american government

Why doesn't the majority party in the Senate push a bill through to get rid of the filibuster rule?

Because the majority party fears they will soon be the minority party and they want the power to filibuster if that happens

Only ______ can propose a measure dealing with raising money

the House

The President's State of the Union message is

a constitutional command

A common criticism of the seniority rule is

it ignores ability and rewards mere length of service

The purpose of a filibuster is to

prevent action on a bill

Most measures introduced in the House die at which of these steps?

Committee

One possible reason that a discharge petition is seldom successful is that

so many signatures are needed on the discharge motion

When the Senate's Republican caucus wants party members to vote for a bill, the person who determines how many votes can be counted on is

Whip

How and when bills reach the floor of the House is decided by the

Rules Committee

Which of the following is true about the Speaker of the House but NOT true about the President of the Senate

they are always members of the party that holds the majority of seats in their respective branch of Congress.

On the first day of each new term, the House

elects a Speaker to preside

In the Vice President's absence, the presiding officer of the Senate is

President pro tempore

The conference committee

is the final step before congressional approval of a bill

All of the following describe select committees EXCEPT

their work is done is usually done in secret

To propose a constitutional amendment, Congress uses a

Joint Resolution

Because the fate of most bills is decided in committee, it is important for committee members to

be in touch with current public opinion

The House Rules Committee may do all of the following EXCEPT

attach amendments to a bill

why must a conference committee meet on a compromise bill even if both houses pass similar bills

the bill must be identical when president signs it

House Rules Committee main work

it decides if a bill will be taken up by full house

standing committees main job

conduct investigations

why are party politics so important in congress organization

the majority party always holds chairman/majority of the seats on each committee

Main way to end a filibuster

involving the cloture rule (senate in the house that uses)

After the first readings

the bill goes to the standing committees