Congress Second Tranche of Slides

1. Congress Second Tranche of Slides Partisanship, House & Senate Leadership

2. Partisanship Congress has grown more partisan.

3. Partisanship (cont.) Effects of polarization: • Much more partisan sniping. • Parties get dug in and refuse to budge.

4. Partisanship (cont.) Why the partisanship? • It’s important to remember that there always has been partisanship. • But partisan voting seems to have increased in the past several decades, due to lots of things, including: • Gerrymandering making districts more extreme (but remember you need the Governor and the state legislature to pull this off). • Media, fanning the partisan flames, giving air time to extremes. • Growing presence of large, very ideological donors. • Move away from awarding committee chairmanships based strictly on seniority and toward factoring in party loyalty.

5. Partisanship (cont.) • Don’t forget the earlier slide in this chapter about decentralization. MCs must please their constituents first and foremost. • Much of this is done of late by trying to move the parties more towards the ends of the political spectrum. • But while MCs will play ball with the party leadership much (most?) of the time, they ultimately will do what they need to do to get reelected. • This may involve joining a Congressional caucus.

6. Caucuses • In this context, a “caucus” is an association of MCs created to advance a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest. • There are over 300 of them, including some as obscure as the Lyme Disease Caucus and the Congressional Bike Caucus. See http://thatsmycongress.com/index.php/2009/03/10/list-of-websites-for-house-caucuses-in-the-111th-congress/. For more information about caucuses, see, e.g., http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3193.html.

7. Caucuses (cont.) • Some of the more prominent caucuses include the Congressional Black Caucus, the Tea Party Caucus, and the Blue Dog Coalition (although the Blue Dogs have fallen from 54 to 14 from 111th Congress to 113th). • Caucuses are becoming another rival of political parties for leadership in Congress.

8. Segue to new topic: Congressional leadership Random cute picture:

9. Congressional LeadershipLet’s start with the House

10. Speaker of House The Speaker is the most important person in the House. The speaker is – • One of 3 Congressional offices required by the Constitution (the other 2 being President of the Senate and President Pro Tempore (or, “President Pro Tem”)) • 3rd in line in presidential succession • Selected by the majority party

11. Speaker (cont.) Some powers of the Speaker: • Recognizes someone to speak on the House floor (no one can address the House until “recognized” by the Speaker) • Rules whether a motion is “germane” (about which more later) • Refers bills to committees • Puts motions to a vote and decides whether the motion passed or was defeated • Selects people for the House Rules Committee (more to come on that, too) Historically, there has been more party discipline in House than in Senate. Speaker in a good position to reward or punish.

12. The Speaker (cont.) The current speaker: The perennially tanned John Boehner.

13. House Majority and Minority Leaders • One might reasonablythink that Boehner would be the Majority Leader. • One would be wrong. It’s Eric Cantor. • The House Minority Leader is Nancy Pelosi (former Speaker, and the first woman to hold that position, by the way).

14. House Majority and Minority Leaders (cont.) • The House Majority Leader: • Schedules legislation for floor consideration; • Plans the daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas; • Consults with Members to gauge party sentiment. • Usually becomes Speaker (assuming no change in majority party) • The House Minority Leader: • Serves as floor leader of the "loyal opposition" and is the minority counterpart to the Speaker.

15. The Whips Their job is to count likely votes, advise on whether to have a vote, and whip up support among party members. The term "whip" comes from a fox-hunting job – the "whipper-in" – to keep dogs from straying during a chase. No: Yes:

16. House Leadership Committees Democrats • Democratic Caucus • All the House Ds • Steering and Policy Committee • Advise on policy; make committee assignments • Campaign Committee • Raise money for candidates Republicans • Republican Conference • All the House Rs • Policy Committee • Advise on policy • Committee on Committees • Make committee assignments • Campaign Committee • Raise money for candidates

17. Senate Leadership

18. The V.P.’s role in the Senate Virtually nothing. • Has power to preside over the Senate but almost never does. • Is prohibited by the Senate rules from participating in debates (see Rule XIX if you really wanna know more). • Presides over impeachment trials that do not involve the President. Only real power as head of the Senate: cast a tie-breaking vote. VP thumbs in action while presiding over Senate

19. President Pro Tem • A Constitutionally-required office. • 4th in line for presidential succession. • Like the president of the Senate, this is a largely ceremonial role. • Given to the senior-most member of the majority party. • Presides over the Senate if V.P. is not there (or, likelier, hands the gavel over to some junior Senator). • Current: Patrick Leahy (VT).

20. The real power in the Senate • Majority and minority leaders (a/k/a “floor leaders”) • Majority leader – • Schedules legislation and debate (in consultation with minority leader) • Is the spokesperson for the majority party (and in theory the entire Senate) • Gets to speak first, which allows him to offer motions and amendments first (a key tactical advantage) • Working with the minority leader, he will schedule “unanimous consent” motions – which is how most business gets done in the Senate.

21. Senate Leadership (cont.) Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: Who looks like: Majority Leader Harry Reid:

22. Senate Leadership Committees Democrats • Democratic Conference (or Caucus) Committee. • This is all the Ds in the Senate • Policy Committee • Schedules legislation; develops and supports policy • Steering Committee • Makes committee assignments • Campaign Committee • Gives candidates money Republicans • Republican Conference(or Caucus) Committee • All the Rs in the Senate • Policy Committee • Develops and supports policy • Committee on Committees • Makes committee assignments • Campaign Committee • Same as Ds

23. And while we’re on the topic of money… ”Leadership PACs” These coordinate with the Campaign Committees. ”Politicians collect money for their own campaigns—we all know that. But many of them also raise a separate pot of money, commonly called a leadership political action committee, to help other politicians. By making donations to members of their party, ambitious lawmakers can use their leadership PACs to gain clout among their colleagues and boost their bids for leadership posts or committee chairmanships. Politicians also use leadership PACs to lay the groundwork for their own campaigns for higher office.” OpenSecrets.org Another perspective: “Lawmakers rise to positions of committee and party leadership not based on their talents or expertise but on their prowess at shaking down big money donors.” Mann, Thomas E.; Ornstein, Norman J. It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism

24. House and Senate leadership charts • House: http://www.house.gov/leadership/ • Senate: http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/a_three_sections_with_teasers/leadership.htm