Thursday 10/22RAP•Read page 328;

– What do you think you would have done if you were Pat or Ron?• Explain.

Today:

•Finish Denied powers and expressed congressional powers. (15 minutes)

•Review Ch. 12 Congress in Action --Take notes

•Senate vs. House –on Friday

•Work on SG in class on Friday

 

Ch. 12: congress in Action• Ch. 12.1: Congress Organizes

– Around 30,000 women and men work in the legislative branch.– Congress has appropriated more than $2.5 billion to finance its

operation.– Convenes, or begins a new term every two years on January 3

of every odd numbered year.– Opening day in the House…

• Clerk of the House in the preceding term presides over the day’s session.

– They call the chamber to order and checks the roll or representatives.

– The members then choose a Speaker as their permanent presiding officer– a long standing member of the majority party, and election on the floor is just a formality.

• Opening Day in the Senate– 1/3 of the seats are up for election every two years.– Senate does not face large organizational problems at the beginning of a term.– Few activities—swearing in, committee seats vacated, etc.

• Short day

• State of the Union message –political cartoon on page 322– President delivers the annual State of the Union message to Congress, justices of the Supreme Court, foreign

diplomatic corps, and other dignitaries.– President reports on the state of the nation as he/she sees it, on both foreign and domestic policy.

Presiding officers• Speaker of the House (John Boehner OH Rep)

– By far the more important and more powerful within Congress

– Is elected presiding officer of the House and leader of the majority party.

– Expected to preside in a fair and judicious manner

– Also, succession to the presidency…President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, President pro tem, Secretary of State, etc.

• President of the Senate

– Vice President is assigned to this position by the Constitution. (Joe Biden DE Dem)

• Does have the usual powers: recognize members, put questions to a vote, etc.

– **President pro tempore —serves in the Vice President’s absence. (Orrin Hatch UT Rep.)

• Elected by the Senate and is always a leading member of the majority party.

Friday 10/23• RAP

– If the President, V.P, Speaker of the House, and the Pro Tempore were unable to be POTUS, what position would it fall to?

• What is the name of the person?

• Today:– Finish Ch. 12– Work on SG

Line of succession# Office Current Officer

1 Vice President Joe Biden

2 Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner

3 President pro tempore of the Senate Orrin Hatch

4 Secretary of State John Kerry

5 Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew

6 Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel

7 Attorney General Eric Holder

8 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar

9 Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

10 Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker

11 Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez

12 Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell

13 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro

14 Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx

15 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz

16 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald

18 Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson

• Party caucus – closed meeting of the members of each party in each house.

• Floor leaders- in the House and Senate are the most important officers in Congress.

• Whips-support the two floor leaders in each house.

– Majority and minority leaders are assistant floor leaders.

• Committee chairmen- members who head the standing committees in each chamber; they also hold strategic posts.

– Remember, in the House the committees do the bulk of the work.

• Seniority rule— provides that the most important posts, in both the formal and the party organization, will be held by those party members with the longest records of service in Congress.– Criticism of the seniority rule:

• Insist that the seniority system ignores ability and discourages younger members.

• Also, means that a committee head often comes from a “safe” constituency—election after election, one party regularly wins.

• Often out of touch with current public opinion.

– Defenders of the rule

• Ensures that a powerful and experienced member will head each committee.

Explain this cartoon

How a Bill Becomes a Law!School House Rock explains it all

During each two-year term of Congress at least 10,000 bills are introduced.

Bill- a proposed law presented toa legislative body for consideration

Private Bill**- Deals with individual people or

places.Private bills were common between 1817 and 1971. Now federal agencies are able to deal with most of the issues that were previously dealt with under private bills as these agencies have been granted sufficient discretion by Congress to deal with exceptions to the general legislative scheme of various laws.

The kinds of private bills that are still introduced include grants of citizenship to individuals who are otherwise ineligible for normal visa processing; alleviation of tax liabilities; armed services decorations and veteran

benefits.

Public Bill**- Deals with general matters & affects the entire nation. Major public bills often receive a lot of media coverage. They could involve issues such as; creating a federal holiday, health care reform (The Affordable Care act),immigration, taxes, civil rights,

abortion, or gun control.

Any bill not passed during a term must be introduced in the next Congress to be

given further consideration.

Resolution-Also called a simple resolution, used by Congress to regulate the administrative or internal business in either the House or the Senate, or to express facts or opinions on non-legislative matters. Identified by the abbreviations "H.Res." or "S.Res." and a number, resolutions of Congress do not have to be signed by the president and do not have the force of law.

Joint Resolution- Matter requiring action from both houses.

Resolutions are used by the Legislature to exercise powersthat are not lawmaking powers.For example, the United StatesDeclares war by adopting a jointResolution.

When a joint resolution is passed by both houses

and is signed by the President, it becomes law. Joint resolutions are often used to correct an error in

an earlier law, to appropriate money or to propose a constitutional

amendment.

Concurrent Resolution**-

A matter that requires action by both the House and the Senate, but for which does not need a Presidents signature.

An example of a concurrent resolution is setting the date to adjourn Congress.

