The Congress and the President Units 4 and 5

The United States Congress

Comparison: Congress V. Parliament

• Members of Parliament are:– Chosen to run for office by their Party– Able to vote for one of their own to be Prime

Minister (Executive)– Expected to vote as a block by Party– To debate issues of national importance– Given little pay and few perks

Comparison: Congress V. Parliament

• Senators and Representatives are:– Chosen through primary elections with little party

control or input– Elected when citizens cast a vote for the individual

candidate, not the Party– Members of a very independent body that is chosen

to represent the people of their Districts/States, not their Party

– Without the power to choose the President– Given enormous power, perks, and excellent pay

Origin, purpose, structure, etc…

• Article I, Section I: “Congress shall make laws for the good of the people of the United States of America…”

• Make LAW: really means make public policy• Bicameralism: – History: we had many previous experiences with bicameral

legislatures that were positive– Theoretical: create a system of checks within the

legislature– Practical: resolve the dispute at the constitutional

convention over the issue of representation

Evolution of Congress

• Intent of the Framers:– To prevent the concentration of all legislative power

into a single institution– To balance the interests of both large and small States– To make Congress the dominant institution on

government

In general, Congress dominates the Presidency for 140 years (exception Jackson)

Domination ends with the election of FDR

Major Political Struggles with in the Congress

• Over issues of national importance (war, trade, slavery, etc…)

• Distribution of power w/in Congress– Centralization- if need is for quick, decisive action

(declare war, 9/11, etc…)– Decentralization- is constituency interests

dominate (slavery, economic growth, etc…)– Trend over time has been for decentralization

Early History of Congress• President supplied congress leadership (sent bills to be

considered)• House was pre-eminent • House declines in 1820’s

– Assertiveness of Jackson– Issue of slavery and beginnings of sectionalism (Civil War)– split

parties and power fragmentedSenate gained importance-Opportunity for unlimited debate made Senators “stars” {Filibuster} a

single member can take control of the floor and block passage of a bill

-Closer association with party (6 year terms)

Rise of Party Control 1889-1910

• House:– Powerful House Leaders like Joe Cannon become

dictatorial– Party Caucus: meeting of the members of one

party to set an agenda and form voting blocs– Rules Committee created to decide if/when a bill

will come to the floor for debate/vote

Decentralization of the House

• House Speaker’s power reduced due to a change in the rules 1910-1911

• Party caucus power increases• Rules Committee increases in powers• Committee Chairmen increase in power and

autonomy

Recent changes in the House

• Chairmanships become “elective” {majority party and Seniority Rule}

• Subcommittee chairs become more powerful• Congressional staff increases in number,

power, and influence {went from 2-3 to over 20 per member)

Senate made more democratic

• Direct Election of Senators – 17th Amendment in 1913 {part of the progressive reforms}

• Limited party influence over the Senate• Made Senators more responsive to their States

and voters• Campaigns for Senate dominate• Filibuster could now be restricted by the Cloture

Rule (3/5ths vote {60} to limit debate on any bill to 30 minutes per member)

The House of Representatives

• Membership– 435 members – Congress sets the size of the House, not the

Constitution– Reapportionment Act of 1929 set permanent size– Membership now a career– most serve 20+ years– Democrats have had almost exclusive control • Except Civil War and Reconstruction• 1996-2007

House of Representatives

• Election:– Tuesday following the 1st Monday of November every even

numbered year– Voted upon directly by people who reside in the District and

are eligible to vote for the State Legislature– Primaries and general elections now the norm– Incumbents almost always win (the benefits of incumbency) – Candidates run very personalized campaigns and have great

independency from party control– candidate centered– Only about 20% of the $ comes from the Parties

Reapportionment and Re-Districting

• House seats must be reapportioned after each census every 10 years

• States’ # of seats is determined by population• States’ legislatures re-district single member

districts• Gerrymandering:– Republicans: like a sliced pizza– Democrats : like a bagel

