CongressRole—Lawmakers

The Constitution of the United States

Article I, Section I“All legislative powers herein granted

shall be vested in a congress of the Unites States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.”

Congress

Most basic governmental function:

translate public will into public policy in the form of a law.

Basic Info for BOTH houses

• U.S. Legislative body is bicameral vs. unicameral

• Concern is representation via population as in House, but not Senate.

• Term—is two years, “noon on Jan. 3rd” of every odd numbered year.

• Sessions—there are 2 for each term, one year each.

• Congress adjourns each session as they see fit. Prior to WWII, most session were 4-5 months. Now, most of year.

• One House cannot adjourn without consent of other.

Size and Terms of HOUSE

• Today, 435 seats. Number can change, not in Constitution. New law, from 1929 allowed census bureau to decide seats for each state and within 60 days if neither house rejects the plan, it become effective.

• Seats are apportioned by population. Each state gets a minimum of one.

• D.C., Guam, Virgin Islands, American Somoa, and Puerto Rico have a delegate but not a member of the House.

• Terms are for two years—election are always just around the corner to maintain focus on constituents back home.

• Reapportionment is directed by Constitution to redistribute seats every 10 years based on the census.

• Single-member districts—voters in each district elect one of the State’s representatives. At-large voting was outlawed in 1872.

Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964

• Outlawed Gerrymandering, districts that have been drawn to the advantage of the political party or faction that controls the government.

• The court ruled that, “as nearly as practicable one man’s vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another’s.”

Gerrymandering

Qualifications

• 25 yrs. Old, citizen for seven years, resident of U.S.

• Custom, not in Constitution, requires a representative live in district he/ she represents.

Size and Term of SENATE

• Many Representatives become Senators but rarely vice versa.

• Senators serve terms of six years. As with the House, can be re-elected any number of times.

• 1/3 expire every two years (33 or 34). Therefore called a continuous body.

• Six years intended to make Senators less subject to pressures of public opinion and special interest groups (lobbyists). Ideally focused on big picture than on small locality.

• Qualifications—30 yrs. Old, citizen for nine years, and inhabitant of state in which elected.

Duties of Congress For $169,500/ yr.

1. Legislators—law makers2. Committee members3. Representatives of their constituents4. Servants of their constituents!! Help them

with problems in their state. 5. Politicians6. Screen proposed bills to see if they should

make them to the floor7. Oversight function of various agencies in

executive branch

Four Voting Options

• Trustee—vote independently based on conscience

• Delegates—ignore own views for those of constituents

• Partisans—vote based on party (majority influenced by this)

• Politicos—Balance all of the above with the particular issues of the moment

Partisan

Congressional Powers

• By specific design, the powers of Congress are limited, unless specifically stated in the Constitution (expressed powers), reasonably deducted from the Constitution (implied powers), or by being a part of a Federal Government (inherent powers).

• History has shown that the U.S. has been very liberal in its interpretation of the Constitution. Based on the changing demands of our society; war, economic crisis, changes in transportation, communication, and technology, have forced the government to play a larger role than originally designed.

Expressed Powers

• Power to Tax• Direct Tax

• Paid by person whom it is imposed on– income tax

• Indirect Tax• First paid by one person

but passed onto another—cigarette tax/ gas tax

• Power to Borrow• Commerce Power

• Regulate interstate $ foreign trade

• Currency Power Legal tender• Bankruptcy

• Foreign Relations Powers• Derived from 2 sources– 1)

war powers & regulation of foreign commerce. 2) U.S. as sovereign state gives congress inherent powers to act on matters of national security.

• War Powers• Naturalization• Postal Power• Copyright and Patents• Weights and Measures• Power over Territories • Eminent Domain• Judicial Powers

Implied powers

• Necessary and Proper Clause (“elastic”)

Necessary & Proper Clause

Examples:The Power to Tax is expressed– the power to

punish for tax evasion is implied (elastic)

The Power to Raise Armies and Navies= the power to draft (elastic)

The Commerce Power= the power to fix minimum wages & maximum work hours (elastic)

Non-legislative Powers

• Constitutional Amendments• 2/3 vote in each house (happened 33 times)

• Electoral Duties• House elects president when 270 is not reached in electoral

college/ Senate then chooses V.P.• Impeachment

• House brings charges (impeach)--majority• Senate judges the accused– 2/3 for guilty

• If President on trial, Chief Justice of Supreme Court must preside

• Executive Powers• Majority approval of appointments/ 2/3 approval of those

present for treaties• Investigatory Power

• Ex. MLB steroid use• Ex. Federal Attorney dismissals by A.G. Gonzales

Senate Investigation

The Need for Committees

• 35, 000 people work for legislative branch• Amount of work is so great, a division of

labor is necessary.

Committees

• Committees• House committees have between 10 and 62 members each.• Senate has 9 to 28 members each.• When a bill is introduces, Speaker or president of Senate refer bill to appropriate standing

committee.• Majority party always holds a majority of seats on each committee, while minority party is

well represented.

• Standing committees—all similar bills are sent here.

• Select committees—special group set up for specific purpose and usually a limited time.

• Joint committees—are composed from members of both houses.

• Conference committees—temporary joint body, created to produce a compromised bill that is agreeable to both houses. Reason: before a bill can be sent to President, must be passed in identical form by each house. (Rarely does either house reject the work of a conference committee. 2 reasons; membership of conference committees is typically powerful, report usually comes as congress in a rush to adjourn.)

