Congress (for midterm)

Roles of the president

- Commander in chief

- War Powers Act (send troops)

-Top diplomat (lead role in foreign affairs)

- Signing statements (written declarations on a bill)

- State of the Union (declares legislative agenda in speech)

- Veto (power to block an act of Congress)

- Successful passage of bills

- The first legislator (recommending measures)

What are the roles of the vice president?

1. preside over the senate

2. replace president

Difference between inherent powers and expressed powers

Inherent powers: assumed by the president

Expressed powers: granted explicitly in the Constitution

Delegated powers

passed on to the president by Congress

Expressed powers

granted explicitly in the Constitution

-chief executive, welcoming foreign, recess opportunities, commander in chief, grant pardons, make treaties

Can you name the powers that are mentioned in article 1

- Veto Power

(enumerated powers)

Financial

• Raise revenue through taxes and borrowing

• Pay national debts

• Regulate trade and commerce

Legal

• Establish U.S. citizenship laws

• Regulate bankruptcy laws

• Issue U.S. money

• Punish counterfeiters

• Establish a patent system

• Fix national weights/measures standards

• Enact laws subject to presidential approval

• Impeach presidents and federal judges

Institutional

• Establish a postal system

• Set up and control the national capital

• Admit new states, and control U.S. territories (Article 4, Section 3)

• Alter or amend the time, place, and manner of states' election laws related to congressional elections (Article 1, Section 4)

National Defense

• Declare war

• Regulate rules for prisoners of war

• Raise and fund defense forces

Can you name the powers that are mentioned in article 2

Expressed powers, delegated powers, inherent powers, executive privilege, executive agreement

Issues regarding congress

• Least popular branch

• Americans re-elect over 90% of representatives year after year

• Constituents like their own representatives and senators but dislike the partisan fighting and gridlock

• Partisan polarization in Congress

- Partisan differences since the beginning

- Parties sorted by ideology, more partisan

- Republicans pressing partisan fight for their ideals

• Divided government

- Each party holds at least one of the three nationally-elected institutions

- One or both houses of Congress led by a party opposed to the president will result in a legislative standoff- Slows the policymaking process

bicameral

two chambers/houses

House of Representatives

• 435 members

• Divided among states based on population size

• Two-year terms

• District population around 730,000

• Majority party wields centralized control

• Speaker of the House controls which issues reach the floor

Senate

• 100 members

• Two from each state

• Six-year terms

• Senators each possess a degree of autonomy

• Legislative hold

Legislative hold

informal way for a senator to object to a bill or other measure reaching the Senate floor

- Effectively halts Senate proceedings on the issue, sometimes for weeks or longer

House unique roles

- All budget measures must originate in the House

- House has power to impeach public officials, including the president

Senate unique roles

- Senate has a trial and decides whether to remove an official or not

- Senate approves treaties

- Senate reviews presidential appointments ("advice and consent")

geographic representation

live in same state or district

substantive representation

share views about political issues

descriptive representation

resemble the people they represent

Speaker of the House

-controls which issues reach the floor

- majority power wields centralized control (republican)

• Presides over the chamber on special occasions

• Rules on procedural issues

• Chooses members for committees

• Assigns legislation to committees

• Maintains order and civility

• Sets House agenda, determines bill for consideration

• Negotiates with Senate and executive branch

Floor

- goes to consideration of the house or senate

- describes both chambers

filibuster

-part of senate - ended only by cloture vote (60 senators vote)

- holds the floor indefinitely and delays a vote

- cannot do anything else on the floor while a filibuster is going on

Why delay a vote?

to bring attention to oneself

Congressional caucus

members that come together because they have similar concerns and interests

Trustees

Do the right thing

- did you do the right thing?

- what's best for you?

- Senators

Delegate

represents others/ do what people want

- faithfully follow popular preferences

- Take voting instructions directly from constituents

- House

What should members do? What do members actually do?

