Transcript Congress: Investigations and Oversight

 Chapters
5 and 6
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Bicameral = 2 Houses = Senate and the House of Reps
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Congressional Sessions
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Start Jan 3 of odd number years and lasts 2 years
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Sessions last 1 year with breaks and vacations
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Members vote to adjourn but cant for more than 3 days without approval from the other
house
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President can call an emergency session
House of Reps: 435 members in 2 year terms
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25+ years old
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7 yrs as citizens
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Must live in state and district
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Relies on population
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Reapportionment when there is a change in population
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Redistricting V. Gerrymandering – to benefit a party
Senate: 100 members in 6 year terms (get reelected every 2 years in a cycle)
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30+years
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9 years as citizen
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Resident of the State
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Free from arrest except in the case of felony, treason, or breach of peace.
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90% of members are incumbents = reelected
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Rules for Law Making
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Based on Precedents (past rulings) used as a guide to conduct business.
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Rules for each chamber printed every two years.
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House rules usually limit speakers time to speak etc.
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Geared toward moving legislation quickly and rarely lasts more than one day.
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Have slightly more power than the Senate
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Committee Work – membership in House is so large, hence committees more important
than the Senate. Representatives have more say within their committee than in the
house floor.
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Tend to specialize on issues important to the constituents (people they represent).
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Party Affiliation – Republicans sit on right and Democrats sit on left.
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Majority party elects leader of that body and appoints committee chairs. Explains why
some switch parties particularly in 1994 election.
House Leadership = serve 6 purposes
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Organizing and unifying the party members
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Scheduling the work in the house
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Making certain lawmakers are present for key floor votes
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Distributing and collecting info
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Keeping House in touch with President
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Influencing lawmakers to support their political party’s policies.
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Speaker of the house = #1; chosen in a caucus at start of each
session
Majority Leader = #2 – Speakers assistant almost; plans party’s
legislative plan (Party official not a house official)
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Helpers = Whips (watch how members of majority party plan on
voting)
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Minority leaders elect own leaders and minority whips. = same
responsibilities but no power over scheduling
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Lawmaking in the House
All laws start off as BILLs until both houses approve it and
President signs it.
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Introduced
 Sent to committee for discussion and review
 Put on calendar for consideration (10-20% go to House for a vote)
 Rules Committee decides when it will be considered (Controls traffic
of legislation; specify time allotted for debating the bill and how much
of it can be amended)
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Quorum – minimum amount of representatives required to be present to vote
a bill in (218 = majority of house)
If they sit as a Committee of the Whole = 100
They can NOT approve it they just amend and review it and then it’s up for
vote in front of the whole House.
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Very few Senators; expected to know a great deal about all the issues affecting their state.
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Rules in the Senate are a bit more flexible than in the house. Debate time is usually unlimited and has
fewer rules therefore catering to a more informal atmosphere than the other chamber.
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Leadership is very similar to that of the House however the Senate does not have a Speaker of the
“Senate.” Instead, the vice president presides in the Senate. He does not vote unless it is to break a tie.
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VP however does not have the same responsibilities nor the same power as the Speaker of the
House.
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May recognize members and put topics up for vote, however since he Is not an elected senator, he
cannot take part in debates. He CAN, however try to influence senators via personal communication.
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When the VP is not presiding over the Senate and is worrying about activities within the Executive
branch, the president pro tempore presides.
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This is an elected leader usually from the majority party and often the most senior member.
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Majority and Minority Leaders
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The majority and minority leaders are elected by their party members and are party officials rather
than Senate leaders
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Majority leader – steers bills through the senate with help from the Minority leader.
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Usually the majority leader receives criticism from the minority leader as a way to mold or adjust
legislation to attain full approval.
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Both have whips like in the House
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Senate does NOT have committees like in the House because they are much smaller.
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Can filibuster which is when the Senator talks and talks to delay the process and prevent a vote.
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A filibuster can be stopped by 3/5th of the Senate (60 Senators) voting for Cloture which limits
debate to one hour on a bill.
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Difficult though because each party control a very close to even distribution of seats in the Senate.
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Purposes of Committees
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Ease the work load by dividing the workload
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Can become specialists on issues
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Serve as a filter to determine which should go on to be voted and which bills need to be
altered
Kinds of Committees
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Standing – Continue from one congress to the next; controlled by majority party
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Subcommittees – specializes in a subcategory. Majority party can make changes in them
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Select Committees – Study one specific issue and report findings to senate or house;
example Select Intelligence Committees are permanent select committees.
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Joint Committees – can be temp or perm. study groups; made from both house and
senate
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Conference Committees – temp set up when the houses have passed diff versions of the
same bill; resolve the differences between the bills
Choosing Committee members
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Can increase a lawmaker’s chance for reelection
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Parties assign members to each committee; Members can request assignment to a
special committee
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Committee Chairpersons Role – most powerful; decide when to hold meetings and which
witnesses will be called up to discuss it
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Seniority – unwritten rule = tradition; longest membership without breaks; given
leadership of that committee
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Staff members also help ease the work load by communicating with voters,
helping them run committee hearings, draft new bills and write reports.
