The Congress

Majority vs. Minority-

  1. you control almost all committee and sub committee chairmanships

  2. you have the majority of members on almost all committees and sub committees

Leadership structures

House of representatives

Speaker of the house (elected by the majority party)

Majority leader

Majority Whips (Tasks)

  1. To know how their members are going to vote on an upcoming piece of legislation

  2. To encourage their members to vote the way they want them to vote

Committee Chairman

Sub-Committee Chairman

Minority leader

Minority whips (Tasks)

  1. To know how their members are going to vote on an upcoming piece of legislation

  2. To encourage their members to vote the way they want them to vote

Ranking Minority Member

Ranking Minority Member

-Senate

The leadership structure in the senate is the same as the house EXCEPT there is NO speaker

How a Bill becomes a Law

The House:

  • Bill is introduced (by congress members and senators)

  • Sent to multiple committees (multiple referrals)

  • Sent to Sub-committees

    Options-

    Pass the bill without changes

    Pass the bill with changes

    Defeat the bill

    Never consider the bill

    Pass a substitute bill

If ANY version of the bill passes out of sub-committee, it returns to its home committee

< Committee has the same 5 options as the sub-committee>

If ANY version of the bill passes out of a committee, it goes to the Rules committee

<Rule committee is considered by some to be the most powerful committee>

Powers of the Rules Committee

  1. Decide when a bill goes to the floor if the house for final debate and vote

  2. Decides how long the bill will be debated on the floor of the house;

  3. Decides how many amendments, if any, will be allowed on the floor of the house

    a. Open- An unlimited number of amendments

    b. Closed- No amendments allowed

    c. Modified- A set number of amendments can be introduced

If the bill is released by the Rules committee, it goes to the floor of the house for final debate and vote (typically passes)

The Senate

<From a bill being introduced until it passes out of committee, the house and senate process are roughly the same>

If any version of the bill passes out of a committee, it goes to the majority leadership:

Majority Leadership:

Majority Whips;

Relevant Committee Chairman

- They create a unanimous consent agreement which has 3 components

  1. When the bill goes to the floor for debate and vote;

  2. How long the debate will occur;

  3. Amendment Rules

The Majority Leadership MAY consult with minority leadership while crafting the UCA:

Minority Leader;

Minority Whips;

Relevant Ranking Minority Members

Once the UCA is completed, the minority leader presents the UCA to the senate

If no one objects, they will record the bill according to the UCA

IF someone objects the majority leader has two options-

  1. Can withdraw the bill from the floor (does not kill the bill)

  2. Debate the bill but with no UCA (no rules)

House and senate:

If both the house and the senate pass identical versions of the bill, it goes to the president;

If the house and senate pass different versions of the bill, it goes to a conference committee;

If the conference committee cannot compromise..The bill DIES!

If the conference committee can compromise then the bill goes to both floors for debate and vote

-If either defeats it, the bill dies

-If both approve, it goes to the president!

The Supreme Court

Article 3-

(Section 1)

Creates supreme court

Congress can create additional courts

Serve during “Good Behavior”

Will be paid

Pay cannot diminish while in office

(Section 2)

Court has LIMITED original jurisdiction

Court has appellate jurisdiction

(Section 3)

Treason

Judiciary Act 1789

Court structure-

Supreme court

Circuit courts

District courts

Factors used to select Federal Judges

Confirmable? (Who do i want that they will approve)

Political party

Judicial Ideology

<How does the judge interpret the constitution>

Demographics (need to reflect sensitivity)

Sensational courtesy

<When there is a judicial vacancy, the president will consult with the senior senator of his party from the affected area>

Factors used to select Supreme Court Justices

Confirmable?

Political Party

<President chooses justices based on their political party>

Judicial Ideology

Demographics

How the Supreme Court process a Case

Friday Conference

<no records, only notes that are locked up for 25yrs>

Comes After

Rule of Four-

They decide which cases to review

Writ of Certiorari-

Court oder instructing a lower court to send up the materials of the case

Briefs-

A written legal argument

Amicus Curiae-

Friends of the court: A brief submitted by someone who is interested in a case but is NOT one of the two parties