Congress Who’s Leading

Reelection and Incumbency Advantage Incumbents=those who are in office Why are incumbents usually reelected? –Incumbents find it easier to raise funds –Gerrymandering in incumbents favor –Incumbents are better known –Incumbents use their positions to help solve voters’ problems –Most voters believe their incumbents best represents their views

The House of Representatives House Leadership –Leaders serve 6 purposes Organizing and unifying party members Scheduling the work of the House Making certain that lawmakers are present for key floor votes Keeping the House in touch with the president Influencing lawmakers to support the policies of their political party

House Leadership Speaker of the House –Presiding officer of the House –Powerful leader of the majority party –Party CAUCUS chooses Speaker –Appoints members to certain committees –Refers bills to committee and Schedules bills for action –Presides over sessions and can influence who is recognized first. –Is third in the line of succession to the presidency

House Leadership Majority Leader –Speaker’s top assistant –Helps party to plan legislative program –Steers important bills through the House –Floor leader who controls the members speaking on the floor of the House –Controls, with Speaker, the scheduling of bills Majority Whip –Assistant floor leader –Keep track of how members of the majority party will vote on bills –Persuades members to vote as their party desires

Quick into to Senate First All voters of each state elect senators “at large”, or statewide. The Constitution provided for continuity in the Senate by giving senators 6-year terms and by providing that only one-third would run for reelection every 2 years. In the case of a vacancy-the governor of the state can appoint someone to fill the vacancy or call a special election to fill the seat.

Senate Leadership Vice President –President of the Senate –Does not debate on the floor of the Senate –Is not a member of any Senate committee –Only votes to break a tie President pro tempore –Honorific position given to the most senior member of the majority party –4 th in the line of succession to the presidency

Senate Leadership Majority Leader and Minority Leader –Most important officers in the Senate –Most important job is to steer their party’s bills through the Senate –Majority leader is responsible for making certain the majority party members attend important sessions and getting their support on key bills –Minority leader develops criticisms of the majority party’s bills and tries to keep members working together Majority and Minority Whips serve similar function to what their counterparts do in the House

The Importance of Committee Work Party Affiliation –The majority party selects the Speaker and the chairpersons of each committee –The majority leader of the Senate does the same –The majority party has a lot of power to control the flow of legislation. Committee Work –Committees do most the work in Congress –HR committees are more important that Senate committees Members must organize themselves into smaller groups Representatives tend to specialize on issues that are important to their constituents