What is the difference between redistricting and reapportionment?

1. What is the difference between redistricting and reapportionment? Redistricting is the process of setting up new district lines after reapportionment has been completed. Reapportionment is the process of reassigning representation based on population after every census.

2. How is the House of Representatives organized? How is the Senate organized? There are 435 members in the House of Representatives. The Constitution does not set the number of seats, but states that those seats must be divided among the states on the basis of population. The Senate has 100 senators, two from every state.

3. Why did the Founder’s establish a bicameral legislature? What are the advantages of a bicameral as opposed to a unicameral legislature? The Founder’s based the bicameral legislature off of the English Parliament and its House of Lords and House of Commons. A bicameral legislature has ways to check itself. For example, if both houses of Congress pass a bill on the same subject, in order for that bill to become law, both versions must match exactly. A unicameral legislature has no way to check itself the way a bicameral one does.

4. Who are constituents and why are they important to members of Congress? Constituents are the people who a member of Congress has been elected to represent. Constituents are important to members of Congress because they are the ones who will vote members in or out of office.

5. Who makes ups the House leadership and how/when does the House conduct business? The House leadership consists of the Speaker of the House, the majority and minority leaders, and the majority and minority whips. The House starts its floor sessions at noon or earlier and is normally in session Monday through Friday.

6. How does a bill move through the committee process and what is the role of the Rules Committee? After a bill is introduced, the Speaker of the House sends it to the appropriate committee for study, discussion, and review. Bills that survive the committee process are put on one of the House calendars that lists bills up for consideration. The House Rules Committee serves as a “traffic officer”, helping to direct the flow of major legislation. The committee can move bills ahead quickly, hold them back, or stop them completely.

7. How are the terms filibuster and cloture related? A filibuster is a way to prevent a bill from coming to a vote and cloture is a vote that can end a filibuster. Three-fifths of senators are needed for a vote of cloture.

8. What rules govern lawmaking in the Senate? The Constitution requires a supermajority of two-thirds of the Senate to approve treaties, overturn presidential vetoes, and remove federal officials from office if they have been impeached in the House. The Senate rules have further set a supermajority of three-fifths (60) of the senators to invoke cloture and cut off filibusters. The Senate usually allows unlimited debate on bills.

9. Who makes up the Senate leadership? How does the Senate conduct business? The vice president is the president of the Senate, but rarely attends sessions and can only vote to break a tie. Therefore, a president pro tempore is elected from the majority party to preside over the Senate. The most important officers are the majority and minority leaders, who are elected by party members, and are officials of the party, not of the Senate. The procedures for moving a bill through the Senate are less formal than in the House and since the Senate is smaller, they have never needed a House Rules Committee. Senate leaders control the flow of bills to committees and to the floor. They do this by consulting closely with one another.

10. What are the roles of the following committees: standing committees, select committees, joint committees, and conference committees? Congressional committees research, craft, and write the final language for bills. Standing committees continue from one session to the next. Select committees specialize in a subcategory of its standing committee. Joint committees are composed of members of both parties and act as study groups. Conference committees are set up to resolve the differences of a bill that has been passed by the House and the Senate.

11. What are the roles of administrative assistants and of legislative assistants in the U. S. Congress? An administrative assistant serves as the chief of staff and runs the lawmaker’s office, supervises the lawmaker’s schedule, and gives advice on political matters. A legislative assistant makes certain that the lawmaker is well informed about the many bills with which she or he must deal. An LA (legislative assistant) does research, drafts bills, studies bills that are currently in Congress, and writes speeches and articles.

12. What role does congressional staff play in the work of Congress? Why has congressional staff increased over time? Congressional staff negotiate and draft bills. Lawmaking became more complex in the 1970’s and lawmakers could not be experts on all the issues; constituents demands increased over the years; and members of Congress needed a large office staff simply to deal with the many letters, faxes, and emails.

13. What is the difference between an authorization bill and an appropriation bill? An authorization bill established a program and says how much can be spent on the program. An appropriations bill is a law proposed to authorize spending money.

14. What are the legislative powers of Congress? The legislative powers of Congress are to tax and spend, to borrow to pay for government costs, to coin money and regulate its value, to regulate foreign and interstate commerce, to approve treaties, declare war, to create and maintain an army and navy, and to make rules governing land and naval forces.

15. What are the non-legislative powers of Congress? The non-legislative powers of Congress are to count the electoral college votes for a new president, to remove a federal official from office by impeachment, to confirm presidential appointments, to ratify formal treaties with other nations, and to propose amendments to the Constitution.

16. How does Congress exercise its powers to investigate government agencies? A standing committee or a select committee will conduct investigations and will hold hearings, where dozens of witnesses may be called to testify, often under oath.

17. What is divided government and how might it create partisan gridlock? Divided government is when one party controls the White House and the other party controls the House and Senate. (like we have currently)

18. What factors cause conflict between Congress and the president? Conflict between Congress and the president is dependent upon who controls the House and the Senate and the differing political timetables of the president, who at best has eight years to accomplish an agenda, and senators and representatives who may serve multiple terms.

19. What events and legislation have shifted the balance of power between Congress and the president? The National Emergencies Act of 1976 restricted the president’s emergency powers. Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 established a permanent budget committee for each house and set up the Congressional Budget Office to provide financial expertise for Congress and it limited the president’s ability to impound funds. President Roosevelt had vast authority during the Great Depression and in 1933 Congress empowered him to close the nation’s banks; when Pearl Harbor was bombed, a national emergency was proclaimed, giving Roosevelt broader control over the economy. In 1996, Congress authorized a bill that gave the president the power to use the line-item veto. This was later declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.