national defense can try to get on the armed services committee.
• Probably more important, serving on a committee is something that a Congressperson can claim credit for and use to build up his or her brand when it comes time for reelection.
• Congress also has committees for historical reasons. Congress is traditional and didn’t need to change a system that has worked since 1825.
• Any member of Congress can propose a bill, this is called proposal power, but it has to go to a committee first. Then to get to the rest of the House or Senate it has to be reported out of committee.
• The chair determines the agenda by choosing which issues get considered. In the House the Speaker refers bills to particular committees, but the committee chair has some discretion over whether or not to act on the bills.
• This power to control what ideas do or do not become bills is “Gatekeeping Authority”
• Gatekeeping Authority is Congress’s most important power, but it also has oversight power, which is an after-the-fact authority to check up on how law is being implemented.
• Committees exercise oversight by assigning staff to scrutinize a particular law or policy by holding hearings.
• Holding hearings is an excellent way to take a position on a particular issue.

Question 44

What is the role of the committee chair?

Answer 44

• In the absence of authority figures to dictate voting, such as the PM in the UK, members of Congress tend to focus on committees that deal with issues about which constituents are deeply concerned
• The committee chairs also manage the actual process of writing a bill, which is called mark-up, and the vote on the bill in the committee itself. If a bill doesn’t receive a majority of votes in the committee, it won’t be reported out to the full House or Senate - the bill “died in committee”
• Committee voting is an efficient practice. If a bill can’t command a majority in a small committee it doesn’t have much chance in the floor of either house. Committees can kill bills by just not voting on them, but it is possible in the House to force them to vote by filing a discharge petition - this almost never happens.
• They have a very important legislative role as they do not answer to someone above them, like UK committees do responding to the Prime Minister or the minister for their department; therefore, they are significant in deciding the agenda of legislation and lifespan of it, without accountability

Question 45

How have committees changed?

Answer 45

• Since Congress started using committees they have made a number of changes, but the ones that have bent the Congress into its current shape occurred under the speakership of Newt Gingrich in 1994
• Overall Gingrich increased the power of the Speaker
• The number of subcommittees was reduced, and seniority rules in appointing chairs were changed.
• Before Gingrich the chair of a committee was usually the longest serving member of the majority party, which for most of the 20th century was the Democrats.
• The Speaker has a lot of influence over who gets chosen on these votes, which happen more regularly because the Republicans also impose term limits on the committee chairs.
• Being able to offer chairmanships to loyal party members gives the Speaker a lot more influence over the committees themselves.
• The Speaker also increased his, or her (currently Nancy Pelosi) power to refer bills to committee and act as gatekeeper.

Question 46

Changes to congressional staffing?

Answer 46

Gingrich also made changes to congressional staffing.
- There are two types of congressional staff, the Staff Assistants that each Congressperson or Senator has to help her or him with the actual job of being a legislator, and the Staff Agencies that work for Congress as a whole.
- The staff of a Congressperson is very important. Some staffers’ job is to research and write legislation while others do case work, like responding to constituents’ requests.
- Some staffers perform personal functions, like keeping track of a Congressperson’s calendar
- As Congresspeople spend more and more time raising money, more of the actual legislative work is done by staff.
- In addition to the individual staffers, Congress as a
whole has specialized staff agencies that are supposed to be more independent
- The Congressional Research Service is supposed to perform unbiased factual research for Congresspeople and their staff to help them in the process of writing the actual bills.
- The Government Accountability Office is a branch of Congress that can investigate the finances and administration of any government administrative office.
- The Congressional Budget Office assesses the likely
costs and impact of legislation. When the CBO looks at the cost of a particular bill it’s called “scoring the bill.”
- The Congressional reforms after 1994 generally increased the number of individual staff and reduced the staff of the staff agencies.
- This means that more legislation comes out of the offices of individual Congresspeople; this introduces bias to bills and increases the amount going through the legislative process, which is detrimental to efficiency and integrity

Question 47

What is the role of caucuses?

Answer 47

• These are caucuses in Congress and therefore different to the caucuses that some states use to choose candidates for office, like the ones in Iowa.
• Caucuses are semi-formal groups of Congresspeople organized around particular identities or interests. Semi-formal in this case means that they don’t have an official function in the legislative process.
• The Congressional Black Caucus is made up of the African American members of the legislature.
• The Republican Study Group is the conservative caucus that meets to discuss conservative issues and develop legislative strategies.
• Since 2010 there has also been a Tea Party caucus in Congress.
• There are also caucuses for very specific interests like the Bike Caucus that focuses on cycling.
• The purpose of these caucuses is for like minded people to gather and discuss ideas.
• The caucuses can help members of Congress coordinate their efforts and also provide leadership opportunities for individual Congresspeople outside of the more formal structures of committees.
• Caucuses, congressional staff, and especially committees, all exist to make the process of lawmaking more efficient.
• In particular, committees and staff allow individual legislators to develop expertise
• Committees also serve a political function of helping Congresspeople build an identity for voters that should help them get elected. This is just as important in the role in the process of making actual legislation.
• When Congress doesn’t pass many laws, committee membership, or better yet, being a committee chair is one of the only ways that a Congressperson can distinguish him or herself.

Question 48

What is the importance of seniority?

