C ONGRESS
B ICAMERAL C ONGRESS 2 houses Historical-British Parliament consisted of 2 houses since the 1300’s Practical-had to create a two house Congress due to the conflict between the New Jersey and Virginia Plan Theoretical- each house can check one another- diffuse the power so it doesn’t overwhelm the other two branches.
T ERMS AND S ESSIONS Each term of Congress lasts for two years Start of a new term was changed by the 20 th Amendment in Changed from March 4 th to January 3 rd every other year. 113 th Congress: January 3, 2013-January 3, 2015 Session: the amount of time every year that Congress gets together and conducts business. There are two sessions a term Recess/adjourn-Sine die Special session- president calls – deals with some type of emergency situation.
H OUSE OF R EPRESENTATIVES 435 members (fixed by Congress)- apportioned among the states based on population. Voters in the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa elect delegates and Puerto Rico elects a resident commissioner- no voting power Elected every 2 years- “pay close attention to the folks back home” Vesting Clause- “ Article 1, Section 1. All Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States” U.S. House of Representatives The 3/5 th ’s Clause- “All other persons” 65 members of the House at first (Virginia had the most at 10) capped at 435
R EAPPORTIONMENT Reapportion every 10 years Reapportionment Act of Permanent size is 435 members Represent on average 700,000 people Census bureau decides how many representatives a state should have When Bureau is ready, must send it to President who then sends it to Congress. It must not be rejected within 60 days.
C ONGRESSIONAL E LECTIONS Election: First Tuesday after the first Monday in the month of November Off-year elections: The party that holds the presidency usually loses seats in a off-year election. Most are elected in by single member districts rather than “at large” Gerrymandering Packing Cracking Compact, Connected, Equal population Wesberry v. Sanders, Equal population Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 1960 and Bush v. Vera, 1996
RedistrictingRedistricting-Where the lines are drawn
F ORMAL Q UALIFICATIONS 25 years old, citizen for at least 7 years, be an inhabitant of the state that he/she is elected from. House can exclude people from membership Brigham Roberts from Utah House has expelled 5 people (3 in 1861, Michael Myers in 1980 and James Traficant in 2002). House can punish (Barney Frank in 1990) Incumbant- win over 90% of time
S ENATE 100 Senators represent the 50 states Framers hoped that the Senate would be a more enlightened and responsible body than the House Before the 17 th Amendment in state legislatures elected the Senators in. In changed to popular vote at large. 6 year terms- Robert Byrd (W.V.)-1958 Continuous body More focused on the ‘bigger picture’
Q UALIFICATIONS 30 years old, have been a citizen of the U.S. for at least 9 years and an inhabitant of the state that they decide to run in. Incumbancy Removal Concurrence- 15 members have been expelled
W HAT DO MEMBERS OF C ONGRESS LOOK LIKE ? Not an accurate cross-section of the United States! Mostly white, protestant, males in their 50-60’s, married, two children on average Salary- $174,000 a year Generous benefits Franking privilege
R EPRESENTATIVES OF THE P EOPLE Delegates Agents of the people who elected them Trustees Each question faced should be decided on its merits Partisans Owe first allegiance to their political party Politicos Attempt to combine the basic elements of other three
C OMMITTEE M EMBERS Proposed laws (bills) are proposed to Congress and must go through certain committees Choose if it goes to floor consideration Makes sure that executive agencies carry out laws/spend money correctly Oversight function
S ERVANTS OF THE P EOPLE Helping the “folks back home” Passport applications Small business loans Social Security benefits Etc. Tend to get overwhelmed with requests