How Congress Works

•Two from each State•Upper House

SENATESENATE

113 Congress (2013-2014) 113 Congress (2013-2014) Senate: Senate: Majority Party: Democrat (53 seats)

Minority Party:  Republican (45 seats)

Other Parties: 2 Independents (Caucus with the Democrats)

Total Seats: 100Note:

Senator Angus King was elected as an Independent from MaineSenator Bernard Sanders of Vermont was elected as an Independent.

President of the SenateJoseph Biden

• Vice President of the United States

• Only votes in case of tie

• First in line for Presidency

• Former Senator from Pennsylvania

                                  

President Pro TemporePresident Pro Tempore

Patrick Leahy (Democrat)

Vermont– Handles

day-to-day leadership of the

Senate

Senate Majority LeaderSenate Majority LeaderHarry Reid (Democrat)Nevada – also known as Floor Leader

     

SENATE MINORITY LEADERSHIP

Minority LeaderMinority Leader

Mitch McConnellRepublicanKentucky

                                  

House of Representatives

•Based on Population

•Lower House

435 Members435 Members

•Party Divisions – 233 Republicans– Majority Party – 199 Democrats - Minority Party

• 3 Seats are currently vacant

• 435 Members

Current VacanciesState, District

Reason for Vacancy, Successor

VirginiaThe Honorable Eric Cantor resigned from the 113th Congress effective 6:00 p.m. on August 18, 2014.

New JerseyThe Honorable Robert E. Andrews resigned from the 113th Congress on February 18, 2014.

North CarolinaThe Honorable Melvin L. Watt resigned from the 113th Congress on January 6, 2014.

Speaker of the House – Leads the House of Representatives and is a member of the majority party. Second (2nd) in line for the Presidency.

John Boehner Republican Republican OhioOhio

HOUSE MAJORITY LEADERSHIP

Kevin McCarthy– House Majority Leader

Republican, California

• Develops the issues and policies that form the Republican agenda.

• Sets the legislative schedule by selecting which bills the House will consider and the timing of their consideration.

House Minority Leader

• Nancy Pelosi• Represents Democrats

on the House • Democrat from

California• She leads the Minority

Party. Presently that is the Democratic Party.

Committees• Every new bill

introduced goes to committee

• The Committee decides if the bill will go on to the floor for a vote

They can:

• pass it

• kill it

• pigeon hole it.

Types of CommitteesTypes of Committees• Standing – permanent committee that

specializes in one topic – ex. Appropriations– Subcommittees – Smaller committees within a

standing committee

• Select – Temporary committee to deal with issues needing special attention

• Joint Committees- includes members of both houses– Conference Committees – work out language of a

proposed law.

Copy and Answer the Following Questions.

1. What is a whip in Congress?

2. Who are the majority and minority whips in the House and Senate?

3. On what committees do Saxby Chambliss, Johnny Isakson, and Austin Scott serve?

4. What type of committee has been working on the budget crisis?

Miscellaneous Committee Miscellaneous Committee InformationInformation

• Committee Chairperson is usually a member of the majority party

• Membership of committee is in ratio to make up of Senate or House

• Seniority System determines who get the best or most important committee assignments.

AGE

• The average age of Senators in August of the 113th Congress was 62

• The average age of the Representatives in August of the 113th Congress was 57

•

Ethnicity/Gender

• African American 44 (2 are nonvoting delegates)• American Indian 2• Asian Pacific 13 (2 are nonvoting delegates)• Caucasian 440• Hispanic 38 (2 are nonvoting

delegate/commissioner) • Women 101 (Includes 2 nonvoting

delegates)

7 MOST POPULAR RELIGIONS

1. Catholic

2. Baptist

3. Methodists

4. Jewish

5. Presbyterian

6. Episcopal

7. Protestant

Other Characteristics• Most common professions were public

service/politics, business, and law.

• Most have college degrees

• Most were born in the State that elects them

• Many are not independently wealthy and depend on their salaries

• Nearly 1/3 of Senators were once House members

• Some have only a high school diploma

Compensation - Salary• Congressmen/women - $174,000 per

year. • The Majority and Minority Leaders in

both the House and Senate and the President pro tempore of the Senate earn $193,400

• The Speaker of the House earns $223,500.

