Chapter 7 Outline y The Constitution and the legislative branch of government  Article I  Senate: 6 year terms y Originally elected

by states until 17th amendmentthen by people  House: 2 year terms y Elected in each district o Apportionment and Redistricting  435 Limit in House  Apportionment: number of seats per state adjusted  Redistricting: Redrawing district lines to divide reapportioned reps o Constitutional Powers of Congress  Shared Powers between houses: make laws, declare war, raise army, coin money, regulate commerce, establish federal courts, rules of immigration, necessary and proper laws How Congress is organized  Election of new leaders top priority for new congress (every 2) o The House of Representatives  House has more people= more rules and structure  Speaker of the House: The chambers most powerful position; elected at the beginning of each new congress; member of the majority party; oversees house business; official spokesperson; second in line for presidential succession; Newt expanded power of speaker  Other House Leaders: Majority and minority leaders y Majority Leaders: 2nd most important person in house; helps speaker with scheduling y Minority Leader y Whips: elected by party members in caucuses; whip dems and repubs into line on partisan issues o The Senate  Presiding officer is the VP

Official chair: pro tem- selected by majority party and presides in absence of VP; stays in office until change in majority party  Majority Leader: true leader of Senate- less power than speaker of the house  Smaller= less rules o Role of Political Parties in Organizing Congress  Parties play key role in committee system o The Committee System  Standing Committees: bills referred to for consideration  Joint Committees: expiate business between houses and focus public attention on major matters  Conference Committees: joint committees that reconcile differences in bills  Select/Special Committees: temporary committees appointed for specific purposes  Committee Membership: Usually seek committee assignments that have access to pork (legislation that allows reps to bring money and jobs into their districts) reelected easier  Committee Chairs: lots of power and prestige; Houseinterviews for loyalty to party Senate- Elected by Seniority The Members of Congress  Must attempt to appease two constituenciesparty leaders, colleagues, and lobbyists in D.C. and constituents at home o Running for Office and Staying in Office  Incumbency: helps members to stay in office once elected o Congressional Demographics  Better educated, richer, more male, more white, mostly lawyers o Theories of Representation  Trustees: listen to opinions of their constituents and can be trusted to use good judgment for final decisions (according to Burke)  Delegates: Vote solely the way the constituents want them to- must be willing to vote against personal preference  Politicos: depends on issue 

How Members make decisions o Party  Indicate how to vote  Partisanship still plays role  Committees help to provide campaigning support o Constituents  Want to please them so that they are reelected o Colleagues and Caucuses  Usually turn to people educated on subject of bill for information  Logrolling/Vote trading: one congress member supports because outcome doesnt affect him in exchange for someone else saying yes to something that does affect his area o IG, Lobbyists, PAC  To provide information  Pressure groups use grassroots appeals (bottom up)  Give campaign funding in order to gain votes o Staff and Support Agencies  Members rely on staffs for info on pending legislation  Prepare summaries of bills  Can be very influential of how congressman votes Law Making Function of Congress  Organization allows it to fulfill constitutional responsibilities  System of multiple vetoes  Stages: subcommittee; house full committee; house rules committee; the house; the senate subcommittee; the full senate committee; the senate; floor leaders in both houses; house-senate conference committee; the president o How bill becomes a law: Textbook version  Approved by one or more standing committees and both chambers, and, if House and Senate versions differ, each house must accept a conference report resolving those differences.  Bill may be killed during any of those stages  House and Senate have parallel processes  Filibusters: unlimited debate on a bill

Cloture: Only one way to end a filibuster- motion require4s votes of 60 members to limit debate to no more than 30 additional hours  Vetoes: denies  President can sign the bill-becomes a law; President can veto bill; President can wait full 10 days and bill becomes law; If Congress adjourns before 10 days president can choose not to sign bill- considered pocket vetoed  Pocket veto: allows bills stashed in presidents pocket to die o How Bills Really Become a Law  The China trade act of 2000  Trade Act of 1974: President can grant any nation most favored trade status- brings favorable US tariff treatment. y Limited when it came to communist nations- China could only get it a year at a time y Clinton administration pushed a bill to stop year-byyear approval y Legislation extended to PNTR y China joined WTO in 1999/2000 y Clinton released $10 million ad campaign y Allowed 3 hours of debate by Rules Committeeclosed to amendments y Campaigned to put pressure of bill approval y Passed in house and was transmitted to Senate y Senate permitted amendments y Bill signed bill onto law Congress and the President  Constitution set up to where Congress and president would have discreet powers and check one another  Pres usually has more power but Congress can impeach o Shifting Balance of Power  Between president and congress  Seesawed over time  Many times president called fourth to make important decisions about legislature o Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch 

Oversight: congressional review of the activities of an agency, department, or office.  Increased since 60s Checking on possible abuses of power by military, government officials, and president.  Ability to question is key  Congressional review: a process whereby congress can nullify agency regulations by a joint resolution of legislative disapproval  Foreign Affairs Oversight: Foreign affairs control split between executive and Congress; President has become increasingly powerful in FA; War Powers Act; President has to consult with Congress and withdraw troops if Congress doesnt declare ware in 60 days.  Confirmation of Presidential Appointments: Senate oversights through ability to confirm key members of executive  Impeachment Process: Congress oversight of President; House and Senate control how process operates Congress and the Judiciary  Power of Judicial Review: review constitutionality of laws passed by Congress  Congress over Judiciary: establish size of supreme court; senatorial courtesy: presidents, when selecting district court judges, defer to the senator in whose state the vacancy occurs  Congress over Judicial: setting the jurisdiction of the federal courts- signals when congress things courts have gone too far