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1947-1990 increase in members of congress = increase in the need for
supporting staff
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PERSONAL STAFF – work directly with senators and representatives
Administrative Assistants runs the lawmaking office
 Legislative Assistants ensures the lawmaker is well informed (does research etc.)
 Caseworkers handle the specific requests of the constituents
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COMMITTEE STAFF - work for the committees
The larger the committee the more staff
 Usually specialize in their committee topic
 Play a key part in policy making but are not elected.. hmmmmm?
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Supporting Agencies
Lib of Congress – purchases books necessary and resources necessary to research the
topics they discuss
 Congressional Budget Office – budget making for office and propose budgets
 General Accounting Office – financial management and ensure funds
 Government Printing Office – largest printing plant in the world; PRINTS everything for
the federal government
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Powers Denied:
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Congress cannot deny the writ of habeas corpus = court order releasing prisoner to court to
determine why he has been detained
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Not allowed bills of attainder = laws that punish people without allowing a trial
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Ex-post facto laws = making something illegal now and convicting someone for doing it back
when it was legal
Legislative Powers
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Taxing and Spending powers = “power of the purse”
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Revenue bills = laws for raising money
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Appropriation bills = laws to authorize spending money is implied not expressed and generally
come from Executive branch and are presented to Congress at the presidents annual budget
proposal.
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The Commerce Power = regulate foreign and interstate commerce
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Foreign Policy Powers = approve treaties, declare war, create and maintain army and or navy,
to make rules governing land and regulate foreign commerce. President can fight battles
without congress declaring it a war
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Congress can admit new states and pass laws necessary to govern these territories
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Can grant copyrights or patents
Non Legislative Powers
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Choose president in electoral college
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20 and 25 amendment grant power to settle problems arising from death of candidates or
resignation.
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Impeachment = accusation of misconduct while in office = House of reps
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Senate = Confirmation power = approving Presidential appointments to federal officials.
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Ratification power (of treaties) is given to Senate by 2/3 vote
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Amendment power – shared between both houses; proposed by 2/3
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INVESTIGATION = Implied power
Performed by Standing committees and may last several
days, even months.
Responsible for gathering evidence and scheduling witnesses
 Can lead to new legislations, changes in government programs,
or removal of officials from office.
 They can often damage reputations though.
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Congress has various powers to help committees succeed in
their investigations
Subpoena: legal order requesting appearance of documents
 Require witnesses to testify under oath
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Lying under oath is….PERJURY
Can be held in contempt (willful obstruction)
 Immunity: freedom from prosecution for witnesses whose
testimony ties them to illegal acts.
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“Witnesses cannot be compelled to give evidence against
themselves” – What amendment?
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OVERSIGHT - Serves as a check on the executive branch
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Executive branch is responsible for enforcing the laws made
by the legislative branch.
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Involves a continuing review of how effectively the executive
branch carries out the laws Congress passes.
Congressional power of oversight ensures that the law is enforced
and administered as it was intended.
VP Humphrey once said “Congress sometimes gets in the
habit of ‘pass it and forget it’ law making”
Oversight is often very inconsistent particularly when the
legislative and executive branch are the same party.
“Where there is publicity to be gained, there is oversight to
be had.”
Ambiguous language makes it difficult to oversee if executive
branch is accurately enforcing the law as intended
More efficient ways of oversight:
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Congress requires the executive to submit reports on its activities
Asking support agencies to study an executive agencies work
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Example: GAO overseeing laws that relate to public money and
spending
Legislative Veto
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The President is generally elected based on how the policy
he/she promotes can benefit the general interest of the entire
nation
Members of Congress, however, are elected per State, making
their concerns much more narrow and State-specific
Checks and balances often results in “President v. Congress”
Party politics can often affect the relationship between the
executive and legislative branches.
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Partisanship: adhering to or supporting a particular party
The organization of Congress makes if difficult to pass legislation
Senate’s unlimited debate rule
 Committee leaders power
 Senators and Representatives do not have limited terms while the
President does.
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Constant competition for power between the legislative and
executive branches.
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PRESIDENT’S EMERGENCY POWERS
Declaring martial law, seizing property, controlling
transportation and communication, and sending troops
overseas.
1976- National Emergencies Act
Presidents no longer posses automatic emergency powers.
 Must notify Congress when they plan to declare a state of
emergency
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ADDITIONAL PRESIDENTIAL POWERS
President has power over the national budget
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Yearly financial plan for the national government
1974 – Congressional budget and Impoundment Control Act
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Attempt to increase their role in planning the budget
Created the Congressional Budget Office
Limited the president’s ability to impound fund
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Refusal to spend money Congress had voted to fund a program
Legislative Veto – Reasserted in the 1970s
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Restricted to 1 year
Many presidents have felt it is a challenge to their authority
Line-Item Veto – enables president to request a line or
item in a bill to be vetoed. Declared unconstitutional in
1978.