M07 OCON1301 11 SE C07 - Quia · After reading this chapter, you should be able to: 7.1 Trace the...

Congress

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In March 2010, President Barack Obamasigned into law the Patient Protection andAffordable Care Act. More commonlyreferred to as the health care reform bill, the legislation was one of the most aggressiveattempts at health care reform in over fortyyears and the culmination of a journey thatbegan on the campaign trail, with presidentialcandidate Obama and many Democraticmembers of Congress promising to pass a billthat would reform health care and providehealth insurance to the more than 45 millionAmericans without medical coverage. Thiscampaign promise, however, was not an easyone to fulfill.

From the beginning, Republicans universallyopposed President Obama and the Democraticleadership’s plan to reform health care. Evensome moderate and conservative Democratsfeared that supporting comprehensive reform

would hurt their chances of keeping their seats in the 2010 midterm elections. In orderto assure that the legislation had enough votesto pass both houses of Congress, Speaker ofthe House Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) and SenateMajority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) workeddiligently to broker compromises betweenmembers. Proposals to provide universalhealth care coverage and provisions regardingpublic funding of abortions were contentiousfrom the start; in the end, universal coveragedid not survive the legislative process, and pro-life Democrats signed onto the bill only afterPresident Obama promised to take action toassure that federal funds would not be usedto pay for abortion procedures.

Throughout the legislative process, thepresident played an important role as alobbyist. He sent prominent White Houseofficials, including Chief of Staff Rahm

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What Should I Know About . . .After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

7.1 Trace the roots of the legislative branch outlinedby the U.S. Constitution, p. 228.

7.2 Characterize the demographic attributes ofmembers of Congress, and identify factors thataffect their chances for reelection, p. 231.

7.3 Assess the role of the committee system, politicalparties, and congressional leadership inorganizing Congress, p. 236.

7.4 Identify three of the most significant powers ofCongress, p. 243.

7.5 Analyze the factors that influence how membersof Congress make decisions, p. 252.

7.6 Evaluate the strategic interactions betweenCongress, the president, and the courts, p. 259.

Emanuel, to Capitol Hill to speak withmembers about the importance of reforminghealth care. The president also held a nationalsummit addressing the major flaws in theAmerican system of care and traveled aroundthe country to build the grassroots supportnecessary to convince on-the-fence moderateDemocrats to vote in favor of the bill.1

One reason it was so difficult to garnerthe necessary votes to pass this legislation isthat members of Congress constantly worryabout voting “incorrectly” or in ways that donot appeal to their constituencies. With themedia and interest groups following everymove and every vote, members know thatconstituents will find out if they are “out ofstep” with public opinion. And, ultimately,members of Congress depend on citizenapproval if they wish to win reelectionand stay in office.2

Congress has played a key role in enacting many of the major social policy reforms of the last century. At left,President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill creating the Social Security program in 1935. At right, PresidentBarack Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

228 CHAPTER 7 Congress

The Framers’ original conception of Congress’s authority was muchnarrower than it is today. Those in attendance at the ConstitutionalConvention were concerned with creating a legislative body that would beable to make laws and raise and spend revenues. Over time, Congress has

attempted to maintain these roles, but changes in the demands made on thenational government have allowed the executive and judicial branches to gainpowers at the expense of the legislative branch. Moreover, the power and theimportance of individual members has grown.

Today, members of Congress must combine and balance the roles of lawmaker,budgeter, and policy maker with being a representative of their district, their state,their party, and sometimes their race, ethnicity, or gender. Not surprisingly, this balancing act often results in role conflict.

In this chapter, we will analyze the powers of Congress and the competingroles members of Congress play as they represent the interests of their constituents,make laws, and oversee the actions of the other two branches of government. Wewill also see that as these functions have changed throughout U.S. history, so hasCongress itself.

■ First, we will examine the roots of the legislative branch of government.

■ Second, we will look at who the members of Congress are, including howmembers get elected and remain in office.

■ Third, we will describe how Congress is organized, including the differencesin House and Senate leadership and the way the committee system operates.

■ Fourth, we will outline the three most significant powers of Congress.

■ Fifth, we will analyze the factors that influence how members make decisions.

■ Finally, we will investigate the ways that Congress, the president, and thejudiciary balance institutional power.

ROOTS OF the Legislative Branch ofGovernment

7.1 . . . Trace the roots of the legislative branch outlined by the U.S. Constitution.

Article I of the Constitution describes the structure of the legislative branch ofgovernment. As discussed in chapter 2, the Great Compromise at the ConstitutionalConvention resulted in the creation of an upper house, the Senate, and a lower house,the House of Representatives. Any two-house legislature, such as the one created bythe Framers, is called a bicameral legislature. Each state is represented in the Senateby two senators, regardless of the state’s population. The number of representativeseach state sends to the House of Representatives, in contrast, is determined by thatstate’s population.

bicameral legislatureA two-house legislature.

The U.S. Constitution sets out the formal, or le-gal, requirements for membership in the House andSenate. As agreed to at the Constitutional Conven-tion, House members must be at least twenty-fiveyears of age; senators, thirty. Members of the Houseare required to be citizens of the United States for atleast seven years; those elected to the Senate musthave been citizens for at least nine years. Both repre-sentatives and senators must be legal residents of thestates from which they are elected. Historically, manymembers of Congress have moved to their statesspecifically to run for office. In 1964, U.S. AttorneyGeneral Robert Kennedy moved to New York tolaunch a successful campaign for the Senate, as didHillary Clinton in 2000. Less successful was formerRepublican presidential hopeful Alan Keyes, whomoved from Maryland to run unsuccessfully for theU.S. Senate in Illinois against Barack Obama in 2006.

Senators are elected for six-year terms, and origi-nally they were chosen by state legislatures becausethe Framers intended for senators to represent theirstates’ interests in the Senate. State legislators lost thisinfluence over the Senate with the ratification of theSeventeenth Amendment in 1913, which provides for the direct election of senators byvoters.Then, as now, one-third of all senators are up for reelection every two years.

Members of the House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms by a voteof the eligible electorate in each congressional district. The Framers expected thatHouse members would be more responsible to the people, both because they wereelected directly by them and because they were up for reelection every two years.

The U.S. Constitution requires that a census, which entails the counting of allAmericans, be conducted every ten years. Until the first census could be taken, theConstitution fixed the number of representatives in the House of Representatives atsixty-five. In 1790, one member represented about 30,000 people. But, as the popula-tion of the new nation grew and states were added to the union, the House became

Roots of the Legislative Branch of Government 229

One House or Two?Among the nations of the world, the most common legislativemodel is the bicameral parliament, congress, or assembly, with alower chamber and an upper chamber—as in the United Kingdom,Canada, Australia, and United States. However, a unicameral system—a single legislative body—is used in several industrializeddemocracies, including Denmark, Sweden, Israel, New Zealand,South Korea, and Singapore. Debate over which system promotesbetter governance continues today.

■ What are the potential weaknesses of a unicameral system? Of a bicameral system?

■ Why might some countries choose a unicameral system?■ How would replacing the U.S. House and Senate with a single

body affect the legislative process?

Who was elected to Congress in 2010? Rand Paul, a poster child for the tea party movement, wonelection to the U.S. Senate from Kentucky. Paul, an ophthalmologist, surprised many by winningthe Republican Party primary. His father was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican Party’spresidential nomination in 2008.

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larger and larger. In 1910, it expanded to 435 members, and in 1929, its size was fixedat that number by statute. When Alaska and Hawaii became states in the 1950s, thenumber of seats was increased to 437. The number reverted back to 435 in 1963. In2010, the average number of people in a district was 713,000.

Each state is allotted its share of these 435 representatives based on its popula-tion. After each U.S. Census, the number of seats allotted to each state is adjusted by aconstitutionally mandated process called apportionment. After seats are apportioned,congressional districts must be redrawn by state legislatures to reflect population shiftsto ensure that each member in Congress represents approximately the same numberof residents. This process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases ordecreases in the number of seats allotted to a state, as well as population shifts withina state, is called redistricting. It is discussed in greater detail later in this chapter.

The Constitution specifically gives Congress its most important powers: theauthorities to make laws and raise and spend revenues. No bill, or proposed law, canbecome law without the consent of both houses. Examples of other powers sharedby both houses include the power to declare war, raise an army and navy, coin money,regulate commerce, establish the federal courts and their jurisdiction, establish rules ofimmigration and naturalization, and “make all Laws which shall be necessary and properfor carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers.” As interpreted by the U.S. SupremeCourt, the necessary and proper clause, found at the end of Article I, section 8, whencoupled with one or more of the specific powers enumerated in Article I, section 8, hasallowed Congress to increase the scope of its authority, often at the expense of the statesand into areas not necessarily envisioned by the Framers. (To learn more about thepowers of Congress, see Table 7.1.)

Congress alone is given formal law-making powers in the Constitution. But, it isimportant to remember that presidents issue proclamations and executive orders withthe force of law (see chapter 8), bureaucrats issue quasi-legislative rules and arecharged with enforcing laws, rules, and regulations (see chapter 9), and the SupremeCourt and lower federal courts render opinions that generate principles that also havethe force of law (see chapter 10).

Reflecting the different constituencies and size of each house of Congress (as wellas the Framers’ intentions), Article I gives special, exclusive powers to each house inaddition to their shared role in law-making. For example, as noted in Table 7.2, the Con-stitution specifies that all revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives.

apportionmentThe process of allottingcongressional seats to each state following the decennial censusaccording to their proportion of the population.

billA proposed law.

Table 7.1 What are the powers of Congress?

The powers of Congress, found in Article I, section 8, of the Constitution, include the powers to:

■ Lay and collect taxes and duties.■ Borrow money.■ Regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states.■ Establish rules for naturalization (the process of becoming a citizen) and bankruptcy.■ Coin money, set its value, and fix the standard of weights and measures.■ Punish counterfeiting.■ Establish a post office and post roads.■ Issue patents and copyrights.■ Define and punish piracies, felonies on the high seas, and crimes against the law of nations.■ Create courts inferior to (below) the U.S. Supreme Court.■ Declare war.■ Raise and support an army and navy and make rules for their governance.■ Provide for a militia (reserving to the states the right to appoint militia officers and to train militias

under congressional rules).■ Exercise legislative powers over the seat of government (the District of Columbia) and over places

purchased to be federal facilities (forts, arsenals, dockyards, and “other needful buildings”).■ “Make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers,

and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States.” (Note: This“necessary and proper,” or “elastic,” clause has been interpreted expansively by the Supreme Court, as explained in chapter 2 and in the Annotated Constitution.)

The Members of Congress 231

Over the years, however, this mandate has been blurred, and it is not unusual to seebudget bills being considered simultaneously in both houses, especially since, ultimately,each house must approve all bills.The House also has the power of impeachment, or tocharge the president, vice president, or other “civil Officers,” including federal judges,with “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” But, only the Senateis authorized to conduct impeachment trials, with a two-thirds yea vote being necessarybefore a federal official can be removed from office.

While the House and Senate share in the impeachment process, the Senate hasthe sole authority to approve major presidential appointments, including federaljudges, ambassadors, and Cabinet- and sub-Cabinet-level positions. The Senate, too,must approve all presidential treaties by a two-thirds vote. Failure by the president tocourt the Senate can be costly. At the end of World War I, for example, PresidentWoodrow Wilson worked hard to get other nations to accept the Treaty of Versailles,which contained the charter of the proposed League of Nations. He overestimated hissupport in the Senate, however. That body refused to ratify the treaty, dealing Wilsonand his international stature a severe setback.

