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Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
In this chapter you will:
Learn what Congress does.
Reflect on how well Congress represents the people.
Examine the internal workings of Congress.
Consider the importance of skilled congressional leadership.
Think about the problems that face Congress—and some possible solutions.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Introducing Congress Two Houses, Different Styles HOUSE
Congress is bicameral—comprising “two houses.”
The House of Representatives includes 435 members, divided among the states based on population size, along with six nonvoting delegates from Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and other U.S. territories.
All 441 House members serve two-year terms, and each represents a district of around 700,000 people.
The majority party elects the Speaker of the House to control which issues reach the floor and to advance their legislative agenda.
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Introducing Congress Two Houses, Different Styles (cont.) SENATE
The Senate is made up of 100 members, two from each U.S. state, each elected for a six-year term.
Legislative hold: An informal way for a senator to prevent a bill or other measure from reaching the Senate floor. The action effectively halts Senate proceedings on that issue, sometimes for weeks or longer.
Filibuster: Rule unique to the U.S. Senate that allows any senator to hold the floor indefinitely, and thereby, to delay a vote on a bill to which he or she objects.
Cloture: When 60 senators vote to end a filibuster.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Introducing Congress The House and Senate Each Have Unique Roles
The House of Representatives
All budget measures must originate in the House.
The House holds the power to impeach public officials—including the president—for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
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Introducing Congress The House and Senate Each Have Unique Roles (cont.)
The Senate
After the House impeaches (or indicts) an officeholder, the Senate holds a trial and decides whether to remove him or her.
The president negotiates treaties with other countries, but the Senate must approve them by two-thirds majority.
The Senate also has sole power to review presidential appointments—the Constitution calls it “advice and consent.”
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Constitutional Powers of Congress
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Congressional Representation Does Congress Reflect America?
Congressional caucuses (groups of House or Senate members who convene regularly to discuss common interests and may share political outlook, race, gender, or geography) are on the rise.
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Congressional Representation Trustees and Delegates
Do the Right Thing. The trustee view of representation holds that representatives owe us their best judgment; if we don't like their decisions, you can vote for their opponents next time.
Do What the People Want. The delegate view of representation holds that a legislator should take voting instructions directly from his or her constituents.
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Getting to Congress—and Staying There The Permanent Campaign
Members spend as much time raising money as they do on committee meetings or floor action.
Reapportionment is the reorganization of the boundaries of House districts, a process that follows the results of each U.S. census. District lines are redrawn to ensure rough equality in the number of constituents represented by each House member.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Getting to Congress—and Staying There Home Style: Back in the District
Most members leave Washington on Thursday evenings and only return on Monday evening or even Tuesday morning, unless House or Senate votes are scheduled on a Friday or Monday.
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Annual Average Salaries by Profession
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Congress at Work The City on the Hill
541 Congress members, 22,000 staff members, 250 Capitol police officers, the U.S. poet laureate, and thousands of lobbyists work within and around the Capitol building.
The schedule mentioned earlier makes it very difficult for Congress members to get to know one another.
The tortured legislative process is further complicated by the lack of personal relations.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Congress at Work Minnows and Whales: Congressional Leadership
Lyndon Johnson, serving as Senate majority leader in the 1950s, divided colleagues into “whales,” who could influence landmark legislation, and “minnows,” who dutifully followed others.
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Congress at Work House Leadership
Democrats and Republicans each choose a party leader from their ranks.
The majority party votes its leader into the top post in Congress: Speaker of the House. (Paul Ryan)
Simultaneously serves as the public face of the House, its chief administrative officer, a political spokesman, and a party leader
Presides over the chamber on special occasions
Rules on procedural issues, chooses members for committees, assigns legislation to committees, and “maintains order and civility”
Sets the House’s agenda and determines which bills are considered and when
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Congress at Work House Leadership (cont.)
