Unit 2.1-2.3: Congress: The Senate and House of Representatives

Vocabulary flashcards covering the structures, powers, leadership roles, committee systems, and legal principles of the United States Congress based on Unit 2.1-2.3 lecture notes.

Speaker of the House

The constitutional presiding officer of the House of Representatives, currently Mike Johnson; chosen by the majority party and voted on by the full House, second in line to the presidential succession, and responsible for recognizing members on the floor.

House Minority Leader

The leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives, currently Hakeem Jeffries, who works with the minority whip to coordinate party strategy and floor votes.

Senate Majority Leader

The true leader of the majority party in the Senate, currently John Thune, who exercises primary control over Senate debate and legislative scheduling.

Senate Minority Leader

The top legislative leader of the party not in power in the Senate, currently Chuck Schumer.

President of the Senate

The Vice President of the United States, designated by the Constitution to preside over the Senate and cast tie-breaking votes.

President Pro Tempore

A constitutional Senate position, held by Chuck Grassley in the 119th Congress, selected by the chamber to preside over Senate floor sessions in the absence of the Vice President.

Reapportionment Act of 1929

Legislation that permanently fixed the size of the House of Representatives at $435$ seats, tasked the Census Bureau with recalculating state allocations after each ten-year census, and mandated that the President submit the reapportionment plan to Congress.

Hiram Revels

The first African American United States Senator in American history.

Jeannette Rankin

The first female member elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1916.

Standing Committee

A permanent congressional committee established in either chamber to review, draft, and handle legislation across specific policy domains.

Joint Committee

A committee containing members from both the House and the Senate designed to manage select areas such as the economy, taxation, or the Library of Congress.

Conference Committee

A temporary committee consisting of members appointed by party leadership from both chambers to resolve conflicting versions of the same bill passed by the House and Senate.

Select Committee

A temporary or special committee convened for a focused investigative or policy task, such as investigating the Jan 6 attack, the Benghazi attack, or global warming.

House Committee on Ways and Means

The primary taxation committee in the House of Representatives responsible for originating all tax and revenue legislation.

Legislative Oversight

The ongoing monitoring, review, and investigation performed by congressional committees to ensure the executive branch implements laws efficiently and as intended by Congress.

House Rules Committee

The committee in the House of Representatives that acts as a 'traffic cop' to the floor by determining the schedule of debates, specifying floor procedures, and setting limits on amendments.

Committee of the Whole

A procedural rule in the House that relaxes floor debate restrictions to allow longer discussion with fewer representatives, allows members to vote as a single group, and permits territorial delegates to participate in votes.

Discharge Petition

A procedure in the House of Representatives that forces a bill out of a reluctant committee onto the floor upon obtaining a simple majority of signatures.

Filibuster

A Senate practice, not found in the Constitution, where a senator or minority continues speaking to delay or prevent a final vote on a bill or nomination until time expires.

Cloture

A parliamentary procedure in the Senate requiring a vote of $60$ members (three-fifths) to end debate and cut off a filibuster.

Unanimous Consent

A Senate agreement where routine procedures or business proceed without formal rules unless a single senator objects, allowing an individual senator to stall proceedings or appointments.

Congressional Caucus

An informal group of like-minded members of Congress banded together around shared party interests, demographic backgrounds, or policy agendas such as agriculture or business.

Rider

A nongermane amendment or unrelated provision attached to an existing bill under Senate rules.

Christmas Tree Bill

A legislative bill loaded with numerous unrelated riders and amendments.

Pork Barrel Spending

Government spending earmarked by a lawmaker specifically to fund public works projects and financial benefits in their home district.

Logrolling

An agreement among lawmakers to trade votes in mutual support of each other's bills.

Trustee Model

A voting model in which representatives make policy using their independent judgment and conscience to serve the public interest, aligning with an elite theory of democracy.

Delegate Model

A voting model in which legislators act as mouthpieces for their voters, directly reflecting the clear desires and instructions of their constituents.

Politico Model

A voting model where members of Congress act as delegates on issues that matter most to constituents and as trustees or partisans on other complex issues.

Congressional Research Service (CRS)

A nonpartisan congressional staff agency managed by the Library of Congress that answers research inquiries and provides information to lawmakers.

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

A congressional support agency that audits and investigates executive branch agencies to ensure they follow congressional intent, operate efficiently, and execute laws correctly.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

An independent agency that analyzes the President's annual budget proposal, projects economic trends, and estimates the cost of proposed legislation.

Gerrymandering

The redrawing of electoral legislative district boundaries specifically designed to benefit a political party by concentrating opposing voters in one area or dispersing them thinly.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

A landmark Supreme Court decision ruling that Tennessee's unequal legislative apportionment raised a justiciable equal protection issue under the Fourteenth Amendment, establishing the 'one person, one vote' doctrine.

Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960)

A Supreme Court decision holding that redrawing city boundaries to exclude African American voters from Tuskegee, Alabama, violated the Fifteenth Amendment.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

A Supreme Court ruling declaring that race cannot be the sole or predominant factor when drawing congressional voting district boundaries.

Franking Privilege

An incumbency benefit enabling members of Congress to transmit official mail to constituents without paying postal fees.

Casework

Direct assistance rendered by congressional representatives and their staffs to individual constituents navigating federal bureaucracy.

Divided Government

A political condition where the executive branch is controlled by one political party while one or both chambers of Congress are led by another, often causing gridlock and contentious budget negotiations.