American Politics: Congress American Politics: Congress November 20, 2006

Organization of Congress While the Constitution outlined a basic framework for Congress, throughout two centuries the institution has evolved into a complex mix of rules, procedures, and customs. To understand the House and Senate, one must understand what representatives and senators want to accomplish and what obstacles they have to overcome to achieve their goals.

The Basic Problems of Legislative Organization To exercise the powers conferred on them by the Constitution, the House and Senate had to solve some basic problems: How to acquire information How to coordinate action How to resolve conflicts How to get members to work for common as well as personal goals.

The Need for Information A legislator cannot regulate the stock market or attack environmental pollution without having key information related to these areas. Congress has attempted to solve the problem by utilizing division of labor and specialization as tools. By becoming specialists (or employing them) in policy areas, and by creating a support foundation of information gatherers and interpreters, they can make more informed decisions. One problem is that specialists may dominate policy making in their domains, shutting out the broader viewpoints of other members. Thus, the efficiencies gained by a division of labor are paid for by diminished participation in policy making outside of one’s specialty.

Coordination Problems Coordination (trying to act in concert) becomes more difficult (and necessary) the greater the group’s workload and the more elaborate its division of labor. As Congress has grown, it has had greater need for traffic management. Congress has used its party leaders to act as the “traffic cops” giving them power to manage the business of legislating and control over the agenda.

Resolving Conflicts Legislation is not passed until the majorities in both houses agree to its passage. Many of Congress’s rules, customs, and procedures are aimed at resolving or deflecting conflicts so it can get on with the business of legislating. Parties are ready made coalitions. Norms of collegiality.

Collective Action The problem: what members do to pursue individual goals may undermine the reputation of their party or of Congress as a whole. Primary goal for individual members is to get reelected. The committee system, however, gives members individual incentives to work for collectively beneficial ends. Seniority rules automate decisions as to who serves on committees, etc. This minimizes the time and effort members might spend competing for these positions. Do a good job and your stature on the committee rises, and thus, you become more influential in the policy area. Then you may be able to take personal credit for important pieces of legislation.

Organizing Congress The two most crucial institutional structures created to exercise Congress’s constitutional powers are the party system, and the committee system. Without them it would be difficult to overcome the barriers to effective collective action.

Weak Parties At one time, parties were powerful enough to bully members of Congress into sticking with the leadership Fewer constraints now exist Example: Committee system is formally under the control of the majority party Parties customarily choose committee chairs based on seniority

The Importance of Consensus The degree of consensus within a party continues to affect how much authority party members are willing to delegate to party leaders. When there is broad and deep agreement, there is more cohesion among the coalition.

The Importance of Consensus Over the decades, there has been significant variation in the coordinating ability of parties in Congress. Since the 1950s there has been a decline and resurgence of congressional partisanship. As they have become more unified, they also become more polarized along ideological lines. Republicans grew more conservative. Democrats became more liberal as their party’s conservative southern members were gradually replaced in Congress by Republicans. Now Southern Democrats look more like national Democrats.

Party Unity

Party Leadership Party members give House party leaders resources for inducing members to cooperate when they are tempted to go their own way as free riders. These resources take the form of favors they may grant or withhold (committee assignments, direction of the legislative agenda).

Party Organization (House) Majority leadership positions Speaker of the House (Dennis Hastert R-IL) Initially the Speaker would decide who would sit on all House committees, who would chair them, determine legislative procedure (by chairing Rules). After 1910 the speaker lost this power Majority Leader (John Boehner R-Ohio) Majority whip (Roy Blunt R-MO) Whips form communication network connecting leaders to members—they count votes, outline strategies, explain positions, etc. Minority leadership positions Minority Leader (Nancy Pelosi D-CA) Minority Whip (Steny Hoyer D-MD) Link to Leadership offices in House

Party Organization (Senate) Majority leader (Bill Frist R-TN) Minority leader (Harry Reid D-NV) Link to Senate leadership

Party Leadership in the Senate Senators have never delegated as much authority to their leaders as have representatives. The norm of equality (ambassadors from their states to the national government) led them to retain wider freedoms of individual action. Senate began with only 26 members.

Committee System Standing Committee (exist from one Congress to the next) Fixed jurisdiction and stable membership =specialization Bills are assigned to committees on the basis of subject matter Committee’s jurisdiction usually parallel those of the major departments or agencies in the executive branch. Each committee is unique Each committee’s hierarchy is based on seniority

Theories of Committee Formation Informational Theory Addresses the need for expertise Distributive Theory Satisfies members personal goals

Types of Committees See Table 9.1 “Standing Committees of the 108th Congress” p.233. Or visit the House website

Committee Power Numerous changes in Congress have negated some of the power of earlier committee chairs. Particular changes in the late 1950s and mid 1970s produced a fragmented and decentralized committee system that impeded collective action because coordination was so difficult. When the Republicans took over the House in 1995, they revised the committee rules to ensure that the legislative agenda as outlined in the Contract with America would move swiftly to enactment.

