4.3: ORGANIZATION & MEMBERSHIP OF CONGRESS. AP U. S. Government

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1 4.3: ORGANIZATION & MEMBERSHIP OF CONGRESS AP U. S. Government

2 DEMOGRAPHICS OF THOSE IN 113 TH CONGRESS

3 DEMOGRAPHICS Mostly male Well educated Middle and upper incomes Law is most common occupation Recently, rising number of women and minorities making it closer to the general public Why is not like the general public?

4 113 th Congress Breakdown

6 WOMEN IN CONGRESS

7 113 th Congress 89 TH CONGRESS

8 RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY % Religious Preference 31% 7% 56% Protestant Catholic Morman Jewish Unaffiliated Other

9 WHO SERVES IN CONGRESS? Congress is becoming less white and less male, although women and ethnic minorities are still underrepresented. Descriptive representation means that members have the same characteristics as constituents. Substantive representation means that members of Congress will represent their constituents best interests.

10 PARTY DIVISIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 232 Republicans 199 Democrats 0 Independents 4 Vacancies 113 TH CONGRESS, 2 ND SESSION

11 PARTY DIVISIONS 53 Democrats 45 Republicans 2 Independents 113 TH CONGRESS, 2 ND SESSION

12 CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

13 Congressional Leadership The House Led by Speaker of the House elected by House members Presides over House Major role in committee assignments and legislation Assisted by majority leader and whips The Senate Formally lead by Vice President Really lead by Majority Leader chosen by party members Assisted by whips Must work with Minority leader

14 LEADERSHIP OF CONGRESS Speaker of the House: Presiding officer in the House--- assigns bills to committees, plans schedule, presides over sessions John Boehner R- OH

15 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE Most important person in Congress Presides over House Makes committee assignments Appoints party s legislative leaders Exercises substantial control over which bills get assigned to which committees

16 LEADERSHIP OF CONGRESS Majority Leaders (House and Senate): Spokesmen for dominant party

17 House of Represenatives Majority Leader: Eric Cantor (R-VA) Senate Majority Leader: Harry Reid (D-NV) MAJORITY LEADERS

18 LEADERSHIP OF CONGRESS Minority Leaders (House and Senate): Spokesmen for opposition party Senate- Mitch McConnell (R-KY) House- Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

enforcing party discipline and ensuring attendance SENATE Dem:

19 LEADERSHIP OF CONGRESS Whips: vote counters in House, assist Majority & Minority leaders Typically the are charged with enforcing party discipline and ensuring attendance SENATE Dem: Richard Durbin, Rep: John Cornyn HOUSE Dem: Steny Hoyer, Rep: Kevin McCarthy

20 LEADERSHIP OF CONGRESS Vice President of US: President of Senate, breaks ties President pro tem of Senate: Presiding officer in Senate in VP s absence

21 COMMITTEE SYSTEM

22 COMMITTEES IN CONGRESS Standing committees: Permanent committee in a legislative body to which bills in a specified subject matter area are referred Joint committees: Legislative committee composed of members of both houses (usually permanent also) Conference committees: Temporary joint committee created to reconcile any differences between the two houses versions of a bill Select committees: Legislative committee created for a limited time and for some specific purpose; also known as a special committee

23 Committees provide oversight if a bill ever does become a law COMMITTEES IN CONGRESS

24 THE COMMITTEES Standing committees: Deal with specific subject matter; 75 subcommittees in the House, 68 in the Senate; Nearly all legislation in Congress is referred to a subcommittee; All committee chairs are held by the majority party

25 THE COMMITTEES Select or special committees typically organized on a temporary basis to investigate a specific problem, or to hold hearing and issue a report on special problems that may come up: Usually disbanded when work is completed; Exceptions are the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics

27 STANDING COMMITTEES Authorizing pass the laws that tell the government what to do, who gets what, when, and how from the government, oversees the government bureaucracy Appropriation determines how much the government is going to spend on programs and operations Revenue and Budget deals with raising money, sets broad targets for the budget, deals with taxes, Medicare, and Social Security Rules and Administration determines the basic operations of the two houses