Supreme Court Cases and Representation

• Weberry v. Sanders: one man one vote rule• Reynolds v. Sims: reapportionment must be based

upon population equity• Baker v. Carr: reapportionment must occur after every

census to reflect population shifts within each State• Requirements for redistricting:– same # people in each District– Contiguous territory– Compact area

Current Apportionment

Proposed 2010 Plan

Texas Districts

House of Representatives

• Qualifications: – 25 years of age– US citizen for 7 yrs– Resident of the State from which elected

• Term: 2 years• Session: 2per year• Salary: currently $174,000 per year• COLAs : Cost of Living Adjustments

Perks/Benefits• Members Representational Allowance: • Amount depends on several factors:

– How big is your District (area and population)– How far away is your District from DC– Covers things like:

• Office rent in Home State• Computers and equipment• Furniture• Staff salaries• Some travel expenses• Paper and envelopes• Office supplies• Etc…

Perks

• Retirement Plan• Social Security• Health Insurance• Office of the Visiting Physician (7 on the Hill)• Medical care at Bethesda and Walter Reed• Free publication of videos and photos• Budget for DC office decorations and art

More Perks

• Free Parking at Reagan National Airport and the US Capitol

More Perks

• Special license plates that allow them to park virtually anywhere in DC

Perks

• Budget for reception room• Allowance for meals w/ constituents

More Perks

• Franking: Free postage for official government mail

• Member just signs envelope

Even MORE Perks!

• Travel allowance • Entertainment Allowance • Allowance for souvenirs and gifts for

constituents … See Ms Stimson’s giant box o’crap!

Exclusive Powers

Power of the purse1. TAX2. Spend/appropriate $

ImpeachmentInvestigationElect the President (if a tie in EC)

Leadership in the House

• Speaker of the House• Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CAL)• Leader of the majority party• Chosen in an election by the majority party• Is both presiding officer of the House and a

member of the House• Tremendously powerful post• Makes $205,000

Speaker Pelosi

• Powers– Call on members to speak (or not)– Select the bills to be introduced (or not)– Assign members to committees (or not)– Assign Committee Chairs– Assign Sub-com chairs– Send bills to committee– Etc…

Speaker Pelosi

• Perks– Has own dining room– Has own plane (Air Force 3)– Has own helicopter (Marine 3)– Secret Service Protection– Limo and driver– Entertainment Allowance– Travel Allowance– Etc…

Pelosi’s Demand for new Air Force 3

Leadership in the House

• Majority Party : Democrats• Majority Leader: Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland)• Majority Whip: James Clyburn (D-SC)

Majority Leader and Whip

• Majority Leader’s job is to get party’s agenda made into law

• Whips job is to:– Count votes– Make sure all party members will vote as a block– Convince party members to vote “correctly” on

each bill

Minority Party Leadership in the House

• Minority Leader: David Boehner (R-Ohio)• Minority Whip: Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Job of the Minority Leadership

• Minority Leader’s job is to try to get party’s agenda made into law

• Minority Whip’s jobs:– Count votes– Keep all party members in line– Make sure party has enough votes to block

majority (when possible)

Committee Chairs

• Chosen in the House by the Speaker (majority party caucus)

• Chosen in the Senate by Majority and Minority Leader

• Always from the majority party (Dems today)• Seniority Rule followed strictly in both houses

Committee Chairs

• Why so powerful?– Can speed up consideration– Can slow down consideration– Can prevent consideration (pigeon-holing)– Can offer a committee bill– Can amend a bill– Schedules hearings– Calls witnesses (subpoenas!)

The Rules Committee

• Most powerful of all Committees in Congress• Chairwoman: Louise Slaughter (Dem-NY)• Why so powerful?– Places bills on the calendar(s) for debate– Can schedule debate now or at the end of the session– Can schedule debate for an unusual time of day– Can schedule debate for a non-existent date or during

a recess– Can never put your bill on the calendar(s)

The Senate

• Membership: 100 Senators• 2 Senators per State• Set by the Constitution• Can only get more Senators if we get more

States• Elected independently of one another• Originally elected by State Legislatures

Qualifications for the Senate

• 30 years of age• US Citizen for at least 9 years• Resident of State from which elected

• Informal qualifications same as the House, except older and whiter!

