The United States Congress is the
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
of the
federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
. It is
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
, composed of a lower body, the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
, and an upper body, the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. It meets in the
U.S. Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Senators and representatives are chosen through
direct election
Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...
, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The
U.S. vice president has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six
non-voting members
Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with ...
.
The sitting of a Congress is for a two-year term, at present, beginning every other January.
Elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
are held every even-numbered year on
Election Day
Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ar ...
. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a Congress. The
Reapportionment Act of 1929
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 (ch. 28, , ), also known as the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, is a combined census and apportionment bill enacted on June 18, 1929, that establishes a permanent method for apportioning a constant 435 seats ...
establishes that there be 435 representatives and the Uniform Congressional Redistricting Act requires that they be elected from single-member constituencies or ''districts''. It is also required that the
Congressional districts
Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...
be
apportioned among
states by
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
every ten years using the
U.S. census results, provided that each state has at least one Congressional representative. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a six-year term, with
terms staggered, so every two years approximately one-third of the Senate is up for election. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, so currently, there are 100 senators for the 50 states.
Article One of the U.S. Constitution requires that members of Congress must be at least 25 years old (House) or at least 30 years old (Senate), have been a citizen of the U.S. for seven (House) or nine (Senate) years, and be an inhabitant of the state which they represent. Members in both chambers may stand for an unlimited number of times.
The Congress was created by the
U.S. Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
and first met in 1789, replacing the
Congress of the Confederation
The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Mar ...
in its legislative function. Although not legally mandated, in practice since the 19th century, Congress members are typically affiliated with one of the
two major parties, the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
or the
Republican Party, and only rarely with a
third party
Third party may refer to:
Business
* Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller
* Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party
* Third-party insurance, such as a Veh ...
or
independents affiliated with no party. In the case of the latter, the lack of affiliation with a political party does not mean that such members are unable to caucus with members of the political parties. Members can also switch parties at any time, although this is quite uncommon.
Overview
Article One of the United States Constitution
Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal government, the United States Congress. Under Article One, Congress is a bicameral legislature consisting of ...
states, "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative processlegislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers. The Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves
presidential appointments while the House initiates
revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
-raising bills.
![Johnson Impeachment Committee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Johnson_Impeachment_Committee.jpg)
The House initiates
impeachment
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In ...
cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases.
A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before an impeached person can be removed from office.
[
The term '']Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
'' can also refer to a particular meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years; the current one, the 117th Congress
The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...
, began on January 3, 2021, and will end on January 3, 2023. Since the adoption of the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twentieth Amendment (Amendment XX) to the United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the President of the United States, president and Vice President of the United States, vice president from March4 to January ...
, the Congress has started and ended at noon on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators; members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, Congressmen, or Congresswomen.
Scholar and representative Lee H. Hamilton asserted that the "historic mission of Congress has been to maintain freedom" and insisted it was a "driving force in American government"[ and a "remarkably resilient institution".] Congress is the "heart and soul of our democracy", according to this view,[ even though legislators rarely achieve the prestige or name recognition of presidents or ]Supreme Court justices
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...
; one wrote that "legislators remain ghosts in America's historical imagination."[ One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played an active role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure.][ Several academics described Congress:
Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux.] In recent times, the American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
and West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
have gained House seats according to demographic
Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
changes recorded by the census and includes more women and minorities.[ While power balances among the different parts of ]government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
continue to change, the internal structure of Congress is important to understand along with its interactions with so-called ''intermediary institutions'' such as political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
, civic associations
Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...
, interest groups, and the mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
.[
The Congress of the United States serves two distinct purposes that overlap: local representation to the federal government of a Congressional district by representatives and a state's at-large representation to the federal government by senators.
Most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent.]
The historical records of the House of Representatives and the Senate are maintained by the Center for Legislative Archives, which is a part of the National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
.
Congress is directly responsible for the governing of the District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, the current seat of the federal government.
History
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...
was a gathering of representatives from twelve of the thirteen colonies of North America. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
adopted the Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
, referring to the new nation as the "United States of America". The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...
in 1781 created the Congress of the Confederation
The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Mar ...