The Members of Congress7.2 . . . Characterize the demographic attributes of members of Congress,

and identify factors that affect their chances for reelection.

Today, many members of Congress find the job exciting in spite of public criticism ofthe institution. But, it wasn’t always so. Until Washington, D.C., got air-conditioningand drained its swamps, it was a miserable town. Most representatives spent as little

impeachmentThe power delegated to the Houseof Representatives in the Constitu-tion to charge the president, vicepresident, or other “civil officers,”including federal judges, with“Treason, Bribery, or other highCrimes and Misdemeanors.” This isthe first step in the constitutionalprocess of removing government officials from office.

Table 7.2 What are the key differences between the House of Representativesand the Senate?

Constitutional Differences

House Senate

435 voting members (apportioned by population) 100 voting members (two from each state)Two-year terms Six-year terms (one-third up for reelection every

two years)Initiates all revenue bills Offers “advice and consent” on many major

presidential appointmentsInitiates impeachment procedures and passes

articles of impeachmentTries impeached officialsApproves treaties

Differences in Operation

House Senate

More centralized, more formal; stronger leadership Less centralized, less formal; weaker leadershipCommittee on Rules fairly powerful in controlling

time and rules of debate (in conjunction with the Speaker of the House)

No rules committee; limits on debate comethrough unanimous consent or cloture offilibuster

More impersonal More personalPower distributed less evenly Power distributed more evenlyMembers are highly specialized Members are generalistsEmphasizes tax and revenue policy Emphasizes foreign policy

Changes in the Institution

House Senate

Power centralized in the Speaker’s inner circle ofadvisers

Senate workload increasing and institutionbecoming more formal; threat of filibustersmore frequent than in the past

House procedures becoming more efficient Becoming more difficult to pass legislationTurnover is relatively high, although those seeking

reelection almost always winTurnover is moderate

Table 7.3 What is a typical day like for a member of Congress?

5:00 a.m. Arrive at office.7:00 a.m. Give a tour of the U.S. Capitol to constituents.8:00 a.m. Eat breakfast with the House Shipbuilding Caucus.9:00 a.m. Meet with Speaker of the House and other members of Congress.10:00 a.m. Attend House Armed Services Committee hearing.11:00 a.m. Prepare for afternoon press conference, return phone calls, and sign constituent mail.12:00 p.m. Meet with constituents who want the member to join a caucus that may benefit the district.1:00 p.m. Read one of nine newspapers to keep track of current events.2:00 p.m. Attend Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing.3:00 p.m. Attend floor vote.3:30 p.m. Meet with group of high school students on front steps of Capitol.4:15 p.m. Return to office to sign more constituent mail and to meet with the American Heart

Association.5:00 p.m. Attend Sustainable Energy and Environment Caucus meeting.7:00 p.m. Eat dinner with fellow members.9:00 p.m. Return to office to sign more constituent mail and read more newspapers.11:00 p.m. Leave office to go home.

Source: Adapted from Bob Clark, “A Day in the Life . . .” Evening Tribune (October 7, 2009).www.eveningtribune.com Access date: October 20, 2010

Who were the first sisters inCongress? U.S. RepresentativesLoretta and Linda Sanchez arethe first sisters to serve in Con-gress. Many members comefrom political families.

time as possible there, viewing the Congress, especially the House, as a stepping stoneto other political positions back home. It was only after World War I that most Housemembers became congressional careerists who viewed their work in Washington aslong term.3

Members must attempt to appease several constituencies—party leaders, colleagues,and lobbyists in Washington, D.C., and constituents at home.4 In attempting to do so,members spend full days at home as well as in D.C. According to one study of Housemembers, average representatives made about forty trips back home to their districts eachyear.5 One journalist has aptly described a member’s days as a “kaleidoscopic jumble:breakfast with reporters, morning staff meetings, simultaneous committee hearingsto juggle, back-to-back sessions with lobbyists and constituents, phone calls, briefings,constant buzzers interrupting office work to make quorum calls and votes on the run,afternoon speeches, evening meetings, receptions, fund-raisers, all crammed into fourdays so they can race home for a weekend gauntlet of campaigning. It’s a rat race.”6

(To learn more about a day in the life of a member of Congress, see Table 7.3.)

Congressional DemographicsCongress is better educated, richer, more male, and more white than the generalpopulation. Over two-thirds of the members of the House and Senate also hold advanced degrees.7

Almost 250 members of Congress are millionaires. The Senate, in fact, is oftencalled the Millionaires Club. The median net worth of a senator in 2010 was

$1.7 million, while the median net worth of a House member was $75,000.8Many members of both houses have significant inheritedwealth, but given their educational attainment, which is farhigher than the average American’s, it is not surprising tofind so many wealthy members of Congress.

The average age of senators in the 112th Congressis sixty-three. Michael Lee (R–UT) is the youngest senator.The average age of House members is fifty-seven; Represen-tative Aaron Schock (R–IL) was first elected to the House in2008 and is still the youngest member of Congress.

As revealed in Figure 7.1, the 1992 elections saw arecord number of women, African Americans, and otherminorities elected to Congress. By the 112th Congress, the


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total number of women members decreased for the firsttime in recent history, with seventy in the House and sev-enteen in the Senate. The number of African Americans inthe House increased to forty-two, including two AfricanAmerican Republicans. No African Americans served inthe Senate. Twenty-seven Hispanics served in the House.Also serving in the 112th Congress are seven members ofAsian or Pacific Island American heritage, and one Ameri-can Indian, Tom Cole (R–OK). A record number—four—openly homosexual members served in the House. Jewishmembers saw their numbers decrease about 10 percent toforty down from a historic high of forty-five in the lastCongress.

Running For and Staying In OfficeDespite the long hours and hard work required of senatorsand representatives, thousands of people aspire to these jobsevery year. Yet, only 535 men and women (plus seven nonvot-ing members) actually serve in the U.S. Congress. Member-ship in one of the two major political parties is almost alwaysa prerequisite for election, because election laws in variousstates often discriminate against independents (those withoutparty affiliation) and minor-party candidates. As discussed inchapter 14, the ability to raise money often is key to anymember’s victory, and many members spend nearly all of theirfree time on the phone dialing for dollars or attendingfundraisers. Incumbency and redistricting also affect members’chances at reelection.

INCUMBENCY Incumbency helps members stay in of-fice once they are elected.9 It is often very difficult for out-siders to win because they don’t have the advantages enjoyedby incumbents, including name recognition, access to free

Figure 7.1 How many women and minorities serve inCongress?Source: Data compiled by the authors.


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Who are the non-voting members representing Washington, D.C.? Shadow Senator Paul Strauss(rear) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (center), both Democrats, represent Washington,D.C. in the Senate and the House, respectively. When Democrats held the House, Norton wasallowed to cast votes in committee, a privilege she is unlikely to enjoy in the Republican House.D.C.’s two shadow senators have no voting rights or legal standing.

incumbencyAlready holding an office.

Congress (year)

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WomenAfrican AmericansHispanics


media, an inside track on fund-raising, and a district drawn to favor the incumbent.(To learn more about incumbency, see Table 7.4.)

It is not surprising, then, that an average of 96 percent of the incumbents whoseek reelection win their primary and general election races.10 In 2010, only 87 per-cent of House members were reelected. Almost all who lost were Democrats, and thiswas the lowest reelection percentage since 1970.11 In the Senate, however, 90 percentof members were reelected, the highest rate since 2004.

REDISTRICTING The process of redrawing congressional districts to reflectincreases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shiftswithin a state, is called redistricting. Redistricting is a largely political process.In most states, districts lines are drawn by partisan state legislatures. As a result,the majority party in the state legislature uses the redistricting process as anopportunity to ensure formation of voting districts that protect their majority. Forexample, in 2003, ten Texas Democratic state senators left the capitol in Austinfor Albuquerque, New Mexico, in order to break the state Senate quorum neces-sary to pass a Republican-sponsored redistricting bill. The Republicans, who hadgained control of the state government following the 2002 election, desired toredraw the district lines that had been crafted by the judiciary when the legislature,then divided, failed to redraw the lines in time for the 2002 election. At onepoint in the standoff, state police were ordered to begin a search for the errantstate senators. The efforts of the ten Democrats failed after one of them, JohnWhitmire, returned to the Texas Senate, believing that the Democrats were goingto lose any future legal action against them. In the end, the Republican planwas adopted and Republicans gained seats in the 2004 election. A 2006 SupremeCourt ruling upheld all but one of the redrawn districts. Hoping to avoid thissort of political high theater, some states, including Iowa and Arizona, appointnonpartisan commissions or use some other independent means of drawing districtlines. Although the processes vary in detail, most states require legislative approvalof redistricting plans.

The redistricting process often involves gerrymandering—the drawing ofcongressional districts to produce a particular electoral outcome without regard tothe shape of the district. Because of enormous population growth, the partisanimplications of redistricting, and the requirement under the Voting Rights Act of1965 for minorities to get an equal chance to elect candidates of their choice, legisla-tors end up drawing oddly shaped districts to elect more members of their party.12 Re-districting plans routinely meet with court challenges across the country. Followingthe 2000 Census and the subsequent redistricting in 2002, the courts threw out leg-islative maps in a half-dozen states, primarily because of state constitutional concernsabout compactness.13 (To learn more about gerrymandering, see Figure 7.2.)

redistrictingThe process of redrawing congres-sional districts to reflect increases ordecreases in seats allotted to thestates, as well as population shiftswithin a state.

gerrymanderingThe drawing of congressionaldistricts to produce a particularelectoral outcome without regard tothe shape of the district.

Table 7.4 What are the advantages of incumbency?■ Name recognition. Members’ names have been on the ballot before, and voters may associate their

names with programs or social services they have brought to the district.■ Credit claiming. Members may claim to be responsible for federal money brought to the district.■ Casework. Members and their staffs help constituents solve problems with the government, including

navigating red tape and tracking down federal aid.■ Franking privilege. Members may send mail or newsletters for free by using their signature in place of

a stamp.■ Access to media. Members and their staffs may have relationships with reporters and be easily able to

spin stories or give quotes.■ Ease in fund-raising. Incumbents’ high reelection rates make them a safe bet for individuals or groups

wanting to give donations in exchange for access.■ Experience in running a campaign. Members have already put together a campaign staff, made

speeches, and come to understand constituent concerns.■ Redistricting. In the House, a member’s district may be drawn to enhance electability.


The U.S. Supreme Court for a long time consid-ered political redistricting based on partisan consid-erations to be a political question that was not amatter of constitutional law, but rather a questionto be worked out through the regular politicalprocess.14 But, in recent years the Supreme Court hasinvolved itself in some such cases and has ruled that:

■ Congressional as well as state legislative districtsmust be apportioned on the basis of population.15

■ District lines must be contiguous; you must beable to draw the boundaries of the district withone unbroken line.16

■ Purposeful gerrymandering of a congressionaldistrict to dilute minority strength is illegalunder the Voting Rights Act of 1965.17

■ Redrawing districts to enhance minority repre-sentation is constitutional if race is not the “predominate” factor.18

■ States may redistrict more than every ten years.19

Gerrymandering in Other NationsIsrael and the Netherlands are not susceptible to gerrymandering intheir national government elections because they use an electoral sys-tem with only one (nationwide) voting district. Other countries, suchas Great Britain and Canada, attempt to prevent political manipula-tion of electoral districts by having constituency boundaries set bynonpartisan organizations. Gerrymandering is most common incountries where elected officials are largely responsible for definingdistricts. Other countries that have engaged in gerrymanderinginclude Germany, Greece, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Chile.

