Unit 2

Bicameral

A legislature consisting of two houses

How many states have bicameral legislatures?

49 states

What created the bicameral system?

The Conneticut Compromise

Unicameral

Legislature consisting of one house

The Senate

Upper house of congress. Has 6 year terms with a third of the senate going up for reelection every 2 years.

Senate functions

Ratifies presidential appointments and ratifies treaties.

House of Representatives

The lower house of Congress. Members are reelected every 2 years. The amount of members from each state is based on population size.

How many members are in the House?

435

What is one of the House’s most important functions?

Originating tax bills

Census

Annual population count used for reapportionment and funding distributions

Reapportionment Act of 1929

Capped the House of Representatives at 435 members

Redistricting

Drawing of boundary lines for new districts by the state. Led by the majority party in the state legislature.

Mal-apportionment

Drawing of districts unequal in population size.

Under what grounds is mal-apportionment illegal?

Under the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment, because unequal districts will make the power of each vote unequal. Declared in 1962 by a Supreme Court decision.

Gerrymandering

Redrawing of oddly shaped but equal congressional districts. Done by both parties but not acted upon.

Single-member districts

Represented by one person

Multi-member districts

A district represented by many people.

At-large districts

Representatives are in charge of the whole area

Speaker of the House

Presiding officer in the house, and thus the only person able to bring bills to the floor. Third in line to the presidency. From the majority party.

Current Speaker of the House

Mike Johnson

Senate President Pro Tempore

Presiding officer of the Senate when the Vice President is absent.

Current Senate President Pro Temp

Chuck Grassley

Majority Leader

Leader of the Majority Party in Congress

Current Senate Majority Leader

John Thune

Current Majority Leader in the House

Steve Scalise

Minority Leader

Leader of the minority party in Congress.

Senate Minority Leader

Chuck Schumer

House MInority Leader

Hakeen Jeffries

Whip

An assistant to the party leader. Promotes party loyalty and unity.

Quorum

The minimum number of members that must be present in order to officially meet and conduct business. 50% of members + 1

Quorum call

If it appears that a quorum isn’t present, then a verbal count will be conducted.

A bill

A proposed law which is considered by both the house and the senate

The hopper

A wooden box on the clerk of the senate’s desk where new bills are dropped into. Dropping a bill into a hopper starts the legislative process.

Committee System

This is where bills go after being introduced. Leaders of these are members of the majority party.

Standing Committees

Permanent committees that are set up for every session.

Examples of Standing Committees

Ways and Means Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee

Rules Committee

A powerful committee of the House of Representatives; it controls the calendar and the agenda of the House, sets rules of voting and debate, but does not deal with particular bills.

Marking up a bill

Committee process of going over a bill word by word and making changes or having amendments

Reporting a bill out

Happens after a committee finishes the mark up of a bill and sends it to the floor for debate, consideration, and final passage.

Committee Chairperson

Is the leader of a committee. Controls the calendar, agenda, hearings, and has the ability to pigeonhole bills.

What are the requirements to become a chairperson?

1. Must be in the majority party.

2. Must have seniority.

House seniority rule

Seniority is determined by length of time in a committee

Senate seniority rule

Seniority is determined by overall length of time.

Caucus

a sub-interest group

Senior Senator

The longest serving senator from a state.

Junior senator

The senator from a given state who has served less time than the other senator.

Current California Senior Senator

Alex Padilla

Current California Junior Senator

Adam Schiff

Current Congressman of California’s 45th District

Derek Tran

Congressional Record

Published record of speeches and votes by members of congress.

Members have a right to amend the record at a future date if they choose.

Lobbyist

Person payed by a particular interest group to influence legislature.

Partisan

Word describing issues that divide congress along party lines.

Revenue Bills

Bills which raise or deal with taxes

The origin of all revenue bills

The House of Representatives

Appropriations

Any bill that raises money to pay for federal programs. Typically originate in the House of Representatives.

Pork Barrel

Cynical term to describe how congresspeople bring home money for programs at home to win reelection

Riders

Adding amendments to a popular bill to get a less popular bill passed.

Christmas Tree Bill

A bill with hella riders

Earmark

A rider on an appropriations bill

Logrolling

Trading votes on bills

Filibuster

In the Senate, unlimited debate so long as a senator has the floor and is standing.

Cloture

Rule 22 of standing rules in the senate. Breaks a filibuster by limiting debate. 60 senators must vote for cloture. Debate will be limited to the topic if cloture is agreed upon

Censure

Congress votes to punish a member and sets punishment.

Veto

President’s constitutional power to block the passage of a bill.

Veto override

Requires 2/3 of the House and Senate to vote in favor

Congressional impeachment requirements

Requires a censure and a 2/3 vote.

Presentment clause

The rule that every bill, order, resolution, or vote passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate must be presented to the President before it can become law.

Pocket veto

A president has 10 days to decide whether or not to pass a bill. If congress gives the president a bill with less than 10 days in the session, the president may let the bill die onn their desk

Roll-call vote

Each senator must call out their names to confirm that they are present.

Voice vote

Chairperson judges the vote based on the noise generated by the congressmembers for aye/nay

Benefits of the Voice Vote

Provides anonymity or “political cover”

Division of the House

Forces a voice vote if there is disagreement on the result of the voice vote.

Committee of the Whole

Found in the House of Representatives. A system where members take turns being present for scheduled speeches. 100 members will be in the House at a time.

Closed Rule

In the House of Representatives. No amendments may be offered after reported out of committee.

Discharge Petition

Exclusively in the House of Representatives. 50% + 1 votes are needed to un-pigeonhole a bill. Due to the closed rule.

Franking priviledge

Incumbent advantage. Congressmembers may use the postal system freely.

Casework

Constituency service

Pork

Money brought by a congressperson for their district

Casework

What a congress person does to help individual constituents

Name recognition

Incumbency advantage. Leads to greater PAC support

Why is the House reelection rate so high?

Because safe seats are gerrymandered into existence.

What is meant by twin organizational bases in congress?

Congress is organized both by committees and by party leadership.

Why did Congress form committees?

To avoid gridlock.

What is the general hierarchy (both House and Senate) in Congress?

Returners are above freshman members

How many bills make it through committee?

2,000

How many bills are introduced per cycle?

10,000

Who do Congresspeople learn about bills from?

1. Other congresspeople

2. Staff (their own and committee staff)

3. interest groups and lobbyists

Iron triangle

The relationship between bureaucratic departments and agencies, congressional committees, and lobbyists with their intrest groups.

Constituents

People that live in your defined area

Politico

Representative that is both a delegate and a trustee

Delegate

Congressperon who votes based off of the will of constituents.

Trustee

Votes based off of judgement

Coalitions

Issue networks that allow congresspeople to form temporary alliances

Favor bank

The idea of doing favors to build relationships with other senators.

Who chooses how the conference committee formed?

The speaker of the house and majority leaders.

Conference committee

Temporary joint committee of House and Senate chosen to align bills between the two levels of Congress.

Who helps finalize bills?

1. The president

2. Staff of committees

How might public hearings be contradictory to the process of deal making?

Locks compromise into an impossible position

What are informal requirements of Congress?

White, male, higher educated, lawyer

In which Article of the Constitution will you find the legislative branch?

Article I