Congress

1. Congress

2. Article I, Section 8 • Expressed (formal) powers are granted to Congress in the direct language of the Constitution: • levy taxes • pay debts • borrow money • regulate interstate commerce • regulate commerce with foreign nations

3. Article 8, section 8 • Expressed (formal) power • pass laws • create appellate courts • raise and support armies • declare war

4. Necessary and proper clause • The elastic clause authorizes Congress to pass laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers. • Implied (informal) powers are not directly given in the Constitution. • In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has the right to establish a national bank. • The War Powers Resolution (1973) was passed using implied powers.

5. Sample multiple choice • Which of the following constitutional provisions broadened the power of Congress? • The necessary and proper clause • The equal protection clause • The Tenth Amendment • The Ninth Amendment • The eminent domain provision in the Fifth Amendment

6. Checks on other branches • Checks on the president: • Override a veto with a 2/3 vote of both houses • Congress holds the purse strings and must approve the budget. • The Senate confirms judicial and cabinet appointments. • The Senate ratifies treaties. • Impeachment (majority vote in House to hold trial, Senate must convict with 2/3 vote)

7. Sample FRQ • Members of Congress are charged with three primary duties—writing laws, overseeing the implementation of laws, and serving the needs of their constituents. • (a) Describe the role of each of the following in lawmaking. • Senate filibuster • House Rules Committee • Conference committee • (b) Describe one method by which Congress exercises oversight of the federal bureaucracy. • (c) Explain how casework affects members’ attention to legislation.

8. War powers resolution of 1973 • President must, whenever possible, consult with Congress before deploying troops. • President must notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops. • Troops must be withdrawn within 60 days unless Congress grants an extension.

9. War powers

10. Budget impoundment and control act • Creates the Congressional Budget Office. • The president must submit a budget to Congress. • Sets a budget calendar. • The budget is adopted in a concurrent (both houses) resolution, not signed by the president. • The president must spend the money appropriated by Congress.

11. Limits of congressional power • Presidents have ways of influencing/limiting the power of Congress: • Issue an executive order • Sign an executive agreement • Use the “bully pulpit” to rally public support for a policy • Veto legislation • Claim an electoral mandate • Honeymoon period • Commander-in-chief, ignore War Powers Resolution

12. Limits on congressional power

13. Checks on other branches • Checks on the bureaucracy: • The Senate confirms agency heads. • Congress can cut the budget. • Congress can eliminate the agency. • Congress can write clarifying legislation. • Congress can limit the agency’s authority. • Congress can hold oversight hearings in which a member of the bureaucracy is called to testify.

14. Sample multiple choice • Congressional oversight refers to the power of Congress to • override presidential vetoes. • hold public hearing before confirming judicial appointees. • exercise some control over executive agencies. • allow nongovernmental agencies to defend or refute pending legislation publicly. • seek judicial opinion on the constitutionality of pending legislation.

15. Limits of congressional power • The bureaucracy has ways of limiting the influence of Congress: • The bureaucracy writes regulations (administrative law). • Bureaucrats have administrative discretion. • The bureaucracy is large and difficult to manage.

16. Checks on other branches • Checks on the Courts: • The Senate must approve all federal judges. • Congress can change the courts’ jurisdiction. • Congress can change the number of judges. • Congress can rewrite legislation.

17. Sample multiple choice • Which of the following is a way Congress can influence the federal judiciary? • It can prohibit judicial activism. • It can filibuster decisions made by courts. • It can change appellate jurisdiction of federal courts. • It can review federal judges for reappointment every ten years. • It can exercise oversight authority over rulings of individual justices.

18. Limits of congressional power • The Courts can limit the influence of Congress. • Judicial review is used to overturn an act of Congress (or the states or an executive action that is unconstitutional).

19. elections • The House: • Elected every 2 years • Represents congressional districts • The Senate: • Election every 6 years (1/3 is up for election every two years) • 2 per state • Selected by state legislatures until the 17th Amendment provided for direct election

20. gerrymandering • Gerrymandering is when congressional district boundaries are drawn to benefit a political party. • Congressional district boundaries are drawn by state legislatures. • Reapportionment is when a state gains or loses seats in the House after the census. • Redistricting is the changing of district boundaries to make them roughly equal in population. • “Cracking” is breaking up a district to weaken a group’s political power. • “Packing” is drawing a district in which one predominant group resides.

