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DE US Government > Unit 3: Congress > Flashcards

Unit 3: Congress Flashcards

1
Q

What are the requirements to serve in the House of Representatives?

A

At least 25 yrs. old, legal resident in state, lived in U.S. at least 7 years.

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2
Q

How many members are in the House of Representatives?

A

435 (they each serve 2 year terms)

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3
Q

When is the census done?

A

Every 10 years.

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4
Q

Redistricting

A

House seats are apportioned based on relative population (at least 1/state) and new legislative districts are drawn

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5
Q

For distribution, how many representatives do voters in each district elect?

A

1

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6
Q

What are the requirements for the senate?

A

At least 30 years old, must be a legal resident in
state they represent, and must have lived in the U.S. at least 9 years.

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7
Q

When electing senates, how many do we elect and when?

A

100 members serve six-year terms; 1/3 are elected every 2 yrs.

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8
Q

How many senates does each state have?

A

2

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9
Q

Who selected Senators until the 17th Amendment changed the method to a statewide popular vote?

A

State legislatures.

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10
Q

What parts of Congress votes on bills?

A

Both houses of congress.

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11
Q

The Necessary & Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)

A

Implied powers. Implied commerce powers are nearly unlimited.

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12
Q

Who initiates revenue (tax) bills and impeaches gov. officials?

A

The House alone.

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13
Q

Who approves Presidential appointments (majority vote) and treaties (2/3 vote); tries impeached government officials (2/3 vote to convict)?

A

The Senate alone.

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14
Q

Incumbents

A

Holder of an office.

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15
Q

Media access (Incumbency advantage)

A

Greater name recognition for news-making incumbents

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16
Q

Pork-barrel (“earmarks”) (Incumbency advantage)

A

Taking credit for bringing Federal projects & money to their district/state.

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17
Q

Casework (Incumbency advantage)

A

Having paid staff assist with bureaucratic problems (Example:
getting/finding government checks for constituents)

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18
Q

Franking privilege (Incumbency advantage)

A

Congress members get unlimited free mail.

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19
Q

Money (Incumbency advantage)

A

Easier for incumbents to raise funds; over time, they accumulate a “war chest” of leftover campaign cash.

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20
Q

Experience (Incumbency advantage)

A

In running campaigns; greater knowledge of gov. & issues.

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21
Q

McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (Incumbency advantage)

A

Limits campaign ads that criticize candidates, making it harder for lesser-known challengers to compete.

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22
Q

When are the Speaker of the House of Representatives elected?

A

At the start of each new Congress.

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23
Q

Who becomes the Speaker of the House of Representatives?

A

The majority party’s choice wins.

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24
Q

What does the the Speaker of the House of Representatives do?

A

1) Presiding over the House (run meetings & keep order)
2) Refers bills to committees, which can greatly increase or decrease their chances for passage.
3) Helps appoint majority party’s House members to committees (some committees are considered better than others).

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25
Q

Who elects the House Floor Leaders?

A

Both party caucuses elect one.

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26
Q

Majority party’s choice for House Floor Leader becomes the…

A

Majority Leader.

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27
Q

Minority party’s choice for House Floor Leader becomes the…

A

Minority Leader.

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28
Q

What does the majority leader do?

A

Helps the Speaker schedule bills for debate (earlier=better).

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29
Q

What does the minority leader do?

A

They are their party’s chief spokesperson in the House.

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30
Q

How are the House and Senate Whips elected?

A

Just like the House Floor Leaders, both party caucuses elect one

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31
Q

What do the House and Senate Whips do?

A

They influence members with verbal persuasion, or threats (loss of choice committee assignments, campaign support, recruiting challengers to run against them, cuts in staff, moving them to/from bigger offices). Whipping members into place

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32
Q

Who serves as President of the Senate?

A

The U.S. Vice President.

33
Q

What does the President of the Senate do?

A

They breaks tie votes, and are supposed to preside over meetings, but rarely do.

34
Q

Who is elected the Senate President pro tempore?

A

The longest serving member of the majority party is elected

35
Q

What does the Senate President pro tempore do?

A

They are supposed to run meetings in the V-P’s absence,
though they rarely do so. Usually, junior Senators take turns presiding.

36
Q

How are the Senate Floor Leaders elected?

A

Just like the House Floor Leaders, both party caucuses elect one Senate Floor Leader to represent them.

37
Q

What does the Majority Senate Floor Leader do?

A

Schedules bills for debate, and is that party’s chief
spokesperson in the Senate.

38
Q

What does the Minority Senate Floor Leader do?

