2.2 Structures, Powers, Functions of congress

how do they affect policy-making process

Who is the Speaker of the House?

A leadership position elected by vote, implying that the speaker will always be a member of the majority party. The speaker decides which bills get debated and assigns members to specific committees.

Which House of Rep. position is only granted by the constitution?

Speaker of the House

Who are the Majority and Minority leaders?

The leaders of each political party who lead their party in policy making decisions. Arrange debates of bills within their respective party and arrange negotiations with opposing party.

Who are the Majority and Minority Whips?

Whips are the people in charge of party discipline
They make sure members of their party:
✅ Vote with the party
✅ Support the party’s goals during debates

What is the role of the Vice President in the Senate?

VP serves as the President of the Senate as a tie breaker. VP rarely present.

Who is the President Pro Tempore?

The head of the senate when the VP is absent. Voted by majority party. Signs legislation.

Who are the Majority and minority leaders in the senate?

Majority leader sets the legislative agenda to determine which bills should be debated on the floor. They do this by controlling calendar of assignments of bills

Are commitees a provision under the US constituion for congress?

No, but congress has commitees due to practicalaity and effiency

What are the 4 types of commitees

1. Standing Committee

2. Joint Committee

3. Select Committees

4. Conference Committees

What’s a standing committee?

A congressional committee that is always in session addressing issues that are always present

What are joint committees?

A congressional committee that involve members from both the House and Senate. Can be short term.

What are select committees?

A temporary congressional committee that is formed for a very specific purpose/issue

What is a conference committee?

A temporary committee that is formed when both houses CANNOT agree on the same version of the bill in order to resolve disagreements

What is the House Rules Committee?

The most powerful committee in congress; it determines how and when bills reach the floor for debate and assigns them to appropriate lower committees.

What is the Committee of The Whole?

A procedural move that requires at least 100 representatives to agree; it allows bills to be debated quicker by making the House temporarily operate as a single committee, ignoring formal rules in order to pass bills faster

What is a discharge petition?

Definition: A majority vote that takes out a bill out of a slow and reluctant committee and TO the floor for a vote (cannot actually pass bill though)

When is it used? When a bill gets stuck in a committee

Which part of congress has the right to unlimited debate?

Who: Senators in the Senate

Function: Allows for extensive debate on bills AND used for strategic delay in legislation as well

What is a filibuster?

Speaking for an extremely long amount of time to delay or block the voting of a bill

What is a Cloture Rule?

A majority vote (3/5) that puts an end to the debate of a bill and thus a senator’s filibuster as well

What is unanimous consent in the Senate?

a procedure where senators agree to set aside formal rules in order to speed up processes of the senate (pass bills, setting schedules, approving nominations)

What are non-germane riders?

Provisions to the bill that are irrelevant to the topic but benefit a representative’s political agenda/district

What is pork barrel spending?

Government funding for local projects secured to bring in money to a representative’s district. This starts as an additive provision to a bill.

What is logrolling?

Trading votes to gain support of a bill

What are the 2 parts of the federal budget?

Mandatory Spending and Discretionary Spending (congress debates how it should be spent)