LECTURE NOTES

 

UNIT 8

CONGRESS

The Makeup of Congress

Profile

1.          Political party Identification - Majority of House & Senate are Republican

2.          Age -                                        Senate Late 50’s             House early 50’s

3.          Gender -                                  Male - overwhelmingly - almost 90%

4.          Religion                                   Protestant

5.          Race/Ethnicity -                      Anglo/White - 90% +

6.          Profession                              Lawyers - 50% & Business

7.           Origin -                                   Small Town America

       

Conclusions – These groups have a built-in Advantage and if you are on the opposite side of an issue from them, the odds are stacked against you.

 

HOUSE SENATE DIFFERENCES

 

Senate

House of Rep.

Size:

100

435

Term:

Staggered 6 year terms

2 year terms

Representation:

Two senators per state

Based on population

Special Powers:

1.      Approves all presidential nominations

2.      Ratifies all treaties

3.      Holds trial for impeachment & judges innocence or guilt—2/3 Sen. Majority necessary

1.      All tax legislation must begin in the House of Rep.

2.      Impeachment process begins here—majority vote decides of charges brought

Prestige/Importance

The “Upper House”

The “Lower House”

 

 Gerrymandering - Deliberate unfair drawing of district lines

1.      Political/Partisan - by party majority-party in State legislature gerrymanders areas where opposition party is strong.  

2.      Racial - White majority- gerrymandered minority areas outlawed by Voting Rights Act of 1965. States who have a long history of this, must send redistricting plans off to Civil Rights Office in Washington in Justice Department (This includes Texas.) where they are checked to make sure there is no racial gerrymandering. 

3.      Unequal Population – States would allow the population of districts to vary widely.  The faster growing areas--urban and suburban areas, were under-represented.  The slower growing areas—rural areas, were over-represented. Example: Michigan had one urban district of 900,000 and a second rural of 150,000.  In 1964 The United States Supreme Court handed down the One person-one vote rule.  All districts must be as equal in population as possible. 

 

Congressional Leadership

HOUSE LEADERSHIP

(Majority Party) (Republicans)

Speaker - Presiding officer of the House of Representatives.  Most powerful person in the House of Representatives.  Dennis Hastert. – All 435 House members elect the Speaker.  Both parties nominate a candidate but the majority party always elects their candidate.  

 

Powers of the Speaker:

$       Presides over the house

$       Regulates flow of legislation (announces order of business) – when bills come to House floor for debate

$       Schedules votes on the floor

$       Recognizes members on the floor

$       Refers bills to committees

$       Leads the strategy for the majority party & is a spokesman for majority party.

$       Appoints members of special or select committees (conducting special investigations) and conference committee

 

$       Conference committee- when two bills on the same issue pass the House & Senate on different forms -- they are sent to a conference committee & then a compromise bill is written & then sent back to House & Senate floor for their approval.  

Majority Leader:

$       Chosen in party caucus- Dick Armey - (Republican)

$       Assistant Speaker - helps Speaker in his duties

$       Spokesman for party in absence of the Speaker

$       Usually the future speaker

 

Minority leader (Democratic) – Nancy Pelosi

$       Spokesperson for his party

$       Plans strategy for his party

 
Majority and Minority Whips

$       Their job is to be a party lobbyist & round up votes on key bills for their party

$       To provide information on upcoming bills - through a weekly “whip packet” -- That has a copy and analyzes of each bill to come up on the floor that week. If the party has taken a stand on the bill, that is explained, with reasons for voting that way.

 

SENATE LEADERSHIP

Vice President

$       Presides over Senate

$       casts a tie-breaking vote when necessary (it happens rarely – maybe once a year)

President Pro Tem

‚       Given to the most senior senator of the majority party - an honorary position

$       Presides in Vice President’s absence -- no real power

 

Majority and Minority Leaders

$       Spokesman for their respective parties

$       Strategy planner for their respective parties

$       Plan when bills and votes will hit the floor –Bill Frist (R), Tam Daschle (D) chosen by party caucus
    

Majority and Minority Whips

$       Provide weekly whip packet - information - copy & analysis of all bills coming to floor that weak; explains party position on why & how they’d like you to vote.

$       (Whip them into line) - party lobbyist - roundup votes for their parties on crucial bills.

 

All congressional leaders are typically chosen after the November elections—late December of even-numbered years or in January of odd-numbered years. 

  

The Committee System:
sub-dividing the House and Senate into smaller working units.  
Why?: Congress quickly realized they were growing too large to sit as one group.  As Congress grew in size and as committees grew, Congress further subdivided in to smaller subdivisions of the committees – called sub-committees.

PATH A BILL MUST FOLLOW TO BECOME LAW:

Step 1:   Submitted to the appropriate committee.

Step 2:   Referred then to the appropriate subcommittee, the most important step for three            reasons:

  • 1.   90% of all bills die in the sub-committee.

  • 2.   This is where your bill gets its most in-depth analysis and where the markup session occurs. – research, analyzes, going through line section by section, line by line, word by word

  • 3.   These are the members who have the most expertise on the topic. 

- 3 Things can happen to your bill:

  • I.    10% survive by a majority vote.

  • II.   90% Voted down by a majority vote. Or 

  • III. Or killed by pigeonholing it. = setting a bill aside & allowing it to die by taking no action.

