Unit 2 - Interactions Among Branches of Government

Congress

House of Representatives                                  Senate    

• 435 Members                                           -   100 Members

• Representation based on                          -    2 per state

Population                                                -    6 year term

• 2 year term                                               -    Power to Filibuster

• More centralized leadership                            Stopped with cloture

                                                                                17th Amendment

Senate As A Continuous Body

Not all seats are up for re-election at the same time…

Classes of Senators:

I – 2018 – 33 senators elected

II – 2020 – 33 senators elected

III – 2022 – 34 senators elected

IIII –  2024 – 34 senators elected

Powers Of Congress

• Enumerated 

  AKA – Expressed Powers that are written in the Constitution

  Article 1, Section 8, Clauses 1 - 17

• Implied 

  AKA – Necessary and Proper Clause

             Article 1, Section 6, Clause 18

Congress & Money

• Passing a Federal Budget

            Policy document allocating burdens & benefits

• Raise Revenue

   Individual Income Taxes

   Corporate Income Taxed

   Social Security

   Excise (Sales Tax)

   Other

• Borrow Money

• Coin Money

Types Of Taxes (What you should know - not included)

• Progressive

   Tax burden greater on upper-class

• Regressive 

              Tax burden greater on lower-class

• Proportional

   Also known as a “Flat Tax”

  Tax burden is “equal” on all people

  Usually considered “regressive” 

Tax Policy (What you should know - but not included)

• Tax Expenditures

            Exemptions allowed by Tax Law; i.e. loopholes

               Typically benefit middle and upper class

• Tax Reductions 

Congress & Military 

• Power to Declare War

• Maintain the Armed Forces

Other Enumerated Powers

• Determining the process for naturalization by which people can become citizens of the U.S.

• Regulating Interstate Commerce

Stretching The Elastic Clause

• Congress may enact legislation under the authority of the necessary and proper clause

Impacts to…

Economic Legislation

Environmental Legislation

Social Legislation

Checks And Balances In Action

• Congress creates Federal Courts and their jurisdictions

• Congress may conduct oversight of the executive branch, including federal agencies in the bureaucracy.

Policy-Making Differences

• Structure

  Senate is a smaller body with longer terms

• Power

 Tax bills must originate in the House

            House determined the President in case of a tie in the Electoral College

            House has the power to impeach

            Senate has the power to conduct trial after impeachment

            Senate has the power to approve Presidential Appointments (advice & consent)

            Senate must ratify treaties with other nations

• Functions

   Identical bills must be passed in both houses before the President may sign

Duties Of Congress

• Legislators

  Lawmakers

• Committee Members

   Most of work done here

   Standing committees: 20 in House, 17 in Senate 

       Rules Committee - “Traffic cop” decides what measures to consider

   Select Committee – for specific purpose limited time

   Joint Committee – members of both houses (4 currently)

   Conference Committee - both houses to pass identical bill

   Legislative Overnight - monitoring bureaucracy and execution of laws

• Representative of Constituents (people)

• Servants of Constituents

• Politicians

Congressional Leadership - House

• Speaker of the House (highest ranking member in majority party)

• Majority Leaders

• Majority Whip

• Assistant Speaker

• Minority Leader

• Minority Whip

• Democratic Caucus Charmin

• Republican Conference Chairman

• Republican Policy Committee Chairman

Congressional Leadership - Senate 

• President of the Senate - also the Vice President of the U.S      

• President Pro Tempore

• Majority Leader

• Majority Whip

• Minority Whip

Chamber & Debate Rules

House of Representatives                            Senate

More centralized leadership                             Less centralized leadership 

Rules Committee controls the agenda              Committees have less authority 

Limited debate time                                          Loose debate

Powerful Speaker of the House                            Power to filibuster

                                                                  Stopped with cloture

                                                                    Leaders less powerful except for Majority

                                                                    Leader

Only In The House Of Representatives…

• All revenue bills must originate in the house 

       Tax related items

• Rules Committee

      House “Traffic Cop”

• Committee of the Whole

     100 members must be present to conduct business 

• Discharge Petition

      Force a bill out of the committee 

Only In The Senate…

• Filibuster

   “Taking a Bill to death”

• Cloture

    A vote to stop the filibuster 

    Need 60 votes to pass

• Unanimous Consent

   Approval of all Senators

• Holds

   Measure to stall a bill

• Treaty Ratification

    Requires a ⅔ vote

• Advice & Consent

Conference Committee

• Used to reconcile differences between a bill that has passed both the house and senate but have variation in its wording

    “Irons out the differences”

Congress & Money

• Expenditures (Government Spending)

  Mandatory Spending

     Entitlement programs that are required by law

Social Security

Medicare & Medicaid

Unemployment Programs

• Discretionary Spending

  Congress debates to determine who will get a piece of the pie

   Approved Annually (or leads to a government “shutdown”

         Defense spending

          Education

          Infrastructure

• Deficit

   Expenditures exceed revenues in a fiscal year

   As entitlement costs grow, discretionary spending opportunities will decrease unless tax       revenue increase, or the budget deficit increases