• http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm

Compensation – Nonsalary

• Special tax exemption for maintaining two houses• Hospitalization, life, and health insurance• Retirement pay• Provide both office and budget funds for staff• Franking privilege: Mailing is free• Free printing • Free parking• Gymnasiums

Limits on Congressional Pay?

• Presidential veto• Voter fallout (we get mad!)• Twenty-seventh Amendment says no

increase can take place until the next session of Congress

• The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 set a pay raise equal to what other government employees were getting unless Congress voted against it

Free Speech Privilege

• Article I, Section 6, Clause 1• Congressmen/women can feel free to speak

their mind without fear• This extends to anything said in the House

or Senate or in committee• Protects legislative debate• They can not defame or lie about another

member

House of Representatives

Basic Facts

State RepresentationKeyGreen – GainedPurple – LostYellow – no change

House of Representative Size• Congress set the size at 435 members• State’s representation set by the Census• The 435 votes are apportioned• Each State has at least one vote• Washington DC, Guam, Virgin Islands, and

American Samoa elect a representative with no voting power

• Puerto Rico chooses a resident commissioner, also with no vote

Reapportionment

• The representation is redistributed after each Census

• The original number was set at 65 until a Census could be taken

• After the first Census the number was changed to 106.

• By 1912 the size was 435• The House ignored the 1920 Census

2003 Apportionment

• States that gained– Arizona – 2– Florida – 2– Georgia – 2– Texas – 2– California – 1– Colorado – 1– Nevada – 1– North Carolina - 1

• States that lostNew York – 2Pennsylvania – 2Connecticut – 1Illinois – 1Indiana – 1Michigan – 1Mississippi – 1Ohio – 1Oklahoma – 1Wisconsin - 1

Reapportionment Act of 1929

1. Set the “permanent” size of the House at 435

2. The Census Bureau decides the reapportionment after each census

3. The President then sends this plan to Congress

4. Each house has 60-days to reject the plan. If neither does, it becomes effective.

Term• Each elected Representative serves a two

year term.

• There is no limit to how many times they can be elected

• John Dingell, Democrat from Michigan,

has served the longest. He first took

office in 1955 when he took his late

father’s seat.

Congressional Elections

• When are they held?– First Tuesday after

the first Monday in November in even numbered years

• Off-Year Elections– Also known as

midterm elections

– Held in the middle of the Presidential term

– Usually the party in charge, President’s party, loses seats in this election

Congress after the 2006 elections

Voting Districts

• Single Member District – Congressional District - The voters of each district will elect their own Representative

• General Ticket - at large – Since1842 this can only be used for States with one Representative

Gerrymandering

• Voting districts drawn to favor one party over the other by including more of that parties members.– Districts may be drawn to concentrate the

opposition’s voters in just a few districts leaving the majority vote for their candidates

– Districts may be drawn to leave just a few members of the opposition party in each district and keep them from winning

“One person, one vote”• Wesberry v. Sanders: 1964

– Wesberry’s Georgia 5th Congressional district was larger than most

– He sued saying it violated his equal vote based on 14th Amendment

– Supreme Court agreed and Georgia was forced to redraw its districts.

Oyez: Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964), U.S. Supreme Court Case Summary & Oral Argument

• Reynolds v. Sims: 1964– Alabama law required one

State Senator from each county

– Some counties had more people

– Did it violate 14th Amendment equal protection clause?

– Supreme Court –Alabama law did violate – that districts should be drawn by population

– Oyez: Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), U.S. Supreme Court Case Summary & Oral Argument

House of Representatives Qualifications

1. 25 years old2. US citizen for at least seven (7) years3. Must be an inhabitant of the State from which

he/she is elected Informal qualification is that they live in the

district from which they are elected Others that can make or break a candidate: party

identification, how well known is the name, gender, ethnic characteristics, and political expertise

Challenges

• Majority vote to refuse to seat a member-elect– 1900 Brigham Roberts (Utah) because he was a

polygamist – 1967 Adam Clayton Powell was denied a seat

because he was accused of misappropriating funds– Supreme Court said they must seat him because he met the qualifications

Punish for “disorderly behavior”• Requires a majority vote

– 1989: Jim Wright (D) resigned before he could be reprimanded for financial dealings with interest groups

– 2006: Tom Delay (R) resigned before he was reprimanded– 1990: Barney Frank (D) was reprimanded for his

relationship with a male prostitute – reelected by his constituents

– 2006: Mark Foley (R) resigned after it was revealed he sent inappropriate e-mails to a page

– 1997: Gerry Eastman Studds (D) Censured by the House of Representatives for having sexual relations with a teenage House page.

