Congress Notes

Learning Objectives

• Describe how members of Congress represent their constituents.

• Explain how the electoral system affects who serves in Congress and what they do once in office.

• Identify the major institutional features and rules that shape the legislative process (how a bill becomes a law).

• Summarize three key powers of Congress:

  • Oversight of the executive branch

  • Impeachment

  • Senate’s “advice and consent” power

Supplementary Materials for this Unit

• Fiorina article

• NY Times gerrymandering exercise

• Obamacare documentary

Unit Plan

I. Congress in the Constitution
A. Powers
B. Elections
C. Demographics
D. Representation
II. Organization of Congress
A. Caucuses
B. Committees
III. How a Bill Becomes Law
A. Voting
B. Conference Committees
IV. How Congress Decides
A. Electoral Politics & Incumbency
B. Fiorina reading
C. Frontline Documentary

I. Congress in the Constitution

• “First amongst equals” / “primus inter pares”

• Bi-cameral:

  • “The Great Compromise”: Chambers apportioned by population (House) and by state (Senate)

• Wields substantial power:

  • Taxes, tariffs, commercial regulation

  • Common defense: declare war, raise armed forces

• Powered by the Necessary and Proper (Elastic) Clause

• Checks on other branches:

  • Confirmation of executive appointments (advice and consent), including judges

  • Ratification of treaties

  • Impeachment

• Framers sought a division of power in Congress itself:

  • Spending and revenue bills originate in the House

  • Both houses must pass identical versions of any bill

Qualifications for Congress

• House of Representatives:

  • Citizen

  • At least 25 years of age

  • A citizen of the US for at least 7 years

  • Reside in the state that they represent

• Senate:

  • Citizen

  • At least 30 years old

  • A citizen of the US for at least 9 years

  • Reside in the state that they represent

Terms and Elections

House of Representatives

• Terms: Two-year terms

• Election: Popular election for all members every two years

  • Implication: Keeps the House closer to the people (their constituents); often leads to greater partisanship

• Organization: Highly rules-based and structured

Senate

• Terms: Six-year terms

• Election: Chosen by state legislatures (until 1913 & the 17th Amendment); popular election for one-third of members every two years

  • Implication: Stable, less passionate body, appealing to a broader constituency, seen as the more “mature” branch

• Organization: Less rules-based; business conducted through unanimous consent

Other Aspects

• No term limits

• Elected directly by citizens via plurality vote

• No proportional representation as in parliamentary systems

Leadership in Congress

• House of Representatives:

  • Speaker of the House: Mike Johnson (R-LA)

  • House Majority Leader: Steve Scalise (R-LA)

  • House Minority Leader: Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)

• Senate Leadership:

  • President of the Senate: VP JD Vance (ex-officio)

  • President Pro Tempore: Charles Grassley (R-IA)

  • Senate Majority Leader: John Thune (R-SD)

  • Senate Minority Leader: Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Districts

House of Representatives

• Total Districts: 435 total districts

• Districts Delineation: By state governments; Districts are created every decennial national census

• Equal Population: Approximately 760,000 people per district (as of 2020)

• Gerrymandering: Manipulation of district boundaries to favor a political party

Senate

• Consists of 50 states (not districts), favors smaller, less populated states

Major Differences between Members of the House and Senate

Reapportionment

• Reapportionment History:

  • 1790: 1 House seat for every 33,000 people

  • Total of 105 seats

  • 1911: House fixed at 435 members

  • Conducted every 10 years alongside the Constitutionally-mandated Census

• Methods: Each state uses various methods to reapportion the 435 districts based on population gains and losses

Rules of Reapportionment

• Districts must have equal populations (Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964).

• May not dilute minority representation; districts may not be drawn with race as the predominant consideration (Thornburg v. Gingles, 1986).

• The mere lack of proportional representation is not necessarily unconstitutional (Davis v. Bandemer, 1986).

• When partisanship and race correlate, a constitutionally permissible partisan gerrymandered map can look very similar to a racially gerrymandered map. District courts must presume legislatures acted in good faith in drawing a districting map (Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, 2022).

Political Polarization (Pew Research, 2022)

• Both parties have grown more ideologically cohesive.

  • Republicans are more similar to each other than Democrats.

• Both parties have moved further from the ideological center since the early 1970s.

  • Democrats: somewhat more liberal

  • Republicans: much more conservative

• Nearly half of House Republicans come from Southern states, whereas nearly half of House Democrats are Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander.

• No ideological overlap between members since 2002 (the most conservative Democrat and the most liberal Republican).

II. Legislative Organization

Overcoming Collective Action Problems

• Party Politics: Parties help to solve collective action problems among members.

• Committee System: Provides division of labor and creates specialists.

What would Congress be like without Organization?

• Problems arise from a lack of coordination, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities.

Overview of Solving Collective Action Problems

Problems

• Need information but experience information overload (transaction costs).

• Pursuit of individual goals vs. party goals (prisoner’s dilemma).

• Time constraints lead to increased transaction costs.

Solutions

• Parties and Leaders: Solve coordination problems and manage legislative agenda.

• Committee System: Develops expertise and addresses division of labor; however, members often face conformity costs.

• Rules: Establish clarity in processes (seniority, precedent, rules).

Sample Organizational Structure of a Congressional Office

• Member of Congress

  • Chief of Staff

  • Policy Staff

  • Communications Staff

  • Office Staff

  • District Staff

• Key Staff Roles:

  • Legislative Director

  • Communications Director

  • Personal Assistant/District Director

  • Scheduler

  • Legislative Assistant/Aide

  • Press Secretary/Assistant

  • Legislative Correspondent

  • Staff Assistant

  • District Caseworkers

Committee System

• Members originally were generalists but moved to specialization (early 1800s).

• Standing Committees: The primary unit of deliberation in both houses; have defined jurisdictions corresponding to executive branch agencies.

• Each committee's jurisdiction overlaps can lead to multiple claims over legislative proposals.

• Committee Powers: Gatekeeping power, proposal power, oversight, and control of the purse.

The Committee System (Continued)

• Jurisdiction: Changes occur over time due to various reforms; committees compete for jurisdiction.

• Money Committees: Ensure Congress' power of the purse through two-step processes (authorization and appropriations).

What Committees Do

• Reach out to Executive Agencies for comments on bills.

• Hold hearings for gathering information and oversight.

• Draft and edit bills, usually going through "marking up" stages and eventual reporting.

• Kill bills; the chairperson has the power to prevent bills from reaching the floor.

• The Legislative Process

  • Introduction: A bill is introduced by a member of the House or Senate.

  • Committee Consideration: The bill is assigned to a committee, which may hold hearings, revise the bill (markup), and vote to recommend it to the full chamber. Most bills die in committee.

  • Floor Debate and Vote: If reported out of committee, the bill is debated and voted on by the full House or Senate. A simple majority is required to pass.

  • Referral to Other Chamber: If passed in one chamber, it is sent to the other chamber for consideration, where it goes through similar committee and floor processes.

  • Conference Committee: If the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, a conference committee is formed with members from both chambers to reconcile the differences and create a single version.

  • Presidential Action: The reconciled bill is sent to the President, who can:

  • Sign it into law.

  • Veto it (Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers).

  • Allow it to become law without a signature (if no action is taken within 10 days while Congress is in session).

  • Pocket veto it (if no action is taken within 10 days and Congress adjourns).