■ Are there any circumstances under which gerrymanderingcan be considered legitimate? Explain your answer.

■ Should state governments use nonpartisan, independentcommissions or organizations to conduct the redistrictingprocess? Why or why not?

■ In what ways would election outcomes change if more statesadopted a nonpartisan method for determining electoraldistricts?

The Original “Gerrymander” Cartoon, 1812 Illinois 17th District, 2010

Figure 7.2 What is gerrymandering?Two drawings—one a mocking cartoon, the other all too real—show the bizarre geographicalcontortions that result from gerrymandering. The term was coined by combining the last name of theMassachusetts governor first credited with politicizing the redistricting process, Elbridge Gerry, and theword “salamander,” which looked like the oddly shaped district that Gerry created.Sources: David Van Biema, “Snakes or Ladders?” Time (July 12, 1993) © 1993, Time Inc. Reprinted by permission. Illinois General Assembly.


How Congress Is Organized7.3 . . . Assess the role of the committee system, political parties, and

congressional leadership in organizing Congress.

As demonstrated in Figure 7.3, the organization of both houses of Congress is closelytied to political parties and their strength in each house. The basic division inCongress is between majority and minority parties. The majority party is the politicalparty in each house with the most members. The minority party is the politicalparty in each house with the second most members. (To learn more about the partisancomposition of the 112th Congress, see Figure 7.4.)

At the beginning of each new Congress—the 112th Congress, for example, willsit in two sessions, one in 2011 and one in 2012—the members of each party formallygather in their party caucus or conference. Historically, these caucuses have enjoyedvaried powers, but today the party caucuses—now called caucus by House Democratsand conference by House and Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats—haveseveral roles, including nominating or electing party officers, reviewing committeeassignments, discussing party policy, imposing party discipline, setting party themes,and coordinating media, including talk radio. Conference and caucus chairs are recog-nized party leaders who work with other leaders in the House or Senate.20

majority partyThe political party in each house ofCongress with the most members.minority partyThe political party in each house ofCongress with the second mostmembers.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Majority Leader

Minority Whips

RepublicanConference

Republican SteeringCommittee

RepublicanCongressional

Campaign Committee

Republican PolicyCommittee

CommitteeSystem

Committeeon Rules

Speaker

Minority Leader

Minority Whips

DemocraticCaucus

DemocraticCongressional

Campaign Committee

Democratic Steeringand Policy Committee

Majority Leader

Minority Whips

DemocraticSteering

Committee

DemocraticSenatorialCampaignCommittee

DemocraticPolicy

Committee

NationalRepublicanSenatorialCampaignCommittee

RepublicanCommittee onCommittees

RepublicanSteering

Committee

RepublicanPolicy

Committee

Minority Leader

Minority Whips

DemocraticCaucus

RepublicanConference

CommitteeSystem

Vice President orPresident Pro Tempore

SENATE

Figure 7.3 How are the House of Representatives and the Senate organized?Source: Adapted from Roger H. Davidson and Walter J. Oleszek, Congress and its Members, 10th ed. (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2006.) Updated by the authors.

party caucus or conferenceA formal gathering of all partymembers.

How Congress Is Organized 237

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Senate

Democrats 51Republicans 46Independents 3

Total

House of Representatives

Total

Republican seatsDemocratic seatsUndecided seats*Republican majorityDemocratic majorityEqual party membership

Republicans 239Democrats 189Undecided 7*

*As of mid-November 2010.

Figure 7.4 What is the partisan composition of the 112th Congress?

Each caucus or conference has specialized committees that fulfill certain tasks.House Republicans, for example, have a Committee on Committees that makescommittee assignments. The Democrats’ Steering Committee performs this function.Each party also has congressional campaign committees to assist members in theirreelection bids.

Leadership in the House of RepresentativesEven in the first Congress in 1789, the House of Representatives was almost threetimes larger than the Senate. It is not surprising, then, that from the beginning theHouse has been organized more tightly, structured more elaborately, and governed bystricter rules. Traditionally, loyalty to the party leadership and voting along party lines


has been more common in the House than in the Senate. House leaders also play akey role in moving the business of the House along. Historically, the Speaker of theHouse, the majority and minority leaders, and the Republican and Democratic Housewhips have made up the party leadership that runs the institution.This group now hasbeen expanded to include deputy whips of both parties, as well as those who head theDemocratic Caucus and the Republican Conference.

THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE The Speaker of the House is the only officer ofthe House of Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution. The office,the chamber’s most powerful position, is modeled after a similar one in the BritishParliament—the Speaker was the one who spoke to the king and conveyed the wishesof the House of Commons to the monarch.21

The entire House of Representatives elects the Speaker at the beginning of eachnew Congress. Traditionally, the Speaker is a member of the majority party. Althoughtypically not the member with the longest service, the Speaker generally has served inthe House for a long time and in other House leadership positions as an apprenticeship.Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) spent almost twenty years in the House. Her successor,John Boehner (R–OH), was in office twenty years before being elected to the position.

The Speaker presides over the House of Representatives, oversees House busi-ness, and is the official spokesperson for the House, as well as being second in the lineof presidential succession. Moreover, the Speaker is the House liaison with the presi-dent and generally has great political influence within the chamber. The Speaker isalso expected to smooth the passage of party-backed legislation through the House.

The first powerful Speaker was Henry Clay (R–KY). Serving in Congress at atime when turnover was high, he was elected to the position in 1810, his first term inoffice. He was the Speaker of the House for a total of six terms—longer than anyoneelse in the nineteenth century.

By the late 1800s, the House ceased to have a revolving door and the length ofmembers’ average stays in the House increased. With this new professionalization ofthe House came professionalization in the position of Speaker. Between 1896 and1910, a series of Speakers initiated changes that brought more power to the office asthe Speaker largely took control of committee assignments and the appointing of

committee chairs. Institutional and personalrule reached its height during the 1903–1910tenure of Speaker Joe Cannon (R–IL).

Negative reaction to those strong Speak-ers eventually led to a revolt in 1910 and 1911in the House and to a reduction of the formalpowers of the Speaker. As a consequence,many Speakers between Cannon and NewtGingrich, who became Speaker in 1995, oftenrelied on more informal powers that camefrom their personal ability to persuademembers of their party. Gingrich, the firstRepublican Speaker in forty years, convincedfellow Republicans to return important formalpowers to the position. These formal changes,along with his personal leadership skills, al-lowed Gingrich to exercise greater controlover the House and its agenda than any otherSpeaker since the days of Cannon.

Time will only tell how John Boehner(R–OH) is able to control members of hisparty. More than thirty Republicans won withtea party support and their own agenda.

Speaker of the HouseThe only officer of the House of Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution;the chamber’s most powerfulposition; traditionally a member of the majority party.

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Who was the first female Speaker of the House? Representative Nancy Pelosi was the first woman Speaker. She is shown here at a State Dinner withPresident Barack Obama and General Colin Powell.


LEADERSHIP TEAMS After the Speaker, the next most powerful people in the Houseare the majority and minority leaders, who are elected in their individual party cau-cuses or conferences.The majority leader is the head of the party controlling the mostseats in the House; his or her counterpart in the party with the second highest num-ber of seats is the minority leader. The majority leader helps the Speaker scheduleproposed legislation for debate on the House floor.

The Republican and Democratic whips, who are elected by party members incaucuses, assist the Speaker and majority and minority leaders in their leadership ef-forts.The position of whip originated in the British House of Commons, where it wasnamed after the “whipper in,” the rider who keeps the hounds together in a fox hunt.Party whips—who were first designated in the U.S. House of Representatives in1899—do, as their name suggests, try to whip fellow Democrats or Republicans intoline on partisan issues. They try to maintain close contact with all members on impor-tant votes, prepare summaries of content and implications of bills, take vote countsduring debates and votes, and in general get members to toe the party line. Whips andtheir deputy whips also serve as communications links, distributing word of theparty line from leaders to rank-and-file members and alerting leaders to concerns inthe ranks.

Leadership in the SenateOrganization and formal rules never have played the same role in the Senate that theydo in the House. Through the 1960s, the Senate was a gentlemen’s club whose folk-ways—unwritten rules of behavior—governed its operation. One such folkway, forexample, stipulated that political disagreements not become personal criticisms.A senator who disliked another referred to that senator as “the able, learned, and dis-tinguished senator.” A member who really couldn’t stand another called that senator“my very able, learned, and distinguished colleague.”

In the 1960s and 1970s, senators became more and more active on a variety ofissues on and off the Senate floor, and extended debates often occurred on the floorwithout the rigid rules of courtesy that had once been the hallmark of the body. Thesechanges have made the majority leader’s role as coalition-builder extraordinarilychallenging.22

PRESIDING OFFICER The Constitution specifiesthat the presiding officer of the Senate is the vicepresident of the United States. Because he is not amember of the Senate, he votes only in the case ofa tie.

The official chair of the Senate is the presidentpro tempore, or pro tem, who is selected by the ma-jority party and presides over the Senate in theabsence of the vice president. The position of pro temtoday is primarily an honorific office that generallygoes to the most senior senator of the majority party.Once elected, the pro tem stays in that office untilthere is a change in the majority party in the Senate.Since presiding over the Senate can be a rather per-functory duty, neither the vice president nor the presi-dent pro tempore actually perform the task very often.Instead, the duty of presiding over the Senate rotatesamong junior members of the majority party of thechamber, allowing more senior members to attendmore important meetings.

majority leaderThe head of the party controllingthe most seats in the House of Rep-resentatives or the Senate; is secondin authority to the Speaker of theHouse and in the Senate is regardedas its most powerful member.minority leaderThe head of the party with the second highest number of electedrepresentatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate.whipParty leader who keeps close contactwith all members of his or her party,takes vote counts on key legislation,prepares summaries of bills, and actsas a communications link within aparty.

Who really presides over the Senate? Junior members of themajority party in the Senate have the perfunctory duty of presidingover that institution. Members who preside for over 100 hours areawarded a golden gavel, such as the one shown here.

president pro temporeThe official chair of the Senate;usually the most senior member ofthe majority party.

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MAJORITY LEADER The true leader of the Senate is the majority leader, elected tothe position by the majority party. Because the Senate is a smaller and more collegial body,the majority leader is not nearly as powerful as the Speaker of the House. Senate MajorityLeader Harry Reid (D–NV) discovered the many difficulties that may face a Senate leadertrying to coordinate members of his party and assure party loyalty, even in times of unifiedgovernment. Most of these troubles were the result of struggles to assure loyalty of moder-ate Democratic members on important votes dealing with economic recovery and healthcare reform. As a result of these challenges, but also due to high unemployment and fore-closure rates in his home state of Nevada, Reid was thought to be one of the most vulnera-ble members of the Senate during the 2010 election. He ultimately was able to defeat teaparty member Sharron Angle with help from many labor unions.

