The Congress of the United States
A) General Considerations
1) Term – starts on noon of the 3rd day of January in odd years, lasts for 2 years
2) Session – 2 per term, no mandated length but both houses must agree to adjourn
3) Only the President can call a special session
B) The House of Representatives – 435 members based on population with each state guaranteed one
1) Term – 2 years designed to make representatives more responsible to the people
2) Reapportionment – done every 10 years after the new census is taken
a) Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the permanent size of the House at 435 – number of seats per
3) Elections are held every 2 years on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November
a) Voting districts are determined by State Legislatures with certain federal restrictions
1) Must be contiguous in territory, contain fairly equal number of people, be compact
2) Gerrymandering – drawing representative districts to the advantage of a candidate or party
3) 1964 – Westbury v. Sanders – Supreme Court stated that unequal representation is a violation of one man one vote ideal expressed in the Constitution
4) Qualifications – must be at least 25 years of age, a citizen for at least 7 years, reside in the state
a) House can refuse to seat someone with a majority vote – remove seated member with 2/3 vote
C) The United State Senate – 100 members – 2 per state elected at large
1) Term – 6 years staggered so that only 1/3 of the members face election every 2 years
2) Qualifications – at least 30 years old, a citizen for at least 9 years and a resident of the state
a) Senate can refuse to seat with a majority vote and expel member with a 2/3 vote
D) Congress is not a microcosm of American Society
1) Average member is a white male in their late 40s to early 50s
- 23% are considered racial minorities - 27% are women
2) Most male, white, married, Protestant, over ½ are lawyers, college graduates and wealthy
E) Jobs performed by members of Congress
1) Make laws, represent constituents, serve constituents, committee members and politicians
F) Personality types of members of Congress – based on voting record
1) Partisan – vote straight party ticket
2) Delegate – votes the will of his constituents
3) Trustee – votes his own way (what is best for the country)
G) Compensation given members of Congress
1) Salary – currently 174,000 yearly - increases determined by 27th Amendment
2) Fringe benefits – tax break for 2 residences, travel allowance, medical and life insurance, pension plan, office space in Capitol and at home, funds for staff and supplies, franking privilege, free printing and distribution of speeches and newsletters, free parking, gyms and health clubs, doctor on call and care at military hospitals – over $200,000 yearly
3) Privileges accorded members of Congress
a) Can not be arrested going to or from or during sessions of Congress except for treason, felony or a serious breach of the peace
b) Can not be charged with slander or libel for statements they make on the floor of Congress
The Powers of Congress
A) Legislative Powers – expressed, implied, inherent
1) Expressed powers – those found specifically in the Constitution
a) Tax - $1.3 trillion in 1994-$2 trillion in 2003-3.3 trillion 2018
1) Tariffs – tax on imports for revenue and to protect American industry
2) Direct taxes – paid by the person they are levied against; income tax
3) Indirect taxes – paid by one person then passed on to another; F.E.T.
4) Borrow money
b) Commerce – regulation of trade
1) Foreign trade and interstate trade
2) Limitations – no tax on exports, all ports of entry treated equally, etc.
c) Currency – power to coin money and regulate its worth
1) Coin – determine types of currency used and mint it
2) Regulate worth – set the value of the dollar
d) Borrowing – no Constitutional ceiling, Congress has placed a statutory limit, can be raised
e) Bankruptcy – concurrent power
1) Protects both debtors and creditors
f) Naturalization – set up rules to become an American citizen
1) Natural born – where you are born and to whom you are born
2) Naturalized – 160,000 per year, also collective naturalization when a new territory is added
3) Expatriation – can not provide for a loss of citizenship by a natural born citizen, can for a Naturalized citizen
g) Postal power – carry the mail and determine what can be legally carried
h) Copyrights and Patents –
1) Copyrights – gives total rights to an author for life plus 70 years
2) Patents – gives total rights to an inventor for 20 years
i) Weights and Measures – power needed to unify the country
j) Territories and Areas – lands (Guam, Puerto Rico), naval installations, prisons, parks, embassies
k) Judicial powers –
1) Create all courts below the Supreme Court
2) Define federal crimes and punishments
3) Impeachment and removal of government officers
l) Foreign relations –
1) Suggest foreign policy to the President
2) Approve treaties
m) War powers – including the right to declare war, raise and maintain an army and navy, call up the militia, restrict the use of troops in a non-war situation
n) Establish Washington D.C. as the nation's capital
2) The Implied Powers
A) Elastic Clause – Congress may do what is necessary and proper for the welfare of the nation
1) Bank of the United States, the Louisiana Purchase
2) Powers must be reasonably drawn from the expressed powers
3) The Inherent Powers
A) Those powers which sovereign nations normally have
B) Non-Legislative powers of Congress
1) Electoral powers
a) Presidential elections – if no candidate has a majority of the Electoral Vote the House elects the President and the Senate elects the Vice-President
b) 25th Amendment – if a vacancy exists in the vice-presidency, the President nominates a new one and both Houses of Congress vote to confirm the nomination
