Civic Literacy Unit 3

How many members of the House of Representatives are there?

435

How many members of the HOR is each state guaranteed?

1 member

What is representation in the HOR based on?

population

How long are the terms for members of the HOR?

2 years

When are members of the HOR up for reelection?

every even-numbered year

Speaker of the House

leader of the House of Representatives; currently Kevin McCarthy; always chosen by the majority party; steers legislation through the House, leads floor debates; third in line for president; $223,500 salary

Majority Leader of the House

currently Steve Scalise (R); controls all the members of the majority party; tries to keep the party together on all issues; $193,400 salary

Minority Leader of the House

currently Hakeem Jeffries; controls all members of the minority party; tries to keep the party together on all issues; $193,400 salary

What is our district and who represents it?

14th US Congressional District of NC; Jeff Jackson

Privileges and benefits of being a member of Congress

$174,000 a year salary, free office space/parking, free healthcare, free trips home, discounted video production, franking privilege, immunity in certain cases, free haircuts, restaurants, gym

What are the requirements for being a member of the House of Representatives?

be at least 25 years old, a US citizen for at least 7 years, and live in the district you represent

How many members of the Senate are there?

100

How many senators does each state get?

2

How long are the terms for US senators?

6 years

How do elections for the Senate work?

1/3 of the members are elected every two years

What are the requirements to be a member of the Senate?

a senator must be at least 30 years old, be a US citizen for at least 9 years, and live in the state they represent

Who is the official leader of the Senate?

the vice president; Kamala Harris

What does the vice president do in the Senate?

they only vote if there is a tied vote; is almost never there

Who is the unofficial leader of the Senate?

the President Pro Tempore; Patty Murray

President Pro Tempore

serves as the leader when the vice president is not present; usually the longest serving member of the majority party in the Senate; $193,400 salary

Majority Leader of the Senate

currently Chuck Schumer; controls all the members of the majority party; tries to keep the party together on all issues; $193,400 salary

Minority Leader of the Senate

currently Mitch McConnell; controls all the members of the minority party; tries to keep the party together on all issues; $193,400 salary

Who are North Carolina’s senators?

Ted Budd and Thom Tillis

Congressional Sessions

begins on January 3 of odd-numbered years; 2 sessions in each Congress that meet from January till November; each new Congress gets a number (currently in 118th Congress); may meet in times of crisis if not already in session

What are the types of congressional committees?

standing committees, select committees, joint committees, and conference committees

Standing Committees

permanent committees in Congress; 20 in the House, 16 in the Senate; cover areas that will always be needed (education, foreign affairs, agriculture); may be divided into subcommittees to divide work even more

Select Committees

created to do a specific job that does not fit the other committees; only meet for a specific time period; disbanded when done with their work

Joint Committees

any committee that has members from both the House and the Senate; examples: Economic, Printing, Taxation, and Library committees

Conference Committees

a special form of joint committee; used to help members from both houses to agree on all issues on a proposed law

What kinds of powers does Congress have?

Legislative (law-making) powers and Non-legislative powers

What legislative powers does Congress have?

taxing and spending, regulating foreign and interstate commerce, declaring war, maintaining an army and navy, approving treaties (Senate), borrowing money, coining, printing, and regulating money, establishing courts, and creating a postal service

Taxing and Spending Powers

all bills that concern taxes must start in the House; Authorization bills create projects and cap the spending on them; Appropriation bills provide the money for gov’t projects

What non-legislative powers does Congress have?

proposing amendments, counting electoral votes, settling presidential succession issues, impeaching gov’t officials, overseeing all gov’t actions (special investigations)

What happens if no one wins a majority of electoral votes in a presidential election?

the House picks the president and the Senate picks the vice president

What roles do the houses play in impeaching gov’t officials?

the House brings charges, the Senate serves as the jury and decides guilt or innocence

What are the limits to congressional power?

can’t suspend writ of habeas corpus, can’t favor one state over the other, can’t pass bills of attainder, president can veto bills, laws can be declared unconstitutional, can’t pass ex post facto laws (laws that punish a person for something that was not illegal at the time it was committed)

Writ of Habeas Corpus

doctrine that prevents a person from being held in jail without issuing formal charges

Bill of Attainder

law that punishes a person without a trial

What types of congressional staffs are there?

personal staff and committee staff

Personal Staffs

help gather info on new bills, arrange meeting and calendars, write speeches, deal with media and lobbyists; interns volunteer time; pages run errands

Committee Staff

people with expert knowledge in that field; work for the committee, not an individual; draft bills, organize meetings, and negotiate with lobbyists

What are the congressional support services?

the Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service (CRS), General Accounting Office (GAO), Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

Library of Congress

largest library in the country; has 1 copy of all books published in the US

Congressional Research Service

looks up facts for Congress

General Accounting Office

reviews the spending of all gov’t agencies

Congressional Budget Office

analyzes and predicts budget costs for the federal budget

What work do congressional members do?

lawmaking, casework, and helping the home district

Lawmaking

most important role; all congressmen try to provide for the needs of their home district; try to carry out the needs of their constituents

Casework

favors for people back home; helps constituents deal w/the federal government; congressional members get over 80,000 emails a day and 10,000 formal requests for help each year (per office); usually work is handled by their staffs

Helping the Home District

trying to get as much gov’t money into home district as possible; includes things like post offices, dams, military bases, veterans hospitals, and mass transit systems, trying to build and protect local industries; trying to get gov’t contracts to local and state businesses; these programs are called pork-barrel projects

Where does a bill start?

usually in the House of Representatives, but can also start in Senate if it doesn’t involve money

