Key figures in Congress

Which standing committee is responsible for timetabling and prioritising bills?

The House Rules Committee

What are three basic types of rules that the HRC can put on bills =?

• Open rules - unlimited amount of mark-ups

• Modified rules - limited number and particularly sections of the bill

• Closed ruled - no mark ups

Who currently chairs the HRC and what is the proportion skewed towards?

Rep. Virginia Foxx - smaller than other committees and its skewed to the majority party

How many bills were open rule in the 103rd Congress and how many were closed during the 115th Congress?

• 44% of bills in 103rd

• 56% of bills in 115th

Why are some bills closed?

Quickest way to speed up legislative process - more scrutiny and closed debates favour the majority’s interest. Frustration with party leaders.Wh

Why is the House Rules Committee influencial?

They can choose whether its open or closed to make-ups - this has a significant influence on whether the bill passes and the chair determine whether there will be any time to debate it.

When are party leaders more influential?

• During hyper-partisan times meaning that politicians look to them during ‘party votes’

• Legislation that doesn’t have support from party leaders is less likely to pass

• Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnel managed the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017 with little White House involvement

How are the House speaker influential in the process of legislating?

• When party leadership is dominant the Speaker largely controls Congress - can be limited by the executive and their own party

• The speaker is responsible for appointing standing committee chairs (who can scrutinise and can kill a bill)

• People believe that the reason Paul Ryan left his position as speaker in Nov 2018 was due his position as speaker due to executive pressure

• Republican House speakers can also invoke the Hastert rule, a non-binding convention which allows bills that have a majority Republican support. In 2013, Speaker John Boehner used this rule to refuse to timetable an immigration reform bill passed by the Senate.

• The speaker also has influence over the final say in decisions. Nancy Pelosi was charged in 2020 with resolving an issue relating to healthcare bills. Pelosi decided on three different versions of the bill.

How are the Senate majority leader influential in the process of legislating?

• Democrat senate m.l. Harry Reid changed the filibuster rules in 2013 using a procedural manoeuvre (the nuclear option) which only requires a simple majority to override a cloture and end a filibuster against executive and judicial nominees.

• In 2017 Rep. Senate m.l Mitch McConnel used the same method to prevent the filibustering of Neil Gorsuch’s nomination

• Although 60 votes are still required to end filibusters, Senate majority leader can get sound this using budget reconciliation - this was used in the CARES Act in 2020

How are the Committees influential in the process of legislating?

• Although committees have become less important and are arguably weaker in legislative and scrutinising terms, the lack of term limits placed on Democratic committee chairs allow them to develop more expertise, allowing them to perform their oversight more effectively.

• The House Republican conference limits members to three terms as a chair (Senate is limited to 6 years)

• The Democrats have used their chairs in the House committee to scrutinise the President’s actions as much as possible in 2020 to attack Trump’s legal defence for killing the Iranian General.

How many closed bills were there in 2018 set by the Republican House Rules Committee?

84 in a single session

How does the Senate influence the legislative process?

• They’re required to confirm presidential appointments to the executive and judicial branch - big check

• Trump faced a particularly hard time with nominees to the Federal Reserve as big Herman Cain and Stephen Moore had to withdraw in 2019.

What can the President and Supreme Court do to influence legislation?

The President can threaten to veto and use his powers of persuasion and the Supreme Court can strike out legislation through Judicial Review