1. The Legislative Branch Chapter 4 Section 2 The Two Houses

2. Objectives: * Explain how House seats are distributed and describe the length of a term in the House. * Explain how House seats are reapportioned among the State after each census. * Describe a typical congressional election and congressional district. * Analyze the formal and informal qualifications for election to the House and the Senate. * Compare the size of the Senate to the size of the House of Representatives. * Explain how and why a Senator’s term differs from a representative’s term.

3. The Two Houses The House The exact size of the House of Representatives today is 435 members. This is not fixed in the Constitution, it is set by Congress. The Constitution provides that the total number of seats in the House of Representatives shall be apportioned among the States on the basis of their respective populations. Each State is guaranteed 1 seat no matter what is population is. Seven States have only 1 representative apiece… – Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming

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5. Voters in the District of Columbia, Guam, The Virgin Islands, and American Samoa each elect a delegate to represent them in the House, and Puerto Rico chooses a resident commissioner. – Those officials DO NOT VOTE! Representatives are chosen every second Year – (Article 1 Section 2 Clause of the Constitution) – They hold a two year term – The House members are always worried about the next election, since it is right around the corner. – There is NO Constitutional limit on the number of terms any member of Congress may serve.

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7. There has been movement in the 1990s to limit the terms to 3 or 4 term in the House and two term limit in the Senate. Neither one ever got very far, since Congress did nothing to address it. I wonder why???

8. The Two Houses Reapportionment of Congress Article 1 of the Constitution directs Congress to reapportion the seats in the House every ten years, after each census. The size of the of the first Congress was 65 until the first census was taken. Congress in 1792 was raised to 106 (first census in 1790). By 1912, the House grew to 435 members. – Now the House had grown too large to be effective with floor action, and etc. – Congress knew to reapportion without adding seats would mean some States would have to lose seats. – Congress met the problem by doing nothing.

9. The Two Houses – There was no reapportionment after the 1920 census. – The Reapportionment Act of 1929 was passed to avoid repeating the same mess after the 1930 census. – The law sets up what is often called an “automatic reapportionment” It sets the size of the House at 435 members. Each seat in the House represents some 700,000 people. The Census Bureau determines the number of seats for each State after they publish the census data. The President sends it to Congress. Congress has 60 days to reject the Census Bureau’s plan or it becomes law.

10. The Two Houses – There are 435 congressional districts in the country. It is set up as single-member districts - the voters in each district elect one member among the candidates to serve as their representative. The State legislature draws the congressional district map for the State. Most of the congressional districts have very weird looking design to it. Sometime districts are drawn to promote gerrymandering – they have been drawn to the advantage of the political party that controls the State’s legislature. Most federal courts and Supreme Court will require that States draw their boundaries of equal population.

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12. House Elections According to the Constitution, any person whom a State allows to vote for members of “The most numerous Branch” of its own legislature is a qualified to vote in congressional elections. Congressional elections are held on the same day in every State. Since 1872, Congress required that those elections be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year. Alaska is the only State with an exception, they hold their elections in October. Off-year Elections are elections held between presidential elections.

13. The Two Houses Qualifications for Office in the House There are THREEE Formal Qualifications to become a member of the House of Representatives. – 1) must be at least 25 years of age – 2) have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years. – 3) be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected. – 4) Custom, not qualification requires that the person live in the district they represent.

14. The Two Houses The Constitution makes the House the “Judge of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members”. The has the power to decide if a member-elect is allowed to be seated in the Chamber. Rarely has a challenged been overturned. – Examples… Refused to seat Brigham H. Roberts – Utah – cuz he was a Polygamist (more than one wife) in 1900. In 1919 and 1920, the House refused to seat Victor L. Berger – Wisconsin – the first Socialist Party candidate to win a Seat – wrote articles denouncing the US.

15. The Two Houses The House has only expelled 5 members in 200+ years. – Three were ousted in 1861 for their “support of the rebellions”. – In 1980 – Michael Myers (D – Penn) expelled for corruption charges. – In 2002 – James Traficant (D – Ohio) expelled for bribery, fraud, and tax evasion.

16. The Two Houses Some members have resigned so as not to get expelled. – Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R – Calf) after pleading guilty to bribery charges in 2005. Some members have been reprimanded for their behavior in Congress – Laura Richardson (D – Calf) – 2012 – improperly using House resources for campaign, personal, and nonofficial purposes, and requiring her staff to work on her campaign.

17. The Two Houses There are a number of Informal Qualifications for membership in the House. – These qualifications have to do with the candidates vote-getting abilities. – Include party identification, name familiarity, gender, ethnic characteristics, and etc. – Being the Incumbent - the person who currently holds the office, almost always wins – 90% of the incumbents in the House win reelection. – The average amount spent on a House election is about $ 1.4 million (in 2010).

18. The Two Houses The Senate-Size, Election, and Terms Nearly 1/3 of the members of the Senate served in the House of Representatives. None of the current of the House has ever served in the Senate. The Constitution says that the Senate “shall be composed of two Senators from each State”. The Senate is a lot smaller than the House of Representatives. First Senate had 22 members (11 States), the last two States had not ratified the Constitution at the time of the first Congress.

19. The Two Houses Senators were first chosen by the State Legislature. Now the voters chose the Senators of each State. Senators serve for six-year term – three times the length of the House of Representatives. The Constitution places no limit on the number of terms. Robert C. Byrd – South Carolina – holds the all-time record of service at 51 years.

20. The Two Houses Senator’s terms are staggered – 1/3 of them expire every two years. The Senate is a continuous body – that is all its seats are never up for election at the same time. Senators have a greater degree of job security. More Senators become presidential candidates than do people from the House.

21. The Two Houses Qualifications for Office in the Senate A Senator must meet a higher level of qualifications for office than those set for the House – 1) must be at least 30 years of age. – 2) have been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years. – 3) be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected. A set of Informal qualifications – Factors such as party, name familiarity, gender, ethnic characteristics, and political exposure.

22. The Two Houses The Upper House has refused to seat someone on three occasions. The last time was 1867. Chamber may punish members for disorderly behavior with majority vote Expel a member with 2/3 vote of the members. 15 members of the Senate have been expelled. 1 in 1797, 14 during the Civil War Some Senators have resigned instead of getting expelled.

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