Where does a bill go after it is introduced?

it is given to a clerk or put in a hopper

What does a clerk do to a bill?

a clerk numbers a bill (HB001 or SB001)

What happens to a bill after it is numbered?

it is sent to the appropriate standing committee

What choices can a House committee make when discussing a bill?

vote on the bill as is, kill the bill right there, or send the bill to a subcommittee for more debate and research

What can a subcommittee do when it is sent a bill?

vote on the bill and send it back to the full committee, vote to kill the bill, research more into the bill and hold public hearings on it, or pigeon hole it (set the bill aside and forget about it)

What happens when a subcommittee votes to send the bill back to the standing committee?"

the standing committee votes to either send it to the House of Representaives for debate or kill it

How do debates in the House of Representatives work?

rules are set on who can speak at the debate, time limits are put in place to hold debate to a set time frame

What are the three methods the House can use to vote on the bill?

a voice vote, standing vote, or roll-call vote

Voice Vote

simple yea or nay; used for bills that are clearly popular or unpopular

Standing Vote

members simply stand if they are for or against the bill

Roll-call Vote

each member is called on personally to give vote which then becomes a matter of public record

What happens if the House votes in favor of a bill?

the Speaker signs the bill and sends it to the Senate

What happens when a bill is sent to the Senate?

the bill is formally read in the Senate, given a new number (SB001), and sent to the appropriate committee

What happens if a Senate standing committee votes in favor of a bill?

the bill is sent to the full Senate for debate

How do Senate debates work?

there are no formal rules of debate; senators opposed to the bill may lead a filibuster to kill the bill

What is a filibuster?

talking until the Senator who proposed the bill pulls it from debate

How can a filibuster be ended?

when 3/5ths of the Senators vote for cloture

What happens if the Senate approves a bill but even a word is different from when it was introduced?

the bill is sent to a conference committee to work out a compromise version; new version is then sent to each house for one more vote

What happens after both houses approve a bill?

the bill goes to the president

What options does the president have when they are sent a bill?

sign the bill into law (ending the process), veto the bill, pocket veto the bill

Pocket Veto

if the president does nothing to the bill for 10 days and Congress is not in session, the bill is killed

What happens to a bill if the President does nothing to it for 10 days and Congress is in session?

the bill automatically becomes law

What happens when a President vetoes a bill?

the bill is sent back to Congress; if 2/3rds of both houses vote in favor of the bill, it becomes law

Who leads the executive branch?

the president and vice president; vp helps the president lead the executive branch

Federal Bureaucracy

comprised of 15 executive departments, hundreds of agencies, and offices filled with over 3 million full-time service employees; carries out federal laws and regulations; headed by President/Vice President

Executive Branch Terms and Term Limits

4 year terms; 22nd amendment limits president to 2 terms

Nominating a President

in most democracies, nominees for chief executive are chosen by party activists; US has unusual system: process of nomination is lengthy and public

Order of Presidential Campaign Process

Announcement > Primary Campaign > Primaries/Caucuses > Conventions > General Campaign > General Election > Electoral College > Inauguration

What happens to a sitting president in a presidential election?

he automatically becomes his party’s candidate

Who usually wins presidential elections?

the incumbent (person already in office)

What positions do presidential candidates usually take?

portray themselves as hardworking, dedicated individuals; occasionally take a partisan stand on an issue

What are characteristics of weak presidential opponents?

most opponents are inexperienced in politics and are not recognizable by the public (name recognition); most opponents are unorganized and underfunded

What steps do primary candidates take to organize their campaign?

assemble staff (campaign manager, policy experts, media, research), host fundraisers & counsel, establish a website & social media presence

What do candidates do during the primary campaign?

candidates travel giving speeches, appearing in interviews on TV, debates w/opponents; meet with state and local officials, special interests groups (auto unions, etc); host fundraising events; mobilize supporters to vote for them

What types of funding do presidential candidates use during the primary campaign?

private funding and the presidential election campaign fund

Private Funding

most money raised for campaigns is private (all primary and congressional campaign $); comes from citizens, parties, corporations, unions, and interest groups (limited over time); supposed to stop after convention, but candidates have sidestepped w/political action committees (PACs) and soft money (banned)

Presidential Election Campaign Fund

allows taxpayers to designate $3 of their annual taxes to the fund; after national Conventions, candidates split funds but agree not to accept any more direct donations; used to discourage more fundraising in general election; not provided to Congress

Types of Primary Elections

closed primaries, open primaries, semi-closed (hybrid) primaries, caucuses

Closed Primaries

voters must be registered w/their party in advance and can only vote in that party’s primary

Open Primaries

voters decide on election day in which party’s primary to participate, and then only in that party

Semi-closed (hybrid) Primaries

voters who are registered with a party can only vote in their party’s primary; voters who are unaffiliated (independent) may choose which primary to participate in

Caucus

voters choose a party to vote for and choose candidates; BIG MEETINGS; ex. Iowa Caucus

Low Voter Turnout

favors extremism; usually seen in primary elections; party activists (closed); most people do straight ticket voting and do not research

3 Main Goals of National Conventions

officially name the party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates, bring factions (groups) and leading personalities in the party together, adopt the party’s official platform (positions on important issues)

National Convention

the meeting at which delegates of a certain party vote to pick their nomination for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates; mostly ceremonial/celebratory because candidate is already known from primaries

What is the easiest form of political participation?

voting

Political Efficacy

the belief that on’s political participation really matters

What calls us to vote?

civil responsiblity

US Voting

typically has low voter turnouts among top democracies in the world; citizens must be registered to vote; Australian Ballot keeps votes secret