House of Representatives and Senate CONGRESS House of Representatives and Senate

TERMS OF CONGRESS Each term of Congress lasts 2 years The term starts on January 3 of odd-numbered years and lasts for 2 years. A “new” Congress is given an identifying number. The term that began in 2009 would be the 111th Congress. What about the Congress that began in 2013?

CONGRESSIONAL SESSIONS Each term of Congress in divided into 2 sessions A session usually runs from January to December.

TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS House of Representatives Senate 435 members Representation decided by population The Census adjusts representation every 10 years If you gained a higher % of people, you get more representation Senate 100 members Each state is equally represented 2 per state

CONGRESSIONAL POWERS Congress has two types of powers: 1. Expressed Powers – Powers that are literally written in the Constitution 2. Implied Powers – Powers that Congress has, but are not written down Comes from the ELASTIC CLAUSE! Or, the “necessary and proper” clause

CONGRESSIONAL POWERS Congress does not have the power to: 1. Deny Writ of Habeas Corpus You have the right to be brought before a judge to make sure your imprisonment is legal 2. Issue Bills of Attainder – Government can’t declare someone guilty without a trial 3. Enforce Ex Post Facto Laws – Can’t punish someone for something they did before it was illegal

House of Representatives Age: 25+ Must live in the state they represent Have lived in the US for 7 years 435 members Serve for a Term of 2 years Leader: Speaker of the House

Speaker of the House Chosen by the House of Representatives Decides what bills will be debated Leads floor debates 3rd in line to be President

John Boehner (R- OH) – Speaker of the House

Senate Age: 30+ Must live in the state they represent Have lived in the US for 9 years 100 members Serve for a term of 6 Years Leader: Vice President Presiding Leader: President Pro Tempore

President Pro Tempore Means: “President for the time being” Runs the Senate when the Vice President is absent Chosen by Senators Patrick Leahy (D – VT)

TERMS OF OFFICE House of Representatives Senate 2 years 6 years 1/3 of the Senate is up for re-election every 2 years. There can never be a completely new Senate! But there CAN be a completely new House.

How long can they stay? FOREVER

Majority Leaders The people who lead the party in power. They speak for their party, try to sway votes. Mitch McConnell, R-KY Senate Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-CA House Majority Leader

Minority Leaders Leaders for the party not in power. They speak for their party also. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA House Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV Senate Minority Leader

Whips The Whips are the guys who help the leaders. Jon Cornyn, R-CA Senate Minority Whip Dick Durban, D-IL Senate Majority Whip

FRANKING PRIVILEGE Congresspersons are allowed free postage to constituents of their home district

Congressional Districts Each state is divided into Congressional districts. Each district elects one representative. Each state gets a certain number of districts, depending on how big their population is. The more people in a state, the more districts there are!

CONSTITUENTS The people who are represented by someone. The people who can vote for a person. Who are Barack Obama’s constituents? Thom Tillis’s constituents? George Holding’s constituents?

Congressional Apportionment

North Carolina Has 13 districts – How many representatives does NC have? What’s the deal with the 12th district?

NC Representatives 4th District 2nd District 13th District George Holding, R-NC David Price, D-NC 2nd District (formerly) Heath Shuler, D-NC Renee Ellmers R-NC

Gerrymandering A weirdly shaped district Designed to increase the voting strength of a particular group Why would they design it like this?

COMMITTEES Committees are where bills are written 3 types: Standing (these are permanent committees) House Standing Committees include: Agriculture, Budget, Energy, Education, Transportation Senate Standing Committees include: Banking, Budget, Environment, Finance, Foreign Relations Select, Special Committees (limited time) Intelligence, Homeland, Indian Affairs Joint Committees (members of both Houses) Economics, Taxation, Printing, Library

Congressional Stuff Seniority System Pork-barrel Projects Cloture The best committees are usually headed by the most senior members Pork-barrel Projects Bills and grants that mostly only benefit the home district or state of the representative Cloture Used in the Senate to stop debate on a bill Filibuster “Talking a bill to death” Only can happen in the Senate

Impeachment Impeach – to accuse officials of misconduct The House has the authority to decide whether or not to impeach officials (bring charges) If a majority of the House votes to impeach: Then the Senate has the power to hold a trial and act as the judge If two-thirds (2/3) of the Senate votes to do so, then can convict or remove a public official from office.

NOMINATIONS The Senate has the power to confirm or deny the president’s nomination for: Supreme Court Ambassadors Other Officers Attorney General Secretary of Defense Etc.