Congress and Policymaking Review

Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress Impacting Policymaking

Committees

Definition: Specialized groups within Congress that debate, amend, and vote on whether a bill should advance.

Types of Committees

Standing Committees: Permanent committees that are always in existence.
Special/Select Committees: Temporary committees established for a specific purpose.
Joint Committees: Committees that include members from both the House and Senate.
Conference Committees: Committees that resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill; the hybrid version is then voted on by both chambers.

Key Terms and Concepts for Committees

Mark Up Process: The procedure in which amendments are proposed and added to a bill. This is where a bill is edited in committee.
Hearings: Sessions in which experts testify about bills, advocating for or against them.
- Part of the Iron Triangle: The interaction of special interest groups, the federal bureaucracy, and Congressional Committees leads to legislation being reshaped and passed.
Logrolling: A practice of trading favors between legislators, typically involving the amending of bills.
Riders: Provisions added to a bill that have little or no relevance to the main bill's content.
Pork Barrel Spending: Specific funding in a bill that benefits constituents or districts, frequently used to gain political favor.
Earmarks: Designated funds-specified funding portions to go to particular projects, often included in larger bills.

Federal Budget

Key Terms

Expenditures: The total spending by the government.
Revenue: The income generated by the government, including taxes and other fees.
Deficit: The situation in which government spending exceeds its income.
Surplus: When the government earns more than it spends.
Balanced Budget: A budget in which total revenues equal total expenditures.
Debt: The cumulative amount of deficits over time.
Debt Ceiling: A legal limit on the amount of national debt that can be incurred, requiring Congressional approval to exceed. Violation may result in government shutdowns.

Types of Spending

Mandatory Spending: Expenditures required by law.
- Examples: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the national debt.
- Notes: Budget bills related to mandatory spending can be handled through Reconciliation, a process that allows certain bills to bypass the filibuster.
Discretionary Spending: Spending that is not required by law and is subject to annual appropriations.
- This can be divided into 12 appropriations subcommittees or categorized into general segments like healthcare or military.

Budget Process

Each agency within the executive departments submits budget requests to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The OMB sends these requests to the President of the United States (POTUS).
The POTUS presents these requests to Congress in the spring.
Within both the House and Senate, there are appropriations committees responsible for funding.
Each appropriations committee consists of 12 subcommittees, which pass appropriations bills that fund government activities.
If bills are combined into a single large bill, this is known as an omnibus package.
House and Senate budget resolutions are drafted and passed.
If a resolution fails, a continuing resolution extending previous appropriations may be enacted to prevent a shutdown.
If no resolution is passed by October 1 of the new fiscal year, the government will shut down.

Key Concepts

Authorization: A requirement that every program receiving federal funding must be officially approved for existence.
Appropriations: The act of allocating actual funds to various programs existing within federal agencies.

Major Sources of Revenue

Payroll Taxes: Fund programs like Social Security and Medicare.
Federal Income Tax: Tax levied on individual incomes.
Corporate Income Tax: Tax imposed on corporate earnings.
Excise Taxes: Taxes on specific goods and services.

Ways to Lower National Debt

Grow the Economy: Stimulate economic growth to increase revenue.
Increase Taxes: Raise tax rates to generate more revenue.
Cut Spending: Implement austerity measures and cuts to social services, although these are typically unpopular.

Consequences of National Debt

Increased competition for available financial resources.
Lead to higher interest rates across the economy.
Dampen business investment due to financial uncertainties.
Contribute to inflationary pressures.
Overall detrimental effects on economic health.

Bill to Law Process

A bill is written aided by lobbyists, special interest groups, and think tanks.
Bill is introduced in the House of Representatives.
The Speaker assigns the bill to an appropriate committee.
Committee activities include:
- Hearings on the bill.
- Mark-up sessions where the bill is amended, debated, and voted on.
The bill is sent to the Rules Committee for regulations regarding debate and voting procedures.
The bill is debated and voted on the House floor.
The process repeats in the Senate.
If passed by both chambers, it goes to a Conference Committee to resolve any differences.
The President can sign the bill into law or veto it (Congress can override a veto).

Congressional Behavior

Influencing Factors

Partisanship: The inclination toward one political ideology over others.
Polarization: The increasing division and extremity of views among the two major parties.
Divided Government: A scenario where the Presidency is held by one party while the opposing party controls either the House or Senate.
Gridlock: The inability of Congress to pass legislation due to political disagreements.

Coalitions

Definition: Temporary alliances formed within political contexts.
Party Coalitions: Combinations within a political party that include differing factions (e.g., social conservatives and fiscal conservatives).
Candidate Coalitions: Groupings based on shared values that enhance a candidate's appeal (e.g., Barack Obama’s diverse supporter base).

Models of Congressional Behavior

Trustee Model: Legislators act according to their own judgment for the perceived best interests of their constituents, even against their constituents' wishes.
Delegate Model: Legislators strictly represent the preferences of their constituents, even against their own opinions.
Politico Model: A blend of the trustee and delegate approaches, legislators act as trustees until doing so is politically adverse, then revert to acting as delegates.

Reapportionment, Redistricting, and Gerrymandering Process

Reapportionment: The process of reallocating House seats based on the decennial census.
Redistricting: The act of redrawing Congressional district boundaries following reapportionment, usually undertaken by state legislatures.
- It can involve bipartisan commissions, independent commissions, or, in some cases, AI algorithms for fairness.
Gerrymandering: The manipulation of political district boundaries to favor one party over another. Named after Elbridge Gerry, whose district resembled a salamander in a political cartoon.

Redistricting Rules

All districts must be contiguous, maintaining a continuous shape.
All districts must have equal population sizes to uphold the “one person, one vote” principle.
Cracking: Splitting opposition voters into various districts to dilute their influence.
Packing: Concentrating opposition voters into a few districts to minimize their impact on other districts.

Supreme Court Cases Pertaining to Redistricting

Baker v. Carr: Established that redistricting is a justiciable issue. The case challenged Tennessee’s congressional districts, which had not been redrawn for decades despite population shifts. Ruled unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment due to unequal representation.
Reno v. Shaw: Concerned the creation of majority Black districts in North Carolina; while intentions aligned with civil rights, it was deemed unconstitutional due to its violation of the 14th Amendment due to the manner of implementation.