The Legislative Process A bill is introduced by a member (only a member). Although bills are introduced only by members, anyone may draft them. Executive agencies and lobby groups often prepare bills for introduction to friendly legislators. The Speaker assigns the bill to a committee (In the House). In the Senate, the majority leader assigns the bill to the appropriate standing committee Committee jurisdictions are largely fixed; All bills dealing with a given substantive area are automatically sent to that committee For example, the Interior Committee deals with water resources, power resources, land management, wildlife conservation, ect. The Merchant Marines and Fisheries deals with ocean dumping, fisheries, coastal zone management, environmental impact statements, ect. affairs, ect..

Assignment to Committee After a bill is introduced, it is assigned a number and referred to a committee. Once a bill has been referred to a committee, the most common thing that happens next is NOTHING. Most bills die of neglect. If a committee decides on further action, the bill may be taken up directly by the full committee, but more commonly it is referred to the appropriate subcommittee.

Committees In committee, the bill goes to a subcommittee (here the real work begins) The subcommittee decides whether to consider the bill If so, hearings are held. In a hearing, typically members of the executive branch and members of interest groups are invited to testify, though individuals can also testify

The Purpose of Hearings Members of Congress (MCs) learn factual information about legislation; research is presented, experts testify MCs learn political information about bills What interest groups support or oppose it? How strong are the pro and con sides? What compromises are possible? The arguments may be well known rehashes, the real information is who is on what side, etc. Link to committees (and hearings)

The Purpose of Hearings Congress listens Often a fair hearing is sufficient Lobbyists can show their bosses that they tried Hearings outside of Washington may be for the sole purpose of campaigning Let the locals and journalists see their congressman Hearings don’t have to be for legislation; they can be oversight of the bureaucracy They can be to gather information for possible future legislation They can be to get attention to an idea that has not yet won majority support

Reporting a Bill If the subcommittee decides to act on a bill, it marks it up – drafts it line by line – and reports it to the full committee. The full committee then accepts, rejects, or amends the bill (usually in deference to the subcommittee). If accepted, it is reported out of committee. The written report that accompanies it is the most important source of information on legislation for members of Congress not on the committee as well as other people interested in the legislation. These reports summarize the bill’s purposes, major provisions, and changes from existing law.

Scheduling In the Senate, when a committee votes out a bill, it goes directly onto the calendar, which specifies when the bill will be heard on the floor In the House, the bill goes directly to the Rules Committee

Rules Committee Control over procedure is control over policy. If you control the parliamentary procedure, you can often influence the outcome It gets a "rule" for debate in the House floor these rules specify how much time can be spent debating the bill and how many amendments can be added to the bill, amendments to what sections, in what order, ect.. This is a very political process What amendments, how long is debate, the order of motions, amendments, etc. Rules rarely stampedes large blocs of members (more subtle twists are more common). In the bad old days when Rules was independent of party leadership (pre-1961), the Rules Comm. regularly killed bills by refusing to grant them rules (esp. Civil Rights) Rules is now an arm of the leadership

Example of a Rule

Voting on Legislation Scheduling Rules for Debate House calendar--all major public measures (for current House floor proceedings see Office of the Clerk) Consent calendar (non-controversial bills) Private calendar (immigration requests or claims against the gov) Rules for Debate If there is an open rule, opponents may try to load down a bill with so many objectionable amendments that it will sink of its own weight. The rules committee may also give the bill a "non-germane" open rule, meaning that irrelevant amendments can be added to the bill, which would practically kill the bill the reverse strategy is to propose "sweetner" amendments that attract members' support Debate and Vote upon on the floor, with amendments, ect.

Scheduling Debate (Senate) The Senate does not have a Rules Committee. Thus, the leaders of both parties routinely negotiate unanimous consent agreements (UCA’s) to arrange for the orderly consideration of legislation. UCA’s are similar to rules in that they limit time for debate, determine which amendments are allowable, and provide waivers of Senate rules. In the absence of a UCA, anything goes.

Process in the Senate Compared to the larger House which needs and adheres to well-defined rules, the Senate operates more informally In the Senate, filibusters (extended debates) are common, which members can effectively engage in to kill a bill Filibusters can be stopped by cloture which requires 60 votes (3/5ths called an extraordinary majority)

Conference Committee If passed it goes to the other house it may start over. More often, parallel bills have been working through The parallel bills go to conference committee. This is an ad-hoc committee which is solely created to resolve the differences concerning a specific bill Equal numbers of each; in proportion to party. They debate and may vote out a compromise bill If passed, the bill goes to both houses for a vote

The President He may sign it or veto it Holding it for 10 days while congress is in session is the same as signing Holding it for 10 days during which congress adjourns is a "pocket veto", which cannot be overridden to override a veto, 2/3's of both houses is required

The Process Reviewed