2) Constitutional Amendment – Congress has the power to propose an Amendment with a 2/3 vote of both houses or call a National Convention to do so
3) Impeachment – can impeach and remove the President, Vice-President and all civil officers of the Federal Government
a) Impeach – (bring charges) done by the House with a majority vote
b) Conviction – done by the Senate with a 2/3 vote
c) 21 but 20 people impeached with 7 convictions
4) Executive powers of the Senate
a) Approve Presidential appointments – majority vote, appointments usually affected by Senatorial Courtesy
b) Treaties – made with the advice and consent of the Senate, 2/3 vote of Senate to ratify
5) Investigations – power held for 5 purposes
a) To gather information for the purpose of making laws
b) To review the effectiveness of laws already passed
c) To find if programs are being administered properly
d) Focus attention on particular subjects
e) Expose questionable activities of public officials or private citizens
The Presiding Officers of Congress
A) The House of Representatives
1) The Speaker of the House – elected by the members of the majority party – runs meetings, recognizes members, interprets rules – to debate or vote he steps down and appoints a temporary chair- he must vote to break ties
2) Majority and Minority Leaders – elected by the members of their parties – not official posts – run party business on the floor and provide leadership
3) Majority and Minority Whips – assistants chosen by party to assist leaders
B) The Senate
1) The President of the Senate – Vice-President of the United States
2) The President Pro Temp – elected by the majority party of the Senate serves when VP not available
3) Majority and Minority Leaders and Whips
Congressional Committees – one of the most important features of Congress
A) Standing Committees – bills introduced to the House or Senate are sent to the proper committee
1) House – 19 Committees, 9 to 75 members, each member belongs to one or two
2) Senate – 17 Committees, 12 to 28 members, each member belongs to three or four
3) Membership in Committees determined by – seniority, area of expertise – majority party controls a majority of the seats
4) Committees deal with specific subject matter with the exception of The House Rules Committee
a) Manages the flow of bills to the floor of the House, can hasten, delay or prevent the consideration of a bill
B) Select Committees – special groups set up for a specific purpose and a limited time – appointed by the Speaker or President of the Senate – usually investigative in nature - Watergate, Attack on 1/6/2021
C) Joint Committees – made up of members from each House – most of them are permanent and take care of jobs assigned to Congress
D) Conference Committees – temporary committees to work out differences between bills passed by the Senate and the House
How a Bill Becomes a Law
A) Only members of the House and Senate can introduce a bill
1) Public bills – measures applying to the nation as a whole
2) Private bills – measures that apply to certain places or people
B) The House of Representatives (all revenue bills must start here)
1) Bill is placed in the hopper, read, titled and numbered
2) Bill is sent to the proper standing committee (subcommittee)
a) Pigeonhole – bill is effectively dead unless a discharge petition is voted on by whole house
b) Report the bill favorably – do pass recommendation
c) Report the bill unfavorably – do not pass recommendation
d) Report bill in an amended form
e) Report a committee bill (substitute bill)
3) Bill is sent to the House Rules Committee to be placed on the calendar
a) Committee grants rule bill is placed on calendar
b) Committee doesn’t grant rule bill is dead
c) Committee grants a special rule – conditions are set under which bill can be discussed
d) Committee grants a privileged rule – bill receives immediate action
4) Bill is returned to the House – second reading, a quorum must be present to take a vote (218)
a) Debate is limited to 1 hour per member – the Speaker can cut that short
b) Voting – several choices
1) Voice vote – aye or nay
2) Standing vote – members stand and are counted, used if members request it
3) Teller vote – one person from each party counts the vote, requested by 1/5 of the quorum
4) Roll call vote – demanded by 1/5 of the members present – vote appears on large board over the Speaker and on leaders desks – members have 15 minutes to cast votes
5) Bill is approved it is engrossed (read for third time, signed by speaker, sent to the Senate)
C) The Senate
1) Bill is introduced by a Senator, read 2 times, numbered and titled
2) Bill is sent to the proper Standing Committee (same as House)
a) Approved it is sent to the Senate Majority Leader to be placed on the calendar
3) Bill is returned to the Senate for debate
a) Filibuster – Senators can speak as long as they want on any subject they want, talking (read books, magazines, telephone books, etc.) – Record held by Strom Thurmond 24 hours, 18 min.
b) Filibuster can be ended by invoking cloture – requires the agreement of 3/5 of the full Senate, Senators are limited to one hour
4) Senate votes on bill – (same as House)
a) If bills passed by House and Senate differ they must be sent to a conference committee – they work out a compromise bill which is returned to both houses – must be passed without change
b) If bills passed are identical they go to the President
D) The President – 4 or 5 choices
1) Sign bill – becomes law
2) Veto bill – must return it to the originating house with reasons why – may be passed with 2/3 vote of both houses
3) Allow bill to become law without signing it – sit on desk for 10 days while Congress is in session
4) Pocket veto – sit on desk for 10 days when Congress is not in session
5) Line item veto – possible to reject one part of a bill without rejecting all – currently under review by the courts