United States Congress Legislative Branch

House of Representatives Sole Powers Impeachment Origination of Revenue-Raising Bills Organization Leadership roles are held by the political party with the majority Committees Subcommittees Representation 435 seats (set by law in the early 1900s) Based on population

Leadership in the House of Representatives Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) Majority (Floor) Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) Minority (Floor) Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) Georgia’s 11 th District Representative Barry Loudermilk (R)

Speaker of the House I am the most powerful person in the House. I preside over all sessions, keep order, Send bills to committees, and… I don’t like talking to President Obama

Floor Leaders We… Maintain Party Organization Keep order in the Party We are assisted by the Whips

What a Representative Does… I am in my first term as a… Legislator who makes laws… (“Today, I proudly supported the passage of H.R. 7 – the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015.” ) house.gov Representative for the interests of my constituents – YOU… Servant who helps you… (If your grandparents need help getting their Social Security checks started, I might be able to help), Committee member who serves on committees, (I am currently serving on Homeland Security and Science, Space, and Technology). Finally, I am a… Politician who tries to please everyone!

Senate Sole Powers Try impeachment cases Approve Presidential Appointments Approve Treaties Organization Leadership roles are held by the political party with the majority Committees Subcommittees Representation 100 total 2 senators per state

Leadership in the Senate President of the Senate Joe Biden (D) President Pro Tempore Orrin Hatch (R) Majority (Floor) Leader Mitch McConnell (R) Minority (Floor) Leader Harry Reid (D) Georgia’s Senior Senator Johnny Isakson (R) Georgia’s Junior Senator David Perdue (R)

President of the Senate My main job is being the Vice President of the United States but, When I am in the Senate, it’s my job to Recognize members (when they want to speak) and Put questions to a vote But, I only get to vote to break a tie

President Pro Tempore I get to take over when Joe’s out working on VP business. I Preside over sessions, Keep order, and Send bills to committees

Floor Leaders I am the MOST POWERFUL PERSON IN THE SENATE!!! I decide which bills will be debated once they get out of committee, Maintain party organization, Keep order in the party, and I’m assisted by the Whip I used to be the Majority Leader, but my party lost control of the Senate in 2014!! Now, I only get to Maintain party organization, Keep order in the party, and I’m assisted by the Whip too

Georgia Senators I am currently in my second term as a Senator from Georgia. I am a … Legislator who makes laws (Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act and Medicare Home Infusion Site of Care Act of 2015) I represent my constituents – YOU! I am your servant (assist constituents who run into difficulties when dealing with federal agencies), I am also a Committee Member, currently, I am the only Republican senator to chair two committees in the 114 th Congress: the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. I am also on the Senate Committee on Finance, The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. I am a Politician, trying to make everyone happy!

I am in my first term as a Georgia Senator. I am a Legislator who makes laws (A resolution welcoming the Prime Minister of Israel to the United States for his address to a joint session of Congress.), I represent my constituents – YOU, I am your Servant, I am a committee member serving on Special Committee on Aging Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Committee on the Budget Committee on Foreign Relations, and Committee on the Judiciary, and I am a politician trying to make everyone happy!

Congressional Committees House of Representatives There are three types of House Committees 1) standing committees elected by members of the House (21) 2) select committees appointed by the Speaker of the House (1) 3) joint committees whose members are chosen according to the statute or resolution that created that committee (4) How Committee Members and Chairmen are chosen The Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference recommend members from their parties to serve on Committees The majority party recommends a Chairman The Minority Party recommends a Ranking Member The full House approves the recommendation of the Party Caucuses wikipedia

Senate There are three types of committees in the Senate Standing Committees (16) Standing committees are permanent bodies with specific responsibilities spelled out in the Senate's official rules Special and Select Committees (4) Select and special committees are created for clearly specified purposes Joint Committees (4) they either perform housekeeping functions or conduct studies

How Committee Members and Chairmen are Chosen Party conferences convene before the start of each new Congress to elect leaders and determine committee assignments. Each party conference appoints a "committee on committees" to prepare a roster of members it wishes named to the party's specifically allotted committee seats. Traditionally, the majority party member with the greatest seniority on a particular committee serves as its chairman. Today, a vote may be taken if someone else from the majority party might be better suited for the job senate.gov

