Transcript The Congress

Chapter 10
Section 1
The Congress: Bicameral
House of Representatives:
 Must be 25 years old to
serve
 Must be a citizen for 7
years
 2-year terms
 Has 435 members
 Representation based on
population
 Represent their own
districts
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Senate:
Must be 30 years old to
serve
Must be a citizen for 9
years
6-year terms
Has 100 members
2 senators for each state
Represent the entire state
The Congress: Bicameral
House of Representatives:
 As there are more
members, there are more
rules
 Leaders have more
power to control what
goes on
 Every representative is
up for election every 2
years
Senate:
 Only has 100 members,
so is considered more
prestigious
 Senators up for election
every six years with a
stagger of every two
years
 1/3 up for election every
2 years
The Congress: Reapportionment
 Every 10 years we count “all” of the people in the
country (the census)
 Reapportionment is when the number of
representatives changes in a state to reflect changes in
the state’s population (House of Representatives only)
 California has the most representatives with 53
 Michigan has 15
The Congress: Powers
 Delegated Powers: Powers that are expressly written in the
constitution
 Taxing
 Legislating
 Regulating commerce
 Implied Powers: Powers that are not expressed, but which
are assumed over time
 Non-Legislative Powers: Impeachment-if the Congress
feels the president (or other federal official) has violated
their oath of office
 The house investigates & impeaches
 The senate convicts by a 2/3 vote
The Congress: Organization
House of Representatives:
 Speaker of the House is top
dog (always a member of
the majority party)
 Next is the majority leader
 Last are the whips
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 Make sure things get done
 Minority leader heads the
opposition (has his own
whips)
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Senate:
President & president
tempore are top dogs
Next is majority leader
Last are whips
Minority leader heads the
opposition (has his own
whips)
Vice president is president
of the senate
 He votes if there is a tie in
the senate
The Congress: Committees
 There are over 11,000 bills introduced in congress,
every 2-year session
 Not everyone can read every bill
 So the work is divided among committees
The Congress: Committees
 Standing Committees: Continue from one house to the
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next (armed services, agriculture and budget committees)
Select Committees: Separate in each house, usually
temporary and study specific issues (juicy issues such as
investigatory issues)
Joint Committees: Made up of members of both houses,
usually more mundane, day-to-day issues
Conference Committee: Temporary, made up of both
houses and makes sure both senate and house bills have
the same language
Having the right committee assignment can really help a
person’s career (TV appearances, Newspapers)