LEADERSHIP TEAMS The minority leader and the Republican and Democraticwhips round out the leadership positions in the Senate and perform functions similarto those of their House counterparts. But, leading and whipping in the Senate can bequite a challenge. Senate rules always have given tremendous power to individual sen-ators; in most cases senators can offer any kind of amendments to legislation on thefloor, and an individual senator can bring all work on the floor to a halt indefinitelythrough a filibuster unless three-fifths of the senators vote to cut him or her off.23

The Committee SystemThe saying “Congress in session is Congress on exhibition, whilst Congress in itscommittee rooms is Congress at work” may not be as true today as it was whenWoodrow Wilson wrote it in 1885.24 Still, “the work that takes place in the committeeand subcommittee rooms of Capitol Hill is critical to the productivity and effectivenessof Congress.”25 Standing committees are the first and last places to which most billsgo. Usually committee members play key roles in floor debate about the merits of billsthat have been introduced. When different versions of a bill are passed in the Houseand Senate, a conference committee with members of both houses meets to iron outthe differences. Committee organization and specialization are especially important inthe House of Representatives because of its size. The establishment of subcommitteesallows for even greater specialization.TYPES OF COMMITTEES There are four types of congressional committees:(1) standing; (2) joint; (3) conference; and, (4) select (or special).26

1. Standing committees are the committees to which bills are referred for consid-eration; they are so called because they continue from one Congress to the next.

2. Joint committees are standing committees that include members from both housesof Congress and are set up to conduct investigations or special studies.They focuspublic attention on major matters, such as the economy, taxation, or scandals.

3. Conference committees are special joint committees created to reconcile differ-ences in bills passed by the House and Senate. A conference committee is madeup of members from the House and Senate committees that originallyconsidered the bill.

4. Select (or special) committees are temporary committees appointed for specificpurposes, such as investigating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In the 111th Congress, the House had nineteen standing committees, as shownin Table 7.5, each with an average of thirty-one members. Together, these standingcommittees had roughly ninety subcommittees that collectively acted as the eyes, ears,and hands of the House. They considered issues roughly parallel to those of the de-partments represented in the president’s Cabinet. For example, there were committeeson agriculture, education, the judiciary, veterans affairs, transportation, and commerce.

standing committeeCommittee to which proposed billsare referred; continues from oneCongress to the next.joint committeeStanding committee that includesmembers from both houses of Con-gress setup to conduct investigationsor special studies.conference committeeSpecial joint committee created toreconcile differences in bills passedby the House and Senate.select (or special) committeeTemporary committee appointed fora specific purpose.


Although most committees in one house parallel those in the other, the HouseCommittee on Rules, for which there is no counterpart in the Senate, plays a key rolein the House’s law-making process. Indicative of the importance of the Committee onRules, majority party members are appointed directly by the Speaker. This committeereviews most bills after they come from a committee and before they go to the fullchamber for consideration. Performing a traffic cop function, the Committee on Rulesgives each bill what is called a rule, which contains the date the bill will come up fordebate and the time that will be allotted for discussion, and often specifies what kindsof amendments can be offered. Bills considered under a closed rule cannot be amended.

Standing committees have considerable power. They can kill bills, amend themradically, or hurry them through the process. In the words of former PresidentWoodrow Wilson, once a bill is referred to a committee, it “crosses a parliamentarybridge of sighs to dim dungeons of silence from whence it never will return.”27

Committees report out to the full House or Senate only a small fraction of the billsassigned to them. Bills can be forced out of a House committee by a dischargepetition signed by a majority (218) of the House membership.

In the 111th Congress, the Senate had seventeen standing committees ranging insize from fifteen to twenty-nine members. It also had roughly seventy subcommittees,which allowed all majority party senators to chair at least one.

Table 7.5 What were the committees of the 111th Congress?

Standing Committees

House Senate

Agriculture Agriculture, Nutrition, & ForestryAppropriations AppropriationsArmed Services Armed ServicesBudget Banking, Housing, & Urban AffairsEducation & Labor BudgetEnergy & Commerce Commerce, Science, & TransportationFinancial Services Energy & Natural ResourcesForeign Affairs Environment & Public WorksHomeland Security FinanceHouse Administration Foreign RelationsJudiciary Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions

Commercial & Administrative Law Homeland Security & Governmental AffairsThe Constitution, Civil Rights, & Civil Liberties Indian AffairsCourts & Competition Policy JudiciaryCrime, Terrorism, & Homeland Security Administrative Oversight & the CourtsImmigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border

Security, & International LawAntitrust, Competition Policy, & Consumer

RightsTask Force on Antitrust The Constitution

Natural Resources Crime & DrugsOversight & Government Reform Human Rights & the LawRules Immigration, Refugees, & Border SecurityScience & Technology Terrorism, Technology, & Homeland SecuritySmall Business Rules & AdministrationStandards of Official Conduct Small Business & EntrepreneurshipTransportation & Infrastructure Veterans AffairsVeterans AffairsWays & Means

Select, Special, and Other Committees

House Senate Joint Committees

Permanent Select Intelligence Select Ethics EconomicsSelect Committee on Energy Select Intelligence Taxation

Independence & Global Warming Special Aging Library of Congress Printing

Note: The subcommittees of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees during the 111th Congress are listed in italics.

discharge petitionPetition that gives a majority of the House of Representatives theauthority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committeeinaction.


In contrast to the House, whose membershold few committee assignments (an average of1.8 standing and three subcommittees), senatorseach serve on an average of three to four commit-tees and seven subcommittees. Whereas the com-mittee system allows House members to becomepolicy or issue specialists, Senate members oftenare generalists. In the 111th Congress, SenatorJohn Cornyn (R–TX), for example, served on sev-eral committees, including Finance, Judiciary,Budget, and Agriculture. He also served onseveral subcommittees and was a member of theSenate Republican leadership as Chairman ofthe National Republican Senatorial Committee(NRSC).

Senate committees enjoy the same powerover framing legislation that House committeesdo, but the Senate, being an institution more opento individual input than the House, gives less def-erence to the work done in committees. In the

Senate, legislation is more likely to be rewritten on the floor, where all senators cangenerally participate and add amendments.

COMMITTEE CHAIRS Committee chairs enjoy tremendous power and prestige.They are authorized to select all subcommittee chairs, call meetings, and recommendmajority members to sit on conference committees. Committee chairs may even optto kill a bill by refusing to schedule hearings on it. They also have a large committeestaff at their disposal and are often recipients of favors from lobbyists, who recognizethe chair’s unique position of power. Personal skill, influence, and expertise are a chair’sbest allies.

Historically, committee chairs were the majority party members with the longestcontinuous service on the committee. Committee chairs in the House, unlike theSenate, are no longer selected by seniority, or time of continuous service on thecommittee. Instead, potential chairs are interviewed by party leaders to ensure thatcandidates demonstrate loyalty to the party. All committee chairs are limited to sixyears of service on a particular committee.

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP Many newly elected members of Congress comeinto the body with their sights set on certain committee assignments. Others are moreflexible. Many legislators seeking committee assignments inform their party’s selec-tion committee of their preferences. They often request assignments based on theirown interests or expertise or on a particular committee’s ability to help their prospectsfor reelection. One political scientist has noted that committee assignments are tomembers what stocks are to investors—they seek to acquire those that will add to thevalue of their portfolios.28

Some committees, such as Energy and Commerce, facilitate reelection by givingHouse members influence over decisions that affect large campaign contributors.Other committees, such as Education and the Workforce or Judiciary, attractmembers eager to work on the policy responsibilities assigned to the committee evenif the appointment does them little good at the ballot box. Another motivator forcertain committee assignments is the desire to have power and influence within thechamber. The Appropriations and Budget Committees provide that kind of rewardfor some members, given the monetary impact of the committees. Congress canapprove programs, but unless money for them is appropriated in the budget, they arelargely symbolic.

seniorityTime of continuous service on acommittee.

Why are senators policy generalists? One reason why senators musthave such a broad base of knowledge is their many committeeassignments. In the 111th Congress, Senator John Cornyn (R–TX),shown here, served on four different committees.

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Powers of Congress 243

In both the House and the Senate, committee membership generally reflectsthe party distribution within that chamber. For example, at the outset of the 112thCongress, Republicans held a majority of House seats and thus claimed about a56 percent share of the seats on several committees. On committees more critical tothe operation of the House or to the setting of national policy, the majority oftentakes a disproportionate share of the slots. Since the Committee on Rules regulatesaccess to the floor for legislation approved by other standing committees, control bythe majority party is essential for it to manage the flow of legislation. For this reason,no matter how narrow the majority party’s margin in the chamber, it makes up morethan two-thirds of the Committee on Rules’ membership.

Powers of Congress7.4 . . . Identify three of the most significant powers of Congress.

As discussed in chapter 2, the Framers were interested in assuring that the nationalgovernment had sufficient power to govern the states. Thus, Article I, section 7, ofthe Constitution details the procedures by which Congress can make laws and raiserevenues. Article I, section 8, also details Congress’s power to tax, spend, regulatecommerce, coin money, and make “all Laws which shall be necessary and proper forcarrying into Execution” those powers. (To learn more about Congress’s powers overnaturalization, see The Living Constitution: Article I, Section 8, Clause 4.)

Today, Congress not only makes laws dealing with substantive policy, but italso spends significant time negotiating and passing the nation’s budget. In addition,in accordance with the system of checks and balances, it has a key oversight role.Through the War Powers Act, congressional review, approval of nominations, andimpeachment, Congress can check the power of the executive and judicial branches.

The Law-Making FunctionCongress’s law-making power allows it to affect the day-to-day lives of all Americansand set policy for the future. Although proposals for legislation—be they aboutterrorism, Medicare, or tax policy—can come from the president, executive agencies,committee staffs, interest groups, or even private individuals, only members of the

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How do House members cast votes? Each seat in the House of Representatives is equipped withan electronic voting system such as this one, which allows members to vote yea, nay, or present. Italso indicates when voting is open.


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The Living ConstitutionThe Congress shall have power . . . to establish a uniform Ruleof Naturalization.

—ARTICLE I, SECTION 8, CLAUSE 4

his clause places authority to draft laws concerning naturalization in the hands of Congress. Congress’s

power over naturalization is exclusive—meaning thatno state can bestow U.S. citizenship on anyone. Citi-zenship is a privilege and Congress may make lawslimiting or expanding the criteria.

The word citizen was not definedconstitutionally until ratification in 1868 of theFourteenth Amendment, which sets forth twokinds of citizenship: by birth and through natural-ization. Throughout American history, Congresshas imposed a variety of limits on naturalization,originally restricting it to “free, white persons.”“Orientals” were excluded from eligibility in 1882.At one time, those affiliated with the CommunistParty and those who lacked “good moral character”(a phrase that was construed to bar homosexuals,drunkards, gamblers, and adulterers) were deemedunfit for citizenship. These restrictions no longercarry the force of law, but they do underscore thepower of Congress in this matter.

Congress continues to retain the right tonaturalize large classes of individuals, as it did in 2000 when it granted automatic citizenshiprights to all minor children adopted abroadas long as at least one adoptive parent was anAmerican citizen. Naturalized citizens, however,do not necessarily enjoy the full rights of

citizenship enjoyed by other Americans.Congress at any time, subject only to SupremeCourt review, can limit the rights and libertiesof naturalized citizens, especially in times ofnational crisis. In the wake of the September 11,2001, terrorist attacks, when it was revealed thatone-third of the forty-eight al-Qaeda-linkedoperatives who took part in some sort of terroristactivities against the United States were lawfulpermanent residents or naturalized citizens,Congress called for greater screening by the U.S.Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Servicesfor potential terrorists.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS1. Is Congress the appropriate institution to have

the power over immigration and naturalization?Why or why not?

2. Is racial profiling by the U.S. Bureau ofCitizenship and Immigration Services andother government entities an appropriate action in the name of national security? Why or why not?

3. What action should Congress take to regulateimmigration and naturalization in light ofrestrictive state laws such as the one adopted inArizona (see chapter 3)?

House or Senate can formally submit a bill for congressional consideration (althoughmany are initially drafted by lobbyists). Once a bill is introduced by a member of Congress, it usually reaches a dead end. Of the approximately 10,000 bills introducedduring the 111th session of Congress, fewer than 5 percent were made into law.