Terms, Sessions, etc…

• Terms are 6 years• Terms are staggered so that 1/3rd is up for re-

election every 2 years• Senators from the same State are never

elected the same year• Staggered terms allows for the Senate to be a

“continuous body”• Sessions: like the House, 2 per year

Salary, Perks, Benefits

• Same as the House • $174,000 a year in salary• Constitution requires that they be paid equally

and receive same benefits

Exclusive Powers

• The Senate alone can:– Convict those who have been impeached– Confirm presidential appointments– Ratify presidential treaties

Leadership

• President of the Senate: Vice President Joseph Biden

• Presiding officer of the Senate• Not a member of the Senate, so cannot

debate and can vote only in the event of a tie• Can call on members to speak and rule on

points of order

President of the Senate Biden

• Pay: $205,000 per year• Home: United States Naval Observatory in

Georgetown

President of the Senate Biden

• Air force 2• Marine 2• Offices in the White House, OEOB, and Senate • Staff of 150+• Entertainment and travel allowances• Retirement and Social Security• Health Care at Bethesda and Walter Reed• Etc….

President of the Senate Biden

President Pro Tempore of the Senate

• Senator Robert Byrd (D-WVA)• Same powers and VP• Same pay as Speaker and VP• Can borrow Speaker’s plane and helicopter

Senate Majority Leader

• Senator Harry Reid, (D-NEV)

Senate Majority Whip

• Dick Durbin, (D-IL)

Minority Leader

• Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ken)

Minority Whip

• Senator John Kyl (R-VA)

Powers of Congress

• Legislative: those which require the consent of the President– Make law– Appropriate funds– Tax– Declare war!– Raise and maintain the military– Etc……….

Non-legislative Powers

• Those that do not require Presidential action– Admit new States– Propose Constitutional Amendments– Impeach/Convict– Ratify treaties– Confirm appointments – Coin money– Etc…

Congressional Committee System

• Purpose: divide the workload• Majority of congressional work on legislation

is done in committees• Each committee is made up of 10% of one of

the Houses (40 in H; 10 in S)• Committee Chairs are always from the

majority party (Dems today)

Committees

• Most important organizational feature in Congress– Majority of bills “die in committee”– Committees weed out “bad” bills– Conduct public hearings, hear expert testimony, gather

information, investigate, mark up bills, offer committee bills, etc…

– Create “experts” out of members of Congress who will spend their careers on a committee

– Maintain oversight of executive branch agencies

Types of committees

• Standing: permanent one house groups (19 in H/ 17 in S)

• Sub-committees: smaller divisions of standing committees w/ specialized functions

• Special/Select: temporary group set up to investigate• Joint: permanent group made up of both houses

(only 4) BAD assignments!• Conference: temporary group made up of members

of both houses to compromise on versions of a bill

Membership on Standing Committees

• Individual: (selected by leadership)– Skills/talents – SENIORITY!

• Party: Majority Party always has majority on each committee (proportional to membership)

Standing Committee Chairmen• Most powerful and most senior members of Majority Party• Powers:– Schedule hearings– Call /subpoena witnesses– Pigeon-hole bills– Create committee bills– Amend bills– Pork and earmarks– Etc…

• Congressional Staff: 20-40 per committee

Job(s) of Staff• #1: Serve constituency (the folks back home)

– Letter writing– Phone calls– E-mails– Website– Etc…

• Legislative functions:– Monitor hearings– Devise proposals– Draft reports (of hearings/meetings)– Meet with lobbyists– Act as a lobbyist for the Member they work for– Keep track of public opinion on issues that impact District/State– Etc…

Impact of Staff

• With the increasing workload for Congress, no one can keep up

• Staff numbers increase• Staff responsibilities increase• Members on Congress cede power and

responsibility for work to Staff• We didn’t elect these people!!!

