US Government: Legislative Branch

National Government Legislative branch (Congress) Executive Branch (President, Cabinet, Cabinet departments) Judicial branch (Supreme Court) Checks & balances: ability of each branch to keep the others “in check” Separation of powers: so no one branch gets too powerful

Legislative Structure Bicameral (2 houses): House of Representatives & Senate, mostly white men, middle-aged, lawyers, businessmen, bankers House: 435 members, represents the common man, based on population based on census every 10 yrs, represent “districts”, elected every 2 years in even # yrs Must be 25 years old, naturalized citizen for 7 years, legal resident of state you represent

Representation Constituents: the people they represent Reapportionment: chg in # of reps based on change in census #s Redistricting: setting up new district lines after reapportionment Gerrymandering: one party draws the district boundaries to benefit their party (illegal) 113th Congress: 232 Reps, 200 Dems, 3 vacant seats (Republicans hold majority)

House Leadership: Speaker of the House: John Boehner [R]--Ohio Pelosi Speaker of the House: John Boehner [R]--Ohio Majority Leader: Eric Cantor [R]--Virginia Majority Whip: Kevin McCarthy [R]—California Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi [D]--California Minority Whip: Steny Hoyer [D]—Maryland Hoyer Cantor McCarthy

Law-making in the House Bill is dropped in the “hopper”—gets HR# Goes to committee—only about 10-20% come out of committee Goes on calendar Rules Committee decides which bill go to the floor for debate & voting Must have a quorum (majority) present to vote (218 members) If passed, goes to Senate

Senate 2 per state (100 today) Must be at least 30 yrs old, naturalized citizen for 9 yrs, legal resident of state represented “at-large” 1/3 elected every 6 yrs, even # years 27th amendment: can’t vote pay raise during current session Can exclude or censure a member

Senate More informal than the House Usually debate is unlimited Vice-Pres. Breaks tie: Joe Biden President pro tempore: presides—usually majority party’s most senior member Current pres pro tem: Patrick Leahy [D]--Vermont

Other Senate Leadership Democrats have current majority: 53 Dems, 45 Republicans, 4 independents Majority Leader: Harry Reid Majority Whip: Dick Durbin Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell Minority Whip: John Comyn

Bills in the Senate Calendar of General Orders lists the bills Vote to bring bills to the floor—given S # Goes to committee Unlimited debate on floor Can filibuster (speak to stall the voting process)—longest ever was Strom Thurmond [SC]—24 hours, 18 mins Can stop a filibuster by voting for cloture—limits speaking to one hour If passes, goes to House

Committees Standing: permanent Subcommittees: subcategories of other committees Select: temporary, usually to study one issue Joint: members from both Houses Conference: temporary, set up when different versions of a bill have been passed by both houses Extremely important to be on committees—MUCH power! Usually done by seniority Chair is very powerful: decides everything (when they meet, bills to be considered, who speaks, etc.) Most important committees: Rules, Ways & Means, Appropriations (controls the $$$)

Congressional Support Staffers & secretaries do much of the research, answer calls, make calls & write legislation for members of Congress Personal & committee staffers, adminstrative & legislative assistants, caseworkers Library of Congress Congressional Budget Office General Accounting Office Government Printing Office

Legislative Powers Expressed (enumerated): 18 powers Implied: uses “necessary & proper clause”—can make any laws necessary to carry out expressed powers Denied powers: can’t suspend writ of habeas corpus, no bills of attainder (conviction w/out trials), no ex post facto laws (making something illegal that you did when it was legal)

Powers Tax, borrow, coin $, punish counterfeiters Regulate commerce/trade Declare war Raise/support an army/navy/national guard Punish acts committed on international waters & against other nations Naturalization laws, post office, copyrights/patents, create courts, govern DC, necessary & proper laws as needed

Other powers Power to choose a President if there is no majority in the electoral college (only twice: 1800 & 1824) Settle Presidential succession issues (Nixon’s resignation, Kennedy’s assassination) Impeachment Confirmation power (Senate): appointments Ratification power: treaties Amendment power: 2/3rds vote

Still other powers! Investigative: investigations, hold hearings, subpoena witnesses Oversees executive agencies Can limit those agencies—cut purse strings! Can limit President’s power to declare national emergency Controls the budget Override Presidential veto

Law-making Bills that pass both the House & Senate but are different go to Conference Committee If passed, goes back to both for final vote Then goes to President Sign, veto, pocket veto Can override, but hard to do—rare Any bill that doesn’t passdies “pigeonholing”: bill dies in committee Line-item veto: ruled unconstitutional

How can you influence Congress? Write, call or email your Senator or Representative—they all have websites! Reps. for 30252: Paul Broun [R], Hank Johnson [D], Lynn Westmoreland [R], David Scott [D] http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ GA Senators: Saxby Chambliss [R] & Johnny Isakson [R] Join a political party Join an interest group (lobbying) Join a Political Action Committee: raise $

How can they help you? Call, write or email their caseworker with your problem, question or request They try to get bills passed that bring $/jobs to your state/district (sometimes “pork”) Try to get grants & contracts (especially Defense contracts) for their states…Ga has LOTS of military bases thanks to former Senator Sam Nunn!