AP U.S Government - Chapter 4.3 and 4.4

What gives the House of Representatives a centralization of power?

Speaker: Only leader enumerated, responsible who serves. Yields all power in House

• Rules committee does the bidding for the House (determine bills) most powerful organization in the House

• “Teeth” of the house

Why is party discipline weak in Congress?

Majority party and minority party

• Minority have leaders that work with majority

• Only wants to get re-elected → vote in their own interests

• House has a greater impact than in Senate (House leadership)

• Senate has equal power, while House speaker has the most power

Majority Leader

• Second-in-command, assists the Speaker

• Sets legislative agenda for the majority party

Majority Whip

Collects vote intentions and corrals suppose on key votes, assists Majority leader

Minority Leader

• Leader of the party with the second-highest seats

• Coordinates minority party strategy and activity

Minority whip

Maintains vote discipline for opposition party

Why are congressional committees so important?

• Work of Congress gets done in Committee

• Committee Chair has the most power (People want committee chairmanship)

• Say yes or no to a bill passing (gatekeeper)

• Created to divide the workload of legislating

• Most bills die in committee

• Develop expertise, call in real world experts

Why is the filibuster unique to the Senate?

• Blocks bills that don’t want to be passed

• 60 members must vote to invoke cloture to end one (majority party usually doesn’t have 60 votes, unlikely to occur)

The “Nuclear Option”

A political fallout if 51 vote majority kills a filibuster. If that party takes control, they must also go through a 51 vote majority

Filibuster

Unrestricted speech to block/delay Senate action by minority members

• Minority Power: Allows minority party to block or delay Senate action.

• Unrestricted Speech: No restrictions on speech content; senators may speak as long as they please.

• Floor Rules: Senator must remain standing and cannot leave the Senate floor.

Cloture

• Debate Limit: The formal procedure that sets a strict time limit on Senate debate.

• Supermajority Requirement: Requires 60 votes to invoke cloture and end a filibuster.

The Lawmaking Process

1. Introduction: A bill is drafted and formally introduced by a member of Congress into their respective chamber.

2. Committee Assignment: The leadership assigns the introduced bill to a specialized standing committee based on its subject matter.

3. Committee and Subcommittee Action: Hearings, debates, and revisions occur. Committees decide whether to report the bill to the full floor.

4. Floor Consideration: Members debate, propose amendments, and vote on the final version of the bill in the full chamber.

5. Resolving Differences: A Conference Committee reconciles differing House and Senate versions into a single identical bill.

6. Presidential Action: The President signs the bill into law or vetoes it, returning it to Congress for potential override.

3 things that can happen to a bill in a committee

1. Hearings: Committees and subcommittees hold hearings to gather information about a bill.

2. Markup process: Markup allows members to make changes to the proposed legislation.

3. Committee report: Committee report follows the bill from committee to floor.

Floor Debates and Rules

Bills proceed from committee to the floors of both the House and the Senate.

KEY DIFFERENCES

• House has stricter debate rules than the Senate. House has a time limit, Senate has none

• Partisanship plays a major role throughout the entire floor process.

Conference Committee

 Reconcile differences between two versions of a bill passed by the House and Senate.

Lawmaking Presidential Action

1. If the president signs a bill, it officially becomes a law.

2. The president may allow a bill to become law without signing it by letting it sit on his desk for ten days while Congress is in session. (10-day inaction)

3. If Congress adjourns within the 10-day period and the president does not sign the bill, the bill dies automatically without an explicit veto. (pocket veto)