Congress in Action Chapter 12 US Government

The House First Day Congress Convenes Speaker is the senior member of the majority party Seating Democrats to left Republicans to right Officers chosen by membership Rules adopted Committee members appointed Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan

Senate First Day Congress Convenes New members sworn in (Remember only 1/3 of seats are up at a time) Many incumbents are reelected Committee vacancies filled

State of the Union Address (Article 2, Section 3) Once organization is complete, joint committee of Congress lets the President know when and where the State of the Union Address is to be delivered by the President to a Joint Session of Congress (President must be invited to address Congress) Purpose To report on domestic/foreign affairs Recommends legislation Lays out policy

Presiding Officers Speaker (Article 1, section 2, clause 5) Leader of the majority party Presides over sessions Recognizes members to speak-cannot speak until recognized Interprets rules Refers bill to committee Rules on points of order Puts questions to a vote Appoints committee members Signs bill/resolutions Tie breaking vote - a tie defeats a measure

President of the Senate (Article 1, section 3, clause 4) Filled by vice president Same powers of Speaker except cannot participate in debate President Pro Tempore Presides in absence of President of the Senate Elected by Senate Member of the majority party Orin Hatch (R), Senate President Pro Tem Vice President and President of the Senate Mike Pence

Floor Leader Party caucus Closed meeting of members of each party in each house Meets just before session convenes Deal with party organization, select floor leaders, and discuss committee membership Majority and Minority leaders (both houses) Picked by party members Are legislative strategists - carry out the decisions of caucus Chief party spokesperson in their chamber Steer floor action to party’s benefit

Majority and Minority Whips (both houses) Help floor leaders Keep check on vote count Serve as liaison between party members and party leadership

House Majority Leaders House Minority Leaders Floor Leaders House House Majority Leaders Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy Republican Whip Steve Scalise House Minority Leaders Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer

Senate Minority Leaders Senate Majority Leaders Floor Leaders Senate Senate Minority Leaders Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Democratic Whip Dick Durbin Senate Majority Leaders Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Republican Whip John Cornyn

Committee Chairman Chosen by majority party Decide When committee will meet Which bills will be heard If hearings will be public or private What witnesses will be called Testbook Page 143 for List of Committees of Congress

Types of Committees Standing Permanent committees 20 in House; 16 in Senate Number of members varies from 10-75 in House and 14-28 in Senate Representatives serve on 1 or 2 major committees Senators serve on 3 or 4 major committees Chairmen are chosen according to seniority Bills referred to proper committees by Speaker of the House or President of the Senate

Majority party holds the most seats on a committee Members chosen by floor vote but this merely ratifies what was decided by the caucus Committees are divided into subcommittees: 99 in House and 70 in Senate House Rules Committee most powerful as it schedules bills to appear on the floor for consideration In Senate, Majority Floor Leader decides which bills appear on floor

Select Special group set up for a specific purpose and a limited time Usually investigative in nature – remember oversight function Joint Has members from both houses Some are investigative and issue reports to both houses Some are permanent and some are temporary Conference Temporary committee designed to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the same bill

…Admit it… You started to sing in your head didn’t you? How a Bill Becomes a Law …Admit it… You started to sing in your head didn’t you?

How a Bill Becomes a Law - House Bill - a proposed law Revenue Bills must originate in the House

Types Public - measures that apply to the whole nation ie taxes Private - measure that apply to certain people/places Resolution - measure relating to the internal workings of Congress and concern only one house

Joint resolution - must be passed by both houses and approved by the President (ie: appropriate money) Concurrent resolution - passes by both houses; used to express legislative opinion or internal rules; does not have the force of law Rider - provision attached to another bill because it probably wouldn’t pass on its own

Referred to committee Bill is placed in hopper Clerk of House numbers/titles bill Bill is entered into the House Journal and Congressional Record This is the first reading Bill is printed/distributed to members Bill is referred by Speaker to appropriate committee

Committee stage Very few bills pass this stage Hold hearings in committee or subcommittee May recommend it to floor May amend it May unfavorably recommend it May make a new one May pigeon-hole it - dies in committee though a discharge petition can force it to the floor

Calendar After making it through committee, the bill is placed on a calendar Union - for bills dealing with revenue, appropriations, government property House - for all public bills Private - for all private bills Corrections - for bills taken out of order Discharge - for petition to discharge bills from committee

House Rules Committee approves taking bill off calendar and sets up time for its appearance on the floor - bill can die here

Floor Bill gets its second reading General debate occurs - strict rules govern debate Voted on House may act as a Committee of the Whole to bypass part of the procedure and speed things up; this is used for important bills and requires a quorum (218 members)

Voting Voice - aye or nay Standing - stand up to be counted Teller - walk down aisle and count (rarely used today because of electronic voting) Roll call - call each individual for vote Electronic - used today the most

Final steps If approved at the second reading, bill is printed (engrossed) Read for third time Final vote

How A Bill Becomes A Law - Senate Introduction by Senator Given a number and title Read twice Referred to committee Committee Same as in House Only one calendar Bills called to floor by majority floor leaders

Debate Unlimited 2 speech rule - Senator may only speak twice on same piece of legislation Filibuster - attempt to talk a bill to death by monopolizing floor until Senate drops bill Cloture rule – procedure limits a Senator’s speech to one hour Hard to get 3/5 (60) must vote for it Vote

How A Bill Becomes A Law - Final Stages Conference committee Irons out differences in the two versions of the bill Bill submitted to both houses for approval May not be amended at this stage Goes to President

Presidential action May sign May veto Pocket veto - may keep it for 10 days and do nothing If Congress in session, automatically becomes law If Congress adjourns, automatically vetoed Line item veto - gives President power to reject/veto parts of bill without vetoing the whole bill Clinton v. New York City 1998 Supreme Court ruled line item veto unconstitutional