The Organization of Congress Congressional Membership

The Legislative Branch  Congress Overview Term begins Jan. 3 rd of odd numbered years and last two years. Structure  535 total members  SC- 7 Reps/ 2 Senators- who are they?  2 houses- bicameral

The Legislative Branch  A term is the length of time that officials serve after an election, as in a two- or six-year term. The date for the start of each new term has been set by the Twentieth Amendment (1933) as “noon of the 3d day of January” of every odd- numbered year.

The Legislative Branch A session is the regular period of time during which Congress conducts business-lasts 1 year Congress adjourns, or suspends until the next session, each regular session as it sees fit. Can’t for more than 3 days unless other house approves. If necessary, the President has the power to prorogue, or adjourn, a session, but only when the two houses cannot agree on a date for adjournment. Only the President may call Congress into a special session—a meeting to deal with some emergency situation.

The Legislative Branch  House of Representatives (Lower House) 435 members-based on population (1912) 4 non-voting members- DC, Guam, Samoa, Virgin Islands  Can propose legislation but can not vote Members are elected from single member districts 25 years old, citizen 7 years, legal resident of state that elects them

The Legislative Branch  House of Representatives (Lower House) Representation Census- every ten years (next is 2020) 313,000,000 million

The Legislative Branch  Apportionment/Reapportionment Article I of the Constitution directs Congress to reapportion—redistribute—the seats in the House after each decennial census. As the United States grew in population, the number of representatives in the House also grew. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the “permanent” size of the House at 435 members, and provided for “automatic reapportionment.”

The Legislative Branch  Apportionment/Reapportionment Each state is guaranteed 1 representative Each representative represents about 710,000 people

The Legislative Branch

 Senate (Upper House) 100 members Elected for six year terms  Elections are staggered so that only 1/3 are up for reelection at one time. This makes it impossible to have a completely new congress 17 th Amendment changed the election of Senators to a direct popular vote Requirements-30 years old, citizen 9 years, legal residents of the state

The Legislative Branch The House of Representatives  Rules for Lawmaking Each representative can only speak for 5 min. during a debate. Debates rarely last more than a day, designed to move quickly Leaders in House have more power. Ex. Making key decisions w/o consulting other members in House. Most members in House are divided into committees. Usually specialize in areas that are important to their constituents. (people in their district)

The Legislative Branch The House of Representatives  House Leadership Speaker of House: leader of house, a caucus (closed meeting) of majority party chooses speaker, entire house approves. --Duties 1.Decide what members to recognize first 2.Appoints members to some committees 3.Refers Bills to proper committee 4.Next in line behind V.P. to President 5.Votes in a tie

The Legislative Branch The House of Representatives  House Leadership House Floor Leaders  Majority Leader- speakers first assistant --job is to plan legislative program, steer bills through the House, oversee leaders of the committees. --also floor leader of his party, elected by his party.  Majority Whip-assistant to floor leader (monitors how party will vote)

The Legislative Branch The House of Representatives  Lawmaking in the House Quorum- minimum number of members who must be present to take action Laws start as bills  Drop in hopper  Committee discusses it  Next step would be put it on one of five calendars. The Rules Committee  Traffic officer of house; move ahead, hold back, stop completely  Resolve disputes between other committees

The Legislative Branch The Senate Moves slower, more informal, not limited on debate time…may discuss for days or weeks Leaders  Vice President President of the Senate  Four major differences He is not a member of congress He can not debate on any bill He can not vote on any bill unless there is a tie Because of the limited role of the vp he does not attend unless a tie is expected, thus they choose a president pro tempore who is usually, by tradition, the member of the majority party with the most seniority

The Legislative Branch The Senate Filibuster- delay the legislative process and prevent a vote.  Isn’t used a lot today If Senate votes 3/5 to stop the filibuster (cloture) it forces a Senator to limit its debate to 1 hour.

The Legislative Branch

The Legislative Branch Staff and Support Agencies Personal vs. Committee Staff Support Agencies  Library of Congress  Congressional Budget Office  General Accounting Office  Government Printing Office

The Legislative Branch  Legislative Immunity – The Constitution gives members of Congress certain privileges to enable Congress to function properly. Members may not be taken to court for anything they say while Congress is meeting. (Prevents cases of slander) Members may not be arrested for minor “breaches” of the law while performing official Congressional business.

The Legislative Branch  Congressional Discipline – The members of Congress create and abide by a set of rules called the “Code of Ethics.” Each house of Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) is responsible for disciplining its own members. Reprimand – needs majority vote – (least severe discipline) Censure – needs majority vote Expulsion – needs 2/3 vote (most severe discipline)