- Representatives effectively pursue their constituents' substantive interests

- collaborate with others to vote

Permanent campaign

- campaigning ongoing

- house members directly elected by people

- Senate by state legislatures until 1913, went to people

Home style: back in district

- Congress members spend a lot time back in their district or state

- Spend time back home with constituents, which helps with reelection

A government of strangers

- Past: members of Congress lived in Washington, socialized

- Today: legislators not in Washington long enough to get to know one another

The City on the Hill

- Capital building on a hill with marble dome dominating the Washington skyline

- No building except the Washington Monument may be taller

- Small city within a city

Citizens of the city: members and staffers

- Congressional staff members major presence; each member has chief of staff and many staffers and pages

Whales

can influence landmark legislation (big fish)

Minnows

followed the other's (minions)

Senate leadership

patient, consensus-minded, manager (longest service)

House leadership

majoritan principles, tighter central control, more partisan branch (majority rule)

- Democrats and Republicans choose party leader from their ranks

Hopper

wooden box in House where bills are placed to be introduced

Senate lead

- Vice President presides over chamber, but rarely shows up

- President pro tempore

- Normal times: every senator presides in turn serving rotating half-hour stints

President pro tempore

majority party senator with the longest Senate service, presides on formal occasions

Second in command: majority leader

• Majority party's floor manager, negotiator, spokesperson

• Speaker's eyes and ears

Third in command

- majority whip, responsible for party discipline

- Minority has same leadership with no Speaker

Committees: workhorses of congress

investigate issues and money issues

regular duties play out in committees

- draft legislations

- sponsor hearings

- oversee executive branches

- draft federal budget

Subcommittees

-where new ideas come into play and work on legislative proposals

-hearings are held, rely on constituents

Standing committees

permanent bodies, with fixed jurisdiction

Select (special) committees

created to investigate a particular issue, exist for a defined period of time

- only permanent select committee

Joint committees

address topics of continuing importance

- Inauguration

Permanent committees

stay the same through each congress. Names can change, but not committee

Conference committee

- temporary committee

- reconciling differences in legislation that has passed both chambers

Drafting a bill

- Only members of the House and Senate have the right to introduce

- Need at least one primary sponsor

- Can have any number of co-sponsors: more co-sponsors higher likelihood of passage

- Congressional Research Service helps draft bills

chief legislator

President (ideas come from agenda)

steps of submitting a bill

- Senate

- Page places bill with bill clerk

- Clerk writes number on first page

- Notes senator's suggestion for committee referral

- Places in tray

- Printed overnight

- House- Representative carries bill to rostrum

- Hand legislation to clerk or drop in box (hopper)

- Delivered to Speaker's office

- Assigned a number- Referred to committee

Committee action for a bill

- Hold hearings on policy topics

- Prepare legislation for floor consideration

- Also kill legislation

- Exercise oversight

Floor action for a bill in the senate

- Placed on the business calendar where it will be called up for consideration

- Bill must receive unanimous consent to be brought to the floor

- cant get stuck

Getting to the for a bill in the House

- Majority party leaders rewrite legislation

- House Rules Committee issues directive governing the process for the bill

- can get stuck

On the floor for a bill

• Bill is assigned floor manager: handles amendments and controls time for debate

• House manager can extend time for debate, allow multiple votes

• Senator may halt all activity by refusing to yield the floor or issuing a hold

Voice vote (bill)

presiding officer asks those for and against to say "yea" or"nay" and announces the result. No record is kept.

Roll-call-vote (bill)

each member's vote is recorded, either by roll call(Senate) or electronically (House)

• Roll-call votes on major bills most important public act a member of Congress performs

conference committee for a bill

- Legislation must pass House and Senate in identical form to go to the president

- Conference committee reconciles differences

- Can write new bill but sections that were the same cannot be altered

- Up or down floor vote with no amendments permitted on bill

Presidential action for a bill

- No bill becomes law until the president acts, usually by signing

- Veto

veto

constitutional procedure by which a president can prevent enactment of legislation passed by Congress

Bill

- can start in the house or Senate

- if it is not in the same language, goes to the conference committee

- a bill can die

- committee hearing

- can take months to get to the the house and then senate

- do not carry on from congress to congress

- when it gets signed by the president it becomes a LAW

committee hearing

testimonies to get issues addressed

floor manager

extend and keep time, allow multiple votes, etc.

formal veto

send it back with explanation

pocket veto

not sent back with an explanation in time

Partisan polarization

- Partisan differences since the beginning

- Parties sorted by ideology, more partisan

- Republicans pressing partisan fight for their ideals

divided government

- Each party holds at least one of the three nationally-elected institutions

- One or both houses of Congress led by a party opposed to the president will result in legislative standoff

- Slows policymaking process

Popular reforms

• Limit lobbyists

• Educate the public

• The real world of democracy

Requirements of congress

Senate: 6 year term, 9 year citizenship, resident of state, 30 yrs old.

House: 2 years, 7 year citizenship, resident of state, 25 yrs old.