, a unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
body with equal representation among the states in which each state had a veto over most decisions. Congress had executive but not legislative authority, and the federal judiciary was confined to admiralty[***] and lacked authority to collect taxes, regulate commerce, or enforce laws.[English (2003), pp. 5–6]
Government powerlessness led to the Convention of 1787 which proposed a revised constitution with a two–chamber or ''bicameral'' Congress. Smaller states argued for equal representation for each state. The two-chamber structure had functioned well in state governments. A compromise plan, the Connecticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise (also known as the Great Compromise of 1787 or Sherman Compromise) was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation each state woul ...
, was adopted with representatives chosen by population (benefiting larger states) and exactly two senators chosen by state governments (benefiting smaller states).[ The ratified constitution created a federal structure with two overlapping power centers so that each citizen ''as an individual'' is subject to the powers of state government and national government.] To protect against abuse of power, each branch of governmentexecutive, legislative, and judicialhad a separate sphere of authority and could check other branches according to the principle of the separation of powers
Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
.[ Furthermore, there were checks and balances ''within'' the legislature since there were two separate chambers. The new government became active in 1789.]
Political scientist Julian E. Zelizer
Julian Emanuel Zelizer (born 1969) is a professor of political history and an author in the United States at Princeton University. Zelizer has authored or co-authored several books about American political history; his focuses of study are the sec ...
suggested there were four main Congressional eras, with considerable overlap, and included the ''formative era'' (1780s–1820s), the ''partisan era'' (1830s–1900s), the ''committee era'' (1910s–1960s), and the ''contemporary era'' (1970–present).
1780s–1820s: Formative Era
Federalists
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of de ...
and anti-federalists
Anti-Federalism was a late-18th century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles of Con ...
jostled for power in the early years as political parties became pronounced. With the passage of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
, the anti-federalist movement was exhausted. Some activists joined the Anti-Administration Party
The Anti-Administration Party was an informal political faction in the United States led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson that opposed policies of then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in the first term of US President George Wa ...
that James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
and Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
were forming about 1790–91 to oppose policies of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
; it soon became the Democratic-Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
or the Jeffersonian Republican Party and began the era of the First Party System
The First Party System is a model of American politics used in history and political science to periodize the political party system that existed in the United States between roughly 1792 and 1824. It featured two national parties competing for ...
. Thomas Jefferson's election to the presidency marked a peaceful transition of power
A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during t ...
between the parties in 1800. John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...
, 4th chief justice of the Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, empowered the courts by establishing the principle of judicial review in law in the landmark case ''Marbury v. Madison
''Marbury v. Madison'', 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of Judicial review in the Uni ...
'' in 1803, effectively giving the Supreme Court a power to nullify Congressional legislation.
1830s–1900s: Partisan Era
These years were marked by growth in the power of political parties. The watershed event was the Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
which resolved the slavery issue and unified the nation under federal authority but weakened the power of states' rights
In American political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution, reflecting especially the enumerated powers of Congress and the ...
. The Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...
(1877–1901) was marked by Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
dominance of Congress. During this time, lobbying activity became more intense, particularly during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
in which influential lobbies advocated for railroad subsidies and tariffs on wool. Immigration and high birth rates swelled the ranks of citizens and the nation grew at a rapid pace. The Progressive Era
The Progressive Era (late 1890s – late 1910s) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. The main themes ended during Am ...
was characterized by strong party leadership in both houses of Congress as well as calls for reform; sometimes reformers said lobbyists corrupted politics. The position of Speaker of the House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
became extremely powerful under leaders such as Thomas Reed in 1890 and Joseph Gurney Cannon
Joseph Gurney Cannon (May 7, 1836 – November 12, 1926) was an American politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911, and many consid ...
. The Senate was effectively controlled by a half dozen men.
1910s–1960s: Committee Era
A system of seniority, in which long-time members of Congress gained more and more power, encouraged politicians of both parties to seek long terms. Committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
chairmen remained influential in both houses until the reforms of the 1970s.
Important structural changes included the direct popular election
Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...
of senators according to the Seventeenth Amendment, ratified on April 8, 1913. Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decisions based on the Constitution's commerce clause
The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
expanded Congressional power to regulate the economy. One effect of popular election of senators was to reduce the difference between the House and Senate in terms of their link to the electorate. Lame duck reforms according to the Twentieth Amendment reduced the power of defeated and retiring members of Congress to wield influence despite their lack of accountability.
The Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
ushered in President Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and strong control by Democrats and historic New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
policies. Roosevelt
Roosevelt may refer to:
*Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president
* Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president
Businesses and organisations
* Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation)
* Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank
* Rooseve ...
's election in 1932 marked a shift in government power towards the executive branch. Numerous New Deal initiatives came from the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
rather initiated by Congress.[English (2003), p. 14] President Roosevelt pushed his agenda in Congress by detailing Executive Branch staff to friendly Senate committees (a practice that ended with the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946). The Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
controlled both houses of Congress for many years. During this time, Republicans and conservative southern Democrats formed the Conservative Coalition
The conservative coalition, founded in 1937, was an unofficial alliance of members of the United States Congress which brought together the conservative wings of the Republican and Democratic parties to oppose President Franklin Delano Rooseve ...
.[ Democrats maintained control of Congress during ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Congress struggled with efficiency in the postwar era partly by reducing the number of standing Congressional committees. Southern Democrats became a powerful force in many influential committees although political power alternated between Republicans and Democrats during these years. More complex issues required greater specialization and expertise, such as space flight and atomic energy policy.[ Senator ]Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
exploited the fear of communism during the Second Red Scare
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.
The term origina ...
and conducted televised hearings. In 1960, Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
narrowly won the presidency and power shifted again to the Democrats who dominated both houses of Congress until 1994.
Since 1970: Contemporary Era
Congress enacted Johnson's
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the University ...
program to fight poverty and hunger. The Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
had a powerful effect of waking up a somewhat dormant Congress which investigated presidential wrongdoing and coverups; the scandal "substantially reshaped" relations between the branches of government, suggested political scientist Bruce J. Schulman. Partisanship returned, particularly after 1994; one analyst attributes partisan infighting to slim Congressional majorities which discouraged friendly social gatherings in meeting rooms such as the ''Board of Education''. Congress began reasserting its authority. Lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...
became a big factor despite the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, , ''et seq.'') is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on creating limits for campaign spending on communicatio ...
. Political action committees or PACs could make substantive donations to Congressional candidates via such means as ''soft money
The financing of electoral campaigns in the United States happens at the federal, state, and local levels by contributions from individuals, corporations, political action committees, and sometimes the government. Campaign spending has risen ...
'' contributions. While soft money funds were not given to specific campaigns for candidates, the money often benefited candidates substantially in an indirect way and helped reelect candidates.[ Reforms such as the 2002 ]Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (, ), commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA (pronounced "bik-ruh"), is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of ...
limited campaign donations but did not limit ''soft money'' contributions. One source suggests post-Watergate laws amended in 1974 meant to reduce the "influence of wealthy contributors and end payoffs" instead "legitimized PACs" since they "enabled individuals to band together in support of candidates". From 1974 to 1984, PACs grew from 608 to 3,803 and donations leaped from $12.5million to $120million along with concern over PAC influence in Congress. In 2009, there were 4,600 business, labor and special-interest PACs including ones for lawyers
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicitor, ...
, electricians
An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...
, and real estate brokers
A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...
. From 2007 to 2008, 175 members of Congress received "half or more of their campaign cash" from PACs.
From 1970 to 2009, the House expanded delegates, along with their powers and privileges representing U.S. citizens in non-state areas, beginning with representation on committees for Puerto Rico's resident commissioner in 1970. In 1971, a delegate for the District of Columbia was authorized, and in 1972 new delegate positions were established for U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
. 1978 saw an additional delegate for American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...
, and another for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
began in 2009. These six members of Congress enjoy floor privileges to introduce bills and resolutions, and in recent Congresses they vote in permanent and select committees, in party caucuses and in joint conferences with the Senate. They have Capitol Hill offices, staff and two annual appointments to each of the four military academies. While their votes are constitutional when Congress authorizes their House Committee of the Whole
A committee of the whole is a meeting of a legislative or deliberative assembly using procedural rules that are based on those of a committee, except that in this case the committee includes all members of the assembly. As with other (standing) c ...
votes, recent Congresses have not allowed for that, and they cannot vote when the House is meeting as the House of Representatives.
