Unit 3 Gov: Legislative Branch

Nota:

• If independent in congress, have to align with whichever of the 2 parties you feel closer to

1. HOUSE
   1. Speaker: usually long standing member of the majority party…
      1. presiding officer of house
      2. always house member

         Nota:

         • tho it isn't required by house rules or constitution
      3. Speaker supposed to preside in a “fair and judicious manner”, and commonly does…
         1. also to aid the majority party
            1. 2 main duties: to preside and to keep order
               1. Chairs most meetings of the house, but can also elect another temporary presiding officer
               2. interprets/applies rules
               3. sends bill to committees
               4. No member may speak until they are recognized by the speaker
               5. Puts motions to a vote
               6. Rules on points of order

                  Nota:

                  •  (questions of procedure raised by the house’s members) 
               7. Decides the outcome of most voted taken on the floor of the house (speaker can be overridden by a vote of the house, but rare)
               8. and more!
               9. May debate and vote on any matter of the house (because they are an elected member)

                  Nota:

                  •  Rare, but when occurs speaker must appoint temporary presiding officer 
                  1. Rules say speaker MUST vote to break a ties
      4. follows vice pres in line of succession to presidency
2. SENATE
   1. president of the senate
      1. always US vice pres
         1. far less powerful in senate than the speaker is in the house
      2. usual powers of presiding member (recognize members, put questions to a vote, etc)
      3. Cannot take the floor to speak
      4. may ONLY vote to break a tie
   2. President pro tempore

      Nota:

      • president pro tem for short
      1. senate’s other presiding officer, serves in the vp’s absence
      2. elected by senate
      3. always leader of the majority party (usually longest serving member)
3. BOTH
   1. floor leaders

      Nota:

      • majority floor leader and minority floor leader
      1. Not official positions: picked by party colleagues
      2. Legislative strategists
      3. try to carry out caucus’ decisions, steer floor discussion to their party’s benefit
      4. Chief spokesperson for their party in each chamber
      5. floor leaders are assisted by whips

         Nota:

         • (majority whip, minority whip)
         1. they Do the dirty work...
            1. check who’s going to vote a certain way
            2. try to convince colleagues to vote a certain way
            3. Communicate between floor leaders
            4. A number of assistant whips serve in the house
            5. see all members of party are present from important votes and that they vote with the party leadership
   2. committee chairs

      Nota:

      • major say in matters such as what bills a committee will consider, the order they’ll be considered in, at what length they’ll be considered, whether public hearings should be held, and what witnesses the committee should call
      1. those members who head the standing committees in each chamber
      2. always ranking members of the majority party
      3. When a committee’s bill has been reported to the floor, the committee chairman usually manages the debate and tries to steer it to final passage
   3. members of standing committees
      1. formally elected by a floor vote at the beginning of each term of congress:
         1. each party has already drawn up its own committee roster, before the vote
            1. Majority party always holds majority of committee seats
4. SENIORITY RULE

   Nota:

   •  Rule is unlikely to change: those w/ real power to change it are mostly also those who benefit from it CRITICISM-         Say seniority system ignore ability, works to discourage younger members-         Committee heads often originate from “safe” constituencies: those states/districts in which one party regularly wins the seat… makes chairmen out of touch w/ public opinion bc they don’t have to try as hard for electionSUPPORT allows for powerful, experienced members to be heads   encourages members to stay on particular committees and thereby gain specific knowledge   say rule easy to apply, eliminates potential fights within a party
   1. states that the most important posts in congress, in both formal (??) and party organizations, will be held by those party members with the longest records of service

      Nota:

      • (does not apply to presiding officers, floor leaders) 

1. congress convenes
   1. means: begins a new session
      1. on Jan 3 of every odd numbered yr

         Nota:

         • (following general elections in november) 
   2. more work needed in House than senate at new session
      1. New members of House (at that point not members yet) choose a speaker to preside during their term

         Nota:

         • their election is only a formality since majority party’s members have settled the matter beforehand
         1. House elects clerk, chief administrative officer, sergeant at arms, parliamentarian, and chaplain

            Nota:

            •  These ppl are NOT members of the house (elections a formality…. Majority party has already decided) 
            1. House adopts rules that ill govern its proceedings for the term

               Nota:

               • Readopted often w/ little or no change at the beginning of each term 
               1. Members of the 20 permanent committees are appointed
      2. Missing members on committees must be filled in, new/re-elected members must be sworn in
   3. then, State of the Union Message
2. about the House
   1. 435 members: quorum is 218
      1. (all up for election every 2 yrs…
         1. so there is no sworn members, no rules, and no organization until opening day ceremony
3. About the senate
   1. a continuous body
4. party caucus

   Nota:

   • AKA party conference
   1. a closed meeting of the members of each party in each house
   2. Regularly held just before congress convenes in jan, occasionally during a session too
   3. Deals with matters related to party organization
   4. Sometimes takes stands on particular bills… but doesn’t try (isn’t able to) force party members to follow its decisions
   5. whips, committee chairmen chosen here

1. MEASURES
   1. BILLS
      1. Public Bills: Measures applying to the nation as a whole (taxes)
      2. Private Bills: Apply to certain persons or places only

         Nota:

         • Ex: congress passed an act to give 1 specific person 85,000 for damages
   2. RESOLUTIONS
      1. Joint resolutions Have force of law when passed (similar to bills)
         1. Often unusual, temporary matters Also used to propose constitutional amendments, and for the annexation of territories
      2. Concurrent Resolutions Deal with things where both chambers are needed to act
         1. Don’t have “force of law”
            1. Don't need pres signature
               1. Usually used by congress to state an opinion on an issue (like foreign affairs)
      3. Resolutions (simple resolutions)
         1. Deal with things only concerning one of the chambers (only taken up by that chamber)
            1. Don't need pres signature
               1. Often used for amendment of an old rule or adoption of a new one
   3. RIDERS
      1. provisionS not likely to pass on their own merit that are attached to an important measure certain to pass

