Legislative Branch
The Role of the Legislative Branch
Established by Article I (1) of the Constitution, Congress is the body that legislates (makes the laws) for the nation. Congress is a bicameral (2 house) body.
House of Representatives
The US Constitution grants each state one representative. There are 435 members and they serve 2 year terms. The number of representatives each state receives is determined by the state’s population. Each seat represents about 700,000 people.
How are Seats Distributed?
After each 10 year census (population count), the seats are redistributed to reflect changes in each state’s population. States whose populations increase gain more seats, while states whose populations decline lose seats. For instance, Virginia has 11 seats, California has 53 seats, and Wyoming has 1 seat.
House Leadership
The Speaker of the House (Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California) is the presiding officer of the House and has several responsibilities. Those responsibilities include being in charge of debates, allowing members to speak on the floor, assigning bills, and assigning members to committees.
There are also 2 floor leaders: the Majority Leader, who assists the Speaker of the House (Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland); and the Minority Leader, who is the spokesperson for the opposing party (Republican Kevin McCarthy of California).
Each party also has whips. Whips encourage party members to vote the way party leadership wants them to (Democrat Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Republican Steve Scalise of Louisiana).
US Senate
The Senate is based on equal representation from each state. The US Constitution grants each state 2 senators, which means that there are 100 members. Members of the Senate serve 6 year terms.
Senate Leadership
The Vice President (Republican Mike Pence of Indiana) serves as the President of the Senate and breaks ties in voting. The President Pro Tempore (Republican Orin Hatch of Utah) is the longest serving member of the majority party and serves as President of the Senate when the Vice President isn’t there.
There are 2 floor leaders in the Senate: the Majority leader (Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky) & Minority leader (Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York) are the chief strategists and spokespersons for their parties.
Whips play the same role in the Senate as they do in the House (Republican John Cornyn of Texas & Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois.)
Committees
Members of Congress spend most of their time on Capitol Hill in committees. Committees are used by both the House and the Senate to carry out 3 main tasks: to collect information for bills, to investigate issues and/or problems in government or society, and to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill.
Checks and Balances
Congress has several ways to check the other two branches of government. The House of Representatives controls the government's money, meaning that they have the power to appropriate (reserve or set aside) funds. The Senate has the power to approve or reject treaties and the power to approve or deny Presidential appointees.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have roles in exercising the power to impeach (charge to remove) judges or the president. The House brings impeachment charges (a majority vote is needed to charge), and the impeachment trial is held in the Senate (a 2/3’s vote is needed to convict on impeachment charges and remove).
Expressed Powers
Expressed powers are specifically granted to Congress in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution. Most expressed powers fall into three categories: financing (levying taxes, borrowing money, coining money), commerce (regulating trade- both between states & with foreign countries), and defense (declaring war, raising armies, providing a navy).
Other expressed powers include providing for naturalization (how someone becomes a citizen), making laws for Washington DC, establishing a post office, structuring the federal court system, granting patents and copyrights, and setting standard weights & measures.
Implied Powers
Implied powers belong to Congress because they are logical extensions of expressed powers, as established by the Necessary & Proper Clause, or the Elastic Clause, in Section 8 of Article I. The US Supreme Court ruled in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) that the Constitution did not need to explicitly give Congress the power to create a bank, as it was “necessary and proper” for Congress to carry out expressed powers.
Examples of implied powers include punishing tax evaders, which is implied from the expressed power to levy taxes; printing money, which is implied from the expressed power to coin money; establishing a military draft, which is implied from the expressed power to raise an army; and establishing a minimum wage, which is implied from the expressed power to regulate commerce.
Non-Legislative Powers
Congress also possesses non-legislative powers, or powers not related to the lawmaking process. For example, If no candidate gets a majority in the electoral college, the House of Representatives elects the President & the Senate elects the Vice President. Other non-legislative powers include proposing constitutional amendments, admitting new states to the United States, and approving the government's annual (yearly) budget.
How Does a Bill Become a Law?
Bills start as ideas that are written to address issues or problems. Bills can be proposed by anyone, including members of Congress, the President, private citizens, and/or interest groups, but can only be introduced in Congress by a senator or representative. A bill must pass in both houses of Congress before going to the President to be signed into law.
Introduction & Committee Action
After a bill is introduced and assigned a number, it is sent to an assigned committee. The committee collects information about the bill, holds public hearings, and suggests changes to the bill. The committee can decide whether or not to send the bill back to the House or Senate floor in order to hold a vote on it. Only about 10% of bills get sent to the House or Senate floor. If a committee will not send a bill to the House or Senate floor, a discharge petition can be filed to get on the floor by a majority vote of House or Senate.
Debate & Floor Vote
Readings and debates take place once a bill is on the floor of the House or Senate. In the House, the Rules committee determines rules of debate and if changes can be made to the bill. There are no rules for debate or on whether or not changes can be made to the bill in the Senate. Senators can threaten to filibuster, or talk non-stop to prevent votes from taking place. 60 votes can end a filibuster, which is called the cloture rule.
The bill is either passed or defeated with a majority vote with anywhere between a quorum (over half of the members) and the full House or Senate body. After a bill passes one chamber, it goes to the other chamber and goes through the same process. Only 1% of all bills that are introduced get passed by both the House and the Senate.
Becoming a Law
If there are differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill, a conference committee is formed to resolve them. The committee’s changes must be approved by both the House and the Senate.
If passed by both the House and Senate, the bill goes to the President. The President can take one of three different actions on a bill: sign the bill into law, veto (reject) the bill, or do nothing. If the President chooses to do nothing, the bill becomes law after 10 days if Congress IS in session, or dies after 10 days if Congress IS NOT in session (this is called a pocket veto). Congress can override a presidential veto with a 2/3’s vote in both the House and the Senate.