Title Here.

Chapter 4 The Legislative Branch: Congress

I. Introduction-Congress in the Constitution

To keep the legislature dominant, the authors of the Constitution gave the majority of powers and duties of government-lawmaking-to Congress. Congress can levy taxes, borrow money, raise armies, declare war, set up the federal judiciary, regulate commerce, and coin money. Congress also controls presidential power by having the power to declare war and raise an army, to approve treaties, to create administrative offices, to override the president's veto, and to impeach executive and judicial officers. Indeed, throughout the 19^th century, Congress was the major player in shaping the nation's policies. But despite these controls, the executive branch has grown in power at the expense of Congress. Periodic scandals and the public's perception that it cannot solve national problems have also harmed Congress.

II. Makeup of the Senate and House

A.

Introduction. The basic facts about the size and composition of the two houses are given. The Congress is bicameral, with 435 members in the House (based on population) and 100 members in the Senate (2 per state). The average representative now serves some 577,000 citizen

B.

The Role of the Legislator. Legislators represent both national and local interests, making their role difficult, since these interests are often incompatible. But for most congressmen, constituents' opinions must be heeded if they wish to win reelection. And among the most vital work a congressman does is casework-solving constituents' problems with the government.

C.

Who are the Legislators? Qualifications for membership are given. They include the 25 and 30 years age requirements for House and Senate members, respectively. Senators serve six-year terms, while Representatives serve only two years before running for reelection. Congress is overwhelmingly White, male, Protestant, and dominated by the upper-middle-class professions of law, business, and banking. Women, Blacks, and other minorities were typically underrepresented, a situation that has changed in recent congresses. Senators were originally elected by the state legislatures to ensure less popular control, but since 1913 (with the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment) they have been elected directly. An important problem facing Congress is careerism, where legislators spend their careers in Congress. The attempt by states to pass term limits has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court without an amendment.

D.

Malapportionment and Reapportionment. Malapportionment is a political tactic that allows state officials to strengthen the position of their party by drawing districts in which their opponents will be underrepresented. Gerrymandering is another device used to enhance a party's position in a district either by packing (designing a "safe" district of solid supporters) or by cracking (splitting up the supporters of opponents). Racial gerrymandering became more common after the 1990 census. Malapportionment abuses have been largely corrected by the 1962 Supreme Court ruling that required districts to be equal in population. Recent Court decisions have also limited the role of race in drawing districts. But politics remains vital in the drawing of districts, as seen in the conflicts over population shifts to the West and South from the Midwest and Northeast following the 1990 census. After 1990, New York lost three house seats, California gained seven seats.

E.

Organization of the House. The majority party chooses officers, controls debate, selects committee chairmen, and holds a majority on every committee. The Speaker of the House has considerable power, and Newt Gingrich has increased the role of the speaker and the majority party Republicans. He is assisted by the majority leader and majority whip in coordinating the party's position. The minority party has the same officers minus, the Speaker. Each party has a caucus, which is all the members of the party in the House, and has provided a fairly unified following for their leaders. The Republicans choose a Steering Committee that functions as an executive committee for the caucus. After the 1994 election, the Democrats divided their Steering Committee into a Steering Panel that nominates committee members and a Policy Committee that studies issues and writes bills.

F.

Organization of the Senate. As president of the Senate, the vice president votes in case of a tie and has some procedural power. The real leader of the Senate is the Senate Majority Leader, who schedules debates, assigns bills to committees, and coordinates party policy. Party positions and strategy are coordinated by the majority and minority leaders and their whips. The Senate as a smaller body operates more informally than the House and is not as tightly controlled by its leadership.

III. How Congress Works

Legislation can be introduced in either house, except for money-raising and appropriations bills, which must originate in the House. The two Houses act separately in drawing up a bill, but the language of the bills they pass must be identical before final passage. Due to the number and complexity of issues before Congress, bills are immediately assigned to a committee and must be approved there before being presented to the whole body. About 20,000 bills are introduced in Congress each year, but 80-90 percent of all bills die in committee, and only 5 percent of all bills become law.

A.

How Committees Work. Much of the work of Congress takes place in committees. Floor debate is little more than a formality designed to make a public record. There are four types of committees:

1.

