1. Congress
Chapter 12

2. The Constitution and the Legislative Branch
of the Government
• Article I describes structure of
Congress
– Bicameral legislature
• Divided into two houses
• Each state sends two Senators
regardless of population.
• Number of representatives each
state sends to the House is
determined by state population.

3. The Constitution and the Legislative Branch
of the Government
• Constitution sets out requirements for membership in the
House and Senate
– House – 25 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 7 years; serve 2
year terms
• Directly elected, thus more responsible to the people
– Senate – 30 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 9 years; serve 6
year terms ; originally chosen by state legislators, until 17th
Amendment (1913)
– Congressional members must be legal residents of their states.

4. The Representatives and Senators
• The Job
– Salary of $158,100 with retirement benefits
– Office space in D.C. and at home and staff to fill it.
– Travel allowances and franking privileges.
– Often requires 10 to 14 hour days, lots of time
away from the family, and lots of pressure from
different people to “do the right thing.”

5. The Representatives and Senators

6. The Representatives and Senators

7. Congressional Elections
• Who Wins Elections?
– Incumbent: Those already holding office.
Figure 12.1

8. Congressional Elections
• The Advantages of Incumbents
– Advertising:
• The goal is to be visible to your voters.
• Frequent trips home & newsletters are used.
– Credit Claiming:
• Service to individuals in their district.
• 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.

9. 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:
• Most opponents are inexperienced in politics.
• Most opponents are unorganized and underfunded.
– Campaign Spending:
• Challengers need to raise large sums to defeat an incumbent.
• PACs give most of their money to incumbents.
• Does PAC money “buy” votes in Congress?

10. Congressional Elections
• The Role of Party Identification
– Most members represent the majority party in
their district.
• Defeating Incumbents
– Some incumbents face problems after a scandal or
other complication in office.
– They may face redistricting.
– They may become a victim of a major political
tidal wave.

11. Congressional Elections
• Open Seats
– Greater likelihood of competition.
• Stability and Change
– Incumbents provide stability in Congress.
– Change in Congress occurs less frequently through
elections.
– Are term limits an answer?

13. How Congress is Organized to Make
Policy
American Bicameralism
–Bicameral: Legislature divided into two
houses.
• The House • The Senate
– 435 members, 2 year – 100 members, 6 year
terms of office. terms of office.
– Initiates all revenue – Gives “advice &
bills, more influential consent”, more
on budget. influential on foreign
– House Rules affairs.
Committee – Unlimited debates.
– Limited debates. (filibuster)
From Table 12.3

14. How Congress is Organized to
Make Policy
Congressional Leadership
 The House  The Senate
– Lead by Speaker of the – Formerly lead by Vice
House - elected by President.
House members. – Really lead by
– Presides over House. Majority Leader-
– Major role in chosen by party
committee assignments members.
and legislation. – Assisted by whips.
– Assisted by majority – Must work with
leader and whips. Minority leader.

15. The House of Representatives
www.house.gov
• Speaker
– Presides over House
– Official spokesperson for the House
– Second in line of presidential succession (Others?)
– House liaison with president
– Great political influence within the chamber
• Henry Clay, first powerful speaker (1810)
• Joe Cannon (1903-1910), was so powerful, that a revolt emerged
to reduce powers of the speakership.
• Newt Gingrich (1995)
• Nancy Pelosi – first woman speaker
• John Boehner – current speaker

16. Other House Leaders
• Majority Leader (Eric Cantor, R-VA)
– Elected leader of the party controlling the most seats in the House or
the Senate
– Second in authority to the Speaker—in the Senate, is the most
powerful member
• Minority Leader (Nancy Pelosi, D-CA)
– Elected leader of the party with the second highest number of elected
representatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate
• Whips (Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, Steny Hoyer, D-MD)
• Party caucus or conference
– A formal gathering of all party
members

17. Party Structure in the House -
Summary
• Speaker of the House is leader of majority
party and presides over House
• Majority leader and minority leader: leaders
on the floor
• Party whips keep leaders informed and
round up votes
• Committee assignments and legislative
schedule are set by each party

18. The Senate
www.senate.gov
• The Constitution specifies the vice president (Joe
Biden) as the presiding officer of the Senate.
– He votes only in case of a tie.
• Official chair of the Senate is the president pro
tempore (pro tem), currently Daniel Inouye (D-
Hawaii) Primarily honorific
– Generally goes to the most senior senator of the majority
party
– Actual presiding duties rotate among junior members of
the chamber
– True leader is the majority leader, but not as powerful as
Speaker is in the House

19. Party Structure in the Senate
• President pro tempore presides; this is the member
with most seniority in majority party (a largely
honorific office)
• Leaders are the majority leader (Harry Reid, D-NV) and
the minority leader (Mitch McConnell, R-KY), elected
by their respective party members

20. Mitch McConnell a turtle?

21. Party Structure in the Senate
• Party whips: keep leaders informed, round
up votes, count noses (Jon Kyl, R-AZ, Dick
Durbin, D-IL)
• Each party has a policy committee: schedules
Senate business, prioritizes bills
• Committee assignments are handled by a
group of Senators, each for their own party

22. The Senate
• Senate rules give tremendous power to
individual senators.
– Offering any kind of amendment even if not
germane
– Filibuster (What was the change in 1975?)
• Because Senate is smaller in size organization
and formal rules have not played the same role
as in the House.