In the late 20th century, the media became more important in Congress's work. Analyst Michael Schudson
Michael S. Schudson
Michael S. Schudson (born November 3, 1946) is professor of journalism in the graduate school of journalism of Columbia University and adjunct professor in the department of sociology. He is professor emeritus at the Universi ...
suggested that greater publicity undermined the power of political parties and caused "more roads to open up in Congress for individual representatives to influence decisions". Norman Ornstein
Norman Jay Ornstein (; born October 14, 1948) is an American political scientist and an Emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington, D.C. conservative think tank. He is the co-author (along with Thomas E. Mann) of ' ...
suggested that media prominence led to a greater emphasis on the negative and sensational side of Congress, and referred to this as the ''tabloidization
Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...
'' of media coverage.[ Others saw pressure to squeeze a political position into a thirty-second soundbite.] A report characterized Congress in 2013 as unproductive, gridlocked, and "setting records for futility". In October 2013, with Congress unable to compromise, the government was shut down for several weeks and risked a serious default on debt payments, causing 60% of the public to say they would "fire every member of Congress" including their own representative.[Domenico Montanaro, NBC News, October 10, 2013]
NBC/WSJ poll: 60 percent say fire every member of Congress
. Retrieved October 10, 2013, "...60 percent of Americans... if they had the chance to vote to defeat and replace every single member of Congress... they would..." One report suggested Congress posed the "biggest risk to the U.S. economy" because of its brinksmanship
Brinkmanship (or brinksmanship) is the practice of trying to achieve an advantageous outcome by pushing dangerous events to the brink of active conflict. The maneuver of pushing a situation with the opponent to the brink succeeds by forcing the op ...
, "down-to-the-wire budget and debt crises" and "indiscriminate spending cuts", resulting in slowed economic activity and keeping up to two million people unemployed. There has been increasing public dissatisfaction with Congress, with extremely low approval ratings[Wall Street Journal]
Approval of Congress Matches All-Time Low
. Retrieved June 13, 2013[Carrie Dann, NBC News]
Americans' faith in Congress lower than all major institutionsever
. Retrieved June 13, 2013 which dropped to 5% in October 2013.[
On January 6, 2021, the Congress gathered to confirm the election of Joe Biden, when supporters of the outgoing president, ]Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, violently entered the building. The session of Congress ended prematurely and Congress representatives evacuated. Trump supporters occupied Congress until D.C police evacuated the area. The event was the first time since the Burning of Washington
The Burning of Washington was a British invasion of Washington City (now Washington, D.C.), the capital of the United States, during the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812. It is the only time since the American Revolutionary War that a ...
that the United States Congress was forcefully occupied.
Women
Various social and structural barriers have prevented women from gaining seats in Congress. In the early 20th century, women’s domestic roles and the inability to vote forestalled opportunities to run for and hold public office. The two party system and the lack of term limits favored incumbent white men, making the Widow's succession
Widow's succession was a political practice prominent in some countries in the early part of the 20th century, by which a politician who died in office was directly succeeded by their widow, either through election or direct appointment to the se ...
– in which a woman temporarily took over a seat vacated by the death of her husband – the most common path to Congress for white women.
Women candidates began making substantial inroads in the later 20th century, due in part to new political support mechanisms and public awareness of their underrepresentation in Congress. Recruitment and financial support for women candidates were rare until the second-wave feminism movement, when activists moved into electoral politics. Beginning in the 1970s, donors and political-action-committees like EMILY's List
EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...
began recruiting, training and funding women candidates. Watershed political moments like the confirmation of Clarence Thomas and the 2016 presidential election created momentum for women candidates, resulting in the Year of the Woman
The Year of the Woman was a popular label attached to 1992 after the election of a number of female senators in the United States. The term has also been used with respect to the 2018 House elections, in which a record 103 women were elected, ...
and the election of members of The Squad, respectively.
Women of color faced additional challenges that made their ascension to Congress even more difficult. Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
, voter suppression
Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting ...
and other forms of structural racism made it virtually impossible for women of color to reach Congress prior to 1965. The passage of the Voting Rights Act that year, and the elimination of race-based immigration laws in the 1960s opened the possibility for Black, Asian American, Latina and other non-white women candidates to run for Congress.