• Subcommittees—division of existing committees formed to address specific issues. 140 in House, 90 in Senate.

Current Committees: Examples

Standing CommitteeAppropriationsArmed ServicesBanking, Housing, Urban

DevelopmentTransportationEnergy & Natural ResourcesFinanceForeign RelationsHomeland Security & Gov’t AffairsJudiciaryVeterans Affairs

And Many More…

Special CommitteeIndian AffairsSelect Committee on EthicsSelect Committee on IntelligenceSelect Committee on Aging

Additional ones added or removed as needed

Joint CommitteesJoint Committee on TaxationJoint Economic Committee

Additional ones added or removed as needed

House of Representatives

• Not a continuous body; causes slow start to new sessions.

Speaker of the House

The Speaker is by far most important and influential member of HOR.

Speaker is member of majority party in congress and chosen by members of that party.

Two duties: preside and keep order.

No member may speak until recognized by the speaker.

Speaker names members of committees.

Speaker may debate or vote, but must name Speaker pro tempore.

Speaker usually doe NOT vote, but must vote to break a tie.

Because a tie vote defeats a question, speaker can vote to cause a tie.

Other House Leaders

• Floor Leaders: There is a Minority and Majority Floor Leader.• Next to the Speaker, the most important officer• They are legislative strategists attempting to get

their parties values passed through legislation

• The Whip: Again both Maj. & Min.• Job is to assist floor leaders and influence party

members on a particular vote. Then pass the numbers of “yea” votes on the floor leader before a vote so they can be prepared for the outcome

Senate

• A continuous body, allows for smooth start to new sessions.

President of the Senate

President of the Senate is not a member of the Senate.

V.P. of U.S., much less powerful than Speaker position in the House.

Not necessarily member of majority party in Senate.

V.P. CANNOT speak or debate.

V.P. may ONLY vote to break a tie, not a cause a tie.

President pro tempore acts in the V.P.’s absence and is elected by the Senate itself and always a leading member of the majority party.

Facts about Bills

• As many as 10,000 bills proposed between both houses in a term. Less than 10 % become law.

• Where do they start?• Most bills originate somewhere in the executive branch. • Ideas for bills can come from private citizens.• Many originate in standing committees.

• How are they introduced?• Only members introduce bills.• According to Constitution, “All bills for raising revenue shall originate

in the House…”

• Two types of Bills:• Public Bills: measures applying to the nation as a whole.• Private Bills: measures that apply to certain persons or places, not the

nation.

Passing a Bill in the House

Bill Becomes a Law in the House

• Most bills die in committee; they are pigeonholed.• An important or controversial bill can involve holding public hearings that

question interested persons, special interest groups, and government officials who testify at an informational gathering. If necessary, a committee can force a person to testify under threat of imprisonment.

•• When a subcommittee has completed its research, the measure goes to

full committee. The committee chooses one of the following courses of action:

• Report the bill favorably with a “do pass” recommendation.• Refuse to report the bill—pigeonhole it.• Report the bill in amended form.• Report the bill with an unfavorable recommendation—rare.• Report a committee bill—new bill, substituted for original bill.• Debate in House is limited because of size. No member can hold floor for more than

one hour without unanimous consent. Speaker can force a member who strays from subject to give up floor.

• Voting in House • A bill may be voted on several times. Each amendment is voted on separately. • After approval the speaker signs it and a page (legislative aide) takes it to the Senate

and places it on the Senate president’s desk.

Passing a Bill in the Senate

Bill Becomes a Law in the Senate

• Also committee work.

• Debate is unrestrained in Senate. Members may speak as long as they please and do NOT have to limit it to subject of bill. Intention is to encourage fullest possible discussion of matters on the floor.

• Filibuster is a stalling tactic. Strom Thurmond (R., S.C.) held floor for 24 hrs. and 18 minutes in an unsuccessful, one man effort to prevent

the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

• Cloture Rule-- Senate check on the filibuster. Limits debate, but difficult to enact. Many senators hesitate to support a motion for cloture because 1) dedicated to tradition of free debate, 2) frequent use of cloture will undermine filibuster they may one day want to use.

Filibuster

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Veto Powers

Presidents Five possible Actions to a passed congressional bill:

• Sign the bill and become law.• Veto—return it to house it originated in and 2/3 of

each house can vote it in.• Does not act on it for 10 days—becomes law.• Pocket veto—congress adjourns session within ten

days of submitting bill to President, before President acts on it, bill dies.

• “Line-item veto”—can reject one or more money items in Appropriations bills.

Major issue: Ethics in Public Policy

Interest Groups: Influencing Legislation

• All interest groups share a desire to affect government policy to benefit themselves or their cause. It could be a policy that exclusively benefits group members or one segment of society (e.g., government subsidies for farmers) or a policy that advances a broader public purpose (e.g., improving air quality). Interest groups are a natural outgrowth of the communities of interests that exist in all societies, from the narrowest groups such as the Japan Eraser Manufacturers Association to broader groups such as the ACLU to very broad organizations such as the military in authoritarian countries. Interest groups exist at all levels of government—national, state, provincial, and local—and increasingly they have occupied an important role in international affairs.– Encyclopedia Britannica