A bill must survive several stages or roadblocks before it becomes a law. It mustbe approved by one or more standing committees and both chambers, and, if Houseand Senate versions differ, each house must accept a conference report resolvingthose differences. These multiple points of approval provide many opportunities for


members to revise the content of legislation and may lead representatives to alter theirviews on a particular piece of legislation several times over. Thus, it is much easier todefeat a bill than it is to get one passed. (To learn more about how a bill becomes alaw, see Figure 7.5.)

COMMITTEE REFERRAL The House and Senate have parallel processes, and oftenthe same bill is introduced in each chamber at the same time. A bill must be introducedby a member of Congress, but, in an attempt to show support for the aims of the bill, itis often sponsored by several other members (called co-sponsors). Once introduced, the

Introduced in House

Conference Committee

Transmitted to President

Signs(Becomes Law)

Vetoes(No Law Unless

Override)

Waits 10 Days(Becomes Law)

Waits 10 Days,Congress Adjourns

(Pocket Veto—No Law)

Referred to HouseCommittee

Referred to Subcommittee

Reported by FullCommittee

Committee on Rules

Full House Debatesand Votes on Passage

House Approval Senate Approval

Introduced in Senate

Referred to SenateCommittee

Referred to Subcommittee

Reported by FullCommittee

Full Senate Debatesand Votes on Passage

STOP

STOP

STOP

STOP

STOP

STOP

STOP

STOP

STOP

STOP

Figure 7.5 How does a bill become a law?

bill is sent to the clerk of the chamber, who gives it a number (for example, HR 1 or S 1—indicating House or Senate bill number one).The bill is then printed, distributed,and sent to the appropriate committee or committees for consideration.

The committee usually refers the bill to one of its subcommittees, whichresearches the bill and decides whether to hold hearings on it. The subcommitteehearings provide the opportunity for those on both sides of the issue to voice theiropinions. Since the passage of sunshine laws in the 1970s, most of these hearings arenow open to the public. After the hearings, the bill is revised in subcommittee, andthen the subcommittee votes to approve or defeat the bill. If the subcommittee votesin favor of the bill, it is returned to the full committee.There, it goes through markup,a session during which committee members can offer changes to a bill before it goesto the floor. The full committee may also reject the bill before it goes to the floor ineither house.

FLOOR DEBATE The second stage of action takes place on the House or Senatefloor. As previously discussed, in the House, before a bill may be debated on the floor,it must be approved by the Committee on Rules and given a rule and a place on thecalendar, or schedule. (House budget bills, however, don’t go to the Committee onRules.) In the House, the rule given to a bill determines the limits on the floor debateand specifies what types of amendments, if any, may be attached to the bill. Once theCommittee on Rules considers the bill, it is put on the calendar.

When the day arrives for floor debate, the House may choose to form a Commit-tee of the Whole. This procedure allows the House to deliberate with only onehundred members present to expedite consideration of the bill. During this time,amendments may also be offered, and a vote ultimately is taken by the full House. Ifthe bill survives, it is sent to the Senate for consideration if it was not considered theresimultaneously.

Unlike the House, where debate is necessarily limited given the size of the body,bills may be held up by a hold or a filibuster in the Senate. A hold is a tactic by whicha senator asks to be informed before a particular bill (or nomination) is brought tothe floor. This request signals the Senate leadership and the sponsors of the bill thata colleague may have objections to the bill (or nomination) and should be consultedbefore further action is taken.

Holds are powerful tools. In 2002, for example, then Senator Joe Biden (D–DE)became so upset with congressional failure to fund Amtrak security (Biden tookAmtrak back and forth to his home in Delaware when the Senate was in session) thathe put holds on two Department of Transportation nominees, whom he called “fine,decent, and competent people.” This meant that their nominations could not be con-sidered until he removed his hold. In return, the Bush administration retaliated bywithholding a third of the funding for a University of Delaware research project onhigh-speed trains. As the Washington Post noted in reporting this story, “Welcome tothe wild wacky world of Washington politics, where people sometimes destroy a vil-lage to save it.”29

Filibusters, a formal way of halting Senate action on a bill by means of longspeeches or unlimited debate, grew out of the absence of rules to limit speech in theSenate. There are no limits on the content of a filibuster as long as a senator keepstalking. A senator may read from a phone book, recite poetry, or read cookbooks to delay a vote. Often, a team of senators takes turns speaking to keep the filibustergoing in the hope that a bill will be tabled or killed. In 1964, for example, a group ofnorthern liberal senators continued a filibuster for eighty-two days in an effort toprevent amendments that would weaken a civil rights bill. Still, filibusters often aremore of a threat than an actual event on the Senate floor, although members may usethem in extreme circumstances.

holdA tactic by which a senator asks tobe informed before a particular billor nomination is brought to thefloor. This request signals leadershipthat a member may have objectionsto the bill (or nomination) andshould be consulted before furtheraction is taken.

filibusterA formal way of halting Senate action on a bill by means of longspeeches or unlimited debate.


markupA session in which committee mem-bers offer changes to a bill before itgoes to the floor.

There is only one way to end a filibuster. Sixty senators must sign a motion forcloture. After a cloture motion passes the Senate floor, members may spend nomore than thirty additional hours debating the legislation at issue.

FINAL APPROVAL The third stage of action takes place when the two chambers ofCongress approve different versions of the same bill. When this happens, they establish aconference committee to iron out the differences between the two versions.The confer-ence committee, whose members are from the original House and Senate committees,hammers out a compromise,which is returned to each chamber for a final vote.Sometimesthe conference committee fails to agree and the bill dies there. No changes or amendmentsto the compromise version are allowed. If the bill is passed, it is sent to the president, whoeither signs it or vetoes (rejects) it. If the bill is not passed in both houses, it dies.

The president has ten days to consider a bill. He has four options:

1. The president can sign the bill, at which point it becomes law.2. The president can veto the bill, which is more likely to occur when the

president is of a different party from the majority in Congress; Congress mayoverride the president’s veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, a verydifficult task.

3. The president can wait the full ten days, at the end of which time the billbecomes law without his signature if Congress is still in session.

4. If the Congress adjourns before the ten a days are up, the president can choose not to sign the bill, and it is considered a pocket veto. The only way for a billthen to become law is for it to be reintroduced in the next session and be putthrough the process all over again.

The Budgetary FunctionSince the writing of the Constitution, Congress has enjoyed authority over the budgetprocess. For much of American history, however, congressional budgets were piecemealand made without an eye toward setting the course of public policy. By the 1920s, as aresult of increasing federal regulation and a growing federal bureaucracy, many policymakers sensed a need for greater centralization and order in the budget process. Thus,Congress passed and President Warren G. Harding signed into law the Budget andAccounting Act of 1921.This legislation required the president—for the first time—tosubmit a budget to Congress. The prior year’s spending, projections, and proposals forthe next year were to be included in the president’s proposal. Congress, in turn, couldalter the allocation of appropriations but could not increase the total level of spendingproposed by the president. To aid the executive branch in this role, the act also createdthe Bureau of the Budget. In 1970, the name of this agency was changed to the Officeof Management and Budget.

This process continued relatively unfettered until the early 1970s, when tensionbetween a Democratic-controlled Congress and a Republican president, Richard M.Nixon, exposed several shortcomings in the system. For example, although Congressauthorized the expenditure of funds for many social problems, President Nixonrefused to spend appropriated money on them. Angered and frustrated by Nixon’s fla-grant use of executive power, Congress solidified its role in the budget process by pass-ing the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT OF 1974 The Congressional Budget Act of1974 established the congressional budget process we use today. The act, whichalso created the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan agency to help

vetoThe formal, constitutional authorityof the president to reject bills passedby both houses of Congress, thuspreventing them from becoming lawwithout further congressional action.

clotureMechanism requiring sixty senatorsto vote to cut off debate.


Congressional Budget Act of 1974Act that established the congressionalbudget process by laying out a planfor congressional action on theannual budget resolution, appropria-tions, reconciliation, and any otherrevenue bills.

pocket vetoIf Congress adjourns during the tendays the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of Con-gress, the bill is considered vetoedwithout the president’s signature.

members make accurate estimations of revenues and expenditures and to lay out aplan for congressional action on the annual budget resolution, appropriations, rec-onciliation, and any other revenue bills. In general, these bills and resolutions es-tablish levels of spending for the federal government and its agencies during thenext fiscal year. (The federal government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 of one

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February 15 Budget Outlooks—Congressional

Budget Office submits economic projections to the House and Senate Budget

Committees.

First Monday in February President Submits Budget to Congress—President’s budget is prepared by the Office of Management and Budget and includes requested

levels of spending for the next fiscal year.

April 15 Budget Resolution—Congress must

complete action on the initial version of a budget

resolution.

May 15 Appropriation Begins—House begins to

consider appropriations bills.

TIMELINE: The Congressional Budget Process

What do budget committees do? The House and Senate Budget Committees have tremendousauthority and discretion in determining levels of spending for the next fiscal year. Here, the Sen-ate Budget Committee meets to markup a resolution.

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year to September 30 of the next. Thus, the 2012 fiscal year will run from October1, 2011, to September 30, 2012.) Though these levels rarely change dramaticallyfrom year to year, the programs and policies that receive increases and decreases infederal spending make a powerful statement about the goals of Congress and thepresident.

One special process detailed by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 isreconciliation. The reconciliation procedure allows consideration of controversial is-sues affecting the budget by limiting debate to twenty hours, thereby ending the threatof a filibuster in the Senate. This process received a great deal of attention in 2010when members of Congress used reconciliation to pass the health care reform bill dis-cussed in the opening vignette.

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 also includes a timetable intended tomake sure that action on the budget is taken in a timely fashion. Under this timeline,Congress must complete initial action on the budget resolution by April 15 of the pre-ceding fiscal year. The budget resolution—or a continuing resolution allowing thegovernment to continue to spend money at the same rates as the previous fiscal year—must be approved by the start of the new fiscal year on October 1. When this does notoccur, the federal government may shut down, as happened in 1995 when a Republi-can-controlled Congress and President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, could not agree onspending levels. As a result, all federal offices, buildings, and services did not operatefor twenty-two days.

PORK AND EARMARKS Representatives often seek to win appropriations knownas pork, legislation that allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their dis-tricts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs. Many

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June 10 Appropriations Committee—House

Appropriations Committee should conclude consider-

ation of appropriations issues.

October 1 Fiscal Year Begins—Government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to

September 30.

June 15 Reconciliation Ends—House must

handle any reconciliation bills by this date.

June 30 Appropriation Ends—Full House should conclude consideration

of all appropriations bills.

porkLegislation that allows representa-tives to bring money and jobs totheir districts in the form of publicworks programs, military bases, orother programs.

reconciliationA procedure that allows considera-tion of controversial issues affectingthe budget by limiting debate totwenty hours, thereby ending threatof a filibuster.


of these programs are called earmarks because they are funds that an appropriationsbill designates for specific projects within a state or congressional district.

