THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE

Legislative Branch Addressed in Article 1 of the Constitution – Bicameral (two houses)

House of Representatives

Proportional Representation (number of representatives is based on state population)

Currently a total of 435 Representatives

Need to be at least 25 years of age and a US citizen for 7 years, resident of state you represent

Serve 2 year terms

Senate

Equal Representation – 2 Senators from each state

Currently a total of 100 Senators (50 states x 2 senators = 100)

Need to be at least 30 years of age and US citizen for 9 years, resident of state you represent

Serve 6 year terms

TERMS TO KNOW Term: a term of Congress lasts for two years and is numbered consecutively

(starts January 3rd currently) currently just beginning the 115TH Congress

Session: period of time, during the year, where Congress assembles and

conducts business. There is one session per year, and two sessions per term

of Congress (AKA a school year)

Convene: Congress begins a session

Adjourn: Congress ends a session – Before World War II Congress met about

4-5 months per year, however now meets much longer due to so many

pressing issues

Both the House and the Senate need to agree to adjourn a session

Recess: short temporary break in business proceedings of Congress (AKA a

Christmas break)

Special Session: The President can call a special session of both houses if

circumstances warrant it

TYPES OF REPRESENTATIVES Delegate- view themselves as the agents of the people who elected them..

Will vote how they think their constituents want them to vote

Trustees- Question each issue on its merits and vote with their conscience

and judgement as a guide

Partisans- Loyal to their political party and its stance on the issue, will almost

always vote with their party - oftentimes a leading indicator of how a person

will vote

Politico- combine basic elements of the delegate, trustee, and partisan roles

into one, balance and take into account all factors

EVOLUTION OF THE

CONGRESSPERSON

Throughout much of US history, those who served in Congress viewed it as a

temporary commitment, not necessarily a career

Today most members of Congress view their service in Congress as a career

field and work hard to ensure they are re-elected, and treat the job as a full

time endeavor

Since being re-elected is so important to a career politician, many tend to

act as a delegate to their constituents (people who voted for them)

JOBS OF A CONGRESSMAN OR WOMAN

Serve in Congressional Committees that create bills and have

oversight of federal agencies that are enforcing laws

Need to gain expertise in issues and subjects behind different proposed laws

(aka bills) in their committee

Appointments for Military Academies

Help Constituents with social security issues/questions

Addressing issues and Providing Support for their region/state

Working with other people – A LOT

CONGRESSIONAL COMPENSATION

Currently Senators and Representatives are paid around

$174,000 a year

Speaker of the House makes $223,500 a year

members receive “fringe” benefits such as a tax deduction

and travel allowances for their travel from their home state and

Washington D.C.

A pension plan

Funds to hire and maintain a staff/operating costs

Franking Privilege – can send mail and other letters postage

free with signature on envelope

Other perks include preferred parking, special gym use, and

access to resources from the Library of Congress

CHALLENGES OF SERVING CONGRESS

Relatively low pay to comparable professions

Long hours with heavy debate/research/appearances

Intense Public Scrutiny

Family life can be challenging, away from home often

BENEFITS OF SERVING IN CONGRESS

Serve your area, bring change to your community and

nation

Prestige of being an elected official at the highest level

Rewarding and challenging career

REAPPORTIONMENT OF THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES

Originally the size of the house was 65 seats apportioned throughout the 13 original states

As the country grew, the number was set at the 435 members it is today

Every 10 years these seats are reapportioned amongst the states based on the results of the census (some states may gain seats, others may lose a seat)

Some states are so small they only have one representative

The process of reapportioning the seats is completed by the members of Congress at the time of the reapportionment

GERRYMANDERING

Gerrymandering essentially means redrawing district lines in a

way that benefits the majority political party at that time

Incumbent = the elected official that is currently sitting in

office

The lines are drawn in a way that gives a political advantage to

the dominant party in the majority of districts in the state

MAKING LAWS – THE HOUSE OF REP. PROCESS

Bills are referred to a Committee

Committee Chairperson guides process, decides which bills will be discussed/debated in committee

Often referred to a subcommittee for a more specific understanding

Committee may pass bill or amend it and send it to the Rules Committee for floor consideration, otherwise bill dies in committee

Next the Bill is sent to the Rules Committee for floor consideration

Rules Committee gets to decide when and how a bill will be discussed with the entire House of Representatives present.. Usually limited time for debate and discussion

