Leadership in Congress

113th Congress: 2013-2015

Introduction• Leadership in Congress is based on how many

seats your political party controls• Majority Party: Political party that controls the

most seats in the House or Senate• Minority Party: Political party that does not control

the majority of seats in the House or Senate• The majority party elects the senior leaders of both

the House and Senate

US House of RepresentativesRepublicans: 233

Democrats: 200

Independent: 0

Vacant: 2

Total: = 435

113th Congress (2013-2015)

House of Representatives

Speaker of the House

Minority Leader

Minority Whip

Majority Leader

Majority Whip

John Boehner (R-OH)

Nancy Pelosi (D- CA)

Steny Hoyer (D- MD)

Eric Cantor (R- VA)

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA )

2014

James Clyburn (D- SC)

Assistant Democratic Leader

Former Speaker of the House 2007-2011

• 8th District from California

• Elected Speaker in 2007

• First female Speaker

• Elected to the House in 1987

Nancy Pelosi (D)

• Ohio (8th district)• Born 1949 (12 brothers and sisters)• Married with 2 daughters• Elected to Congress in 1990• Elected to 11th term 2010• Elected Speaker 2011

Speaker of the House 2011-Present

John Boehner (R)

Focused on removing government barriers to private-sector job creation and economic growth, cutting government spending, reforming Congress, and repealing the Obama Health Care law

The Role of the Speaker • Three main roles, as the Representative for his or

her district, as a leader of his or her party, and as the leader of the House as a whole.

• Elected by the majority party in the House• Calls the House to order• Administering the oath of office to House Members.• Presides over debate, recognizing Members to

speak on the floor, and preserves order• 2nd in line to succeed the President after the VP• Leads the appointment process for the chairs of the

various committees and subcommittees

Floor Leaders• Majority and Minority Leaders: Party officers elected by their party Legislative strategists who carry out the decisions of their party

and try to get their bills passed Chief spokesperson of their party

• Majority and Minority Whips: Party officers elected by their party Whips check with party members and inform the floor leader how

members plan to vote (whip count) Ensure that all members are present to vote Ensure that members always vote along party lines

US Senate (2014)

2 Independents: Both generally vote with the Democrats

Republicans: 45

Democrats: 53

Independent: 2

Vacant: 0

Total: = 100

U.S. Senate

President Pro Tempore

Majority Leader

Majority Whip

Minority Leader

Minority Whip

President of Senate

Vice President: Joseph Biden

Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Harry Reid (D-NV)

Richard Durbin (D-IL)

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

John Cornyn (R-TX)

President of the Senate• Vice President of the United States• Presides over the Senate but is not a Senator• Can only vote in order to break a tie vote

Pro Tempore of Senate (2013)

Born: March 31, 1940 Office: Senator (Vermont) since 1975Education: Georgetown University, Saint Michael's College, Georgetown University Law Center

Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)

Elected: January 3, 1959

Longest Serving Senator

51 years!

Born: 1917

Died: 2010

Former Pro Tempore of Senate

The Role of the Pro Tempore• The Constitution requires the Senate to elect a president pro

tempore to serve as presiding officer in the absence of the vice president. The president pro tempore is authorized to preside over the Senate, sign legislation, and issue the oath of office to new senators. (Can preside over debate)

• Elected by the majority party• Generally performs same duties as the Speaker

Committee Chairman• They head (are in charge of) the standing or

permanent committees in Congress• Each chairperson is usually that committee’s longest

standing (serving) member from the majority party

Committee Chair Powers• They call meetings of their committee• Schedule committee hearings (public or private)• Hire staff to work for the committee• Recommend members to sit on a conference

committee• Select the sub committee chairpersons • They often receive favors from lobbyists and large

contributions from PACs

Seniority Rule• This custom (not a rule or law) says that the most

important Congressional leadership roles go to the members who have served the longest

• Seniors have privileges over Freshmen