21. Incumbency advantage • Incumbents (those already in office) usually win. • House members run in “safe” districts. • Challengers receive less media coverage. • Congressional staff conduct casework in which they provide services to constituents. • Members bring projects to their states through pork barrel spending. • Franking privilege allows members of Congress to send mail to constituents for free. • Incumbents hold “town halls.” • Can claim credit for legislation.

22. Incumbency advantage • Members of the House are reelected at greater rates than members of the Senate. • Shorter terms, always running for reelection, name recognition • Live in safe districts • Smaller constituency • Easier to make personal contact • Easier to provide casework

23. Incumbency advantage

24. bicameralism • Congress is a two-house legislature. • This provides an intra-branch check. • This makes Congress deliberative. • The Senate is the upper house, representing states (the elite). • The House is the lower house directly representing the population.

25. House of representatives • 435 members • More hierarchical and centralized • Seniority more important • Party-line voting more common • Led by the Speaker of the House • House Rules Committee can limit debate

26. Special powers of the house • Initiate revenue bills (taxes) • Pass Articles of Impeachment

27. The senate • 100 members • The upper house, more prestigious • More influential in foreign affairs • Less specialized • Seniority is less important • Filibuster allows a senator to talk a bill to death (not mentioned in the Constitution) • A motion for cloture (to end a filibuster) requires 60 votes.

28. Special powers of the senate • Confirm all federal judges • Confirm cabinet level appointments • Ratify treaties • Hold impeachment trial (makes the final decision of whether to convict and remove the president)

29. Treaty confirmation

30. Sample multiple choice • Which of the following powers is shared by the House of Representatives and the Senate? • Holding trials of impeachment • Establishing federal courts • Approving treaties • Holding confirmation hearings • Approving major presidential appointments

31. Leadership positions • Speaker of the House: • Presides over the House • Makes committee assignments • Selects committee chairs • Assigns bills to committees • Spokesperson for the party (when different from the president’s party) • Provided for in the Constitution • Second in line for presidential secession.

32. Leadership positions • The real leader of the Senate is the majority leader, not president pro tempore. • Although the Constitution says the vice-president leads the Senate, his only position is to break a tie vote. Therefore, the vice-president is NOT a leadership position in Congress. • The majority leader schedules bills, influences committee assignments and rounds up votes. • The minority leader heads the minority party in the House or Senate. • Whips work with the leaders to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers.

33. committees • Where most of the work of Congress is done • Party membership on committees reflects party membership in the body as a whole. • Allow members to develop expertise in policy areas. • Members are chosen by the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader.

34. committees • Committee chairs are usually chosen by seniority: the member from the majority party who has served on the committee the longest usually becomes chair. • Committee chairs set the agenda. • Committee members manage bills when they are sent to the floor and give cues to the members of their party. • A discharge petition is a way of bypassing leadership by a vote of the committee to send a bill to the floor. • Logrolling is trading votes for favors (I’ll vote for your bill if you’ll vote for mine).

35. Types of committees • Standing—the most common type. Permanent, handle bills in different policy areas. This is where most of the work of Congress occurs. Senate Finance Committee. • Joint—contain members from both the House and the Senate. Joint Budget Committee. • Select—appointed for a specific purpose, like investigating intelligence agencies after 9/11 • Conference—iron out differences in language when the House and the Senate pass different versions of a bill.

36. Standing committee

37. Important committees • House Rules Committee—reviews bills, schedules bills on the calendar, sets rules for debate, specifies the kind of amendments, assigns bills to committees. • Senate Finance Committee—determines how to pay for government programs. • House Ways and Means Committee—reviews revenue bills. • Appropriations Committee—allocates funds for particular programs.

38. Sample multiple choice • Which of the following committees plays a major role in the House in shaping tax policy? • Finance • Ways and Means • Commerce • Appropriations • Governmental Affairs