AP Gov Section 4.4 Vocab

discharge petition

a motion filed by a Congresswoman/Congressman that requests moving discussion of a bill out of a committee and onto the House floor

continuing resolutions

temporary spending bills that allow the government to continue operating without shutting down

House Rules Committee

a powerful committee in the House of Representatives that decides when a bill will be up for discussion on the House floor, for how long, and if amendments can be made to it or not

Committee of the Whole

made up of all members in the House; meets in the House chamber; when they are together, they follow a different set of rules so that debate and voting is streamlined (a big rule here is that only 100 members are needed to meet and vote)

hold

a delay placed on legislation by a senator who objects to a bill to prevent it from going to the floor to be voted on

unanimous consent agreements

an agreement in the Senate that sets the terms for consideration of a bill

filibuster

a tactic in the Senate where senators talk/discuss endlessly about a bill to delay a vote on it

cloture

a method by which senators can end a filibuster and come to a vote; requires 60 senators to agree to it

veto

constitutional right of the president to formally reject a Congressional bill and send it back with objections

pocket veto

when a bill doesn’t become law because the president doesn’t sign it and Congress isn’t in session