3. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, PART 1

I. The two houses of CongressII. Congressional elections

III. The organization of Congressa. leadership positions

b. the committee systemc. congressional staff

I. The two houses of Congress-divided government-House: 435 members since 1913 (law in 1929)-CA: 53, TX 36, NY & FL 27; MT, WY, SD, ND, DE & VT only 1

Capitol Hill

II. Congressional elections-“mid-term elections”-1st Congress: “second constitutional convention”

Congressional districts “redistricting” “gerrymandering”

1964: Wesberry v. Sanders incumbent/incumbency 2010: average: $1.5M for a House seat,

$9M for a Senate seat “straight-ticket voting”

III. The organization of Congressa. leadership positions

Speaker of the House (John Boehner, Rep - OH)

House Majority Leader (Kevin McCarthy, Rep - CA)

Senate Majority Leader (Mitch McConnell, Rep – KY)

House Minority Leader (Nancy Pelosi, Dem – CA)

Senate Minority Leader (Harry Reid, Dem – NV)

party whips caucus Mitch McConnell: “The single most

important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

b. the committee system-Congress: a “collection of committees”-“committee of the whole”-“floor action”

3 types of committees: -standing committees-select/“ad hoc” committees -joint committees, including the conference committee

Ways and Means committee (tax legislation)

c. congressional staff-Library of Congress (Congressional Research Service)-General Accounting Office for financial matters-Congressional Budget Office: help with technical advice

Current congressional committees

House of Representatives Senate Joint

•Agriculture•Appropriations•Armed Services•Budget•Education and the Workforce•Energy and Commerce•Ethics•Financial Services•Foreign Affairs•Homeland Security•House Administration•Intelligence (Permanent Select)•Judiciary•Natural Resources•Oversight and Government Reform•Rules•Science, Space, and Technology•Small Business•Transportation and Infrastructure•Veterans' Affairs•Ways and Means•(Whole)()

•Aging (Special)•Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry•Appropriations•Armed Services•Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs•Budget•Commerce, Science and Transportation•Energy and Natural Resources•Ethics (Select)•Environment and Public Works•Finance•Foreign Relations•Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions•Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs•Indian Affairs•Intelligence (Select)•Judiciary•Rules and Administration•Small Business and Entrepreneurship•Veterans' Affairs

•(Conference)•Economic•Library•Printing•Taxation