The House majority leader is the second in command, acting as the majority party’s floor manager, negotiator, and spokesperson. (Kevin McCarthy)
The number-three position is the majority whip, who is responsible for party discipline, ensuring that Republicans vote the way the leadership wants. (Steve Scalise)
The minority leader leads the minority party (Nancy Pelosi)
She is joined by the minority whip in trying to thwart the majority party. (Steny Hoyer)
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Congress at Work Senate Leadership
Senators elect a majority leader but he or she does not formally preside over the chamber.
The vice president presides over the chamber but appears there only for very important votes (since the VP can break a tie) and ceremonial occasions.
The president pro tempore is the majority-party senator with the longest Senate service and has presiding authority at certain formal occasions.
Senate whips from both the majority and minority parties serve the same functions as in the House.
The best that majority leaders and their team can muster is to influence which policies will be considered on the Senate floor, and in what order—though that is usually done in consultation with the minority leader.
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Congress at Work - Senate
President of the Senate (Mike Pence)
President pro tempore (Orrin Hatch)
Senate Majority Leader (Mitch McConnell)
Senate Minority Leader (Chuck Schumer)
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Congress at Work Committees: Workhorses of Congress
As instruments of policy making, House and Senate committees are center stage; party leaders or presidents sometimes struggle to overcome their decisive influence.
Committee chairs are appointed by leaders in each chamber.
However, traditional norms of seniority often mean that the longest-serving committee member from the majority party becomes chair.
Committees:
Draft legislation
Sponsor hearings
Oversee the executive branch
Draft the federal budget
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The Enduring Power of Committees
Committee system is another way American government separates powers
Congress winds up with multiple centers of authority
Process slow and hard for public to follow
Standing committees provide a main avenue for favored services
Appropriations Committee decides how funds spent
Committee system makes Congress more efficient but difficult to pass major legislation or to address large problems
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Congressional Committee Types
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House and Senate Permanent Committees
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Congress at Work The Enduring Power of Committees
Committees enable Congress to devise fairly sophisticated legislative solutions to the many issues competing for attention.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Congress at Work Leadership and Assignments
The Speaker assigns members (and chairs) to each committee, and members compete fiercely to join the most influential committees.
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Legislative Policymaking
Congressional lawmaking can be boiled down to five words: Complex process. Difficult to win.
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Legislative Policymaking Drafting a Bill
Anyone can petition Congress to consider a bill, but only members of the House and Senate have the right to introduce one.
All legislation needs at least on primary sponsor.
Bills can have any number of cosponsors
The more cosponsors a bill has the more likely it is to pass
Anything can be introduced as legislation.
Art to bill drafting
Assistance from Congressional Research Service
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Legislative Policymaking Submitting the Bill
The congressperson’s document is submitted, numbered and notated with the his or her suggestion for committee referral, followed by printing that night and distribution the next day.
Senate typically introduces bills as legislative day opens.
Noon on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
Document placed in flat wooden tray beside bill clerk; clerk writes a number on the first page, notes the senator’s suggestion for committee, and places it in a tray: A bill is born!
House
Representative hands proposed legislation to the clerk, bill delivered to Speaker’s office, assigned a number and referred to committee.
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Legislative Policymaking Committee Action
The House leadership assigns each bill to committees with authority (or jurisdiction) over the area affected by the proposed legislation; the committees have several major tasks.
Hold Hearings on Policy Topics. Hearings usually feature witnesses who submit testimony, make oral presentations, and answer questions from members of Congress.
Prepare Legislation for Floor Consideration. Members and committee staff assess and revise each bill that comes before them.
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Legislative Policymaking Committee Action (cont.)
Markup Session: A gathering of a full committee to draft the final version of a bill before the committee votes on it.
Vote. Following markup, the committee holds a vote on whether to report a bill to the full House or Senate.
Kill Legislation. Of the more than four thousand bills referred to the forty House and Senate standing committees each year, about one in eight sees any action at all.
