Congress

1. Congress Chapter 12

2. Perks for Representatives and Senators • The Job • Salary of $174,000 with retirement benefits (Leadership positions make more ex: Speaker of the House $223,500) • Office space in D.C. and at home with staff • Travel allowances and franking privileges • Requires long hours, a lot of time away from family, and pressure from others to support their policies

3. Jobs of Congress • Legislate- make the laws • Lay and collect taxes • Pass appropriations- authorizes the government to spend money • Oversight- investigate how money is spent, how the government is run, etc. • Declare war

4. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy Bicameral: legislature divided into two houses

5. Additional Differences between House & Senate • The House • Must be at least 25, U.S citizen for at least 7 years, & must inhabit the state to run • Referred to as Congressman or Representative • Represent people in a District • Reapportioned every 10 years after a census • The Senate • Must be at least 30 , U.S citizen for at least 9 years, & inhabit the state to run • Referred to as Senator • Represent people across the entire state

6. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy • Congressional Leadership • The House • Speaker of the House • Elected by House members • Presides over House • Major role in committee assignments and legislation • Assisted by majority leader and whip • The Senate • Majority Leader • Chosen by party members • Major role in committee assignments, legislation, and debate • Must work with Minority leader • Assisted by whips

7. U.S House of Representatives Republicans 2014: 233 2 vacancies 2013: 232 3 vacancies Democrats 2014: 199 2013: 200 Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R) Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D)

8. What does the Whip do? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axr7apxOj9w

9. Reapportionment • Occurs every 10 years after a census • Congressional lines are redrawn by State Legislatures to reflect population changes • 435 total does not change; states can either gain/lose representation • Baker vs. Carr- formulated the “one person, one vote” standard for legislative redistricting • According to the Constitution, each state is guaranteed at least 1 seat in the House • For example: prior to 2000: Texas, 32 members of Congress (30 House + 2 Senators) 2000: Texas, 34 members of Congress (32 H + 2 S) 2010: Texas, 38 members of Congress (36 H + 2 S)

12. Gerrymandering • Practice of drawing electoral district lines in order to limit or dilute the voting strength of a particular group; disadvantage the group • Court has ruled that lines can be drawn for political reasons but not for reasons based on race

13. Democrats: ’14:53 ‘12: 51 Republican: ‘14: 45 ’12: 47 Independents: ‘14: 2 ‘12: 2 U.S Senate President of the Senate Joe Biden (D) Vice-President President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy (D) Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) Minority Whip John Cornyn(R) Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D)

14. U.S Senate • Have a more diverse groups of constituents- (people a member represents) than the House • •Considered a continuous body because only 1/3 of the senators are up for election every 2 years For example: H S 2000 435 33 Hillary Clinton elected 2002 435 33 2004 435 34 2006 435 33 Hillary Clinton reelected 2008 435 33 2010 435 34

15. The Filibuster

16. Why parties fight to win elections and remain in the Majority • They hold Congressional Leadership positions and as a result: • get to control the agenda • dictate what legislation is introduced & processed • set committee assignments • The majority party has more members on each committee • More members means more voting POWER

18. Making Policy • Four types of committees: • Standing committees: permanent committee that handle bills in different policy areas • Conference committees: resolve differences in House and Senate bills • Joint committees: a few subject-matter areas—membership drawn from House and Senate • Select committees: created for a specific purpose with a limited time period, such as the Watergate investigation

19. Making Policy • Role of Committees • Most work on legislation is completed in the standing committees • Standing committees • Often further divide into subcommittees • Study proposed legislation • Hold hearings to receive public comment, expert advice • “Mark up”-- amend and rewrite legislation • Try and vote legislation out of committee

20. Making Policy • Committee Leadership • Committee chair: the most important influencer of congressional agenda • Dominant role in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house • Selected according to seniority system. Members who have served on the committee the longest and whose party controlled Congress become chair

22. Congressional Elections • Incumbent- person running for re-election • The Advantages of Incumbents • Advertising: • The goal is to be visible to your constituents • Frequent trips home, use of newsletter, and technology • Credit Claiming: • Service to constituents through: • Casework: specifically helping constituents get what they think they have a right to • Pork Barrel: federal projects, grants, etc. made available in a congressional district or state

23. Pork Barrel and Earmarks • Earmark- a congressional provision that directs or sets aside funds to be spent on specific projects within a member’s district. • The term "earmark" comes from cattle and hog slaughtering houses. When cattle are being loaded for slaughter, a particular animal may be singled out for a special purpose, such as breeding; the animal would receive an earmark, so those loading the cattle would see the earmark, and direct the particular animal for its individual purpose. • Pork Barrel- legislation that allows representatives to bring home the bacon to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs designed to directly benefit their districts. • The term originated early in American history, when slaves were sometimes given a barrel of salt pork as a reward and had to compete among themselves to get their share of the handout

24. Lucky Leprechaungressman • Who is the pig? Why is he happy? • What does the pot-o-gold represent? • Why is the leprechaungressman lucky? • What is the artist saying about congressional spending? How do you know? • Should congressmen bring home the bacon?

