Get to Know The Leaders of Congress

A) Why do you need them? – They help … 1) Organize the parties; 2) schedule the bills (potential laws); and 3) make sure certain issues are brought up

4) collect info on issues 5) influence others and making sure they are where they need to be when it comes time to vote

6) make sure the president and all parts of Congress (all 30,000 members when you count the office staff too) get along 7) make sure that the over 3 billion dollars that is given to Congress to help run it is spent wisely

A) Who are they in the House of Representatives? 1) The leaders are chosen from amongst its members on opening day a) How many members are there to chose from? 435 b) What day is opening day? January 3rd Harry Reid

2) Speaker of the House a)Who is it? John Boehner b) What state is s/he from? Ohio c) Which party is s/he from? Republican d) Who chooses him/her? his fellow Members e) Why is that person chosen from all of the rest? – they’re respected by the majority party and even some of the minority party as well

f) Duties 1) Recognize/ignore speakers 2) Can take part in debates 3) Appoints members to committee 4) Schedule bills (potential laws) for voting 5) Can vote on bills (like any other member of the House)

6) Signs all bills passed in the House 7) Makes sure all members of the House are following the rules of the House (there are 400 pages of them) 8) Can choose someone to preside over the House in his/her absence 9) Can be president (3 rd in line after the elected president and vice president)

3) House majority and minority leaders a ) Are chosen by the Democratic and Republican caucus (closed party meetings of top party officials)

b) Majority leader 1)Who is s/he? Steny H. Hoyer 2) What state is s/he from? Virginia 7 th District 3) Which party is s/he from? Republican 4) Duties a) plans (with the Speaker of the House) what laws the majority party wants to try to pass b) helps steer those laws through c) makes sure bills are passed by committees on time 5) Elected by whom? Colleagues in Republican Caucus

b)Minority leader 1) Who is s/he? Nancy Pelosi 2) What state is s/he from? CA 3) Which party is s/he from? Demecrat 4) Duties a) plans what laws to pass with his/her party b) helps steers the laws through

The Whip (Whip it good) A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy. A whip's role is also to ensure that the elected representatives of their party are in attendance when important votes are taken. The usage comes from the hunting term "whipping in", i.e. preventing hounds from wandering away from the pack.

3) House majority whip a) majority whip 1) Who is it? Kevin McCarthy 2) What state is s/he from? California 3) Which party is s/he from? Republican

b) minority whip 1)Who is it? Steny Hoyer 2) What state is s/he from? Maryland 3) Which party is s/he from? Democrat

c) Duties of the Whips a) helps watch the votes b) keeps an eye on party members' actions and makes sure they vote the way the party wants them to vote

4) Dean of the House a) the member of the House with the longest record of service b) Who is that again? John Dingell c) They swear in the Speaker of the House

5) There are other duties in the House that are fulfilled by known members such as: a)Sergeant at Arms – the “unofficial” bouncer of the House who announces the president’s presence b) the chief administrative officer – the officer who makes sure that certain time schedules are being kept c)The chaplain of the House – the non-denominational religious leader of the House who acts in certain ceremonies

c) Who are they in Senate? 1) the President of the Senate… a) Who is he? Joe Biden b) Which party is he from? Democrat

c) Duties 1) recognizes members to speak 2) puts issues to a vote 3) cannot take part in debates 4) cannot vote unless in the event of a tie 6) Why does he have so many restrictions?

2) Senate Pro-Temp/Tempore* (*Latin for time-being) a) Who is he? Patrick Leahy b) What state is he from? Vermont c) Which party is he from? Democratic d) How did he get the job? Most senior Senator in the majority party

e) Duties 1) takes over for the v.p. as head of the Senate when he is away 2) could be president (4 th in line)

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3) Majority Leader a) Again, like in the House, they are chosen by the Republican and Democratic caucuses b) Majority leader 1)Who is he? Harry Reid 2)What state is he from? Nevada 3) Which party is he from? Democrat

C) Minority leader 1) Who is he? Mitch McConnell 2) What state is he from? Kentucky 3) Which party is he from? Republican

a) d) Duties 1) steers bills through the Senate (even if that means working with the other party) 2) sets the work schedule: 3) States how many senators (from their party) work on each bill how much time is devoted to each bill

4) Senate majority whip a) majority whip/assistant to majority leader 1)Who is it? Dick Durbin 2)What state is he from? Democrat 3) Which party is he from? Illinois

b) minority whip 1)Who is it? John Cornyn 2)What state is he from? Texas 3) Which party is he from? Republican d) Duties 1) watches the votes of the members of their party in the Senate 2) keeps an eye on party actions

D) Once the House and the Senate has elected all its leaders and is organized, the President arrives 1)3) he checks to formally make sure there is a quorum to run Congress properly 4) What’s a quorum again? a number members of a body that when duly assembled is legally competent to transact business

5) Then the President gives the State of the Union Address a) all of the members of Congress are present b) all of the members of the President’s cabinet are there except one – Why? c) The justices of the Supreme Court try to be there

d) The Joint Chiefs of Staff (the heads of all of the armed forces) are also present