Exercise Oversight. Once legislation passes, House and Senate standing committees monitor the executive branch, making sure cabinet departments and agencies perform their roles properly.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Legislative Policymaking Floor Action Senate
After committee approval, a bill goes to the Senate floor, but it may take a long time to achieve consideration as leaders rarely call up a bill until they think they have the votes to win.
Must receive unanimous consent, agreement by all senators, to be brought to the floor
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Legislative Policy Making Floor Action House
Majority party leader exerts control over what issues make it to the floor
May have to rewrite a bill to get it through
House Rules Committee issues a directive about what type and how many amendments permitted
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Legislative Policymaking Getting to the Floor
Floor procedures in the House and Senate are very different.
Unanimous consent: A Senate requirement that all senators agree before an action can proceed.
In the House, the majority-party leaders exert more control over what bills make it to the floor and, once a bill’s language is confirmed, the House Rules Committee issues a directive governing the process for the bill.
The Senate allows virtually unlimited consideration on the floor; amendments of all kinds are allowed.
In both chambers, once bills make it onto the calendar, they can get stuck there; achieving 100% agreement to allow a bill to come up for a vote often involves elaborate negotiations.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Legislative Policymaking On the Floor
First, a bill is assigned a floor manager who handles amendments as they come up and controls the time for debate.
In both House and Senate, floor action involves amendments, procedural moves, and eventually a final vote.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Legislative Policymaking The Vote
Voice vote: A congressional vote in which the presiding officer asks those for and against to say “yea” or “nay,” respectively, and announces the result.
Roll call vote: A congressional vote in which all members’ votes are recorded, either by roll call (Senate) or electronically (House).
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Legislative Policymaking Conference Committee
If different versions of a bill pass—and technically a single comma in a 500-page bill counts as a “difference”—a conference committee must reconcile them.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Legislative Policymaking Presidential Action: Separated Powers Revisited
No bill becomes law until the president signs it.
Presidents can also veto legislation.
To deny or override a veto, both chambers need a two-thirds majority: at least 67 senators and 291 members of the House have to say no to the president.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Why Is Congress So Unpopular? Partisan Polarization in Congress.
Since the 1990s, parties in Congress have been digging in against each other, with fewer and fewer members willing to look for middle ground or vote with the other side.
Partisan polarization in Congress
Congress has grown more partisan.
The parties themselves are more ideologically consistent.
This makes for sharper conflict, but it also gives people clearer choices.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Why Is Congress So Unpopular? Partisan Polarization in Congress.
Divided Government. This occurs when each party holds at least one of the three nationally elected branches: the presidency, the House, or the Senate.
Does divided government lead to more gridlock?
Political scientists disagree. Some argue that it does not; “divided we govern,” they insist.
Others argue that recent developments—the growing ideological purity of the parties, the regular use of the filibuster—means that divided government now represents an inability to solve America’s problems.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Some Popular Reforms — And Their Limits Limit Lobbyists
As James Madison concluded, perhaps the solution to the problem of interests really does lie in more interests being represented and not less.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Some Popular Reforms — And Their Limits Educate the Public
Many Americans do not know their House member’s name, cannot begin to explain how a bill becomes law, and don’t even know how many senators come from each state.
Perhaps a better educated public would be more sympathetic.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Some Popular Reforms — And Their Limits The Real World of Democracy
Democracy, as carried out in the people’s branch, is messy and difficult.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Conclusion: Congress and the Challenge of Governing
As our individual needs have become better supported, Congress has grown less capable of solving bigger societal problems.
Congress, as an institution, does some important things very well, and others not very well at all.
In the past, the Congress has proven capable of remarkable collective achievements.
Our national legislative branch, our representatives in Congress, must continue to fulfill their democratic duties—and be rewarded by the public for doing so—if we are to approach the goal of living in freedom together.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Public Approval of Congress Compared to Other Institutions
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CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Constitutional Powers of Congress
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Average Division of Time of a U.S. House Member
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Annual Average Salaries by Profession
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
Congressional Committee Types
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
House and Senate Permanent Committees, 113th Congress
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