26. Congressional Elections • The Advantages of Incumbents • Position Taking: • Portray themselves as hard working, dedicated individuals • Occasionally take a partisan stand on an issue • Weak Opponents: • Inexperienced in politics, unorganized, and underfunded • Campaign Spending: • Challengers need to raise large sums to defeat an incumbent • PACs give most of their money to incumbents

27. Powers of Congress • Law-making • Only a member of Congress can introduce a bill. • Bill sent to standing committee (sometimes subcommittee too) in each chamber • Both chambers must approve it • Floor debate • Senate – can filibuster • Conference committee to work on differences • Sent to president • Easier to defeat a bill than pass a bill. • 112th session • 10,500 bill introduced • 150 became laws

28. Powers of Congress • Oversight Function • Hold committee hearings • Questions bureaucrats to determine if they are enforcing and interpreting laws as intended by Congress. • War Powers Resolution 1973 • Permits president to send troops only with Congressional authorization or if US attacked • President must notify Congress within 48 hrs of committing troops. • President must withdraw troops within 60 days unless Congress declares war. • Presidents have not followed this resolution and many have claimed that it is probably unconstitutional. • Congressional Review (Congressional Review Act 1996) • A process whereby Congress can nullify agency regulations by a joint resolution of legislative disapproval. • President also signs resolution • Used infrequently • Confirmation of Presidential Appointees • Congress confirms key members of executive branch and presidential appointments to federal courts. • Impeachment • H of R has voted to impeach 17 federal officials • 7 have been convicted and 3 resigned before process was complete • 4 Presidential • John Tyler – corruption & misconduct – House rejected charges • Andrew Jackson – serious misconduct – Senate acquitted by one vote • Richard Nixon – obstruction of justice & abuse of power - resigned • Bill Clinton – perjury & obstruction of justice – Senate acquitted 55-45

29. Stages in the Impeachment Process • Resolution- called an inquiry of impeachment, is sent to the House Judiciary Committee; members may also introduce bills of impeachment, which are referred to the Judiciary Committee • Committee Vote- after consideration of evidence, the Judiciary Committee votes on the resolution or bill of impeachment; a positive vote from the committee indicates its belief that there is sufficiently strong evidence for impeachment in the House of Representatives • House Vote- If articles of impeachment are recommended by the House Judiciary Committee, the full House votes to approve (or disapprove) a Judiciary Committee decision to conduct full-blown impeachment hearings • Hearings- extensive evidentiary hearings are held by the House Judiciary Committee concerning the allegations of wrongdoing; witnesses may be called and the scope of the inquiry may be widened • Report- committee votes on one or more articles of impeachment; reports supporting this finding (as well as dissenting views) are forwarded to the House and become the basis for its consideration of specific articles of impeachment • House Vote- full House votes on each article of impeachment; simple majority on any article is sufficient to send that article to the Senate for its consideration • Trial in Senate- trial is conducted on the floor of the Senate with the House Judiciary Committee bringing the case against the President, who is represented by his own private attorneys; Senate acts as jury with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding over the trial • Senate Vote- full Senate votes on each article of impeachment; two-thirds vote on any article leads to the president automatically being removed from office and the vice president assuming the duty of the president

30. How do you want your member of Congress to vote? • Party, Ideology, and Constituency • Party Influence: (strong vs. weak party discipline) • Party leaders cannot force party members to vote a particular way, but offer incentives to vote along party lines. • Ideology, Personal Belief, or Constituency • Prime determinant of a member’s vote, on most issues, is ideology • Legislators may ignore constituency opinion and vote their personal beliefs or what they believe is best for society. (trustee) • Legislators may vote as a delegate and follow the will of their constituents.

31. How do you want your member of Congress to vote? • Party, Ideology, and Constituency (cont…) • Colleagues and Caucuses • Logrolling • Vote trading • Caucuses • Colleagues who share the same interests. • Black Caucuses • Hispanic Caucuses • Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues

32. Representing the Will of the People

33. Outside influences on the Legislative Process • Lobbyists & Interest Groups • There are 35,000 registered lobbyists trying to influence Congress—the bigger the issue, the more lobbyists will be working on it. • Lobbyists try to influence legislators’ votes. • Lobbyists serve to provide information to legislators about their particular issue. • Lobbyists can be ignored, shunned and even regulated by Congress.

34. Iron Triangles: One Example

35. Powers of Congress • Budgetary Function • Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 • Required president to submit a budget to Congress • Includes prior years spending , projections and proposals for the next year. • Congress could alter allocations but not total • Congressional Budget Act 1974 • Created process still in use today • Created the CBO • Created reconciliation – procedure that limits debate to 20 hours. Used to pass health care reform bill in 2010. • Created a timetable for budget • A full budget has not been passed since 2001

36. Congressional Budget Office • The CBO is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the government that provides economic data to Congress. • The CBO was created as a nonpartisan agency by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. • CBO Congress OMB President

37. The Congressional Budget Process:Targets and Timetables

38. Who Represents You? Lake Travis High School, 3322 RR 620 South, Austin 78734

39. Texas State GovernmentLegislators in Texas are considered part-time employees because the Texas Legislature only meets every 2 years House (R majority) • Has 150 members • Must be at least 21, citizen of Texas for 2 years, & resident of the district for 1 year • 2 year term • Led by Speaker • Current Speaker of the House • Joe Straus (R) Senate (R Majority) • Has 31 members • Must be at least 26, citizen of Texas for 5 years, & resident of the district for 1 year • 4 year term • ½ of the Senate membership is elected every two years, with the exception that all 31 Senate seats are up for election for the first legislature following the decennial census in order to reflect the newly redrawn districts. • Led by the Lieutenant Governor; office is elected state-wide • Current Lieutenant Governor: • David Dewhurst (R)