A

They are that party’s chief spokesperson in the Senate and they lead filibusters

39
Q

Committees and Subcommittees

A

Groups of legislators who study proposed acts of Congress

40
Q

Where are new bills referred to?

A

A committee, then (usually) to 1 of its subcommittees

41
Q

Specialization

A

Each standing (permanent) committee focuses on a particular type of bill

42
Q

What do subcommittees do?

A

They research & hold hearings on bills. They then approve, defeat or amend them, as the majority of their members vote. Approved bills are sent to the full committee for a vote. (Subcomittees are even more specialized)

43
Q

What does the full committee do when they get a bill?

A

They reject the bill, or favorably recommend it, sending it to the floor for a vote by the entire house.

44
Q

How can committee chairmen kill bills?

A

By not scheduling them for hearings

45
Q

What can committee chairmen do?

A

They can kill bills, influence bills through their power to schedule & adjourn meetings. They also select subcommittee chairmen.

46
Q

Who selects the Committee chairmen?

A

Majority Party

47
Q

In the senate, how are the committee chairmen selected?

A

They are seniority based.

48
Q

In the house, how are the committee chairmen selected?

A

Seniority is considered, but not a rule, and chairs are term-limited (6 years).

49
Q

How are committee seats, staff, & funding split?

A

Based on a party’s % of the house

50
Q

Where do bills reported (approved) from a committee go?

A

The full house for debate.

51
Q

House during Floor Debate

A

The Rules Committee controls debate. It places bills on the calendar, issues rules on numbers & types of floor amendments, and floor debate time.

52
Q

Senate during Floor Debate

A

Debate is unlimited, so bills are subject to holds & filibusters.

53
Q

Hold

A

Bills cannot be voted on until the requesting Senator is notified (It’s a warning the Senator doesn’t like the bill, and is ready to take action)

54
Q

Filibuster

A

An attempt by one or more Senators to talk a bill to death

55
Q

How can filibusters end?

A

If 60+ Senators vote for cloture (30 hr. debate limit)

56
Q

What can be passed under reconciliation?

A

One tax and one spending bill per year

57
Q

What is special about reconciliation?

A

They can’t be filibustered, but also can’t increase the national debt for longer than 10 years.

58
Q

What needs to happen before the bills get sent to the President?

A

Bills must pass both houses in identical versions

59
Q

What do Conference Committees do?

A

Harmonize different versions of the same bill.

60
Q

Who is on the conference committees?

A

Made up of members from each house, appointed by committee chairmen

61
Q

What happens when the conference comes up with a set in stone version for the bill?

A

The conference’s version is then sent back to each house for a vote. If it passes, it then goes to the President for his consideration.

62
Q

Constituents

A

“the folks back home,” whose interests are often narrow & local.

63
Q

Delegates

A

Obey constituents rather than their own opinon.

64
Q

Trustees

A

Rely on their own judgment rather than constituents.

65
Q

How do colleagues influence members of congress to make decisions?

A

Members of Congress lobby each other, and frequently engage in reciprocity or “logrolling” (vote-trading).

66
Q

Logrolling

A

Vote-trading

67
Q

How do political parties influence members of congress to make decisions?

A

Most members of Congress feel loyal to their parties, and are
subject to pressure from the whips and other party leaders.

68
Q

Caucuses

A

Special-interest groups within Congress, like Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

69
Q

Interest Groups & Lobbyists

A

Narrow-focus groups outside Congress and their paid representatives who aim to persuade members on how to vote

70
Q

Political Action Committees (PACs)

A

Interest groups formed to give the maximum contributions allowed by law to Congressional re-election campaigns, supporting candidates that share their views.

71
Q

Staff and Support Agencies

A

Members rely on research done by their staff and non-partisan agencies like the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

72
Q

Who conducts hearings to monitor the federal bureaucracy in the
Executive Branch agencies for mismanagement, corruption, and illegalities?

A

(Sub)committees do.

73
Q

Congress lost the power to impose any legislative veto, what was the legislative veto?

A

Where they could disallow executive acts with a majority vote, like in the landmark Supreme Courtcase Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983).

74
Q

Congressional review

A

The congress can disapprove new executive-agency regulations within 60 days.

75
Q

What is Congress’ role in foreign policy?

A

It is limited to declaring war, appropriating money (defense, foreign aid), ratifying treaties, & confirming diplomatic appointments.

76
Q

War Powers Act (1973)

A

Limit the President’s ability to commit military forces, but it’s almost certainly unconstitutional after Chadha.

77
Q

Top executive officers and Federal judges don’t take office until what?

A

The Senate confirms.

78
Q

Senatorial courtesy

A

President usually defers to Senators of his party when appointing Federal district court judges in their states.

DE US Government (11 decks)

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