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Chapter 6

Chapter 6. The Legislative Branch. House of Representatives. Size: 435 members based on population Each state guaranteed at least 1 member Term: All members serve a 2 year term All members are up for reelection in every even numbered year. House of Representatives. Qualifications:

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Chapter 6

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  1. Chapter 6 The Legislative Branch

  2. House of Representatives Size: • 435 members based on population • Each state guaranteed at least 1 member Term: • All members serve a 2 year term • All members are up for reelection in every even numbered year

  3. House of Representatives Qualifications: • Must be at least 25 years old • Must be a citizen of the United States for at least 7 years • Must live in the district you represent

  4. House of Representatives Leader: • Speaker of the House • Always chosen from the majority party • Steers legislation through the House, leads floor debates • Third in line for the Presidency John Boehner Speaker of the House

  5. House of Representatives Majority leader of the House: • Controls all the members of the majority party (party with the most seats) • Tries to keep the party together on all issues Minority Leader of the House: • Controls all the members of the minority party (party with the least seats) • Tries to keep the party together on all issues

  6. House of Representatives Privileges and benefits: • $174,000 a year salary • free office space/parking • free health care • free trips home • discounted video production • franking privilege • immunity in certain cases • free haircuts/restaurants/gym

  7. Senate Size: • 100 members • 2 from each state Term • 1/3 of its members are elected every 2 years • Term = 6 years

  8. Senate Qualifications: • Must be at least 30 • Must be a U.S. citizen for 9 years • Must live in the state they represent

  9. Senate • Official leader as per the Constitution is the Vice President • only votes if there is a tie vote • is almost never there

  10. Senate • Unofficial leader is the President Pro Tempore • Serves as the leader when the Vice President is not present • Usually the most senior member of the majority party Daniel Inouye President Pro Tempore

  11. Senate Majority leader of the Senate: • Controls all the members of the majority party (party with the most seats) • Tries to keep the party together on all issues Minority Leader of the Senate: • Controls all the members of the minority party (party with the least seats) • Tries to keep the party together on all issues

  12. Senate Privileges and benefits: • $174,000 a year salary • free office space/parking • free health care • free trips home • discounted video production • franking privilege • immunity in certain cases • free haircuts/restaurants/gym

  13. Congressional Sessions • Starts on January 3rd of odd numbered years • 2 sessions in each Congress that meet from January until November • Each new Congress gets a number (currently the 112th Congress) • May meet in times of crisis if not already in session

  14. Congressional Districts • Each state is divided into one or more House congressional districts based on the census taken every ten years • State legislatures are required to divide their state into districts that contain roughly equal numbers of constituents (Reynolds v. Simms) • This is to prevent gerrymandering-creating oddly shaped districts to ensure a particular parties control of the area

  15. Congressional Committees Standing Committee • Permanent committees in Congress • 19 in the House, 17 in the Senate • Cover areas that will always be needed (education, foreign affairs, agriculture) • May be divided into sub-committees to divide work even more

  16. Congressional Committees Select Committee • Created to do a specific job that does not fit the other committees • Only meet for a specific time period • Disbanded when done with their work

  17. Congressional Committees Joint Committee • Any committee that has members from both the House and the Senate • Economic, Printing, Taxation, and Library committees are examples Conference Committee • A special form of a joint committee • Used to help members from both the House and the Senate to agree on all issues on a proposed law

  18. Congressional Committees Seniority system: • Party leaders make committee assignments • They consider members’ preferences, expertise, and loyalty to the party • Biggest factor is the members seniority, how long have they been in Congress • Those who have served the longest get the best assignments

  19. Legislative Powers of Congress 1) Taxing and Spending • All bills that concern money must start in the House • Authorization Bills -creates projects and caps the spending on them • Appropriation Bills -provides the money for government projects

  20. Legislative Powers of Congress • Regulate foreign and interstate commerce • Declare War • Maintain Army and Navy • Approve Treaties (Senate) • Borrow money • Coin, print, and regulate money • Establish Courts • Create Postal Service

  21. Non-Legislative Powers of Congress 1) Propose amendments 2) Count Electoral votes • If no one wins a majority, the House picks the President and The Senate picks a Vice President 3) Settle Presidential succession issues

  22. Non-Legislative Powers of Congress 4) Approve or reject Presidential appointments (Senate) 5) Impeach government officials • House-brings charges • Senate-serves as Jury and decides guilt or innocence 6) Oversees all government actions (special investigations)

  23. Limits to Congressional Power • Can’t suspend writ of habeascorpus (can’t hold a person in jail without issuing formal charges) • Can’t favor one state over another • Can’t pass bills of attainder (laws that punish a person without a trial)

