Advice and consent - Legislative branch approving presidential appointments

Quorum - the minimum number of members of an assembly or society that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid.

Congressional caucuses - Groups of Representatives who come together to pursue shared goals. They are called coalitions, study groups, task forces or working groups.

Expressed powers - Same as enumerated powers, powers explicitly given to Congress by the constitution

Implied powers - Powers implied to be given to Congress by the necessary and proper clause

Franking privilege - The ability to send mail by signature rather than by postage, it dates back to the seventeenth-century English House of Commons.

Reapportionment - Redistribution of house seats when the census shows population shifts

Redistricting - Re-designing district lines, including and excluding new places

Gerrymandering - When a political group tries to change a voting district to create a result that helps them or hurts the group who is against them.

Discharge petition - Brings a bill out of a reluctant committee with a majority vote

Filibuster - Let time run out on voting for a bill or wear down opposition, usually by talking

Cloture rule - Requires ⅔ (60 votes or 3/5ths now) supermajority to stop debate and go to a vote

Standing committee - Permanent committees established under the standing rules of the Senate and specialize in the consideration of particular subject areas

House Judiciary Committee - A standing committee that drafts crime bills to define illegality and outline punishments

Ways and Means Committee - Outlines details when there are proposals to raise or lower income tax

Rules Committee - Considers all bills from policy/ monetary committees and decides if and when to put them on the floor

Joint Committee - Committees with both house and senate representatives

Select committee - Temporary committees

Conference committee - Temporary committees to iron out bills that passed both chambers in slightly different forms

Pork barrel spending - Allocation of funds to local or interest groups at a congressperson’s discretion

Earmarks - Federal funds are directed to a specific purpose