American Government and Organization

1. American Government and Organization PS1301 Wednesday, 25 February

2. Announcements • Review leadership and committees • Take quiz on chapter 11

3. Committee System • Standing Committee (exist from one Congress to the next) • Fixed jurisdiction and stable membership =specialization • Bills are assigned to committees on the basis of subject matter • Committee’s jurisdiction usually parallel those of the major departments or agencies in the executive branch. • Each committee is unique • Each committee’s hierarchy is based on seniority

4. Types of Committees • Link to House website

5. Committee Power • Numerous changes in Congress have negated some of the power of earlier committee chairs. • Particular changes in the late 1950s and mid 1970s produced a fragmented and decentralized committee system that impeded collective action because coordination was so difficult. • When the Republicans took over the House in 1995, they revised the committee rules to ensure that the legislative agenda as outlined in the Contract with America would move swiftly to enactment.

6. The Legislative Process • A bill is introduced by a member (only a member). Although bills are introduced only by members, anyone may draft them. Executive agencies and lobby groups often prepare bills for introduction to friendly legislators. • The Speaker assigns the bill to a committee (In the House). In the Senate, the majority leader assigns the bill to the appropriate standing committee • Committee jurisdictions are largely fixed; All bills dealing with a given substantive area are automatically sent to that committee

7. Assignment to Committee • After a bill is introduced, it is assigned a number and referred to a committee. • Once a bill has been referred to a committee, the most common thing that happens next is NOTHING. • Most bills die of neglect. • If a committee decides on further action, the bill may be taken up directly by the full committee, but more commonly it is referred to the appropriate subcommittee.

8. Committees • In committee, the bill goes to a subcommittee (here the real work begins) • The subcommittee decides whether to consider the bill • If so, hearings are held. In a hearing, typically members of the executive branch and members of interest groups are invited to testify, though individuals can also testify

9. The Purpose of Hearings • Members of Congress (MCs) learn factual information about legislation; • research is presented, experts testify • MCs learn political information about bills • What interest groups support or oppose it? • How strong are the pro and con sides? • What compromises are possible? • The arguments may be well known rehashes, the real information is who is on what side, etc. • Link to committees (and hearings)

10. The Purpose of Hearings • Congress listens • Often a fair hearing is sufficient • Lobbyists can show their bosses that they tried • Hearings outside of Washington may be for the sole purpose of campaigning • Let the locals and journalists see their congressman • Hearings don’t have to be for legislation; they can be oversight of the bureaucracy • They can be to gather information for possible future legislation • They can be to get attention to an idea that has not yet won majority support

11. Reporting a Bill • If the subcommittee decides to act on a bill, it marks it up – drafts it line by line – and reports it to the full committee. • The full committee then accepts, rejects, or amends the bill (usually in deference to the subcommittee). • If accepted, it is reported out of committee. The written report that accompanies it is the most important source of information on legislation for members of Congress not on the committee as well as other people interested in the legislation. • These reports summarize the bill’s purposes, major provisions, and changes from existing law.

12. Scheduling • In the Senate, when a committee votes out a bill, it goes directly onto the calendar, which specifies when the bill will be heard on the floor • In the House, the bill goes directly to the Rules Committee

13. Rules Committee • Control over procedure is control over policy. If you control the parliamentary procedure, you can often influence the outcome • It gets a "rule" for debate in the House floor these rules specify how much time can be spent debating the bill and how many amendments can be added to the bill, amendments to what sections, in what order, ect.. This is a very political process • What amendments, how long is debate, the order of motions, amendments, etc. • Rules rarely stampedes large blocs of members (more subtle twists are more common). • In the bad old days when Rules was independent of party leadership (pre-1961), the Rules Comm. regularly killed bills by refusing to grant them rules (esp. Civil Rights) • Rules is now an arm of the leadership

14. Example of a Rule

15. Voting on Legislation • Scheduling • House calendar--all major public measures (for current House floor proceedings see Office of the Clerk) • Consent calendar (non-controversial bills) • Private calendar (immigration requests or claims against the gov) • Rules for Debate • If there is an open rule, opponents may try to load down a bill with so many objectionable amendments that it will sink of its own weight. • The rules committee may also give the bill a "non-germane" open rule, meaning that irrelevant amendments can be added to the bill, which would practically kill the bill • the reverse strategy is to propose "sweetner" amendments that attract members' support • Debate and Vote upon on the floor, with amendments, ect.

16. Scheduling Debate (Senate) • The Senate does not have a Rules Committee. • Thus, the leaders of both parties routinely negotiate unanimous consent agreements (UCA’s) to arrange for the orderly consideration of legislation. • UCA’s are similar to rules in that they limit time for debate, determine which amendments are allowable, and provide waivers of Senate rules. In the absence of a UCA, anything goes.

17. Process in the Senate • Compared to the larger House which needs and adheres to well-defined rules, the Senate operates more informally • In the Senate, filibusters (extended debates) are common, which members can effectively engage in to kill a bill • Filibusters can be stopped by cloture which requires 60 votes (3/5ths called an extraordinary majority)

18. Conference Committee • If passed it goes to the other house it may start over. More often, parallel bills have been working through • The parallel bills go to conference committee. This is an ad-hoc committee which is solely created to resolve the differences concerning a specific bill • Equal numbers of each; in proportion to party. They debate and may vote out a compromise bill • If passed, the bill goes to both houses for a vote

19. The President • He may sign it or veto it • Holding it for 10 days while congress is in session is the same as signing • Holding it for 10 days during which congress adjourns is a "pocket veto", which cannot be overridden • to override a veto, 2/3's of both houses is required

20. The Process Reviewed