3B - The Legislative Process

President of the Senate

The Vice President

Only votes if there is a tie

Speaker of the House

• Most powerful person in Congress

• Chosen by members of the majority party

• 3rd in line for President

President Pro Tempore

Presiding officer when the Vice President is absent

Senate Majority Leader

• The spokesperson for their party

• Works with committee chairs and ranking members

• schedules the daily legislative program

• fashions the unanimous consent agreements that govern the time for debate

• has the right to be called upon first which enables them to offer motions or amendments before any other senator

Senate Minority Leader

Enforces party discipline on votes deemed to be crucial by the party leadership and to ensure that members do not vote against the position of the party leaders

Legislative Process Overview

Bill introduced and referred to committee - Passes committee and goes to a full chamber - Passes first chamber - Goes to second chamber (committee) - passes committee with amendments and goes to full chamber for a debate - more amendments added and passes second chamber - goes to Conference Committee to reconcile differences - both chambers must pass the same bill without amendments - President signs the bill into law

Pork Barrel Politics

• tucked into larger, must-pass spending bills

• This makes it difficult for lawmakers to oppose the localized spending without voting against the entire bill

Bill

• A bill is a legislative proposal before Congress – a proposal to change something

• Can be written by anyone - usually an interest group

• Has to be sponsored by a member of congress

How Bills are Introduced - House

• Members put bills into the hopper

• Then are collected, numbered, and sent to their respective committees

How Bills are Introduced - Senate

• Members give bills to clerk

• Transferred to committees like congress

Committees

• Divide the work of Congress into smaller, specialized groups

• Select bills that will move forward

• Hold public hearings and investigations

• This is where bills are amended, passed, ignored, or killed

• Really important in the House, because there are so many members

Committee Chair

• Selected by party in power

• the person from the majority who usually, but not always, has had the longest, uninterrupted service in the committee

• Decide when their committees will meet

• Which bills they will consider

• Whether they will hold public hearings

• What witnesses to call

• Who will chair subcommittees

Ranking Member

• Most senior member from the minority party

• Usually served the longest on the minority

Congressional Committee

• Membership is divided in proportion to the percentage of control in the house/senate

• all committees have subcommittees

Committee Assignments

• Each member of congress can only serve a limited number of committees

• Lobby for assignments are based on

  • interests and expertise

  • A committees ability to help their prospects for reelection

Trustee

• Votes based on their own knowledge and judgements

Delegate

• Votes based in their committee

Politico

• Votes based on both their own judgements and the judgements of their committee

The Rules Committee

• Decides whether and the conditions the full house will vote

• May speed, delay, or not allow the House to vote

The Ways and Means Committee

• Taxes and other revenue raising legislation

The Appropriations Committee

• Where the money goes, and how much

Standing Committee

• Permanent (always stands)

• Represents major areas of government

Select Committees

• In one chamber, usually created to study one specific issue

• Investigate and report findings

• Usually temporary, though some are permanent

• Often done to draw attention to an issue

Joint Committee

• Have members from both House and Senate

• Serve as study groups and report findings to Congress

  • Similar to a Select Committee

  • Effort to speed up business

• Limited authority since it represents both chambers

Conference Committee

• Special Joint Committee

• Has members from both House and Senate

• Temporary: For one bill only

• Only job: Negotiate the final form of a bill

  • Reconcile differences between House and Senate versions of similar bills

  • Committee made up of similar proportion as parties in both chambers

  • Both chambers must pass the bill without amendment for it to go to the president for their signature

Pigeonhole/Table a Bill

• Don’t discuss it

• if most of the house wants to discuss it, then it can be taken out of the committee by a discharge petition

Amend/Markup a Bill

Change part of it

Scheduling a Floor Debate

• Once a committee has reported a bill, it it put on the chamber’s calendar (a list of bills, not guaranteed to be heard)

• House:

  • Usually, the Rules Committee creates a simple House resolution that establishes the rules for debate length and consideration of amendments

• Senate:

  • Usually, a bill is brought up after Senate agrees to a unanimous consent request or by voting to adopt a motion to proceed to the bill (done by Majority Leader)

Floor Debate

• House:

  • any amendments offered in the House must be germane

    • Directly related to the bill / issue at hand

• Senate:

  • Amendments offered in the Senate can be completely unrelated (riders)

  • Floor debate is almost unlimited in the Senate

    • most business is conducted using unanimous consent agreements

      • an agreement on any question or matter that sets aside a rule of procedure to expedite proceedings. 

      • Many requests for unanimous consent are routine, but if any senator objects, the request is rejected

Filibuster

• Senate uses this to talk for as long as they can to keep others from talking and voting on a bill

• Doesn’t have to be related to the bill

• Can only be ended by a cloture

The Role of the President

The President has ten days (Sundays excepted) to decide what to do. They may:

Sign it:

• The bill becomes law!

Veto it:

• The bill doesn’t become law (unless 2/3rds of both Houses override the veto)

Do nothing:

• It becomes law (if it sits for more than 10 days, Sundays excepted)

Pocket veto it

• If Congress adjourns within 10 days of sending the president a bill and the bill is neither signed nor explicitly vetoed, it dies