Section Outline

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The Legislative BranchSection 3: How Congress Is Organized

I. Leadership in Congress

II. Working in a Committee

III. The President’s Role

Section Reading Support Transparency

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The Legislative BranchSection 3: How Congress is Organized

Main Idea

Both houses of Congress choose leaders and

assign members to committees. The committees

work on bills before they are voted on. The

President can sign or veto a bill.

Key Terms

•Speaker of the House

•President Pro Tempore

•Floor leaders

•Pocket veto

Leadership in Congress

•House: Speaker of the House— Presiding officer in the House of Representatives

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The Legislative BranchSection 3: How Congress Is Organized

•Senate: President Pro Tempore— The Vice President is president of the Senate.— Presiding officer of the Senate, when the Vice President is absent

•Floor Leaders— The chief officers of the majority and minority parties in each house— Assistant leaders are called whips.

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The Legislative BranchSection 3: How Congress Is Organized

Working in Committees

•Only Congress can introduce bills

•Standing Committees— There are 36 total committees dedicated to certain needs, such as education or

banking.

•Committees and Bills— When introduced, bills go to a committee for analysis.— The committee decides whether or not the bill is to be voted on in the House or

Senate.

Go Online: How a Bill Becomes a Law

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The Legislative BranchSection 3: How Congress is Organized

The President’s Role

“Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate…[and] Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the

Senate and House of Representatives, may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President…” –Article I,

Section 7, Clauses 2 and 3.

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The Legislative BranchSection 3: How Congress Is Organized

•If the President signs a bill, it becomes law.

•The President may veto or reject a bill by not signing it and sending it back to Congress.

— Congress can override the President’s veto with 2/3 majority votes in both houses.

— The President may use a “pocket veto” by holding a bill for 10 days during which Congress ends its session.

The President’s Role (continued)

The Legislative Branch: Section 3

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

The Legislative Branch: Section 3Section Reading Support Transparency

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