Legislators who bring jobs and new public works programs back to their dis-tricts are hard to defeat when up for reelection. But, ironically, these programs alsoattract much of the public criticism directed at the federal government in generaland Congress in particular. In an attempt to counteract this criticism in 2010,House Republicans tried to impose a moratorium on earmarks in all legislation. Theprovision, however, proved difficult for the party to enforce, particularly withoutcontrol of the legislature. About $16 billion was appropriated for earmarks in fiscalyear 2011.30

The Oversight FunctionHistorically, the key to Congress’s performance of its oversight function is its abilityto hold committee hearings questioning members of the administration to see if theyare enforcing and interpreting the laws as intended by Congress. These hearings, nowroutinely televised, are among Congress’s most visible and dramatic actions. They arenot used simply to gather information. Hearings may focus on particular executive-branch actions and often signal that Congress believes changes in policy need to bemade before an agency next comes before the committee to justify its budget. Hear-ings also are used to improve program administration. Since most members of Houseand Senate committees and subcommittees are interested in the issues under theirjurisdiction, they often want to help and not hinder policy makers.

Congress may also exercise its oversight powers in a number of other ways. It may,for example, use its powers under the War Powers Act or the Congressional ReviewAct of 1996 to review actions taken by the president. The Senate also has the powerto offer advice and consent on executive and judicial branch nominees. Congress’s

earmarkFunds that an appropriations billdesignates for specific projectswithin a state or congressional district.

On what issues does Congress conduct oversight hearings? Among the issues Congress has re-cently held oversight hearings to address is the safety of automobiles. Here, Toyota Motor Corpora-tion President Akio Toyoda prepares to submit his testimony.

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congressional reviewA process whereby Congress cannullify agency regulations by a jointresolution of legislative disapproval.

War Powers ActPassed by Congress in 1973;the president is limited in thedeployment of troops overseas to asixty-day period in peacetime (whichcan be extended for an extra thirtydays to permit withdrawal) unlessCongress explicitly gives its approvalfor a longer period.

ultimate oversight power, however, is the power to impeach other federal officials andremove them from office.

THE WAR POWERS ACT After years of playing second fiddle to a series ofpresidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard M. Nixon, a “snoozing Congress” was“aroused” and seized for itself the authority and expertise necessary to exercise its fullforeign policy oversight powers over the chief executive.31 In a delayed response toLyndon B. Johnson’s conduct of the Vietnam War, in 1973 Congress passed the WarPowers Act over President Nixon’s veto. This act requires presidents to obtain con-gressional approval before committing U.S. forces to a combat zone. It also requiresthem to notify Congress within forty-eight hours of committing troops to foreign soil.In addition, the president must withdraw troops within sixty days unless Congressvotes to declare war. The president also is required to consult with Congress, if at allpossible, prior to committing troops.

The War Powers Act, however, has been of limited effectiveness in claiming anoversight role for Congress in international crisis situations. Presidents Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan never consulted Congress in advanceof committing troops, citing the need for secrecy and swift movement, althougheach president did notify Congress shortly after the deployment of troops abroad.They contended that the War Powers Act was probably unconstitutional because itlimits presidential prerogatives as commander in chief, discussed in greater detailin chapter 8.

CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW The Congressional Review Act of 1996 allows Con-gress to exercise its oversight powers by nullifying agency regulations. Under the homerule charter of the District of Columbia, the House and Senate may also nullifyactions of the Washington, D.C. City Council. This process is called congressionalreview.32 If Congress uses this oversight power, it has sixty days after the implemen-tation of an administrative action to pass a joint resolution of legislative disapproval.The resolution must also be signed by the president.

Congressional review is used relatively infrequently. Since its passage, only aboutforty joint resolutions of legislative disapproval have been introduced, and only oncehas a resolution been successful.33 In 2001, Congress and President George W. Bushreversed Clinton administration ergonomics regulations, which were intended to pre-vent job-related repetitive stress injuries.

CONFIRMATION OF PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS The Senate plays a spe-cial oversight function through its ability to confirm key members of the executivebranch, as well as presidential appointments to the federal courts. As discussedin chapters 9 and 10, although the Senate generally confirms most presidentialnominees, it does not always do so. A wise president considers senatorial reactionbefore nominating potentially controversial individuals to his administration or to thefederal courts.

In the case of federal district court appointments, senators often have consider-able say in the nomination of judges from their states through senatorial courtesy, aprocess by which presidents generally defer to the senators who represent the statewhere the vacancy occurs. Despite this procedure, the judicial nominees of recent pres-idents have encountered particularly hostile Senates. “Appointments have always beenthe battleground for policy disputes,” says one political scientist. But now, “what’s newis the rawness of it—all of the veneer is off.”34

IMPEACHMENT As discussed earlier, the impeachment process is Congress’sultimate oversight of the U.S. president and federal court judges. The U.S. Consti-tution is quite vague about the impeachment process, and much of the debate about

senatorial courtesyA process by which presidents, whenselecting district court judges, deferto the senators in whose state the vacancy occurs.


it concerns what constitutes an impeachable offense. The Constitution specifies thata president can be impeached for treason, bribery, or other “high crimes and misde-meanors.” Most commentators agree that this phrase was intended to mean signifi-cant abuses of power.

House and Senate rules control how the impeachment process operates. Yet, be-cause the process is used so rarely, and under such disparate circumstances, there arefew hard and fast rules. The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to impeach onlyseventeen federal officials. Of those, seven were convicted and removed from officeand three resigned before the process was completed.

Only four resolutions against presidents have resulted in further action: (1) JohnTyler, charged with corruption and misconduct in 1843; (2) Andrew Johnson, chargedwith serious misconduct in 1868; (3) Richard M. Nixon, charged with obstruction ofjustice and the abuse of power in 1974; and, (4) Bill Clinton, charged with perjury andobstruction of justice in 1998. The House rejected the charges against Tyler; Johnsonwas acquitted by the Senate by a one-vote margin; Nixon resigned before the fullHouse voted on the articles of impeachment; and Clinton was acquitted by the Sen-ate by a vote of 55–45 against impeachment.

How Members Make Decisions7.5 . . . Analyze the factors that influence how members of Congress

make decisions.

Over the years, political theorists have offered various ideas about how constituents’interests are best represented in any legislative body. Does it make a difference if themembers of Congress come from or are members of a particular group? Are theybound to vote the way their constituents expect them to vote even if they personallyfavor another policy? Your answer to these questions may depend on your view of therepresentative function of legislators.

British political philosopher Edmund Burke (1729–1797), who also served in theBritish Parliament, believed that although he was elected from Bristol, it was his dutyto represent the interests of the entire nation. He reasoned that elected officials wereobliged to vote as they personally thought best. According to Burke, a representativeshould be a trustee who listens to the opinions of constituents and then can be trustedto use his or her own best judgment to make final decisions.

A second theory of representation holds that a representative should be adelegate. True delegates are representatives who vote the way their constituents wouldwant them to regardless of their own opinions. Delegates, therefore, must be ready andwilling to vote against their conscience or personal policy preferences if they knowhow their constituents feel about a particular issue.

Not surprisingly, members of Congress and other legislative bodies generally don’tfall neatly into either category. It is often unclear how constituents feel about a partic-ular issue, or there may be conflicting opinions within a single constituency. Withthese difficulties in mind, a third theory of representation holds that a politico alter-nately dons the hat of a trustee or delegate, depending on the issue. On issues of greatconcern to their constituents, representatives most likely will vote as delegates; onother issues, perhaps those that are less visible, representatives will act as trustees anduse their own best judgment.35

In addition to weighing their representational role, members of Congress considera number of other factors when deciding how to vote on a piece of legislation. Amongthese are political parties, constituents, interest groups and lobbyists, and staff andsupport agencies.

politicoRole played by an elected represen-tative who acts as a trustee or as adelegate, depending on the issue.

trusteeRole played by an elected representa-tive who listens to constituents’ opin-ions and then uses his or her bestjudgment to make a final decision.delegateRole played by an elected represen-tative who votes the way his or herconstituents would want him orher to, regardless of his or her ownopinions.

How Members Make Decisions 253

divided governmentThe political condition in which dif-ferent political parties control thepresidency and Congress.

unified governmentThe political condition in which thesame political party controls thepresidency and Congress.

Political PartiesThe influence of political parties on members’ votes cannot be underestimated. In fact,congressional party unity, a measure of the solidarity of the members of a politicalparty, has reached historically high levels in recent years. As discussed in chapter 12,members of both the Democratic and Republican Parties in the House and Senatevote together on approximately 90 percent of all legislation considered by those bod-ies. (To learn more about the issue of partisanship, see Join the Debate: Is Partisan-ship Good for Democracy?)

The incentives for members to vote with their party also rarely have beenhigher—or more creative. In addition to offering members campaign support throughparty organizations or member-to-member political action committees (PACs), lead-ership in both houses may also offer committee assignments or chairs as rewards tomembers who toe the party line. The rejuvenated use of many of these tools as mech-anisms of party control can be traced back to former Representative Tom DeLay(R–TX), an effective majority whip.

DeLay earned the nickname “The Hammer” for his relentless persuasion of hiscolleagues during a time of divided government, when different political parties con-trolled the presidency and Congress. For example, President Bill Clinton was sur-prised to learn that moderate Republicans on whom he had counted to vote againsthis impeachment were “dropping like flies.” The reason? DeLay had threatenedRepublicans that they would be denied coveted committee assignments and wouldeven face strong Republican challengers in the next primary season unless they votedthe party line.

The president may also act as chief of the party and attempt to coerce members ofhis party to support his legislative package. This is particularly true in times of unifiedgovernment, when the presidency and Congress are controlled by members of thesame party and share a similar policy agenda. During the health care reform debates,for example, President Barack Obama visited the districts of members who were onthe fence about supporting the proposal, in an apparent attempt to mobilize con-stituent opinion. Showing his dedication to the cause, Obama even offered to washone Democratic member’s car in exchange for a vote.

ConstituentsConstituents—the people who live and vote in a representative’s home district orstate—are always in a member’s mind when casting votes. Studies by political scien-tists show that members vote in conformity with prevailing opinion in their districtsabout two-thirds of the time. On average, Congress passes laws that reflect nationalpublic opinion at about the same rate.36 It is rare for a legislator to vote against thewishes of his or her constituents regularly, particularly on issues of social welfare,domestic policy, or other highly salient issues. For example, during the 1960s, repre-sentatives from southern states could not hope to keep their seats for long if theyvoted in favor of proposed civil rights legislation. (To learn more about howconstituents view their representatives, see Analyzing Visuals: Approval Ratings ofCongress and Individual Representatives.)

Gauging how voters feel about any particular issue often is not easy. Because it isvirtually impossible to know how the folks back home feel on all issues, a representa-tive’s perception of their constituents’ preferences is important. Even when voters haveopinions, legislators may get little guidance if their district is narrowly divided. Abor-tion is an issue about which many voters feel passionately, but a legislator whose dis-trict has roughly equal numbers of pro-choice and pro-life advocates can satisfy only aportion of his or her constituents.

254

Join the DEBATE Is Partisanship Good for Democracy?In recent years, bipartisanship has become a mantra used by many in American politics. In the 2008presidential elections, both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama attempted to lay claim to thelabel, emphasizing their ability to work across the aisle. And, after he won the presidency, BarackObama appointed Republicans to several high-profile positions. However, many observers criticized hisclaims of bipartisanship when he failed to consult in a meaningful way with Republicans in Congress onsignificant policy issues, such as health care reform. Meanwhile, although both the Republican andDemocratic leadership have repeatedly emphasized their bipartisan credentials, members of Congresshave voted with their parties about 90 percent of the time in recent Congresses.a

But, bipartisanship may not always be a good thing. For example, when Tom DeLay (R–TX)announced his retirement as House majority leader, he said, “You show me a nation withoutpartisanship, and I’ll show you a tyranny. For all its faults, it is partisanship, based on core principles,that clarifies our debates, that prevents one party from straying too far from the mainstream, and thatconstantly refreshes our politics with new ideas and new leaders.” Is partisanship good for democracy?Or, should the president and members of Congress strive for bipartisanship?