Racially polarized voting, racial stereotypes and lack of institutional support still prevent women of color from reaching Congress as easily as white people. Senate elections, which require victories in statewide electorates, have been particularly difficult for women of color. Carol Moseley Braun
Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun, also sometimes Moseley-Braun (born August 16, 1947), is a former U.S. Senator, an American diplomat, politician, and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. Prior to her Senate ...
became the first woman of color to reach the Senate in 1993. The second, Mazie Hirono
Mazie Keiko Hirono (; Japanese name: , ; born November 3, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Hawaii since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Hirono previously served as a member of the ...
, won in 2013.
Role
Powers
Overview
Article One of the Constitution creates and sets forth the structure and most of the powers of Congress. Sections One through Six describe how Congress is elected and gives each House the power to create its own structure. Section Seven lays out the process for creating laws, and Section Eight enumerates numerous powers. Section Nine is a list of powers Congress does not have, and Section Ten enumerates powers of the state, some of which may only be granted by Congress. Constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...
s have granted Congress additional powers. Congress also has implied powers
In the United States, implied powers are powers that, although not directly stated in the Constitution, are implied to be available based on previously stated powers.
History
When George Washington asked Alexander Hamilton to defend the constituti ...
derived from the Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause
The Necessary and Proper Clause, also known as the Elastic Clause, is a clause in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution:
Since the landmark decision '' McCulloch v. Maryland'', the US Supreme Court has ruled that this clause gr ...
.
Congress has authority over financial and budgetary policy through the enumerated power to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States". There is vast authority over budgets, although analyst Eric Patashnik suggested that much of Congress's power to manage the budget has been lost when the welfare state expanded since "entitlements were institutionally detached from Congress's ordinary legislative routine and rhythm." Another factor leading to less control over the budget was a Keynesian
Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output and ...
belief that balanced budgets were unnecessary.[
The Sixteenth Amendment in 1913 extended Congressional power of taxation to include ]income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
es without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.[Davidson (2006), p. 18] The Constitution also grants Congress the exclusive power to appropriate funds, and this ''power of the purse
The power of the purse is the ability of one group to manipulate and control the actions of another group by withholding funding, or putting stipulations on the use of funds. The power of the purse can be used positively (e.g. awarding extra fun ...
'' is one of Congress's primary checks on the executive branch. Congress can borrow money on the credit of the United States, regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states, and coin money. Generally, the Senate and the House of Representatives have equal legislative authority, although only the House may originate revenue and appropriation bills
An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...
.[
Congress has an important role in ]national defense
National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military attac ...
, including the exclusive power to declare war, to raise and maintain the armed forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, and to make rules for the military. Some critics charge that the executive branch
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state.
In poli ...
has usurped Congress's constitutionally defined task of declaring war.[
*
*
*] While historically presidents initiated the process for going to war, they asked for and received formal war declarations from Congress for the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, the Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
, the Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
, World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, although President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's military move into Panama in 1903 did not get Congressional approval. In the early days after the North Korean invasion of 1950, President Truman described the American response as a "police action". According to ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine in 1970, "U.S. presidents adordered troops into position or action without a formal Congressional declaration a total of 149 times." In 1993, Michael Kinsley
Michael E. Kinsley (born March 9, 1951) is an American political journalist and commentator. Primarily active in print media as both a writer and editor, he also became known to television audiences as a co-host on ''Crossfire''.
Early life and e ...
wrote that "Congress's war power has become the most flagrantly disregarded provision in the Constitution," and that the "real erosion f Congress's war power
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
began after World WarII." Disagreement about the extent of Congressional versus presidential power regarding war has been present periodically throughout the nation's history.
Congress can establish post offices and post roads, issue patents and copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
s, fix standards of weights and measures, establish Courts inferior to the Supreme Court, and "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, or in any Department or Officer thereof". Article Four gives Congress the power to admit new states into the Union.
One of Congress's foremost non-legislative functions is the power to investigate and oversee the executive branch. Congressional oversight
Congressional oversight is oversight by the United States Congress over the Executive Branch, including the numerous U.S. federal agencies. Congressional oversight includes the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, ac ...
is usually delegated to committees
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
and is facilitated by Congress's subpoena power. Some critics have charged that Congress has in some instances failed to do an adequate job of overseeing the other branches of government. In the Plame affair
The Plame affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal and Plamegate) was a political scandal that revolved around journalist Robert Novak's public identification of Valerie Plame as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer in 2003.