Standing committees are the basic working units of Congress to which all prospective legislation must be assigned. There are nineteen in the House and seventeen in the Senate; these are further divided into subcommittees, which have been dramatically reduced by the Republicans. In general, the recent Congress has reduced the power of committees by increasing the influence of the party leadership. Before any bill is sent to the floor for consideration, it must still be approved by the committee covering that subject.

2.

Conference committees are temporary bodies that include senators and representatives created to work out differences between House and Senate versions of one bill. These temporary committees bargain until a compromise is reached and legislation is sent to both houses with identical language. Once a compromise is reached, the committee disbands. Typically, senior members of the relevant committees serve on conference committees.

3.

Select committees are set up to do specific, temporary jobs, such as investigations. An example was the Senate Special Committee on Whitewater formed to investigate any improper activities by President Clinton in an Arkansas real estate project.

4.

Joint committees are permanent bodies with members from both house whose purpose is to coordinate policy and prevent duplication on routine matters. An example is the Joint Economic Committee.

a.

Committee Chairmen and the Seniority System. By an unwritten rule, the majority party members who have served longest on particular committees become chairmen. They have formal power over the membership and procedure of their committees and informal influence through their years of experience. They hire staff and can usually kill legislation. Recently, the chairmen's power has been limited by caucuses led by party leaders. By the Republican takeover in 1994, party leadership was strengthened at the expense of the committees. Seniority is an important but unwritten rule of Congress that has recently been successfully challenged, although it is still generally followed. Advantages of the system are that experienced leadership is assured and rivalries are minimized. Critics, however, feel it is undemocratic and unresponsive to change.

b.

Specialization and Reciprocity. Members of Congress are expected to specialize in the work of their committees, which tends to make them expert in a few areas and unfamiliar in others. Because of this, they rely on each other's expertise and follow the lead of the committee on subjects outside their own field. This process has been diluted as party control of the legislative agenda reduced the impact of committee leadership.

B.

Floor Debate in the House and Senate. Once recommended by a committee, a bill is placed on a calendar for floor debate. In the House, the Speaker controls debate, and each member is limited to five minutes. A simple majority vote of those present is needed for passage. The whole procedure is then repeated in the other house. Voting may follow conservative-liberal lines or regional patterns, but the most common division follows party lines. However, there still are a few mavericks, members who show less loyalty to their party in the Congress. They tend to be popular at home, but not in Congress.

C.

Filibuster. A tactic allowed only in the Senate (The House is too large to afford unlimited debate.) A Senator can delay or block action by continuously talking. A filibuster can be stopped only by a vote of cloture, in which three-fifths of the Senate votes to stop the debate. Filibusters are most effective late in the session when legislation has piled up. It is frequently used by the minority party to block the majority party's wishes.

1.

The president can stop legislation passed by Congress with a veto. However, Congress can override this veto by a two-thirds vote in each house. The president must act upon a bill within 10 days. If he does not sign the bill, it becomes a law. But if Congress adjourns before the 10 days are up and the president does not sign the bill, it does not become law. This is called a pocket veto.

2.

The Budget Process. The "power of the purse" is one of Congress' basic constitutional powers. The 1974 Budget Act enabled Congress to propose an alternative to the president's budget and required a rigid schedule of deadlines (a completed budget is due by the start of the fiscal year, October 1) for Congress to complete it's public spending plan. But it was clear that this plan was not keepingspending in line with revenues, as intended. So in 1985, a $220 billion deficit propelled passage of the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget measure that requires massive spending cuts in every federal area-including defense-if deficit reduction targets aren't met. But by the early 1990s, Gramm-Rudman had become ineffective. In 1993, President Clinton got an ambitious deficit reduction passed, and both he and the Republican majorities pledged to balance the budget. Disagreements over the budget betweenClinton and the Republicans led to a government shutdown in late 1995 and early 1996. But by 1998, the federal budget was in surplus with both the president and Congress taking credit.

D.

Major Committees in the House

1.

Budget. This important committee was established in 1974 by the Budget Act. It allows Congress to propose a comprehensive government budget as a coherent alternative to the president's budget. Designed to shift power back to Congress, it has not accomplished all that its creators hoped.

2.

Rules. All legislation except money bills must pass through this committee. Through its power to set the terms of debate it can delay, amend, or even kill legislation. The committee also acts as a "traffic cop" for the House Speaker.

3.

Ways and Means. Deals with tax and money-raising bills that go to the floor under a closed rule-that is, no amendments can be attached. It has been the key committee on issues such as welfare reform, tax reform, and Social Security reform.