Answer 48

• Committee chairs are much more important in the US than the UK
• Before the 1970’s reforms, chairmanships were awarded to those to the member of the ruling party who had given the longest continuous service to a committee - in modern times, in both Houses, length of service does not guarantee promotion
• Chairmanships are awarded by secret ballot, with the most senior members almost always being elected
• When the Republicans have a Congress majority, their committee chairmen are limited to 6 years in office
• They are vital for scheduling meetings, deciding whether or when a bill will be taken up (or ignored) and decide the appointment and deployment of committee staffs

Question 49

How are committee members selected?

Answer 49

Committee memberships are greatly prized and allocated throughout the party machinery. They are also allocated based on a number of factors:

1. Party standing of member
2. Willingness to vote with leadership
3. Geographical balance
4. Number of available places
5. The interests of the legislators’ district or state (e.g. farming districts - member will be on an agriculture committee, area of expertise such as being a doctor will mean they are likely to be on a medical committee, a member from a military base district may be on an Armed Forces Committee)
6. Whether the assignment might help a member win re-election
   - Each party is allocated a number of seats roughly in proportion with its overall strength, and how members of either house vote may depend on whether they take a liberal or conservative view on an issue
   - Conservative Democrats may vote Republican, or sometimes members from a particular region may all vote together on a particular issue such as energy because they are more united for economic, social or historical reasons than separated by political differences

Question 50

Permanent Committees

Answer 50

• There are 21 permanent committees in the House of Representatives and 20 in the Senate
• There are 4 joint committees operating with members from both houses on matters of mutual jurisdiction and oversight
• The total number of approximately 210 committees and subcommittees reflects a decline of nearly 100 in the last 15 years
• Generally, HoR committees have more members than Senate committees, reflecting that the HoR is much bigger than Senate - Senate rules fix the maximum size for many of its committees, while the House determines the size and composition of each committee every new Congress

Question 51

What is the structure of Committees?

Answer 51

• Legislative Reorganisation Act of 1946 has provided the modern structure of Committees
• It aimed to rationalise the committee system and shape it to meets the needs of contemporary society - the number of House committees was cut from 48 to 19, and the number of Senate Committees was cut from 33 to 15, with the jurisdictions of all committees being codified and clarified
• As circumstances have changed, new committees such as Homeland Security have emerged - at present, the HoR generally limits each full committee to 5 subcommittees
• Exceptions to this include the Appropriations Committee (12 subcommittees), Armed Services (7), Foreign Affairs (7), and Transportation and Infrastructure (6) and there are no limits on the number of subcommittees in the Senate
• In 1970, there were further reforms that made the work of Congress more transparent as well as strengthening its decision making capacities and guaranteeing minority rights

Question 52

What are the functions of committees?

Answer 52

• They are of crucial importance for several reasons
  1. They rapidly become centres of expertise, both in the knowledge, qualification and experience of their members (and their staff) and in the insights they have into the needs and interests of the areas they represent -in this way a constructive tension is developed between the expertise within the administration and the specialist insights available to the committee, e.g the view between the Pentagon and within the Armed Service Committees
  2. The bills chosen to be put forward by the chair are considered by the committee (5-10%) and the amended bill will be reported to the whole house - a conference committee with members from both houses is established to reconcile differences; if the President vetoes a bill, the committees will play an important role in deciding the terms on which they attempt to override the veto (requires a 2/3 majority in both chambers) - important legislative function
  3. Important approval functions are allocated to the Senate - the committees conduct hearings into the suitability of presidential nominees to the Supreme Court or to cabinet posts or posts of similar standing (e.g. head of the CIA) - until 2000, the Senate had refused to approve 28, almost 20%, of the 141 SC nominations sent to it by the President, usually following hearings by and recommendations from the Judiciary Committee.
• Presidential nominees rejected by the Senate include Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsberg (nominated by President Reagan) to the SC (important oversight power)

Question 53

What are the functions of committees? Cont.

Answer 53

4. As specialists in the particular area of government and policy making, they can scrutinise and challenge the performance, activities and spending of government
5. Committees sometimes undertake special investigations in matters of public concern, such as the 1987 hearings into the Iran-Contra Scandal - televised hearings disseminate a wealth of information to the US public
6. The committees provide a forum for lobbyists and special interests whose views are often subjected to critical scrutiny; in the US, such relationships used to be considered in terms or ‘iron triangles’, though more recently, political scientists Heclo’s concept of ‘issue networks’ is seen as providing a more helpful framework of illustrating the relationships between committees and the rest of Congress
   - In summary, it is the backbone of the legislative process and s a vital component of many executive and judicial oversight powers

Question 54

The Rules Committee

Answer 54

• Congress often approves the decisions of its committees - however, this committee of the HoR exercises considerable responsibility over which bills are brought to the floor
• Most major legislation cannot be debated without a special ‘rule’ from the Rules Committee that limits the time for the debate and the extent to which a bill may be amended
• The expertise and sectional interests in the US mean standing committees are unlikely to return a bill to the floor of the House in the same form that was originally sent to the committee, requiring a conference committee to reconcile the differences - there are committees in every area of congressional process

Question 55

The importance of the committee system

Answer 55

• Whilst the UK parliament could operate without its committee system if necessary (would be difficult but doable), that option does not exist for Congressional legislators
• The US committees are at the heart of the institution of Congress and the legislative branch, which has developed effective systems for legislation and executive scrutiny in the context of a society that is complex and discerning