Expel a member by a 2/3 vote

Five members have been expelled from the House– three of them were removed in 1861 for supporting the

Confederate States' secession, which led to the Civil War.

– In 1980, Michael Myers (D) was expelled for accepting bribes (376 to 30)

– In 2002 James Traficant (D) was expelled following his conviction for taking bribes, filing false tax returns,

racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington DC, and is currently serving out an 8-year prison term

scheduled to end in 2010..

How a Bill Becomes a Law• More than 10,000 bills are introduced during

each term of Congress, yet only several hundred pass all the hurdles and become law.

• Bills: Two Categories:– Private-Concern individual people or places.

– Public-Apply to the entire nation, involve general matters like taxation, civil rights, or terrorism.

Ideas for bills come from sources such as

• Members of Congress• Citizens• Lobbyists representing Special-interest

groups• Presidents• Officials working in the Executive

Branch

Introducing a Bill• Members of Congress who wants to

sponsor a bill has to draft it or put the idea in written form.

• Staff’s for representative’s or senator’s draft bills.

Introducing a Bill

• Senator’s introduce a bill by making a formal announcement in the Senate.

• HOR’s introduce a bill by dropping it in a “hopper” (a box that is specific for the purpose) The bill might be given a number such as HR 1266.

• The bill is then sent to the Standing Committee, of each chamber of Congress, which is concerned with bills on that particular subject.

The Work of Committees• Several options when a bill goes to

committees– Pass it without changes– Change it and suggest it be passed– Replace with an alternative bill– kill it by majority vote– pigeonhole it (set it aside without

considering it). This is what happens to most bills in committee.

Favored bills

• Committees may keep the bill as is or make changes

• Throw out bill but write new one with same subject

• Then passed to subcommittee

Subcommittee

• Further work and study

• By law public hearings are held for people affected by bill

• May be other changes

• Then returned to full committee

Debating a Bill

• HOR’s spend a small amount of time on any one bill.

• The Rules Committee of the House schedules consideration of bills.

• The Rules Committee decides when a bill will be debated and for how long.

Debating a Bill

• The House can speed up debate on bills with the process of “Committee of the Whole.” This is a special gathering of all House members.

Debating a Bill

• The Senate has freer debates.

• Senator’s are allowed to speak for an unlimited time.

• Senator’s use this to kill certain bills they do not support by filibustering.

• Cloture can end a filibuster.

Voting on a Bill

• After a bill has been debated, it is brought to a vote.

• This is done in one of three ways.

Voting on a Bill• 1) Voice Vote (Member saying Yea or No) For

bills that are clearly popular or unpopular.

• 2) Standing Vote (Those who support the bill will stand and be counted) then those who oppose will stand and be counted.

• 3) Roll-Call Vote (each member’s name is called individually) Must vote yea, nay, or present which means “no opinion.” This is a matter of public record. Happens in the Senate. The House has a computerized voting system.

Conference Committees• These committees work to correct

differences between bills that are similar, conflicting, and passed in both houses.

• They work to reach a compromise that will satisfy both houses.

• Both houses have to pass revisions or it does not become a law.

Signing or Vetoing a Bill

• After both houses of Congress pass a bill, it is sent to the President for signing thus becoming a law.

• The President, however, can veto the bill.

Signing or Vetoing a Bill

• If the President does not sign the bill within 10 days and Congress is in session then the bill becomes law. If Congress is not in session the bill will die. (Pocket Veto).

• The last chance to save a bill after presidential veto is to override it in Congress by two-thirds vote in each house.

Committees: Little Legislatures

• Each house of Congress considers thousands of bills, or proposed laws, in the course of a session.

• To handle so many bills each house has developed a system of committees.

Lobbyists

• A person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches.

Special Interest Groups

• an organization of people with some common interest who try to influence government decisions

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbsRxWZK0cQ