To develop an ARGUMENT FOR partisanship,think about how:

■ Partisanship produces stronger policies. How mightbipartisanship lead to watered down public policy? Inwhat ways can partisanship improve legislative andpolicy proposals?

■ Partisanship protects democracy. In what ways werethe Framers’ fears about partisanship unfounded? Howare the rights of the minority, in particular, protected asa result of partisan divisions?

■ Partisanship reflects the will of the people. How doesthe composition of Congress reflect the composition ofthe electorate? Should citizens have an absolute rightto choose their representatives?

To develop an ARGUMENT AGAINSTpartisanship, think about how:

■ Partisanship results in political gridlock. How do therules of Congress, particularly the Senate, discouragepartisanship? In what ways does the filibuster necessi-tate bipartisanship?

■ Partisanship is undemocratic. With low voter turnout,how can a party that wins control of Congress be saidto enjoy a popular mandate? In what ways doesemphasizing bipartisanship in the political processincrease the inclusiveness of the legislative process?

■ Partisanship does not reflect the will of the people.How do public opinion polls demonstrate the Ameri-can public’s frustration with political bickering? Inwhat ways would less partisanship improve politicaldiscourse in the country?

a“Party Unity: An Ever Thicker Dividing Line,” CQ Weekly (January 11, 2010), library.cqpress.com.

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Is Congress making efforts to be lesspartisan? This cartoon expresses theopinion that, despite all the talk abouta need for greater bipartisanship inCongress, in practice, Congress is aspartisan as it has ever been.


Source: Data derived from Lexis-Nexis RPOLL, Roper Center for Public Opinion.

■ What is the general trend for approval of Congress over the length of the graph? What about for approval of one’sown representative?

■ Which factors might account for the differences in the ratings of Congress as a whole and one’s ownrepresentative?

■ Why might approval ratings for Congress be significantly lower than those for individual members?

ANALYZING VISUALS

The line graph shows poll data from the Roper Center for Public Opinion. Poll respondents were asked: (1) “Do youapprove or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?” and, (2) “Do you approve or disapprove of the way therepresentative from your district is handling his or her job?” Examine the line graph and then answer the questions.

Approval Ratings of Congress and Individual Representatives

Poll Date

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Own representativeCongress

In short, legislators tend to act on their own preferences as trustees when dealingwith topics that have come through the committees on which they serve or with is-sues that they know about as a result of experience in other contexts, such as theirvocation. On items of little concern to people back in the district or for which thelegislator has little first-hand knowledge, the tendency is to turn to other sources forvoting cues. But with regard to particularly charged topics like same-sex marriage,abortion restrictions, and flag burning—often called “wedge issues,” given their abilityto divide or drive a wedge between voters—members are always keenly aware of theconsequences of voting against their constituents’ views.

Colleagues and CaucusesThe range and complexity of issues confronting Congress means that no one can beup to speed on more than a few topics. When members must vote on bills about issueson which they know very little, they often turn for advice to colleagues who haveserved on the committee that handled the legislation. On issues that are of little inter-est to a legislator, logrolling, or vote trading, often occurs. Logrolling often takesplace on specialized bills targeting money or projects to selected congressional dis-tricts. An unaffected member may exchange a yea vote now for the promise of a futureyea vote on a similar piece of specialized legislation.

Members may also look to other representatives who share common interests.Special-interest caucuses created around issues, home states, regions, congressional

logrollingVote trading; voting to support acolleague’s bill in return for a prom-ise of future support.


How do members of Congress learn about their constituents’ opinions on political issues?Members spend a substantial portion of their time meeting with constituents in Washington, D.C.and in their district offices. Here, Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) meets with High Point Universitystudents in her D.C. office.

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class, or other commonalities facilitate this communication. Prior to 1995, thesegroups were more powerful. Several caucuses enjoyed formal status and were providedstaff, office space, and budgets, which were ended by the Republican take over. Today,however, all caucuses are informal in nature, although some, such as the Black andHispanic Caucuses, are far more organized than others. The Congressional Caucusfor Women’s Issues, for example, has formal elections of its Republican and Democraticco-chairs and vice chairs, its members provide staff to work on issues of common con-cern to caucus members, and staffers meet regularly to facilitate support for legislationof interest to women. (To learn more about caucuses, see Politics Now: CongressionalCaucus Puts Its Heft to Work on Behalf of Coal.)

Interest Groups, Lobbyists, and Political Action CommitteesA primary function of most lobbyists, whether they work for interest groups, trade as-sociations, or large corporations, is to provide information to supportive or potentiallysupportive legislators, committees, and their staffs. It is likely, for example, that a repre-sentative knows the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) position on gun control legis-lation. What the legislator needs to get from the NRA is information and substantialresearch on the feasibility and impact of such legislation. How could the states imple-ment such legislation? Is it constitutional? Will it really have an impact on violentcrime or crime in schools? Organized interests can win over undecided legislators orconfirm the support of their friends by providing information that legislators use tojustify the position they have embraced.They also can supply direct campaign contribu-tions, volunteers, and publicity to members seeking reelection.


Congressional Caucus Puts Its Heft to Workon Behalf of Coal

By Debra Erdley

Under assault over safety and environmental issues, King Coal may have found a fewfriends: 81 members of Congress who came together last week for the first meeting of thenew Congressional Coal Caucus.

The bipartisan caucus, co-chaired by McCandless Democrat Rep. Jason Altmire andWest Virginia Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, formed in January to provide a voicefor coal-producing districts, a spokeswoman for Capito said.

That its first meeting took place one day after a congressional panel took testimony onthe April 5 Upper Big Branch Mine explosion that killed 29 West Virginia coal miners wascoincidental, Capito spokeswoman AshLee Strong said.

“The meeting had been in the planning before Upper Big Branch,” she said.Capito and Altmire attended the Upper Big Branch hearing in Beckley, W.Va. Altmire,

who took part in questioning at the hearing, said the caucus will focus on coal’s economicimpact on states where the industry is active.

“I helped form this caucus because I wanted to provide a forum through whichRepublicans and Democrats could work together to advance policies that will capitalizeon our nation’s coal resources in a safe way,” he said in a prepared statement.

The caucus’ first meeting showcased a roundtable discussion among speakers from themining, transportation and energy sectors, as well as a representative from the UnitedMine Workers of America.

Industry critics say the group is the coal industry’s attempt to stave off proposedenvironmental regulations and shift public attention from questions about workplacesafety as the Upper Big Branch investigation ramps up.

“What you’re seeing now is the entire coal industrial complex trying to protect its stake,to buff up its image. Clearly, the coal industry is going to have to do a lot of public relationsto find its way around Big Branch. . . . They are clearly circling the wagons, to sell a greenimage of coal,” said Kert Davies of Greenpeace.

Lisa Camuso Miller, vice president of media affairs for the American Coalition forClean Coal Electricity, an advocacy organization of coal, energy and transportation groups,said the group indeed is working to heighten public awareness of coal’s primacy in theAmerican energy market—and of the impact regulations could have on the industry andconsumers.

The group’s $30 million ad blitz includes highway billboards and TV spots.“We’re the guys who say we can be for the bill, as long as it is the right bill and it doesn’t

impose high energy rates on consumers. The consensus among our members is we want todevelop legislation that is supportive of the industry,” she said.

And not a day too soon, Mike Caputo said. Caputo, 52, lives near Fairmont, W.Va., and went to work in the mines after high school.

Today, he is a West Virginia legislator and international official with the UMWA.Industry and labor need to work together to promote coal, Caputo said.“Coal is certainly a focus right now, whether you’re for it or against it,” he said. “There

are several environmental groups that would like to see the use of coal lessened oreliminated. Over 50 percent of this nation’s energy is supplied by coal. Jobs are at stake.And No. 2, a much higher cost of energy for consumers is at stake.”

Even so, Caputo said health and safety issues come first. “Not one pound of coal isworth one human life,” he said.

Altmire insisted the caucus will not overlook safety.“Given the fact that our caucus represents states where thousands of people go to work

in the mines each day, mine safety issues are always at the forefront of our minds,” he said.

Critical Thinking Questions1. What are the

advantages to formingcongressional caucusesto work on particularpolicy issues? What arethe disadvantages?

2. How important do youthink caucuses are tomembers’ decision-making processes?

3. Does the formation ofcongressional caucusesincrease interest groups’access to the law-making process? Is thisinput beneficial?

June 1, 2010Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

www.pittsburghlive.com


The high cost of campaigning has mademembers of Congress, especially those with-out huge personal fortunes, attentive to thosewho help pay the tab for the high cost ofmany campaigns. Political action committees(PACs) organized by interest groups are amajor source of most members’ campaignfunding. When an issue comes up that is oflittle consequence to a member’s constituents,there is, not surprisingly, a tendency to sup-port the positions of those interests whohelped pay for the last campaign. After all,who wants to bite the hand that feeds him orher? (To learn more about PACs and interestgroups, see chapters 14 and 16.)

Interest groups also use grassroots appeals topressure legislators by urging their members ina particular state or district to call, write, fax,e-mail, text, or tweet their senators or represen-tatives. Lobbyists can’t vote, but constituentsback home can and do.

Staff and Support AgenciesMembers of Congress rely heavily on their staffs for information on pendinglegislation.37 House members have an average of seventeen staffers; senators havean average of forty. Staff are divided between D.C. and district offices. When a billis nonideological or one on which the member has no real position, staff memberscan be very influential. In many offices, they are the greatest influence on their boss’svotes, and lobbyists are just as likely to contact key staffers as they are members.

Congressional committees and subcommittees also have their own dedicatedstaff to assist committee members. Additional support for members comes from sup-port personnel at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Con-gress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Congressional BudgetOffice (CBO). (To learn more about congressional support agencies, see Table 7.6.)

Table 7.6 What are the congressional support agencies?

Congressional ResearchService (CRS)

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

Created in 1914 as theLegislative Research Service(LRS), CRS is administered by the Library of Congress. It responds to more thana quarter of a millioncongressional requestsfor information each year. Itsstaff conducts nonpartisanstudies of public issues andconducts major researchprojects for committees atthe request of members. CRS also prepares summariesand tracks the progress of allbills introduced.

The Government AccountabilityOffice (GAO) was established in 1921 as an independentregulatory agency for thepurpose of auditing the financialexpenditures of the executivebranch and federal agencies. TheGAO performs four additionalfunctions: it sets governmentstandards for accounting; itprovides a variety of legalopinions; it settles claims againstthe government; and it conductsstudies upon congressionalrequest.

The CBO was created in 1974to evaluate the economiceffect of different spendingprograms and to provideinformation on the cost ofproposed policies. It isresponsible for analyzing the president’s budget andeconomic projections. TheCBO provides Congress andindividual members with avaluable second opinion touse in budget debates.

How do staffers affect congressional decision making? Members of the Con-gressional Muslim Staffers Association such as Sarah Bassal (left) and AminaRubin (right) work to educate policy makers about Islam and Islamic beliefs.

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Toward Reform: Balancing Institutional Power 259

TOWARD REFORM: BalancingInstitutional Power

7.6 . . . Evaluate the strategic interactions between Congress, the president,and the courts.

The Constitution envisioned that the Congress, the president, and the judiciary wouldhave discrete powers, and that one branch would be able to hold the other in check.Over the years, and especially since the 1930s, the president often has held the upperhand. In times of crisis or simply when it was unable to meet public demands forsolutions, Congress willingly has handed over its authority to the chief executive. Eventhough the chief executive has been granted greater latitude, Congress does, of course,retain ultimate legislative authority to question executive actions and to halt adminis-tration activities by cutting off funds for programs a president wants. Similar checksand balances affect relations between Congress and the courts.