4.

Appropriations. This committee (along with Ways and Means) is particularly powerful because of its ability to determine how and where the government will spend its money.

5.

Judiciary. This committee looks at a broad range of legal matters. It gained unusual public attention during the impeachment hearings of President Clinton.

E.

Major Committees in the Senate

1.

Appropriations. Receives money bills passed by the House and acts as a "court of appeals" to add money.

2.

Finance. Handles tax legislation in the same way as Ways and Means in the House.

3.

Foreign Relations. Acts as a watchdog on the president's dominant position in foreign affairs. Its importance comes from the Senate's role in confirming appointments of ambassadors and approving treaties.

4.

Rules. The Senate's Rules Committee is far less important than its House counterpart.

IV. Other Powers of Congress

Important nonlegislative functions of Congress include oversight of the executive branch through the right to create and determine the scope of administrative offices, the power to appropriate funds for these agencies, and the authority to investigate any area, activity, or organization that it wishes. Investigations can act as a check on executive behavior, but the publicity they attract can be dangerous when allowed to get out of hand. Presidential appointments must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Senate, and confirmation is usually, but not necessarily, assured. Impeachment is a slow process and is rarely used, although it was used to impeach President Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal in 1998. Even though the President was not removed from office, it remains an ultimate power over the executive.

V. CASE STUDY: THE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

The new Republican Congressional majorities, which came to office in 1995, pledged to seek a balanced budget amendment. They believed they had the support to win, but although it passed with a two-thirds majority in the House, it failed by one vote in the Senate. Part of their problem was the interest groups that mobilized against them and the negative media coverage they received on the harm caused by the cuts in government spending. In addition, the Administration and Senate Democrats mobilized to delay the legislation in the Senate. Although the Republicans had gained conservative Democratic backing in the House through some skillful legislative tactics, the Senate proved more difficult for the leadership to manipulate. Ultimately, a senior Republican Senator, Hatfield of Oregon, provided the negative vote that caused the amendment to fail.

The case illustrates the difficulties of passing any legislation, especially a constitutional amendment, and the differing operating styles of the House and Senate.
Return to Chapter Listings

© 1999 by Addison Wesley Longman
A division of Pearson Education

I. Introduction-Congress in the Constitution
	To keep the legislature dominant, the authors of the Constitution gave the majority of powers and duties of government-lawmaking-to Congress. Congress can levy taxes, borrow money, raise armies, declare war, set up the federal judiciary, regulate commerce, and coin money. Congress also controls presidential power by having the power to declare war and raise an army, to approve treaties, to create administrative offices, to override the president's veto, and to impeach executive and judicial officers. Indeed, throughout the 19^th century, Congress was the major player in shaping the nation's policies. But despite these controls, the executive branch has grown in power at the expense of Congress. Periodic scandals and the public's perception that it cannot solve national problems have also harmed Congress.