         Nota:

         • Often attached to appropriations measures, often called earmarks Money bills with many riders attached: called christmas trees
2. LAWMAKING PROCESS
   1. Article I, Section 7, clause 1: tax bills have to come from the house
      1. Otherwise, can come from either chamber
   2. HOUSE: First Reading
      1. Clerk of the house numbers each bill/resolution as it is introduced
         1. Entered into the House Journal and the Congressional Record for the day
            1. Bill printed/given to all house members
               1. After 1st reading, the speaker/pres of senate refers the bill to one or more standing committees

                  Nota:

                  • by 1794, more than 300 committees in each chamber
                  1. Second Reading
                     1. Takes place during floor consideration, if bill gets that far

                        Nota:

                        • (all) Readings usually only by number and title… for more controversial/important measures, read in full during 2nd reading
                        1. Third Reading
                           1. Takes place just before final vote
                        2. floor consideration: debate
                           1. Bill reported by standing committee is placed on one of several calendars (schedules of the order in which bills will be taken up on the floor) in the House

                              Nota:

                              • The Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House in the State of the Union (Union Calendar) For all bills about revenues, appropriations, or gov property House Calendar For all other public bills Private calendar For all other private bills Corrections calendar For all bill from the Union or House calendar taken out of order by unanimous consent of the HoR (often minor bills having no opposition) Discharge Calendar For petitions to discharge bills from committee
                              1. BUT: RULES COMMITTEE
                                 1. Before most measures can be removed from a calendar, the rules committee must approve that step and set a time for its appearance on the floor
                                    1. In this way, rules committee can kill a bill if it doesn’t grant a rule for it

                                       Nota:

                                       • Can also set special rules: time limits on debate, prohibit amendments to certain (or all) of the bill’s provisions
                                 2. House can suspend rules on certain days Motion to effect it needs supermajority of members present (when this happens, house can go through all needed steps to enact a bill in 1 day-- so far from established operating procedures)
                  2. committees: Sift through bills reject most and only consider those they find to be worthy of floor consideration
                     1. Rejection of bills in a committee (they are buried/die) is called pigeonholing
                        1. Sometimes (rarely), committee wants to bury/pigeonhole a measure that a majority of the members wants to consider
                           1. Then, bill can be blasted out of committee with a discharge petition: this enables members to force a bill that has remained in committee for 20 days (7 for the rules committee) onto the floor for consideration

                              Nota:

                              • Discharge motion can be from any member Must be signed by majority (218) house members When signed, committee has 7 days to report on the bill If they do not, any member who signed the motion may, on the 2nd and 4th mondays of each month, move the bill out of the committee and to the floor “if the motion carries” house must consider bill at once This maneuver rarely works and isn’t tried often
                     2. For controversial issues, committee or subcommittee often hold public hearings (for info gathering)
                        1. Subcommittee sometimes makes trip to locations affected by a measure
                  3. Once a bill reaches a committee, the chairman almost always refers it to several subcommittees
                     1. When subcommittee has completed its work on a measure, it goes to full committee
                        1. At the chairman’s direction, the committee may ... (see notes)

                           Nota:

                           • Report a bill favorably (do pass recommendation)-- chairman has to steer the bill through debate on the floor Refuse to report the bill-- pigeonhole Report the bill in amended form (several bills on the same subject may be combined into a single measure Report the bill with an unfavorable recommendation (not common, but sometimes committee thinks full house should consider/does not want to take responsibility for killing it) Report a committee bill (committee produces substantially rewritten measure as a substitute for 1 or several bills referred to it: like 3. )
                  4. TYPES OF COMMITTEES
                     1. standing committees: permanent panels to which all similar bills can be sent

                        Nota:

                        • 2014: 20 standing committees in house, 16 in senate (number varies) o   Each house committee had 10-75 members… senate committee had 14-28 o   Reps usually 1-2 standing committees each, senator's usually 3-4
                        1. There are 4 committees that are not organized as subject matter bodies:
                           1. House: Rules committee 2. House: Committee on house administration 3. House: Committee on standards of official conduct 4. Senate: Committee on rules and administration
                     2. House Rules Committee
                        1. The senate doesn’t have or need a rules committee (bc smaller, process not so closely regulated)

                           Nota:

                           • majority leader controls appearance of bills on the floor 
                        2. The speaker’s “right arm”—controls the flow of bills to the floor and sets the conditions for their consideration there… like a screening device

                           Nota:

                           • neccesary due to the sheer amount of measures that are introduced
                           1. bill needs rules before it can be considered on the floor
                              1. “Bill is granted a rule”: bill is scheduled for floor consideration
                              2. in this way, rules committee can prevent/delay/make house action on a bill difficult
                     3. Select (special) committees
                        1. panels set up for some specific purpose, usually for a limited time
                        2. Speaker/pres of senate appoints membership for these committees w/ the advice of major/minority leaders
                        3. often used for powers of congressional oversight, investigation

                           Nota:

                           • ex: very important during watergate
                     4. Joint Committees

                        Nota:

                        • because many standing committees of the 2 houses duplicate each other's work, use of more joint committees has been urged
                        1. composed of members of both houses
                        2. sometimes select committees, most are permanent
                        3. some are investigative in nature
                     5. Conference Committees