  24. Limits to Congressional Power • President can veto bills • Laws can be declared unconstitutional • Can’t pass ex post facto laws (laws that punish a person for an action that was not illegal at the time it was committed)

  25. Congressional Staffs Personal Staff • Help gather info on new bills • Arrange meetings and calendars • Write speeches • Deal with media and lobbyists • Interns volunteer time • Pages run errands

  26. Congressional Staffs Committee Staff • People with expert knowledge in that field • Work for the committee, not an individual • Draft bills, organize meetings, and negotiate with lobbyists

  27. Congressional Staffs Support Services • Library of Congress-largest library in country, has 1 copy of all books published in this country • Congressional Research Service (CRS)-Looks up facts for Congress • General Accounting Office (GAO)-reviews the spending of all government agencies • Congressional Budget Office (CBO)-Analyzes and predicts budget costs for the federal budget

  28. Congress At Work Lawmaking • Most important role • All Congressmen try to provide for the needs of their home district • Try to carry out the needs of their constituents

  29. Congress At Work Casework • Help constituents deal with the federal government • They get over 80,000 e-mails a day • They get 10,000 formal requests for help each year (per office) • Usually this work is handled by their staffs

  30. Congress At Work Helping The Home District • Try to get as much government $ into home district as possible • Includes things like post offices, dams, military bases, veteran’s hospitals, and mass transit systems • Try to build and protect local industries (ex: tobacco in NC or the automotive industry in Michigan) • Also try to get government contracts to local state businesses (ex: a contract to make army uniforms at a plant in Burlington) • These programs are called pork-barrel projects

  31. Bill to Law • Bill starts in the House of Representatives (as long as it is not a bill involving $, it may also start in the Senate) • Bill is given to the clerk or put in the hopper • Clerk numbers the bill (HB001) • Bill is then sent to the appropriate standing committee

  32. Bill to Law 5) Committee then makes 1 of 3 choices: -may vote on the bill as is -may kill bill right here -may send it to subcommittee for more debate and research 6) Subcommittee then may do the one of the following: -vote on bill and send it back to full committee -vote to kill the bill -will research more into the bill and hold public hearings on it -may pigeonhole the bill (set it aside and forget about it)

  33. Bill to Law 7) Subcommittee votes to send the bill back to the standing committee 8) Standing committee votes on the bill -if a yes vote, bill goes to full House -if no, the bill is killed 9) Bill is then sent to full House for debate -set rules on who can speak at debate -time limits are put in place to hold debate to a set time frame

  34. Bill to Law 10) Full House then votes on the bill using 1 of 3 methods: -a voice vote (simple yea or nay), used for bills that are clearly popular or unpopular -a standing vote, members simply stand if they are either for or against the bill -a roll-call vote, each member is called on personally to give vote which then becomes a matter of public record

  35. Bill to Law 11) If the vote is yea, Speaker then signs the bill and sends it to the Senate, if nay, the bill is killed 12) Bill is then formally read in the Senate 13) Bill is given a new number(SB001) 14) Bill is sent to the appropriate committee

  36. Bill to Law 15) Committee then makes 1 of 3 choices: -may vote on the bill as is -may kill bill right here -may send it to subcommittee for more debate and research

  37. Bill to Law 16) Subcommittee then may do the one of the following: -vote on bill and send it back to full committee -vote to kill the bill -will research more into the bill and hold public hearings on it -may pigeonhole the bill (set it aside and forget about it)

  38. Bill to Law 17) Subcommittee votes to send the bill back to the standing committee 18) Standing committee votes on the bill -if a yes vote, bill goes to full House -if no, the bill is killed

  39. Bill to Law 19) Bill is then sent to the full senate for debate -no formal rules of debate as in the House -Senators opposed to the bill may lead a filibuster to kill the bill (talking until the Senator who proposed the bill pulls it from debate) -A filibuster can be ended when 3/5ths of the Senators vote for cloture

  40. Bill to Law 20) Full Senate votes on the bill, if nay the bill is killed 21) If Senate approves of the bill and it differs even by one word it is sent to a conference committee to work out a compromise version 22) New version is then sent each house for one more vote -if nay in either house, the bill is killed -if yea in both houses, bill goes to the President

  41. Bill to Law 23) President has several options: -may sign bill into law ending process -may veto bill -may pocket veto the bill-if the President does nothing to the bill for 10 days and congress is not in session, the bill is killed -if President does nothing for 10 days and congress is in session, bill becomes a law

  42. Bill to Law 24) If the President vetoes the bill, it goes back to Congress for a new vote -if 2/3rds of both houses vote yea, bill is a law -if less than 2/3rds, the bill is killed

  43. How a Bill Becomes a LAW From a Visual Perspective

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