Committee Chairmen – both houses of Congress Chairmen in both houses have the same jobs Decide when their committee will meet Decide which bills they will consider Decide whether to hold public hearings Decide what witnesses to callwitnesses

Congressional Committee Actions When a bill goes to a committee, it is referred to a subcommittee that will Investigate it Debate it Recommend it’s fate The Subcommittee will then send their recommendation to the rest of the committee, who will then do one of the following: Report the bill Favorably Report the bill unfavorably Report an amended version Report brand new bill Refuse to report the bill – pigeon hole it. If they pigeon hole the bill, the rest of the house it’s in can issue a discharge petition to get the bill out of committee Committee: Agriculture Subcommittee: Nutrition

How a bill becomes a law (example) We need to get the nation out of debt so they are going to have to raise taxes. The bill HAS to begin in the House of Representatives…. “Those who make over $150,000/year will now pay 15% taxes on their adjusted gross income.” It’s given a Number – H. Res. 150 It’s given a title – “Wealthy Bailout” Entered into the House Journal and the Congressional Record for the day Speaker Boehner then sends it to the Appropriations Committee

Once in the Appropriations Committee, Committee Chairman, Hal Rogers, sends it to the subcommittee: Financial Services and General Government. The Subcommittee Investigates Debates it Mark-up (making changes) can occur during this time Recommends its fate Chairman Rogers receives it out of the subcommittee. The Appropriations Committee Debates it Discusses it Mark-up (making changes) can occur during this time Recommends the House pass the bill

H. Res. 150 – Wealthy Bailout goes back to the House Rules Committee Before going to the House floor, a bill must be put on the calendar Before it can be debated, it must receive a rule Bill on the Floor of the House Most important are considered in the Committee of the Whole In the House, debate time is limited H. Res. 150 – Wealthy Bailout, passes!!!! Final Steps An approved bill is engrossed, read a 3 rd time, voted on again, and signed by the Speaker of the House A signed bill then goes to the Senate President

Now the Senate gets the bill Since Joe Biden is off on VP business, President Pro Tempore, Orrin Hatch, gets the bill… A bill is introduced Given a number, S. Res. 500 – Wealthy Bailout Read twice Then, Senator Hatch referred it to the Senate Appropriations Committee Once in the Appropriations Committee, Chairman, Thad Cochran referred it to the subcommittee… Financial Services and General Government

The subcommittee, Financial Services and General Government Investigates it Debates it Mark-up (making changes) can occur during this time Recommends its fate Then, they send it back to the Appropriations Committee The Appropriations Committee Mark-up (making changes) can occur during this time Reported it favorably and sent it back to the whole Senate

Back in the Senate The bill is only called to the floor if Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell wants to call it to the floor He does!!!! The Senate Discusses the bill Debates the bill – this takes a while because debate time is unlimited in the Senate! It looks like the bill will pass! Uh oh…Senators Durbin and Fein stein decide they don’t want the bill to pass so they conduct a filibuster A filibuster is where they will talk a bill to death. oOne of them will try to get recognized to speak oThen they will take turns holding the floor of the Senate, talking about anything at all, until everyone gets tired and there aren’t enough senators left to vote on the bill.

Senator Isakson gets wind of the plan to filibuster so he tries to get enough votes to invoke a Cloture – a limit to debate time. He needs 60 votes to block it. oHe’s a Republican and there are only 54 of them in the Senate, so he will have to convince at least 6 Democrats to vote with them. oHis attempt fails oBut so does the filibuster! The bill passes the Senate too Uh-oh, the Senators made some changes to the bill so now both houses have to send member to a Conference Committee.

Conference Committee These involve members from both houses who meet to iron out the differences when a bill passes each house in different versions Conference Committee members are usually the senior, most powerful members and are acceptable to both houses.

The Conference Committee comes up with an acceptable compromise The compromised version goes back through both houses They CANNOT make any changes to the compromised version This version passes both houses! Now it goes to President Obama OH NO!!! He vetoed the bill!!! To override his veto, the Republicans need 2/3rds vote in BOTH houses…

Do they have the numbers to override???? In the House, there are 247 Republicans out of 435 total…. In the Senate, there are 54 Republicans out of 100 total… NO…they don’t have the numbers…the bill is DEAD!!!