How Congress Works Part I

1. How Congress WorksPart I Structure, Organization, & Legislative Process

2. Congress

3. House 435 members; 2 yr terms Low turnover Speaker bill referral hard to challenge Scheduling/rules controlled by majority party with powerful Rules Committee (controls time of debate, amends., etc) Senate 100 members; 6 yr terms Moderate turnover Referral decisions easily challenged Scheduling/rules agreed to by majority & minority leaders House-Senate Differences

4. House Debate limited to 1 hour Members policy specialists Emphasizes tax & revenue policy More formal & impersonal Senate Unlimited debate unless cloture invoked Members policy generalists Emphasizes foreign policy More informal & personal House-Senate Differences

5. Party Leadership House Republican Leadership 113th Congress Senate Democratic Leadership 110th Congress

6. HOUSE LEADERSHIP Speaker (majority party) Republicans: • Majority Leader • Majority Whip Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy(R-CA) Majority Leader Eric Cantor(R-VA)

7. HOUSE LEADERSHIP Democratss: • Minority Leader • Minority Whip Minority Leader Steny Hoyer(R-OH) Minority Whip Steny Hoyer(D-MD)

8. SENATE LEADERSHIP President of the Senate (Vice President) President Pro Tempore (majority party) Democrats: • Majority Leader • Majority Whip President Pro Tem Patrick Leahy(D-VT) President of the Senate Joe Biden (D-DE) Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

9. SENATE LEADERSHIP Republicans: • Minority Leader • Minority Whip Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

10. Strength of Party Structure? • Measure of party strength: • Ability of leaders to control party rules and organization • Extent to which party members vote together in the House and Senate • Senate: less party-centered and leader oriented

11. Party Unity • Ideology is an important variable explaining party voting (members vote with their party 90% of the time) • Party polarization - vote in which majority of democrats oppose majority of republicans • Polarization trends: • 1976 HR = 36%; S = 37% • 1995 HR = 73%; S = 69% • 2000 HR = 43%; S = 49%

12. CAUCUSES • Groups (may be bipartisan) meeting to pursue common legislative objectives • Sometimes Rivals to parties in policy formulation • Examples: Democratic Study Group, Congressional Black Caucus, Tuesday Lunch Bunch, Human Rights, Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, Out of Iraq Caucus, Rural Caucus, Travel & Tourism Caucus, House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children

13. Congress Convenes • Congress convenes every two years—on January 3 of every odd-numbered year. • The House has formal organizational meetings at the beginning of each term to determine committee membership and standing officers. • The Senate, because it is a continuous body, has fewer organizational issues to address at the start of each term. • When Congress is organized, the President presents a State of the Union message to a joint session of Congress. This message, in which the President reports on the state of the nation as he sees it, is given annually. Chapter 12, Section 1

14. The Presiding Officers The President of the Senate • The job of president of the Senate is assigned by the Constitution to the Vice President. • The president of the Senate has many of the same duties as the Speaker of the House, but cannot cast votes on legislation. • The president pro tempore,the leader of the majority party, is elected from the Senate and serves in the Vice President’s absence. The Speaker of the House • The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the acknowledged leader of the majority party. • The Speaker’s main duties revolve around presiding over and keeping order in the House. • The Speaker names the members of all select and conference committees, and signs all bills and resolutions passed by the House. Chapter 12, Section 1

15. Committee Chairmen and Seniority Rule Seniority Rule • The seniority rule, an unwritten custom, holds that the most important posts will be held by those party members with the longest records of service in Congress. • The head of each committee is often the longest-serving member of the committee from the majority party. Committee Chairmen • The committee chairmen are the members who head the standing committees in each chamber of Congress. • The chairman of each of these permanent committees is chosen from the majority party by the majority party caucus. Chapter 12, Section 1

16. Composition of Congress Senate party standings (as of October 31, 2013)    53 Democrats 2 Independents, both caucusing with Democrats 45 Republicans 2 3 4 Chapter 12, Section 1

17. Composition of Congress House party standings (as of February 18, 2014)    232 Republicans 199 Democrats  4 vacancies Chapter 12, Section 1

18. 113th United States Congress Senators

19. 113th US House

20. House/Senate differences

22. "Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee-rooms is Congress at work.” - Woodrow Wilson

23. Legislative Committees: Function and Purpose

24. Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose 1. Consider bills(a.k.a. “mark-up” bills) A bill with a member’s mark-up notes

25. Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose 2. Maintain oversight of executive agencies Oversight Hearing on Bengahzi

26. Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose 3. Conduct investigations New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Hurricane Katrina (Feb., 2006

27. Types of Committees • Standing Committees- permanent panel with full legislative functions and oversight responsibilities • Subcommittees – formed to tackle very specific tasks within the jurisdiction of the full committees • Select or Special Committees- groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration • Joint Committees - includes members of both chambers to conduct studies or perform housekeeping tasks • Conference Committee - includes members of House & Senate to work out differences between similar bills

28. Standing Committees

29. House Standing Committees Judiciary Resources Rules Science Small Business Standards of Official Conduct Transportation & Infrastructure Veterans Affairs Ways & Means Agriculture Appropriations Armed Services Budget Education & Workforce Energy & Commerce Financial Services Government Reform House Admin. International Relations

30. Senate Standing Committees Finance Foreign Relations Governmental Affairs Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Judiciary Rules and Administration Small Business and Entrepreneurship Veterans Affairs Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Appropriations Armed Services Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs Budget Commerce, Science, Transportation Energy & Natural Resources Environment and Public Works

31. Special, Select Committees • House Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming • Senate Select Committee on Ethics • House & Senate Select Committees on Intelligence Gen. Michael Hayden is sworn in during a full committee hearing of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee on his nomination to bedirector of the Central Intelligence Agency.

32. Joint Committees • Joint Economic Committee • Joint Committee on Printing • Joint Committee on Taxation

33. Title: Resolution Artist: Bob Gorrell Date: 12/28/06 Source: http://www.gorrellart.com/

34. Artist: R.J. Matson, New York Observer & Roll Call Date: 1/18/07 Source: http://www.cagle.com