1. Congress: Policy & Representation

2. House-Senate Differences
435 members
Low turnover
Policy specialists
Emphasizes tax & revenue policy
More formal & impersonal
Senate
100 members
Moderate turnover
Policy generalists
Emphasizes foreign policy
More informal & personal

3. Using The Constitution, You tell me:
House
Length of term?
Age requirement?
Citizenship requirement?
Senate
Length of term?
Age requirement?
Citizenship requirement?

4. Who’s in Congress?

5. The 115th Congress
Source:

7. Do the demographics matter to you? Why or why not?
Descriptive representation:
Reps mirror the characteristics of their constituents
Ex: Rep. of Hispanic origin representing a primarily Hispanic district
Substantive representation:
Reps can look out for the interests of groups they are not a part of
Ex: Wealthy senator looking out for the interests of the poor

8. Models of Representation
Trustee model vs. delegate model
(Segment 2 of 3 – starts at 9:08)
After watching the video clip, which model would you want your representatives to follow?

9. Approval Rating of Congress

10. Incumbency Advantage
Sitting members of Congress are more likely than challengers to win elections due to:
Advertising
Franking privileges
Credit claiming
Pork barrel
Position taking
Weak opponents
Campaign spending

11. “New blood” likely to seize open seats (when the incumbent does not run for re-election)
Incumbent advantage leads to stability & expertise
Yet we still disapprove…
…Should there be congressional term limits?

12. Gerrymandering
“Partisan gerrymandering is the practice of drawing legislative and congressional district lines to maximize and perpetuate the power of an incumbent political party.”
NPR.org

13. Elbridge Gerry – Governor of Massachusetts
1812 law created a redistricting plan to benefit his party
The Boston Gazette published the political cartoon & coined the word “Gerrymandering”

14. Party Leadership

15. HOUSE LEADERSHIP Speaker (majority party) Republicans: Majority Leader
Majority Whip
Speaker of the House
Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Majority Whip
Steve Scalise (R-LA)
Majority Leader
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)

16. HOUSE LEADERSHIP Democrats: Minority Leader Minority Whip
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Minority Whip
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

17. SENATE LEADERSHIP President of the Senate (Vice President)
President Pro Tempore (majority party)
Republicans:
Majority Leader
Majority Whip
President Pro Tem
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
President of the Senate
Mike Pence (R-IN)
Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Majority Whip
John Cornyn (R-TX)

18. SENATE LEADERSHIP Democrats: Minority Leader Minority Whip
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Democrats:
Minority Leader
Minority Whip
Minority Whip
Richard Durbin (D-IL)

19. Strength of Party Structure?
Measure of party strength:
Ability of leaders to control party rules and organization
Extent to which party members vote together in the House and Senate
Senate: less party-centered and leader oriented

20. CAUCUSES
Groups (may be bipartisan) meeting to pursue common legislative objectives
Rivals to parties in policy formulation
Examples: Democratic Study Group, Congressional Black Caucus, Tuesday Lunch Bunch, Human Rights, Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, Out of Iraq Caucus,
Rural Caucus, Travel & Tourism Caucus, House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children

21. "Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee-rooms is Congress at work.”
- Woodrow Wilson

22. Legislative Committees:
Function and Purpose

23. Legislative Committees: Function & Purpose
1. Consider bills (a.k.a. “mark-up” bills)
A bill with a member’s mark-up notes

24. Legislative Committees: Function & Purpose
2. Maintain oversight of executive agencies
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifies before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing re: the Department of Defense Budget (May, 2006)

25. Legislative Committees: Function & Purpose
3. Conduct investigations
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Hurricane Katrina (Feb., 2006

26. Types of Committees
Standing Committees - permanent panel with full legislative functions and oversight responsibilities
Subcommittees – formed to tackle very specific tasks within the jurisdiction of the full committees
Select or Special Committees - groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration
Joint Committees - includes members of both chambers to conduct studies or perform housekeeping tasks
Conference Committee - includes members of House & Senate to work out differences between similar bills

27. Standing Committees

28. House Standing Committees
Agriculture
Appropriations
Armed Services
Budget
Education & Workforce
Energy & Commerce
Financial Services
Government Reform
House Admin.
International Relations
Judiciary
Resources
Rules
Science
Small Business
Standards of Official Conduct
Transportation & Infrastructure
Veterans Affairs
Ways & Means

29. Senate Standing Committees
Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry
Appropriations
Armed Services
Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs
Budget
Commerce, Science, Transportation
Energy & Natural Resources
Environment and Public Works
Finance
Foreign Relations
Governmental Affairs
Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
Judiciary
Rules and Administration
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Veterans Affairs

30. Special, Select Committees
House Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming
Senate Select Committee on Ethics
House & Senate Select Committees on Intelligence
Gen. Michael Hayden is sworn in during a full committee hearing of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee on his nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

31. Joint Committees Joint Economic Committee Joint Committee on Printing
Joint Committee on Taxation
Joint Committee on Taxation hearing