1. The Legislative Branch
Section 3: How Congress Is Organized
Section Reading Support Transparency
Section Outline
I. Leadership in Congress
II. Working in a Committee
III. The President’s Role
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2. The Legislative Branch
Section 3: How Congress is Organized
Main Idea
Key Terms
Both houses of Congress choose leaders and assign members to committees. The committees work on bills before they are voted on. The President can sign or veto a bill.
Speaker of the House
President Pro Tempore
Floor leaders
Pocket veto
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3. The Legislative Branch
Section 3: How Congress Is Organized
Leadership in Congress
House: Speaker of the House
Presiding officer in the House of Representatives
Senate: President Pro Tempore
The Vice President is president of the Senate.
Presiding officer of the Senate, when the Vice President is absent
Floor Leaders
The chief officers of the majority and minority parties in each house
Assistant leaders are called whips.
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4. The Legislative Branch
Section 3: How Congress Is Organized
Working in Committees
Go Online: How a Bill Becomes a Law
Only Congress can introduce bills
Standing Committees
There are 36 total committees dedicated to certain needs, such as education or banking.
Committees and Bills
When introduced, bills go to a committee for analysis.
The committee decides whether or not the bill is to be voted on in the House or Senate.
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5. The Legislative Branch
Section 3: How Congress is Organized
The President’s Role
“Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate…[and] Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives, may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President…” –Article I, Section 7, Clauses 2 and 3.
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6. The Legislative Branch
Section 3: How Congress Is Organized
The President’s Role (continued)
If the President signs a bill, it becomes law.
The President may veto or reject a bill by not signing it and sending it back to Congress.
Congress can override the President’s veto with 2/3 majority votes in both houses.
The President may use a “pocket veto” by holding a bill for 10 days during which Congress ends its session.
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7. The Legislative Branch: Section 3
How a Bill Becomes a Law
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8. The Legislative Branch: Section 3
Section Reading Support Transparency
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