Congress & Presidency

Bicameral Legislature

Congress consists of two separate chambers: the senate and the house of representatives.

The great compromise

Agreement between small and large states, balanced the interests of states with different populations by creating two forms of representation

Senate

equal representation for all states, each state has 2 senators regardless of population.

Senators

Serve 6 year terms, elections are staggered so that 1/3 of the Senate is up for election every two rears.

17th Amendment

Two senators from each state are now directly elected by the people

House of Representatives

Allocates seats based on state population.

435 voting representatives, serve two-year terms

chamber is responsive to public opinion due to shorter terms and closer connection to local constituencies.

House of Rep Power

Sole power to initiate revenue bills and impeachment proceedings

• any legislation involving taxation, tariffs, or other means of generating federal revenue must begin in the House, not the Senate.

  • follows the principal of “no taxation w/o rep”

  • is the bills primary purpose to raise revenue for the general operations of the government?

Senate Power

exclusive authority to confirm presidential appointments, ratify treaties, and conduct trials for federal officials who have been impeached.

• can amend revenue bills once passed the house, amendments can be substantial.

  • can make significant changes CANNOT originate the bill.

Bills

must be passed by both senate and house of reps to then be passed on to the president to sign or veto.

Standing committees

Exist in both the HOR and Senate, organized by subject matter.

ex: armed services, budget, foreign relations or agriculture.

Most bills introduced in congress are referred to the appropriate standing committee for review, modification, and recommendation.

House of Representatives

• Lower chamber of the US congress, ½ of legislative branch.

• House represents the American people through districts drawn within each state.

• limits debate

• most work done through standing committees

• All revenue bills must originate in the House, giving it primary responsibility for taxation and spending legislation.

• Sole power to initiate impeachment proceedings against federal officials

• House chooses the president if there is no clear winner

Representatives

• # of reps based on population

• serve two year terms

Speaker of the House

highest ranking member in HOR

• elected by the majority party

• second in line of succession to the presidency after the VP

Majority and Minority Leaders

(HOR) manage their party’s legislative agenda

Whips

(HOR) help maintain party discipline during votes.

HOR Committees

• hold hearings

• draft legislation

• provide oversight of federal programs and agencies.

House impeachment power

serves as a crucial check on executive and judicial power.

Impeachment

An accusation of wrongdoing, similar to an indictment in criminal law, represents the first step in removing an official from office.

Articles of impeachment

drafted by the Judiciary Committee with evidence for specific charges

• articles are presented to the House for debate and voting

  • Majority vote (50+1) in the house is required to approve each article of impeachment.

  • if approved the official is considered “impeached” not yet removed from office.

Shell Bill

the practice of the senate sometimes taking a house originated bill, stripping its contents, and replacing it with their own revenue measures.

Ways and Means Committee

• One of the most powerful and prestigious committees in the US Congress

• 25-40 members

• has jurisdiction over taxation, tariffs and other revenue generating measures.

• plays central roll in developing tax policy, overseeing the internal revenue service, and managing programs like social security and medicare

• TAX, SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, ITERNATIONAL TRADE

House Judiciary Committee

• Another oldest standing committees in the hor.

• committee plays a crucial role in overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, federal law enforces agencies, and the Department of Justice.

• “Lawyer of the House”

• consists of both republican and democratic members

• When articles of impeachment are introduced in the House, the Judiciary committee conducts the initial investigation and hearings.

  • committee decides whether to recommend articles of impeachment to the full House for a vote.

• Shapes public debate on major legal and constitutional issues. CIVIL RIGHT LAWS, VOTING RIGHT PROTECTIONS, JUDICIAL REFORMS.

House Rules Committee

• one of the most powerful/influential committees in US House.

• Traffic Cop of Congress

• controls the flow of legislation to the House floor and determines how bills will be debated and amended.

• issues rules for most major bills that come to the house floor.

  • establish the conditions under which the bill will be considered, how much time is allocated for debate, which amendments will be allowed etc.

• can effectively block bills from reaching the floor or limit opportunities for the opposition to modify them.

3 main rules issues by the House Rules Committee

• closed rule

• open rule

• modified/structured rule

Closed rule

prohibits all amendments except those offered by the committee reporting the bill.

Open rule

permits any member to offer amendments that comply with house rules and the constitution.

Modified/ structured rule

allows only specifically designated amendments to be considered.

Senate

• Conducts actual impeachment trial