1. Leadership in Congress

2. Learning Objectives
To identify the roles and powers of the leadership in Congress
To examine how much influence leaders have
To examine the importance of political parties

3. Profiles The Speaker of the House President Pro-Tem
Majority Leader (House)
Majority Leader (Senate)
Minority Leader (Senate)
Minority Leader (House)

4. Speaker of the House John Boehner US Rep Ohio 8th Elected by H of R
2nd in line of succession
Office mandated in Article 1 Section 2
Equivalent to the President Pro-Tempore but more powers
House’s presiding officer – the Speaker is a leadership position in the majority party and actively works to set that party's legislative agenda, therefore endowing the office with considerable power
Additional duties;
Does not usually personally preside over debates, instead delegating the duty to other members of Congress of the same political party.
Some administrative and procedural functions, and represents his or her congressional district.

5. President Pro Tempore Daniel Inoyue US Senator for Hawaii
Elected by Senate
3rd in line of succession
Office mandated in Article 1 Section 3
Equivalent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, but powers are more limited
Senate’s presiding officer – authorised to perform certain duties in the absence of the VP e.g. ruling on points of order
Additional duties;
Appointment of various congressional officers, certain commissions, advisory boards, and committees and joint supervision of the congressional page school.

6. Majority Leader (Senate)
Harry Reid
US Senator for Nevada
Elected by Democratic party
Chief Senate spokesperson for party
Head of Majority (Democratic) Party in the Senate
Additional duties;
Manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate.
By rule, the Presiding Officer gives the Majority Leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate.

7. Minority Leader (Senate)
Mitch McConnell
US Senator for Kentucky
Elected by Republican party
Chief Senate spokesperson for party
Head of Minority (Republican) Party in the Senate
Additional duties;
Manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate.
Minority party lawmakers are certain to be heard, but whether they will be heeded is sometimes another matter. Thus, the utmost goal of any minority leader is to recapture majority control of the Senate.

8. Majority Leader (House)
Eric Cantor
US Rep Virginia 7th
Elected by Repubican party
Floor leader of the majority party
NOT Head of Majority (Republican) Party in the House – that is the Speaker
Additional duties;
The Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader are considered the respective "faces" and leaders of their caucuses in the House, while the Majority Leader's duties and prominence varies depending upon the style of the Speaker.
May preside over debates.
Some administrative and procedural functions, and represents his or her congressional district.

9. Minority Leader (House)
Nancy Pelosi
US Rep California 8th
Elected by Democratic party
Floor leader of the opposition party
Head of Minority (Democratic) Party in the House
Minority Party’s nominee for Speaker
Additional duties;
Minority party lawmakers are certain to be heard, but whether they will be heeded is sometimes another matter. Thus, the utmost goal of any minority leader is to recapture majority control of the House.
The U.S. House of Representatives does not officially use the term "Minority Leader", although the media frequently does. The House instead uses the terms "Republican Leader" or "Democratic Leader" depending on which party holds a minority of seats.

10. Pause for Thought Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011.
A mother of 5, a grandmother of 7 and the first woman to hold the office of Speaker and to-date has been the highest-ranking female politician in American history.
A member of the Democratic Party, Pelosi has been in the House of Representatives since Pelosi is the first woman, the first Californian and first Italian-American to lead a major party in Congress.
House Minority Whip ( )
House Minority Leader ( )
Speaker of the House ( )
House Minority Leader ( )

11. Pause for Thought Nancy Pelosi Quotes
“Being the first woman speaker and breaking the marble ceiling is pretty important. Now it's time to move on.”
“I would never think of crying about any loss of an office, because that's always a possibility, and if you're professional, then you deal with it professionally...If I were to cry for anything, I would cry for the American people and the policies that they're about to face. “

12. No Stranger to Controversy
Pause for Thought
Nancy Pelosi
No Stranger to Controversy
Voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 and earlier attempts at similar bans, and voted against the criminalization of certain situations where a minor is transported across state lines for an abortion.
She voted against a Constitutional amendment banning flag-burning and against a Congressional resolution supporting the display of the Ten Commandments in courtrooms.
Instrumental in passing Obama’s Healthcare plans. After delivering 219 votes in the House for Obama's signature health care package, Pelosi was both praised and heckled as she made her way to Capitol Hill.
In 1996 she voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, and in 2004 and 2006, she voted against the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would amend the United States Constitution to define marriage federally as being between one man and one woman, thereby overriding states' individual rights to legalize gay marriage

13. Political Parties in Congress
The Importance of Political Parties Party Discipline Influence of the Party Leadership

14. The Importance of Political Parties
Political parties have always played an important role in Congress, but this role has increased in significance in the past decade.
Party ideology influences the relationships between members of Congress, relationships with their constituents, legislation, and characterises the relationship between Congress and the executive.

15. Party Discipline
A weak party discipline is generally found in Congressional systems such as the United States Congress.
It is routine for members to cross party lines on a given vote, typically following the interests of their region or following other members of a borderline group within their party (for instance, the conservative Blue Dog Democrats and centrist and socially liberal Main Street Republicans).

16. Influence of the Party Leadership
Agenda Control
This can be getting favourable agenda passed, but it can also mean keeping bills off the agenda which they may not like, this is called "gatekeeping."
Pressure
Falling in line with the leadership of your party could be beneficial in the form of incentives; committee selection, pork, log-rolling, etc. Lobbyists tend to target the leaders and not minor members of congress because minor members will usually vote along party lines which is determined by the leadership.
Discipline
When you choose to ignore the party leadership it may cost you. If you choose to ignore the leadership on a pivotal vote, well, that may come into account when the next congress' committees are being drawn up. You could really want that last spot on the appropriations committee, sometimes going against the leadership means you just missed the last spot and wind up on the post office committee.

17. Homework
Reading and Note Taking, Chapter 5, Leadership in Congress, p Congressional Committees, p