23. How Congress is Organized to Make
Policy
• The Committees and Subcommittees
– Four types of committees:
• Standing committees: subject matter committees
handle different policy areas.
• Joint committees: few policy areas- made up of House
& Senate members.
• Conference committees: resolve differences in House
and Senate bills.
• Select committees: created for a specific purpose.

24. How Congress is Organized to Make
Policy
• The Committees and Subcommittees
– The Committees at Work: Legislation and
Oversight
• Committees work on the 11,000 bills every session.
• Some hold hearings and “mark up” meetings.
• Oversight involves hearings and other methods of
checking the actions of the executive branch.
• As the size of government grows, oversight grows too.

25. How Congress is Organized to Make
Policy
• The Committees and Subcommittees
– Getting on a Committee
• Members want committee assignments that will help
them get reelected, gain influence, and make policy.
• New members express their committee preferences to
the party leaders.
• Support of the party is important in getting on the right
committee.
• Parties try to grant committee preferences.

26. How Congress is Organized to Make
Policy
• The Committees and Subcommittees
– Getting Ahead on the Committee: Chairs and the
Seniority System.
• The chair is the most important position for controlling
legislation.
• Chairs were once chosen strictly by the seniority
system.
• Now seniority is a general rule, and members may
choose the chair of their committee.

27. How Congress is Organized to Make
Policy
• Caucuses: The Informal Organization of
Congress
– Caucus: A group of members of Congress sharing
some interest or characteristic.
– Caucuses pressure for committee meetings and
hearings and for votes on bills.
– Caucuses can be more effective than lobbyists.

28. Congressional Caucuses
• Caucus: an association of members of Congress created
to advocate a political ideology or a regional or economic
interest
• Intra-party caucuses: members share a similar ideology
• Personal interest caucuses: members share an interest
in an issue
• Constituency caucuses: established to represent groups,
regions or both

29. Congressional Caucuses

30. How Congress is Organized to Make
Policy
• Congressional Staff
– Personal staff: Work for the member. Mainly
providing constituent service, but help with
legislation too.
– Committee staff: organize hearings, research &
write legislation, target of lobbyists.
– Staff Agencies: CRS, GAO, CBO provide specific
information to Congress.

31. The Growth in Staffs of Members
and Committees in Congress, 1930-
2000

33. Constitutional (Formal) Powers of Congress
• The authority to make laws is • Other shared powers
shared by both chambers of – Declare war
Congress. – Raise an army and navy
– Coin money
– No bill (a proposed law) – Regulate commerce
can become a law without – Establish the federal courts and their
the consent of both jurisdiction
houses. – Establish rules of immigration and
naturalization
– Each chamber also has
– Make laws necessary and proper to
special, exclusive powers
carrying out the powers previously listed
as well.
• Special powers
– House – origin of revenue bills,
impeachment, (but Senate tries)
– Senate – treaties (2/3 vote), presidential
appointments

34. Table 7.1

35. Three types of legislative action
Distributive Legislation
Redistributive Legislation
Regulatory Legislation

36. The Congressional Process
• Legislation:
– Bill: A proposed law.
– Anyone can draft a bill, but only members of
Congress can introduce them.
– More rules in the House than in the Senate.
– Party leaders play a vital role in steering bills
through both houses, but less in the Senate.
– Countless influences on the legislative process.

37. The Congressional Process
• How a Bill Becomes a Law (Figure 12.2)

38. The Congressional Process
• Presidents and Congress: Partners and
Protagonists
– Presidents have many resources to influence
Congress (often called the “Chief Legislator”).
– In order to “win” in Congress, the president must
win several battles in each house.
– Presidential leadership of Congress is at the
margins and is most effective as a facilitator.

39. The Congressional Process
• Party, Constituency, and Ideology
– Party Influence: Party leaders cannot force party
members to vote a particular way, but many do
vote along party lines.
– Constituency versus Ideology: Most constituents
are uninformed about their member. It is difficult
for constituents to influence their member, but on
controversial issues members can not ignore
constituents.

40. The Congressional Process
• Lobbyists and Interest Groups
– There are several thousand lobbyists trying to
influence Congress - the bigger the issue, the
more lobbyists will be working on it.
– Lobbyists can be ignored, shunned and even
regulated by Congress.
– Ultimately, it is a combination of lobbyists and
others that influence members of Congress.

41. Understanding Congress
• Congress and Democracy
– Leadership and committee assignments are not
representative.
– Congress does try to respond to what the people
want, but some argue it could do a better job.
– Members of Congress are responsive to the
people, if the people make clear what they want.

42. Understanding Congress
• Congress and Democracy
– Representation versus Effectiveness
• Congress is responsive to so many interests that
policy is uncoordinated, fragmented, and
decentralized.
• Congress is so representative that it is incapable of
taking decisive action to deal with difficult
problems.
• Defenders argue because Congress is decentralized,
there is no oligarchy to prevent comprehensive
action.

43. Understanding Congress
• Congress and the Scope of Government
– The more policies Congress works on, the more
ways they can serve their constituencies.
– The more programs that get created, the bigger
government gets.
– Everybody wants government programs cut, just
not their programs.