How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Really, How can one member stop it?• House:– Speaker: • Block introduction (toss it!)• Never call on member to introduce bill• Send bill to unusual committee• Add amendments to bill• Get Caucus to oppose bill• Etc…

How A Bill…..

• How can we kill it in the House?– Committee Chairs

• Pigeon-hole it• Add too many amendments• Schedule more hearings• Pork/earmark it to death

– Rules Committee• Schedule debate for Sunday or non-existent date• Schedule for late at night, early in morning, etc…• Don’t put it on the calendar

– From the Floor• Add pork/earmarks/ amendments

How a Bill…

• How can we kill it in the Senate?– Filibuster: talk it to death!– Rule of 60 limits debate to 30 minutes per

member (Cloture Rule)– Non-germane amendments– pork/earmarks– Majority Leader can refuse to call bill out to the

floor– Etc…

Filibuster!

How Members Vote

• Representative’s View– They think they vote to please their constituency– Problem: no real consensus among constituents

on most issues– Reality: most vote w/ party

How Members Vote

• Organizational View– Assumes ideology effect vote (just party!)– House more like the voters than Senate– 80-90% of votes are partisan– Yellow Dog Democrats: conservatives from South

(Nunn, Byrd, Hefflin, etc…)– Blue Dog Democrats: moderates from

Midwest/South (Clinton, Landrieau, etc…)– CATS: Conservative Action Team (Ron Paul is one)

Evolution of Congress

• House Dominates 1920-60’s– Powerful Chairs from South– Long apprenticeship for new members (wait for

someone to die so you could move up!)– Small staff

1970’s-1980’s

• Growth in staff size (4-5 to as many as 40)• Committees more democratic; Chairs lost

some power• More independence for members ; less party

control• More focused on re-election• More amendments to bills (pork/earmarks)• Increase in filibusters

Reassertion of Congressional Power over the President begins in 1970’s

• Reaction to Watergate and Vietnam• War Powers Act (1973)- limit powers of

Commander-in-Chief• Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act

1974 (take $ back from Executive Branch)• Increased requirement for a legislative veto

sought (take power from Pres by vote of Congress)

The End of Congress!

Unit VThe Executive Branch

Presidents v. Prime Ministers

• Prime Ministers:- Prime Ministers are chosen by the Parliament

from the Parliament (majority party)– Cabinet members are chosen by Parliament from

Parliament (majority party)– Only remain in power as long as his/her party has

the majority/coalition approval– Can be terminated without cause– Have limited ability to check other branches

Differences

• Presidents are often outsiders; PM always from majority

• President’s choose Cabinet from wherever they like, PM’s stuck with whoever is given to them by Parliament

• Presidents has no guarantee of a majority in Congress (even if from same party!); PM always has a majority

• Presidents and Congress frequently work at cross purposes; PMs and Parliament work as a team

Powers of Presidency

• Exclusive Powers:– Commander-in-Chief of the Military

Commission Officer of the Armed Services

Call Special Sessions of Congress

• Not since 1948; Congress hasn’t adjourned!

Executive Clemency

• Pardons• Commutations• Amnesty• Reprieves

Receive Ambassadors and Diplomats

Sees that laws are “faithfully executed”

Appointment Power

• Lesser officials that do not need the Senate’s confirmation

• Chief of Staff and other political personnel “serve at the pleasure of the President”

Powers SHARED with the Senate

• Making treaties • Requires Senate ratification

Appointing Ambassadors, Diplomats, Judges, Justices, and other “high officials”

(Cabinet-Rank)

• Requires Senate confirmation

Powers Shared with both Houses of Congress

• Budget and Laws

Real Presidential power lies in politics and public opinion

• Can increase ability to influence Congress– they have very broad statutory power

• President is expected by the people to be the leader of the Nation (and “free world”)

LBJ gives Senator from Maine the “treatment”

Presidential Qualifications

• Natural-born Citizen• 35 years of age• 14 year residency in US• Can’t have already served more than 1 and ½

terms as President• Can’t hold any other elective or appointive

office

Presidential Selection

• See your notes….. We already covered this in our unit on political participation!

