18.3.1 - Congress and Legislation Flashcards
(48 cards)
Chapter 18.3.1 - Congress function - legislation
legislation
The legislative process:
Where can a bill begin?
Either house of Congress
What are the 6 different stages to the legislative process?
- Introduction
- Committee consideration
- Scheduling
- Floor action
- Resolving differences
- Presidential action
What % of legislation introduced in the 115th Congress became law?
2%
What % of proposed legislation in the 114th Congress got a vote in at least one house?
5%
What is the introductory stage of a bill?
A mere formality
Who receives the bill and where is it placed?
The leading member of that house receives the bill and places it into the relevant committee
How can the leading member of that house influence the progression of that bill?
The speaker of the House can choose to time limit a bill and how many committees the bill will go into
What is a ‘split referral’?
Splitting the bill into different parts and sending to to different committees
What does ‘unanimous consent’ in the Senate mean?
Procedures in the Senate can be set aside if no senator objects
What is required to place a bill into more than one committee?
Unanimous consent
How many bills make it out of the committee consideration stage?
1 in 4 bills
What are bills that do not make it out of the committee considered?
‘Pigeon-holed’
What happens to a ‘pigeon-holed’ bill once the congressional session ends?
The bill ‘dies’
For the scheduling stage in the House of Representatives, who decides the timetabling?
The House Rules Committee
How is the House Rules Committee membership dominated?
By the majority party in a 2:1 ratio
Who is the current chair of the House Rules committee?
Tom Cole (R) since 2023
When was the House Rules Committee formed?
2nd April 1789
Other than timing, what does the House Rules Committee decide about the debate on a bill?
Whether the debate is ‘open’ or ‘closed’
What is the difference between an ‘open debate’ and a ‘closed debate’?
In an open debate amendments can be made to the bill whereas in a closed debate no amendments can be made to the bill
What record was set in mid 2017?
The House Rules Committee allocated a closed rule debate for the 49th time - most time in a congressional session and also no legislation had been considered under the open rule
How are debates in the House of Representatives different to debates in the Senate?
In the House debates are time-limited whereas in the Senate there is the right of ‘unlimited debate’
What is the longest filibuster in Senate history?
Strom Thurmond 24 hours and 18 minutes
When and why did Strom Thurmond filibuster?
To prevent the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957