Bills and resolutions usually deal with only one topic. Sometimes a rider is included in a bill.

**Rider-A provision on a subject other than the one covered in the bill.

A rider is attached to a bill that is certain to pass. Riders often deal with

controversial matters that

are not likely to become law on their own merit.

Example

• The Real ID Act was a rider on a military spending bill.

• The Real ID Law set forth certain requirements for state driver's licenses and ID cards to be accepted by the federal government for "official purposes", as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Less than 10% of all bills introduced in

Congress become laws.

Why so Few?

Law making process is long and complicated

One study showed that there are more than 100 specific steps involved in passing a law.

A bill can be delayed, changed or killed at any point in the lawmaking process.

Sponsors of a bill must be willing to compromise and bargain with other lawmakers and interest groups.

•Some bills are introduced that have no chance at passing. –They are often introduced so that the member of Congress can go on record in support of a particular idea or policy.

Introducing A Bill

                                 

It all begins with an IDEA

House

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senate

Ideas can come from private citizens, interest groups, the President, the White House Staff or a House or Senate committee.

Introducing a bill•A bill can start in either the

House of Representatives or the Senate.

•Bills dealing with raising revenue begin in the House.

•Only a member of Congress can introduce a bill.

• In the House of Representatives, a bill is introduced by dropping the bill into a hopper near the clerk’s desk.

• In the Senate the senator must be recognized by the presiding officer, and formally present the bill…like in “Mr. Smith goes to Washington”

Bills are then printed and distributed to lawmakers.

Each bill is given a title and a number.

S.1 H.R. 4

This is considered the first reading of the bill.

Committees, are so important they are

sometimes referred to as “little legislatures”

cch

c

Committees sift through the many bills, rejecting most, considering and reporting only those they feel to be most worthy of floor consideration.

Types of Committees• Standing (consider bills and issues and recommend measures for consideration by their

respective chambers. The Senate has 16 the House 19.)

• Steering( sets agendas and schedules of business, most important bills move to top of calendar)

• Select (report back on a specified matter of interest)

• Joint (consisting of Members of both Houses, most are “standing committees”)

• Conference (members of both chambers to resolve disagreements on a particular bill)

• House Rules (only in the House. in charge of determining under what rule other bills will come to the floor. As such, it is one of the most powerful committees, and often described as "an arm of the leadership" and as the "traffic cop of Congress”)

Before a bill goes to the floor for consideration,it

is placed on one of several calendars (a

schedule of the order the bills will be taken up

on the floor) .House Calendar

Deals with major non $ issues.

Union Calendar

Deals with $ issues; called appropriation bills.

Hearings

Sessions at which a committee listens to testimony from people interested in the bill.Michael J. Fox testified before congress

regarding funding for Parkinson’s research.

Floor Action

Debate

H.R. 2

Amend Vote

Conference Committee

A committee made up of members of the House and the Senate who try to work out the differences in a bill.

The House and the Senate must pass identical versions of the bill.

Presidential Action****After both houses have approved a bill, it is sent to the President.

The President can take any one of several

actions1. Sign the bill into law2. He may keep it for 10 days w/o

signing it. If Congress is in session, the bill will become law after 10 days even without the President’s signature. This can be done to express dissatisfaction with a bill that the President basically approves.

3. The President can VETO the bill. A veto is when the President refuses to sign the bill and returns it to Congress. The President will usually indicate the reasons for his veto.

4. The President can kill a bill in the last 10 days of a Congressional session simply by refusing to act on a bill that has been sent to him. This is called a pocket-veto. Since Congress is no longer in session, it cannot override the veto

Congressional Override

Congress can override a Presidential veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses!

This does not happen very often because a 2/3 vote is very difficult to achieve because of partisan politics.

Now you’re a Law!!

                                             

Copy the flow chart• You will have to memorize it for the test. Chart on

page 345.Introduce the Bill...name and number it.

Bill sent toCommittee

Pass it Amend it Re-write it Kill it

Back to Floor

Re-read bill (with changes if any)

Whole Senate debates bill

Sent to House

Dies or goes back to author

In your notes• If the President vetoes a bill, what can Congress do to

make that bill become a Law? – Congress can override a Presidential veto with a 2/3 vote in both

houses!

• What happens to a bill when it is given to the president and the president does not act on the bill within ten days?

• First: when Congress is in session – If Congress is in session, the bill will become law after 10 days even

without the President’s signature. This can be done to express dissatisfaction with a bill that the President basically approves.

• Second: Congress is adjourned.– The President can kill a bill in the last 10 days of a Congressional

session simply by refusing to act on a bill that has been sent to him. This is called a pocket-veto. Since Congress is no longer in session, it cannot override the veto

• What happens to a bill if the House of Representatives and Senate pass different versions of the bill?

– Conference Committee

A committee made up of members of the House and the Senate who try to work out the differences in a bill.

The House and the Senate must pass identical versions of the bill.

• Explain what happens to a bill after it is introduced in a house of Congress and before that house votes it on.

– Go to committee

Tuesday 3/3Explain: