1. Congress 14 November 2011

2. Announcements Essays due this Thursday at 4pm Please put your tutor’s name on your Bart sheet! You must submit your essay to turnitin; do it before the deadline!

3. Organizing Congress The two most crucial institutional structures created to exercise Congress’s constitutional powers are –the party system, and –the committee system. Without them it would be difficult to overcome the barriers to effective collective action.

4. Weak Parties At one time, parties were powerful enough to bully members of Congress into sticking with the leadership Fewer constraints now exist Example: Committee system is formally under the control of the majority party Parties customarily choose committee chairs based on seniority

5. The Importance of Consensus The degree of consensus within a party continues to affect how much authority party members are willing to delegate to party leaders. When there is broad and deep agreement, there is more cohesion among the coalition.

6. The Importance of Consensus Over the decades, there has been significant variation in the coordinating ability of parties in Congress. Since the 1950s there has been a decline and resurgence of congressional partisanship. As they have become more unified, they also become more polarized along ideological lines. Republicans grew more conservative. Democrats became more liberal as their party’s conservative southern members were gradually replaced in Congress by Republicans.

7. Party Unity

8. Approval of Congress

9. Party Leadership Party members give House party leaders resources for inducing members to cooperate when they are tempted to go their own way as free riders. These resources take the form of favors they may grant or withhold (committee assignments, direction of the legislative agenda).

10. Party Organization (House) Majority leadership positions –Speaker of the House (John Boehner R-OH)John Boehner Initially the Speaker would decide who would sit on all House committees, who would chair them, determine legislative procedure (by chairing Rules). After 1910 the speaker lost this power –Majority Leader (Eric Cantor R-VA) –Majority whip (Kevin McCarthy R-CA) Whips form communication network connecting leaders to members—they count votes, outline strategies, explain positions, etc. Minority leadership positions –Minority Leader (Nancy Pelosi D-CA) (former Speaker)Nancy Pelosi –Minority Whip (Steny Hoyer D-MD) (former Majority Leader, 2007-2011 and former minority whip 2003-2007) Link to Leadership offices in HouseLeadership offices in House

11. Party Organization (Senate) Majority leader (Harry Reid D-NV)Harry Reid Minority leader (Mitch McConnell R-KY)Mitch McConnell Link to Senate leadershipSenate leadership

12. Party Leadership in the Senate Senators have never delegated as much authority to their leaders as have representatives. The norm of equality (ambassadors from their states to the national government) led them to retain wider freedoms of individual action.

13. Committee System Standing Committee (exist from one Congress to the next) Fixed jurisdiction and stable membership =specialization Bills are assigned to committees on the basis of subject matter Committee’s jurisdiction usually parallel those of the major departments or agencies in the executive branch. Each committee is unique Each committee’s hierarchy is based on seniority

14. Why have committees? Theories of Committee Formation Informational Theory –Addresses the need for expertise Distributive Theory –Satisfies members personal goals

15. Types of Committees See Table 10.1 “Standing Committees of the 111 th Congress” p.243-244. Or visit the House websiteHouse website

16. The Legislative Process Schoolhouse Rock provides a simplistic view of how a bill becomes a law.Schoolhouse Rock A bill is introduced by a member (only a member). Although bills are introduced only by members, anyone may draft them. Executive agencies and lobby groups often prepare bills for introduction to friendly legislators. The Speaker assigns the bill to a committee (In the House). In the Senate, the majority leader assigns the bill to the appropriate standing committee Committee jurisdictions are largely fixed; All bills dealing with a given substantive area are automatically sent to that committee

17. Assignment to Committee After a bill is introduced, it is assigned a number and referred to a committee. Once a bill has been referred to a committee, the most common thing that happens next is NOTHING. Most bills die of neglect. If a committee decides on further action, the bill may be taken up directly by the full committee, but more commonly it is referred to the appropriate subcommittee.

18. Committees In committee, the bill goes to a subcommittee (here the real work begins) The subcommittee decides whether to consider the bill If so, hearings are held. In a hearing, typically members of the executive branch and members of interest groups are invited to testify, though individuals can also testify

19. The Purpose of Hearings Congress listens Often a fair hearing is sufficient Lobbyists can show their bosses that they tried Hearings outside of Washington may be for the sole purpose of campaigning Let the locals and journalists see their congressman Hearings don’t have to be for legislation; they can be oversight of the bureaucracy They can be to gather information for possible future legislation They can be to get attention to an idea that has not yet won majority support

20. Scheduling In the Senate, when a committee votes out a bill, it goes directly onto the calendar, which specifies when the bill will be heard on the floor In the House, the bill goes directly to the Rules Committee

21. Rules Committee Control over procedure is control over policy. If you control the parliamentary procedure, you can often influence the outcome It gets a "rule" for debate in the House floor these rules specify how much time can be spent debating the bill and how many amendments can be added to the bill, amendments to what sections, in what order, ect.. This is a very political process What amendments, how long is debate, the order of motions, amendments, etc. Rules rarely stampedes large blocs of members (more subtle twists are more common). In the bad old days when Rules was independent of party leadership (pre-1961), the Rules Comm. regularly killed bills by refusing to grant them rules (esp. Civil Rights) Rules is now an arm of the leadership

22. Example of a Rule

23. Voting on Legislation Scheduling –House calendar--all major public measures (for current House floor proceedings see Office of the Clerk)House calendar-Office of the Clerk –Consent calendar (non-controversial bills) –Private calendar (immigration requests or claims against the gov) Rules for Debate –If there is an open rule, opponents may try to load down a bill with so many objectionable amendments that it will sink of its own weight. –The rules committee may also give the bill a "non-germane" open rule, meaning that irrelevant amendments can be added to the bill, which would practically kill the bill –the reverse strategy is to propose "sweetner" amendments that attract members' support Debate and Vote upon on the floor, with amendments, ect.

24. Scheduling Debate (Senate) The Senate does not have a Rules Committee. Thus, the leaders of both parties routinely negotiate unanimous consent agreements (UCA’s) to arrange for the orderly consideration of legislation. UCA’s are similar to rules in that they limit time for debate, determine which amendments are allowable, and provide waivers of Senate rules. In the absence of a UCA, anything goes.

25. Process in the Senate Compared to the larger House which needs and adheres to well- defined rules, the Senate operates more informally In the Senate, filibusters (extended debates) are common, which members can effectively engage in to kill a bill Filibusters can be stopped by cloture which requires 60 votes (3/5ths called an extraordinary majority)

26. Conference Committee If passed it goes to the other house it may start over. More often, parallel bills have been working through The parallel bills go to conference committee. This is an ad-hoc committee which is solely created to resolve the differences concerning a specific bill Equal numbers of each; in proportion to party. They debate and may vote out a compromise bill If passed, the bill goes to both houses for a vote

27. The President He may sign it or veto it Holding it for 10 days while congress is in session is the same as signing Holding it for 10 days during which congress adjourns is a "pocket veto", which cannot be overridden to override a veto, 2/3's of both houses is required

28. The Process Reviewed