Step 3:   Bill is then referred back to full committee for review of the work of the subcommittee. Of those bills that survive the sub-committee, 4 things can happen:

  • I.    2/3 of 10%--6% will survive the process & be approved by the committee

  • II.   Voted down

  • III.   Pigeonholed

  • IV.   Refer it back to sub-committee. = bad news = means: kill it

Step 4:    House Rules committee B Gatekeeper to the floor of the House.  Bill will not reach the floor of the House unless it receives two rules from the House Rules Committee.  Must receive a debate rule, specifying how long bill will be debated on the floor.  Also must receive an amendment rule.  Specifies how many amendments can be allowed on floor.  If bill is liked then it is given favorable rules; (short debate time & few amends) or if disliked given unfavorable rules. (long debate time & unlimited amends) If bill is really hated, Rules Committee can refuse to give your bill rules. - it then dies in the Rules committee.  In Senate bills go from committee directly to the floor.

Step 5:    Then to the House & Senate floor.  5%-6% arrive here’ sponsors and supporters will present and argue for it. And opponents argue against it.

-3 Things can happen to your bill on the floor:

  • 1.      Passed by majority vote and can add amendments

  • 2.      Defeated by majority vote and add amendments

  • 3.      Refer back to committee. Not a good sign. B don't vote it gout again--pigeonhole it--kill it

 In the Senate a numerical minority can talk a bill to death--a filibuster. Moving for a vote of cloture by 60 senators-- a 3/5th majority --to end the filibuster. 

Step 6:    Conference Committee
Composed of House & Senate members – They must write and approve a compromise version if House & Senate pass different versions of same bill.

Step 7:    Then the House and Senate floor  
The compromise version of The Bill must be approved by simple majority vote-3-4% survive

Step 8:    Presidents Desk:

  •     Sign it

  •     Allow to become law without his signature

  •     Veto it

  •     Use a pocket veto--if Congress in adjournment

Step 9: Goes back for override vote – takes a 2/3 majority of both House & Senate; 4% only of votes are overridden
Pocket veto - only if Congress adjourns before the end of the 10 day period.  This pocket veto cannot be overridden - it's absolute.


Less than 3% of all bills ever survive the process and become law.

Pros of Committee System:

  1. Filtering out process of bad bills and allows for a detailed scrutiny and in depth analysis.

  2. Allows members to develop in areas – Their committees & Subcommittees better knowledge or expertise

  3. Makes Congress more productive. More work gets done because more bills (100+) can be worked on simultaneously.  

Cons of committee system:

  1. Lack of leadership

  2. Logrolling - vote trading - (you vote our bill out of your committee, we’ll vote your bill out of ours)

  3. Lack of coordination - Don't tell one committee how to run the other.

  4. Lack of oversight - Congress doesn’t go back as they should to see if bills from their committee are being properly implemented & are working, wouldn’t want to advertise their mistakes

  5. Increased influence of interest groups and lobbyists - with smaller working units you give more control to interest groups

  6. Veto politics or minority tyranny - allows a numerical minority to block the majority will - ex: the filibuster, Rules Committee,

  7. Slows down congress and entire legislative process.

  8. Opponents have advantage over supporters. - Supporters must win each & every vote.  If opponents win one vote, bill is dead and must start over again

Intended Role of Congress--according to the framers of the Constitution

$       Intended to be the dominant branch – Why?

  1. Fear of executive Tyranny.

  2. Safer to give Congress Power (A Collective Group )– no one person has it all.

  3. Congress was viewed as the more democratic and representative branch. It was elected by the voters. Each part of the country had a representative with unique concerns and viewpoints and members of Congress went back & lived in their districts part of the year.   – in touch with vote

Different Situation Today - Reasons for the rise of the presidency:

Rise of President-Why?

  1.     Congress failed to live up to expectations

  2.     Congress too slow in our faster paced world (faster, communication)

  3.     Congress too divided - unable to reach consensus – due to larger size

  4.     Congress is too gutless - unwilling to make decisions.

  5.     Media attention - quantity & quality - president receives more balanced coverage & more coverage

  6.     Public Ignorance of Congress - Most Americans don’t know who are 2 United States Senators or 1 United States Representatives are

  7.    U.S. being a superpower -defense- foreign affairs - need a strong president to act decisively when necessary.

  8.     Need for Secrecy - Congress can’t; keep a secret – impossible in defense & intelligence matters

  9.    Crises U.S. has Faced Examples: (Civil War, Depression)

  10.    Easier to Focus on one person than a collective group

 

External Reforms of Congress

  1.   War Powers Act

  2.    Impoundment Act

  3.    Case Act

  4.    National Emergency Powers Act

Internal Congressional Reforms

  1. Increased staff - 20,800 staff members – Congress now more informed.

  2. Stronger ethics code – limiting net side income & requiring financial disclosure

  3. Sunshine law open meetings - allows the public to sit in on the meetings and announced in  advance with an agenda. Meeting must be open to the public. 

  4. All floor and most committee and subcommittee votes must be recorded. 

  5. Weakened the seniority rule.  used to select committee chairs. Used to be the member of the majority party who had the seniority was automatically the chair. Couldn’t get rid or vote them out.  Now all committee chairs must be voted on by secret ballot in the majority party caucus. -- & if doing a poor job as chair, they are voted out & replaced

  6. Weakened cloture requirement from 67 to 60 senators to end a filibuster.

  7. Strengthened the speaker of the House by letting him appoint the majority of the rules Committee.

Congress's Checks on the President :

Constitutional Checks:

  1. Cut off money/appropriations

  2. O verride his veto-4% of the time this happens. 

  3.  Refuse to declare war.

  4.  Senate can refuse to ratify treaties.

  5.  Senate can refuse to approve a presidential appointment. 

  6.  Impeachment

  7.  Refusing to pass his Proposals

Statutory Checks:

  1. War Powers Act-limits president's war powers

  2. Impoundment Act-limits president's power of impoundment 

  3. Case Act- written treaty executive agreements must be written & copies sent to Congress

  4. National Emergency Powers Act limits emergency powers granted to President to 6 month.