Presidential Succession and Removal

• What happens if the President dies in office?– 25th Amendment sets up the order of succession– V-Pres– Speaker– Pres Pro Tempore of Senate– Sect State– Sect Treas.– Sect Def– Etc…

What happens if the President is sick?

• How sick? – Too ill to do his job with little chance of recovery?– 25th Amendment would allow removal by Congress

if VP and majority of Cabinet agreed he was too ill

Presidential Succession

• The VP who will succeed to the Presidency is required to nominate a new Vice President– Must be confirmed by the Senate– Must be qualified to become President– Agnew and Nixon resignations

Impeachment Process

• Indictment/ impeachment by the House (majority vote);

• Must be charged with either treason, bribery, or “high crimes”

• Trial in the Senate – Senate serves as jury– Chief Justice presides– 2/3rds vote to be found guilty and removed from office– 2/3rds of those present and voting is the standard

Office of the President

• The White House Office– President’s closest personal and political advisors– Some experts, most worked on campaign– Influence of staff related to closeness of office to

the Oval (Rule of Proximity)– Serve “at the pleasure of the President”– Need no Senate confirmation– Can be fired without cause

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

• Composed of agencies and Directors that report directly to the President

• Appointments require Senate confirmation• OMB is most important– Assembles budget– Develops reorganization plans– Reviews legislative proposals of all agencies

The Cabinet

• Appointed by Pres; confirmed by Senate• Each heads one of the 15 Departments• Job is to advocate, administer, and advise• Secretaries appoint/hire most other Dept staff• Custom used differently by each President

Independent Agencies

• Heads appointed by Pres and confirmed by Senate

• Quasi-independent• Heads can be removed only for cause• Terms are generally 6 years

Who gets appointed?

• President knows only a few personally• Most have federal experience• Have to consider related interest groups• Often see rivalry between Cabinet Secretaries

and White House staff over appointments • Campaign experience a plus

Power of the President to Persuade

• Trying to persuade 3 groups:– Politicians and leadership in DC– Party activists and officials outside “the beltway”– The various “publics”

Popularity and Influence

• Presidents try to transform their popularity into support in Congress (health care reform)

• Influence of the President’s coat-tails is small and fleeting

• Members of Congress not eager to challenge a popular President

• Popularity always highest right after election (Honeymoon Period)

• Popularity will decline by mid-term

Power of the President to say NO!

• Veto– Regular– Veto Message– Pocket Veto– Congress rarely gets to over-ride (requires 2/3rds

vote)

Executive Privilege

• Can keep confidential communications between President and his advisors

• Justification:– Separation of powers– Need for candid advise

• US v. Nixon: Court rejected Nixon’s claim of absolute privilege. Can claim only if:– National Security would be damaged– International Relations would be in jeopardy

Impoundment of Funds

• Presidents refusal to spend money appropriated by Congress (Nixon)

• Countered by Budget Reform Act of 1974– Requires President to notify Congress that he does

not intend to spend funds– Congress must agree

The “Most Powerful Office in the World” has limitations

• Congress– Can over-ride veto– Can deny funding– Can use War Powers Act to limit military

commitments– Can refuse to confirm appointments– Can refuse to ratify treaties– Etc….

Courts

• Can declare actions to be unconstitutional

People

• President need the peoples’ good will to get Congress to do his will.

• Approval rating=power• Needs to get re-elected to stay in power• HISTORY!

Bureaucracy

• Carry out the President’s responsibilities• Selective enforcement• They’ll be around 20-30 years, he has 4-8

years.

The END!