Transcript Chapter 6: The Legislative Branch

Chapter 6: The
Legislative Branch
Capitol Building- “Capitol Hill”
Congress- Bicameral
House of Representatives and Senate
House of Representatives
- 435 Members (determined by population)
- Each State gets at least one member
- 2 year term (no limits)
- Each state is divided into one or more congressional
districts
- Districts are determined by the census
- Every 10 years
- Each state should have a similar number of citizens
per district
- Gerrymandering- shape a district in order to have a
majority of specific group.
- Focus on the needs of their districts as well as the
nation.
Missouri Congressional
Districts
Gerrymandering
• Named after Elbridge Gerry
• State legislatures decide their federal
congressional districts. The party which controls
the state legislature will design districts to best
benefit their party.
- Gerrymandering is an
abuse of power.
Senate
-100 members (2 per state)
- Represent the entire state
- 6 year term (no limit)
- Staggered election cycle
- 33 senators every 2 years
- “When the Founding Fathers agreed to give six-year terms to
Senators, they also decided to stagger the elections, so that a
third of the Senate was up for election every two years. With this
staggered turnover, the Founding Fathers wanted to ensure
stability in the Senate, and encourage Senators to deliberate
measures over time, rather than risk a rapid turnover of the
entire chamber every six years. At the same time, they wanted
more frequent elections, as opposed to waiting every six years,
to prevent Senators from permanently combining for ‘sinister
purposes’.”
Congressional
• Majority and Minority Party (Two Party System)
Leaders
• Speaker of the House (House of Reps- Majority
Party)
• Steers legislation, in charge of floor debates,
in line for P after VP, DOES FAVORS!
• NPR- Speaker of the House can “call” vote?
• Vice President is president of the Senate- Breaks
Ties
• President Pro Tempore (for the time being)majority party
• Party Whips- assistant leaders in House and
Committees
Where legislation happens!
Standing Committee- Permanent Committee
•
• Subcommittees- More specialized/specific issues
• Select Committee- special issues with a time
limit
• Joint Committee- Includes members from both
the House and the Senate
• Conference Committee- temporary joint
committee to discuss specific legislation.
- How are seats determined?
- Chairperson holds power over committee
Powers- Expressed and Implied
• Expressed: Powers
• Taxing
• All bills for raising revenue must start in the
House, but the senate may propose or concur
on with amendments. Senate must approve.
• Authorization bill: establish projects to
spend taxes
• Appropriation bill: provide money for
projects and activity
Regulate Foreign and Interstate
Commerce
• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
•
•
•
Facts of the Case
A New York state law gave two individuals the exclusive right to
operate steamboats on waters within state jurisdiction. Laws like
this one were duplicated elsewhere which led to friction as some
states would require foreign (out-of-state) boats to pay
substantial fees for navigation privileges. In this case a
steamboat owner who did business between New York and New
Jersey challenged the monopoly that New York had granted,
which forced him to obtain a special operating permit from the
state to navigate on its waters.
Question: Did the state of New York exercise an authority
(regulation of trade) that was expressed specifically to
Congress? If so, is that constitutional?
Implied Powers
• Necessary and Proper (Elastic) Clause
• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
•
•
•
Facts of the Case
In 1816, Congress chartered The Second Bank of the
United States. In 1818, the state of Maryland passed
legislation to impose taxes on the bank. James W.
McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the bank,
refused to pay the tax.
Two Part question: Did Congress have the power to
establish a National Bank? Did congressional law
override the powers of the state of Maryland?
Foreign Relations
• Declare War
• Oversee armed forces (executive
oversight)
• Senate approval of presidential treaties
Checks and Balances
•
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
•
◦
◦
◦
◦
Checks on the Executive
Impeachment power (House)
Trial of impeachments (Senate)
Selection of the President (House) and Vice President (Senate) in the case
of no majority of electoral votes
May override Presidential vetoes
Senate approves departmental appointments
Senate approves treaties and ambassadors
Power to declare war
Power to enact taxes and allocate funds
Checks on the Judiciary
Senate approves federal judges
Impeachment power (House)
Trial of impeachments (Senate)
Power to initiate constitutional amendments
• Cannot SuspendLimits
Habeas Corpus
• Prohibits Bills of Attainder- an act of legislation
which punishes an individual or group without a
trial.
• Prohibits ex post facto laws- a law that makes
criminal an act that was legal when it was
committed.
• Checks- Presidential veto/ Judicial review
• Bi-Cameral- Both Houses must approve Bills to
create law.
Congressional
1. Personal Staff: Supports
gather issues on bills, arrange
meetings, and meet with lobbyists: people who
represent interest groups and influence political
decisions.
2. Committee Staff: Experts on specific issues
3. Support Services:
A. Library Congress- Available for research
B. Congressional Research Service (CRS)- does nonpartisan research for congressional members
C. GAO- Government Accountability OfficeResearches in matter of finance for Congress.
How a Bill becomes a
Law
1. An IDEA or observation
of a citizen. Recognize a
problem and create a solution in a bill. A bill can be
created by anybody.
2. Only a member of the Senate
or House can introduce a bill by
placing it in the hopper (spending
bills must start in House).
3. The bill is sent to a committee or subcommittee.
- bill can be scratched, amended, create a new bill,
pigeonholing, or sent to floor for debate.
4. House has limit of time before a vote has to held.
- Senate (no limit) can hold a filibuster: “talk a bill to
death.” Can be ended with a cloture vote- 3/5th of
Senate
5. Vote- Majority Rule
6. If passed, the bill goes to the next house
(Senate or House of Representative) whereby the
process starts over.
- Each House must pass an identical Bill to be
passed on for executive approval.
7. The President:
- can sign bill into law.
- wait ten days with congress in session and bill
becomes a law
- veto a bill (which can be overruled by 2/3rds of
both houses
- pocket veto- wait ten days with congress out of
session and the bill is automatically vetoed and
cannot be overruled.