Article One Legislative Branch
House vs. Senate 435 Representatives Based on population-More people more reps Elected directly by the people Each state must have at least one representative 100 Senators 2 For every state Originally elected by state legislatures, 17th Amendment changed this to directly by people
House vs. Senate Term of office 2 yrs. unlimited 25 yrs. Old minimum US citizen 7 yrs. Must be a resident of the state you represent Title of the leader is Speaker of the House- John Boehner (R) Term of office 6 yrs. unlimited 30 yrs. Old minimum US Citizen 9 yrs. Must be a resident of the state you represent Title of the leader is President of the Senate Vice Pres. Of US. President Pro Tempore
NY’s US Senators
House Every 10 yrs. a Census-population count is taken nation wide. The Census is used to make any adjustments in the amount of rep.’s a state has. States can lose/gain/stay same This is known as Reapportionment/Redistricting Each state is split into Congressional Districts Each district has its own representative. The number of districts a state has depends on how many representatives it has. NY 29 Districts=29 Reps 19th District John Hall
House vs. Senate Selects President if no candidate wins majority of electoral votes Begins all revenue bills Earn Salary $170,000 yr. Selects vice president Approves all presidential treaties and presidential supreme court choices Earn Salary $170,000 yr.
House vs. Senate Impeaches elected official-formally charges w/crime House conducts inquires and investigates Need 1 more than 50% to impeach (accuse)=218 Acts as jury in impeachment trial Senators act like jurors Chief Justice presides 2/3 vote needed to convict=67 Senators
House vs. Senate Forbidden Powers (safeguard people’s freedoms) AKA Denied Powers 1- Ex Post Facto Law: makes something illegal after the act has been done- person cannot be held responsible 2- Writ Of Habeas Corpus: requires a court to hold a hearing for a person accused of a crime (can be suspended during a national emergency) 3- Bill of Attainder: cannot sentence someone to jail without granting a trial
House vs. Senate Main job of Congress is to pass laws Bill: a proposed law Must be passed by both the House and Senate & usually the President System of Committees looks at the bills > impossible for full House or Senate to look at all bill (20,000 a year) Committees studies the bill and votes if it should go to full House or Senate Most bills “die” in committee
House vs. Senate President’s Choices on A Bill 1- Sign the bill..becomes a law 2- Veto the bill > Congress can override 3- Pocket the Bill - if Congress is in session, a pocketed bill becomes law without President’s signature after 10 days - if Congress is not in session, a pocketed bill is vetoed after 10 days (pocket veto)
House vs. Senate Influences on Congress Lobbyists: people hired by a special interest group to influence Congress Experts: provide info to committees on certain bills Constituents: voters who are represented by a member of Congress
Blue vs. Red States