making a bill a law. elected by members of the majority party next in line of succession most...
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Speaker of the House
Elected by members of the majority party Next in line of succession Most important legislative position
President Pro Temps of the Senate
Leader of the senate when the VP is not there
Next in line after the Speaker
Party Whips
Serve as a link between the leaders & the rank and file members of Congress
Dick Durbin
Steny Hoyer
Jon Kyl
Kevin McCarthy
Committee Chairman
Chosen from majority party Longest serving member of the
committee from the majority party Chairman decides: when they meet, bills
to take up, whether or not to hold public meetings, call witnesses
They then steer the debate and manage the bill
Committees
Most work is done in committees Standing committees – permanent
committees where bills are sent 19 in House; 17 in the Senate Representatives usually serve on 1 o2 Senators usually serve on 3 or 4
Powerful Committees
House- Rules, Ways & Means, Appropriations, Armed Services, Judiciary, International Relations
Senate- Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Finance, Judiciary, Armed Services
Committee Work
Most standing committees have sub-committees to split up the work
When a bill is introduced the Speaker or the President Pro Temps steers the bill to the appropriate committee
The House Rules committee determines which bills that make it through committees actually make it to the floor of the House for a vote
Types of Committees
Select (special) committee- set up for specific purpose & a limited time
Usually formed to investigate a specific matter
Joint Committee- one composed of both houses
Conference Committee- temporary joint created to reach a compromise on a bill passed through the chambers with different versions. Must be identical to be sent to President
Bill Becomes A LawHouse of Representatives
Public- applies to nation Private- certain persons or places Bills can be presented by members of the
legislative branch, the executive branch, or regular citizens
Resolutions
Measure dealing with only one house, not a binding Law
Joint Resolutions- similar to bills when passed; they have the force of law; usually temporary
Concurrent Resolutions- House and Senate act together; do not have the force of law
Riders- a provision that is attached to a larger measure. Sponsor hopes it will “ride” through with the main bill. Might not be passed on its own.
If President wants the main bill passed will have to pass the “riders” along with it
Usually deals with $$$$$ “earmarks” or “pork”
Dead Bills
Most bills die in committee- “pigeonholed”
Discharge petition- Any member can request that a dead bill be brought to the floor
Rarely used or successful
Committee Actions
Report the bill favorably as is to floor for a vote
Pigeonhole Report the bill in amended form Report the bill unfavorably to the floor-
committee does not want to be responsible for the death of the bill
Report a committee bill- new bill or several bills put together
Rules Committee
The Rules committee ultimately decides what bills go to the floor
Suspend the Rules- happens when Congress wants to fast track a bill
Quorum-a majority of the House needs to be present to vote on a bill
Committee of the Whole- House becomes a committee to work on a bill as a whole then will reconvene to vote on the bill
Speaker allots a certain amount of time to debate each bill brought to the floor
Voting
Voice votes Standing votes Computerized Votes- Aye, Nay, Present
Engrossed- the bill is printed in its final formSpeaker signs it and sends it to the Senate
Bill to LawSenate
Basically the same rules as the House with a few exceptions
Senate rules are less formal than the House
Bills are called to the floor at the discretion of the Senate Majority Leader
Debate is the biggest difference between the two chambers
Debate
Debate is mostly unrestrained Voting does not take place until a
unanimous consent is given “Two Speech Rule”- on Senator can speak
more than twice on a specific measure on the same legislative day
“Filibuster”- talking a bill to death. A group of Senators who do not want a bill passed can continue speaking until the bill is dropped or changed to suit those Senators
Debate
They will also use motions, quorum calls, or other manuevers to stall the vote on a bill which will likely pass
Huey Long in 1935-15 hours-Washington phone book and recipes
Glenn Taylor in 1947-8 hours- Family, fishing, Wall Street
Strom Thurmond-1957-24 hours- trying to stop the Civil Rights Acts of 1957
Debate
Over 200 bills have been killed by filibusters
Many bills are not even brought to floor due to threat of filibuster
Cloture-passed in 1917- must have a vote of 60 Senators “super-majority”- then bill must be brought to floor after 30 hours
Presidential Acts
Once a Bill has passed in identical form in both the House and Senate the President acts
Sign the bill into law Veto- may be overridden with 2/3 vote of
both houses President could just ignore it and then it will
become law in 10 days; not Sundays Pocket Veto- if Congress adjourns within 10
days of submitting the bill and the President does not act on the bill, it dies there