The Legislative Process

26 November, 2007

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.

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

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.

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 of congressional partisanship.

decline and resurgence 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.

Party Unity

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).

Party Organization (House)

   Majority leadership positions  Speaker of the House  ( Nancy Pelosi D-CA) 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 ( Steny Hoyer D-MD) Majority whip ( James Clyburn D-SC)  Whips form communication network connecting leaders to members—they count votes, outline strategies, explain positions, etc.

Minority leadership positions  Minority Leader ( John Boener R-OH)  Minority Whip ( Roy Blunt R_MO) Link to Leadership offices in House

Party Organization (Senate)

 Majority leader ( Harry Reid D-NV)  Minority leader ( Mitch McConnell R-KY)  Link to Senate leadership

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.

     

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

Theories of Committee Formation

 Informational Theory  Addresses the need for expertise  Distributive Theory  Satisfies members personal goals

Types of Committees

 See Table 9.1 “Standing Committees of the 108 th Congress” p.233.

 Or visit the House website

The Legislative Process

   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

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.

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

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

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

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

Example of a Rule

Voting on Legislation

   Scheduling    House calendar -all major public measures (for current House floor proceedings see 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 " meaning that irrelevant amendments can be added to the bill, which would practically kill the bill non-germane" open rule, the reverse strategy is to propose "sweetner" amendments that attract members' support Debate and Vote upon on the floor, with amendments, ect.

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.

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, in to kill a bill filibusters (extended debates) are common, which members can effectively engage Filibusters can be stopped by requires 60 votes (3/5ths called an extraordinary majority) cloture which

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 concerning a specific bill . This is an ad-hoc committee which is solely created to resolve the differences 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

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

The Process Reviewed