A Bill needs to pass with a majority vote amongst the whole House of Representatives (needs to be Quorum)

SOME EXAMPLES OF CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

Standing Committees in the House of Representatives

Committee on Agriculture

Committee on Energy and Commerce

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Special (Ad Hoc Committees in the House of Representatives)

Committee on Benghazi

Standing Committees in the Senate

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

Committee on Foreign Relations

Committee on Veterans Affairs

Special (Ad Hoc Committees in the Senate)

Committee on Aging

MAKING LAWS – THE SENATE PROCESS

The start of the process is similar to the House of Representatives

The Senate is much less formal than the House of

Representatives

Bills that pass committee are called to the floor by the Senate

Majority Leader – also require a majority vote to pass it into law

Debate is open and unlimited

Filibuster – a stalling technique where senators that are against a bill try

to delay/prevent the passage of it by speaking for a very long time

If the 2 houses pass a different wording of same bill, then a

conference committee with members from both houses works

out a common bill that can be proposed to both houses again

CLOTURE

Cloture – A rule in the senate that limits the time of

debate in the senate chamber – it is used to prevent

filibusters

60 votes are required to achieve cloture

thus oftentimes in order to pass a law that could be filibustered,

60 votes are essentially needed to pass it

The Cloture rule was added to senate procedure during World

War I when legislation needed to be passed quickly

INTEREST GROUPS Interest Group – a group of people that seeks to influence public policy on the basis of a

particular common interest or concern

Interest Groups attempt to influence legislators in the following ways:

Endorsing Candidates: A group that endorses a candidate that supports their views may allow

the candidate to gain more votes when running for reelection/election

Donating to Campaigns: A group may donate to a candidate’s campaign that supports their viewpoints. There are limits to how much can be donated and donations are closely tracked

(need to be used for the campaign, not personal purposes)

Lobbying: Interest Groups and Companies/Organizations hire professionals to personally

speak with members of Congress to influence how they vote

EXPRESSED POWERS TO CONGRESS (AS PER CONSTITUTION)

Congress may pass laws/resolutions in the following areas

Establish laws/requirements for citizenship

Power to make rules for bankruptcies

Power to regulate/punish counterfeiters (fake money)

Power to create a National Post Office

Power to provide Copyrights and Patents to protect creative work

Organize all federal courts underneath the Supreme Court

Power to create, fund, and regulate the Armed Forces

Power to govern Washington DC (Capital of the US is its own entity, not a state)

Power to acquire land from the states for federal use (national parks! For example)

Regulate Commerce between states

Power to Tax

Other laws that are necessary and proper to make the above powers happen!

IMPLIED POWERS

Implied Powers are based off of Expressed Powers

Example – Power to Create a Post Office is an Expressed Power

In order to create a post office, Congress must pass a law that funds mail

trucks for the post office, so this is an Implied Power

Congress cannot pass laws that do not fall under the expressed or

implied powers, these powers are reserved to the states

This would include laws Education, Local Govt. Regulation, Alcohol and

Substance Abuse Regulation, and many other types of laws that are

addressed by the states

STRINGS ATTACHED BILLS

So.. You may ask how is Congress allowed to pass laws that seemingly go

against their expressed/implied powers?

Power of the Purse! (Congress controls federal funds)

Strings Attached Bills

Strings Attached Bills encourage actions or laws in return for federal funds

Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act

Required States to make the drinking age 21 in order to receive federal highway funding

Title IX (National Education Law)

Requires any educational institution that receives federal funding not to discriminate on the basis of

gender or race

This is the reason for equal funding requirement for both boys and girls sports

National Government able to regulate some aspects of education through federal funds

CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

Leadership Positions are voted on by members of Congress

Political Party Affiliation plays a big role in leadership votes!!

The Party with more members is called the majority party, and they essentially get to

choose the leadership positions since they hold the majority

The Constitution only lists the following positions in Congress:

Speaker of the House

Leader of the House of Representatives, Presides over the House of Representatives, runs floor discussion,

debate, and voting, and refers bills to committee, decides committee assignments for members

President of the Senate

This is the Vice President of the US, they guide senate debate and discussion but do not vote in the senate

UNLESS there is a tie.

President Pro Tempore of the Senate

This is a senator elected by the senate to preside over the senate and guide debate/discussion if the Vice President is absent (think of them as the substitute teacher )