II. Makeup of the Senate and House
A.	Introduction. The basic facts about the size and composition of the two houses are given. The Congress is bicameral, with 435 members in the House (based on population) and 100 members in the Senate (2 per state). The average representative now serves some 577,000 citizen
B.	The Role of the Legislator. Legislators represent both national and local interests, making their role difficult, since these interests are often incompatible. But for most congressmen, constituents' opinions must be heeded if they wish to win reelection. And among the most vital work a congressman does is casework-solving constituents' problems with the government.
C.	Who are the Legislators? Qualifications for membership are given. They include the 25 and 30 years age requirements for House and Senate members, respectively. Senators serve six-year terms, while Representatives serve only two years before running for reelection. Congress is overwhelmingly White, male, Protestant, and dominated by the upper-middle-class professions of law, business, and banking. Women, Blacks, and other minorities were typically underrepresented, a situation that has changed in recent congresses. Senators were originally elected by the state legislatures to ensure less popular control, but since 1913 (with the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment) they have been elected directly. An important problem facing Congress is careerism, where legislators spend their careers in Congress. The attempt by states to pass term limits has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court without an amendment.
D.	Malapportionment and Reapportionment. Malapportionment is a political tactic that allows state officials to strengthen the position of their party by drawing districts in which their opponents will be underrepresented. Gerrymandering is another device used to enhance a party's position in a district either by packing (designing a "safe" district of solid supporters) or by cracking (splitting up the supporters of opponents). Racial gerrymandering became more common after the 1990 census. Malapportionment abuses have been largely corrected by the 1962 Supreme Court ruling that required districts to be equal in population. Recent Court decisions have also limited the role of race in drawing districts. But politics remains vital in the drawing of districts, as seen in the conflicts over population shifts to the West and South from the Midwest and Northeast following the 1990 census. After 1990, New York lost three house seats, California gained seven seats.
E.	Organization of the House. The majority party chooses officers, controls debate, selects committee chairmen, and holds a majority on every committee. The Speaker of the House has considerable power, and Newt Gingrich has increased the role of the speaker and the majority party Republicans. He is assisted by the majority leader and majority whip in coordinating the party's position. The minority party has the same officers minus, the Speaker. Each party has a caucus, which is all the members of the party in the House, and has provided a fairly unified following for their leaders. The Republicans choose a Steering Committee that functions as an executive committee for the caucus. After the 1994 election, the Democrats divided their Steering Committee into a Steering Panel that nominates committee members and a Policy Committee that studies issues and writes bills.
F.	Organization of the Senate. As president of the Senate, the vice president votes in case of a tie and has some procedural power. The real leader of the Senate is the Senate Majority Leader, who schedules debates, assigns bills to committees, and coordinates party policy. Party positions and strategy are coordinated by the majority and minority leaders and their whips. The Senate as a smaller body operates more informally than the House and is not as tightly controlled by its leadership.