Congress and the ExecutiveThe balance of power between Congress and the president has seesawed over time.The post–Civil War Congress attempted to regain control of the vast executivepowers that President Abraham Lincoln, recently slain, had assumed. Angeredat the refusal of Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson, to go along with its radical“reforms” of the South, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which preventedthe president, under the threat of civil penalty, from removing any Cabinet-levelappointees of the previous administration. Johnson accepted the challenge andfired Lincoln’s secretary of war, who many believed was guilty of heinous warcrimes. The House voted to impeach Johnson, but the desertion of a handful ofRepublican senators prevented him from being removed from office. (The effortfell short by one vote.) Nonetheless, the president’s power had been greatly weak-ened, and the Congress again became the center of power and authority in thefederal government.

Beginning in the early 1900s, however, a series of strong presidents acted at theexpense of congressional power. Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyn-don B. Johnson viewed the presidency as carrying with it enormous powers. Especiallysince the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Congress has ceded to the president amajor role in the legislative process. Today, Congress often finds itself responding toexecutive-branch proposals.

Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both had tremendous success insetting the congressional agenda and lobbying members of Congress to support theirpolicy proposals. A variety of political circumstances aided them in these efforts. Forexample, for much of the last ten years, there has been unified government, first underRepublican and then Democratic control. In addition, national emergencies such asthe September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 2008 economic crisis necessitatedswift action by both Congress and the executive branch.

Congress and the JudiciaryAs part of our system of checks and balances, the power of judicial review (discussedin chapters 2 and 10) gives the Supreme Court the ability to review the constitution-ality of acts of Congress. Historically, the Court has used this power very carefully.From 1787 to 1987, the Supreme Court struck down only 127 federal laws for anaverage of less than one law per term. However, in recent years, the Court has beenmore willing to strike down congressional legislation; from 1987 to 2005, the Rehnquist


What Should I Have LEARNED?Now that you have read this chapter, you should be able to:

7.3 Assess the role of the committee system, politi-cal parties, and congressional leadership in organizingCongress, p. 236.Political parties play a major role in the way Congress isorganized.The Speaker of the House is traditionally amember of the majority party, and other leadership roles suchas majority and minority leaders and whips are also controlledby the parties. In addition to the party leaders, Congress has alabyrinth of committees and subcommittees that cover theentire range of government policies, often with a confusingtangle of shared responsibilities. It is in these environmentsthat many policies are shaped and that members make theirprimary contributions to solving public problems.

7.4 Identify three of the most significant powers ofCongress, p. 243.The three most significant powers of Congress are its law-making, budgetary, and oversight functions. The road toenacting a bill into law is long and strewn with obstacles,and only a small share of the proposals introduced becomelaw. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 solidifiedCongress’s role in the budget process. Congress conductsoversight in a number of ways, including through hearings.Congress also offers advice and consent on executive andjudicial branch nominees and has the power to impeachfederal officials and remove them from office.

7.5 Analyze the factors that influence howmembers of Congress make decisions, p. 252.Members’ view of their representational role—as trustees,delegates, or politicos—influences how they make policydecisions. Legislators may also consider a number of other

7.1 Trace the roots of the legislative branchoutlined by the U.S. Constitution, p. 228.The Constitution created a bicameral legislature withmembers of each body to be elected differently, and thus to represent different constituencies. Article I of theConstitution sets forth qualifications for office, states age minimums, and specifies how legislators are to bedistributed among the states. The Constitution alsorequires seats in the House of Representatives to beapportioned by population. Thus, after every U.S. Census,district lines must be redrawn to reflect population shifts.The Constitution also provides a vast array of enumeratedand implied powers to Congress. Some, such as law-making and oversight, are shared by both houses ofCongress; others, such as confirmation of presidentialappointees, are not.

7.2 Characterize the demographic attributes ofmembers of Congress, and identify factors that affecttheir chances for reelection, p. 231.Members of Congress live in two worlds—in their homedistricts and in the District of Columbia. They mustattempt to appease two constituencies—party leaders,colleagues, and lobbyists in Washington, D.C., andconstituents in their home districts. In general, members of Congress are better educated, richer, more likely to be male, and more likely to be white than the makeup of the general population, and membership in one of thetwo major parties is almost always a prerequisite forelection, as is the ability to raise money. When it comes to reelection, incumbency and redistricting also affectmembers’ chances.

Court invalidated thirty-three statutes, for an average of nearly two laws per term.Thus, Congress must be increasingly mindful of the Court’s reaction when it enactsnew laws for the nation.38

Congress also interacts with the judiciary in a number of other ways. No matterhow busy federal judges are, it is ultimately up to Congress to determine the num-ber of judges on each court, as well as the boundaries of judicial districts and cir-cuits. Congress also sets the jurisdiction of the federal courts. During recentCongresses, for example, several members, unhappy with Supreme Court actions onabortion and gay rights, pushed for a bill to prevent federal courts from hearingchallenges related to these civil liberties issues. When Congress rears the ugly headof jurisdiction, it is signaling to the federal courts that it believes federal judges havegone too far.

Test Yourself: Congress 261

Test Yourself: Congress7.1 Trace the roots of the legislative branch outlined

by the U.S. Constitution, p. 228.

The structure of the legislative branch of government is setout in _________ of the Constitution.A. Article IB. Article IIC. Article IIID. Article IVE. Article VII

7.2 Characterize the demographic attributes ofmembers of Congress, and identify factors that affecttheir chances for reelection, p. 231.

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of incumbency?A. Franking privilegeB. Name recognitionC. Access to the mediaD. Easier fund-raisingE. Guaranteed reelection

7.3 Assess the role of the committee system, politi-cal parties, and congressional leadership in organizingCongress, p. 236.

Which of the following is the main organizational vehicle inthe House and Senate?A. Political partiesB. Factions formed of multiparty coalitionsC. Strong nonpartisan leadersD. Interest group alliancesE. Subcommittees

7.4 Identify three of the most significant powers ofCongress, p. 243.

The practice that allows for unlimited debate in the Senateis calledA. a hold.B. senatorial courtesy.

C. a filibuster.D. cloture.E. grandstanding.

7.5 Analyze the factors that influence howmembers of Congress make decisions, p. 252.

When members of Congress must vote on a bill that isnonideological or one on which they have no specificposition, what are the most powerful influences?A. Interest groupsB. Aides or staff membersC. Support agenciesD. ConstituentsE. Media

7.6 Evaluate the strategic interactions betweenCongress, the president, and the courts, p. 259.

With regard to the federal judiciary, both houses of Congresshave the power to do all of the following EXCEPTA. establish the size of the Supreme Court.B. set federal jurisdiction.C. modify the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction.D. approve or reject presidential appointments.E. determine the number of judges on lower federal

courts.

Essay Questions1. What are the key differences between the House and

Senate?2. What are the roles of the leaders in the House and

Senate, and how do they differ from one another?3. How is the budget passed in Congress?4. What is the role and importance of congressional

oversight?

factors, including political party, constituents,colleagues and caucuses, staff and support agencies,and interest groups, lobbyists, and political actioncommittees. When a bill is nonideological or oneon which a member has no real position, staffmembers may be the greatest influence on how amember of Congress votes.

7.6 Evaluate the strategic interactionsbetween Congress, the president, and the courts,p. 259.The balance of power between Congress and theexecutive branch has fluctuated tremendously overtime. Although Congress was most powerful in the

early years of U.S. history, since the New Deal, thepresident has played an important role in proposinglegislation and spending. Congress and thejudiciary also have an ongoing power struggle.Although the judiciary can declare acts of Congressunconstitutional, Congress also exercises controlover the judiciary in a variety of ways. It has theconstitutional authority to establish the size ofthe Supreme Court, its appellate jurisdiction,and the structure of the federal court system.


eText: Chapter 7

Pre-TestPost-TestChapter ExamFlashcards

Video: Unknown Wins South Carolina SenatePrimary

Video: Kagan Hearing

Simulation: How a Bill Becomes a LawSimulation: You Are a Member of CongressComparative: Comparing LegislaturesTimeline: The Power of the Speaker of the HouseVisual Literacy: Congressional RedistrictingVisual Literacy: Why is it So Hard to Defeat an

Incumbent?

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ExercisesApply what you learned in this chapter on MyPoliSciLab.

Key Termsapportionment, p. 230bicameral legislature, p. 228bill, p. 230cloture, p. 247conference committee, p. 240Congressional Budget Act of 1974,

p. 247congressional review, p. 251delegate, p. 252discharge petition, p. 241divided government, p. 253earmark, p. 250filibuster, p. 246gerrymandering, p. 234

hold, p. 246impeachment, p. 231incumbency, p. 233joint committee, p. 240logrolling, p. 255majority leader, p. 239majority party, p. 236markup, p. 246minority leader, p. 239minority party, p. 236party caucus or conference, p. 236pocket veto, p. 247politico, p. 252pork, p. 249

president pro tempore, p. 239reconciliation, p. 249redistricting, p. 234select (or special) committee, p. 240senatorial courtesy, p. 251seniority, p. 242Speaker of the House, p. 238standing committee, p. 240trustee, p. 252unified government, p. 253veto, p. 247War Powers Act, p. 251whip, p. 239

To Learn More on CongressIn the LibraryAdler, E. Scott, and John S. Lapinski, eds., The Macropolitics of

Congress. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006.Binder, Sarah A. Stalemate: Causes and Consequences of Legislative

Gridlock. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2003.Cox, Gary W., and Mathew D. McCubbins. Setting the Agenda:

Responsible Party Government in the U.S. House of

Representatives. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.Davidson, Roger H., Walter J. Oleszek, and Frances E. Lee.

Congress and Its Members, 12th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2009.

Dodd, Lawrence C. Thinking About Congress: Essays on

Congressional Change. New York: Routledge, 2011.Dodd, Lawrence C., and Bruce I. Oppenheimer, eds. Congress

Reconsidered, 9th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2008.

Evans, Diana. Greasing the Wheels: Using Pork Barrel Projects to

Build Majority Coalitions in Congress. New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2004.

Fenno, Richard F., Jr. Home Style: House Members in Their Districts,

reprint ed. New York: Longman, 2002.Mayhew, David R. Congress: The Electoral Connection, 2nd ed. New

Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.Miler, Kristina C. Constituency Representation in Congress:

The View from Capitol Hill. New York: Cambridge UniversityPress, 2010.

Oleszek, Walter J. Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process,

8th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2010.Price, David E. The Congressional Experience: A View from the Hill,

3rd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2005.

To Learn More on Congress 263

Quirk, Paul J., and Sarah A. Binder, eds. Institutions of American

Democracy: The Legislative Branch. New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 2006.

Smith, Steven S. Party Influence in Congress. New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2007.

Theriault, Sean M. Party Polarization in Congress. New York:Cambridge University Press, 2008.

On the WebTo learn more about the Senate, go to its official Web site at www

.senate.gov.

To learn more about the House of Representatives, go to its officialWeb site at www.house.gov.

To learn more about the legislative branch, go to the Library ofCongress’s home page, named Thomas, in honor of PresidentThomas Jefferson, at thomas.loc.gov.

To learn more about members of Congress, go to Project VoteSmart at www.votesmart.org. Project Vote Smart is anonpartisan group dedicated to providing U.S. citizens withthe factual information they need to be informed voters.

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