28 HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEES There are 19 standing committees in the House of Representatives. Representatives are normally assigned to one or two standing committees. The most important committees in the House are: Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, Armed Services, Judiciary, International Relations, and Agriculture

HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE Most important committee in the House Reviews most bills coming from a house committee before they go to the full House (traffic cop) Gives each bill a

29 HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE Most important committee in the House Reviews most bills coming from a house committee before they go to the full House (traffic cop) Gives each bill a rule, which schedules the bill on the calendar, allots time for debate, and can even specify what kind of amendments to bill can be offered Initiates all revenue bills in House

30 Why is it important? The rules committee is like the traffic cop RULES COMMITTEE

31 House Appropriations Committee: sets funds for specific projects and programs. House Ways and Means Committee: considers tax bills Senate Finance Committee: considers tax bills SOME OTHER IMPORTANT COMMITTEES

32 SENATE STANDING COMMITTEES There are 17 standing committees in the Senate. Senators are normally assigned to three or four committees. The most important committees in the Senate are: Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Finance, Judiciary, Armed Services, and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

33 Getting on the Committee: Chairs and the Seniority System. The chair is the most important position for controlling legislation. Seniority on the committee is a general rule, and members may choose the chair of their committee. Majority party always gets chairman Committee numbers will reflect the percentage of Democrats and Republicans in the body as a whole. HOW CONGRESS IS ORGANIZED TO MAKE POLICY

34 The Committees and Subcommittees Getting on a Committee Members want to get on the right committee. Members want committee assignments that will help them get reelected and gain influence. New members express their committee preferences to the party leaders. Support of the party is important in getting on the right committee. Parties make an effort to grant requested committee assignments. A discharge petition is used to bring a bill to the whole House or Senate, without a report by a committee. This is used to bypass committee chairs who have refused to consider a bill or are stalling a bill in committee. HOW CONGRESS IS ORGANIZED TO MAKE POLICY

35 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT COMMITTEES Committees are where most bills receive thorough consideration. The fate of most bills is decided in the various standing committees. Most bills DIE in the committees (action) to which they are referred!!!

36 CAUCUSES & STAFF

37 Special-interest caucuses groups organized by members who share partisan, ideological, issue, regional, or identity interests to pool their strength in promoting shared interests and gaining passage of related legislation: The Black Caucus The Caucus for Women s Issues ETC MAKING ALLIANCES

38 Legislators can ban together under an ideological flag Black Caucus, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, Gun Control, etc. CAUCUSES VS. PARTY LEADERSHIP

39 CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS Informal organization of Congresspersons who share some interest on characteristics Promote the interests around which they are formed Interest group within Congress

40 Caucus: A group of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic. Caucuses pressure for committee meetings and hearings and for votes on bills. Caucuses can be more effective than lobbyists. HOW CONGRESS IS ORGANIZED TO MAKE POLICY

41 Congressional Staff Personal staff: Work for the member. Mainly providing constituent service, but help research and write bills. Answer mail, send out newsletters, meet with voters, etc. Most work in local offices Committee staff: organize hearings, research & write legislation, target of lobbyists. Staff Agencies: provide specific information to Congress. HOW CONGRESS IS ORGANIZED TO MAKE POLICY

42 Congressional Research Service (CRS) part of the Library of Congress; neutral, keeps track of the status of every bill and produces a digital copy of each General Accounting Office (GAO) performs routine financial audits of the money spent by the government Congressional Budget Office (CBO) advises Congress on the likely economic effects of different spending programs STAFF AGENCIES

Unit 3 Learning Objectives

AP AMERICAN GOVERNMENT Unit Three Part 3 Political Parties, Congress, and Special Interests 2 1 Unit 3 Learning Objectives The Structure and Powers of Congress 3.5 Differentiate the powers of Congress,