III. How Congress Works
	Legislation can be introduced in either house, except for money-raising and appropriations bills, which must originate in the House. The two Houses act separately in drawing up a bill, but the language of the bills they pass must be identical before final passage. Due to the number and complexity of issues before Congress, bills are immediately assigned to a committee and must be approved there before being presented to the whole body. About 20,000 bills are introduced in Congress each year, but 80-90 percent of all bills die in committee, and only 5 percent of all bills become law.
A.	How Committees Work. Much of the work of Congress takes place in committees. Floor debate is little more than a formality designed to make a public record. There are four types of committees:
1.		Standing committees are the basic working units of Congress to which all prospective legislation must be assigned. There are nineteen in the House and seventeen in the Senate; these are further divided into subcommittees, which have been dramatically reduced by the Republicans. In general, the recent Congress has reduced the power of committees by increasing the influence of the party leadership. Before any bill is sent to the floor for consideration, it must still be approved by the committee covering that subject.
2.		Conference committees are temporary bodies that include senators and representatives created to work out differences between House and Senate versions of one bill. These temporary committees bargain until a compromise is reached and legislation is sent to both houses with identical language. Once a compromise is reached, the committee disbands. Typically, senior members of the relevant committees serve on conference committees.
3.		Select committees are set up to do specific, temporary jobs, such as investigations. An example was the Senate Special Committee on Whitewater formed to investigate any improper activities by President Clinton in an Arkansas real estate project.
4.		Joint committees are permanent bodies with members from both house whose purpose is to coordinate policy and prevent duplication on routine matters. An example is the Joint Economic Committee.
a.			Committee Chairmen and the Seniority System. By an unwritten rule, the majority party members who have served longest on particular committees become chairmen. They have formal power over the membership and procedure of their committees and informal influence through their years of experience. They hire staff and can usually kill legislation. Recently, the chairmen's power has been limited by caucuses led by party leaders. By the Republican takeover in 1994, party leadership was strengthened at the expense of the committees. Seniority is an important but unwritten rule of Congress that has recently been successfully challenged, although it is still generally followed. Advantages of the system are that experienced leadership is assured and rivalries are minimized. Critics, however, feel it is undemocratic and unresponsive to change.
b.			Specialization and Reciprocity. Members of Congress are expected to specialize in the work of their committees, which tends to make them expert in a few areas and unfamiliar in others. Because of this, they rely on each other's expertise and follow the lead of the committee on subjects outside their own field. This process has been diluted as party control of the legislative agenda reduced the impact of committee leadership.
B.	Floor Debate in the House and Senate. Once recommended by a committee, a bill is placed on a calendar for floor debate. In the House, the Speaker controls debate, and each member is limited to five minutes. A simple majority vote of those present is needed for passage. The whole procedure is then repeated in the other house. Voting may follow conservative-liberal lines or regional patterns, but the most common division follows party lines. However, there still are a few mavericks, members who show less loyalty to their party in the Congress. They tend to be popular at home, but not in Congress.
C.	Filibuster. A tactic allowed only in the Senate (The House is too large to afford unlimited debate.) A Senator can delay or block action by continuously talking. A filibuster can be stopped only by a vote of cloture, in which three-fifths of the Senate votes to stop the debate. Filibusters are most effective late in the session when legislation has piled up. It is frequently used by the minority party to block the majority party's wishes.
1.		The president can stop legislation passed by Congress with a veto. However, Congress can override this veto by a two-thirds vote in each house. The president must act upon a bill within 10 days. If he does not sign the bill, it becomes a law. But if Congress adjourns before the 10 days are up and the president does not sign the bill, it does not become law. This is called a pocket veto.
2.		The Budget Process. The "power of the purse" is one of Congress' basic constitutional powers. The 1974 Budget Act enabled Congress to propose an alternative to the president's budget and required a rigid schedule of deadlines (a completed budget is due by the start of the fiscal year, October 1) for Congress to complete it's public spending plan. But it was clear that this plan was not keepingspending in line with revenues, as intended. So in 1985, a $220 billion deficit propelled passage of the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget measure that requires massive spending cuts in every federal area-including defense-if deficit reduction targets aren't met. But by the early 1990s, Gramm-Rudman had become ineffective. In 1993, President Clinton got an ambitious deficit reduction passed, and both he and the Republican majorities pledged to balance the budget. Disagreements over the budget betweenClinton and the Republicans led to a government shutdown in late 1995 and early 1996. But by 1998, the federal budget was in surplus with both the president and Congress taking credit.
D.	Major Committees in the House
1.		Budget. This important committee was established in 1974 by the Budget Act. It allows Congress to propose a comprehensive government budget as a coherent alternative to the president's budget. Designed to shift power back to Congress, it has not accomplished all that its creators hoped.
2.		Rules. All legislation except money bills must pass through this committee. Through its power to set the terms of debate it can delay, amend, or even kill legislation. The committee also acts as a "traffic cop" for the House Speaker.
3.		Ways and Means. Deals with tax and money-raising bills that go to the floor under a closed rule-that is, no amendments can be attached. It has been the key committee on issues such as welfare reform, tax reform, and Social Security reform.
4.		Appropriations. This committee (along with Ways and Means) is particularly powerful because of its ability to determine how and where the government will spend its money.
5.		Judiciary. This committee looks at a broad range of legal matters. It gained unusual public attention during the impeachment hearings of President Clinton.
E.	Major Committees in the Senate
1.		Appropriations. Receives money bills passed by the House and acts as a "court of appeals" to add money.
2.		Finance. Handles tax legislation in the same way as Ways and Means in the House.
3.		Foreign Relations. Acts as a watchdog on the president's dominant position in foreign affairs. Its importance comes from the Senate's role in confirming appointments of ambassadors and approving treaties.
4.		Rules. The Senate's Rules Committee is far less important than its House counterpart.

IV. Other Powers of Congress
	Important nonlegislative functions of Congress include oversight of the executive branch through the right to create and determine the scope of administrative offices, the power to appropriate funds for these agencies, and the authority to investigate any area, activity, or organization that it wishes. Investigations can act as a check on executive behavior, but the publicity they attract can be dangerous when allowed to get out of hand. Presidential appointments must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Senate, and confirmation is usually, but not necessarily, assured. Impeachment is a slow process and is rarely used, although it was used to impeach President Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal in 1998. Even though the President was not removed from office, it remains an ultimate power over the executive.

V. CASE STUDY: THE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT
	The new Republican Congressional majorities, which came to office in 1995, pledged to seek a balanced budget amendment. They believed they had the support to win, but although it passed with a two-thirds majority in the House, it failed by one vote in the Senate. Part of their problem was the interest groups that mobilized against them and the negative media coverage they received on the harm caused by the cuts in government spending. In addition, the Administration and Senate Democrats mobilized to delay the legislation in the Senate. Although the Republicans had gained conservative Democratic backing in the House through some skillful legislative tactics, the Senate proved more difficult for the leadership to manipulate. Ultimately, a senior Republican Senator, Hatfield of Oregon, provided the negative vote that caused the amendment to fail. The case illustrates the difficulties of passing any legislation, especially a constitutional amendment, and the differing operating styles of the House and Senate.