In 2002, ...
, critics including Representative Henry A. Waxman
Henry Arnold Waxman (born September 12, 1939) is an American politician who served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from California from 1975 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...
charged that Congress was not doing an adequate job of oversight in this case. There have been concerns about Congressional oversight of executive actions such as warrantless wiretapping, although others respond that Congress did investigate the legality of presidential decisions. Political scientists Ornstein and Mann suggested that oversight functions do not help members of Congress win reelection. Congress also has the exclusive power of removal, allowing impeachment and removal of the president, federal judges and other federal officers. There have been charges that presidents acting under the doctrine of the unitary executive
The unitary executive theory is a theory of United States constitutional law which holds that the President of the United States possesses the power to control the entire federal executive branch. The doctrine is rooted in Article Two of the Un ...
have assumed important legislative and budgetary powers that should belong to Congress. So-called signing statements
A signing statement is a written pronouncement issued by the President of the United States upon the signing of a bill into law. They are usually printed along with the bill in '' United States Code Congressional and Administrative News'' (USCCAN) ...
are one way in which a president can "tip the balance of power between Congress and the White House a little more in favor of the executive branch", according to one account. Past presidents, including Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
, Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, and George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, have made public statements when signing Congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it, and commentators, including the American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
, have described this practice as against the spirit of the Constitution. There have been concerns that presidential authority to cope with financial crises is eclipsing the power of Congress. In 2008, George F. Will
George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian-conservative political commentator and author. He writes regular columns for ''The Washington Post'' and provides commentary for NBC News and MSNBC. Gold, Hadas (May 8, 2017)." ...
called the Capitol building a "tomb for the antiquated idea that the legislative branch matters".
Enumeration
The Constitution enumerates the powers of Congress in detail. In addition, other Congressional powers have been granted, or confirmed, by constitutional amendments. The Thirteenth
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...
(1865), Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth Amendments (1870) gave Congress authority to enact legislation to enforce rights of African Americans, including voting rights
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
, due process
Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
, and equal protection
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equa ...
under the law.[Davidson (2006), p. 19] Generally militia forces are controlled by state governments, not Congress.
Implicit, commerce clause
Congress also has implied powers
In the United States, implied powers are powers that, although not directly stated in the Constitution, are implied to be available based on previously stated powers.
History
When George Washington asked Alexander Hamilton to defend the constituti ...
deriving from the Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause
The Necessary and Proper Clause, also known as the Elastic Clause, is a clause in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution:
Since the landmark decision '' McCulloch v. Maryland'', the US Supreme Court has ruled that this clause gr ...
which permit Congress to "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, or in any Department or Officer thereof". Broad interpretations of this clause and of the Commerce Clause
The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
, the enumerated power to regulate commerce, in rulings such as ''McCulloch v. Maryland'', have effectively widened the scope of Congress's legislative authority far beyond that prescribed in Section Eight.
Territorial government
Constitutional responsibility for the oversight of Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, the federal district and national capital, and the U.S. territories of Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
rests with Congress. The republican form of government in territories is devolved by Congressional statute to the respective territories including direct election of governors, the D.C. mayor and locally elective territorial legislatures.
Each territory and Washington, D.C., elects a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives as they have throughout Congressional history. They "possess the same powers as other members of the House, except that they may not vote when the House is meeting as the House of Representatives". They are assigned offices and allowances for staff, participate in debate, and appoint constituents to the four military service academies for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.[House Learn](_blank)
webpage. Viewed January 26, 2013.
Washington, D.C., citizens alone among U.S. territories have the right to directly vote for the President of the United States, although the Democratic and Republican political parties nominate their presidential candidates at national conventions which include delegates from the five major territories.
Checks and balances
Representative Lee H. Hamilton explained how Congress functions within the federal government:
To me the key to understanding it is balance. The founders went to great lengths to balance institutions against each otherbalancing powers among the three branches: Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court; between the House of Representatives and the Senate; between the federal government and the states; among states of different sizes and regions with different interests; between the powers of government and the rights of citizens, as spelled out in the Bill of Rights... No one part of government dominates the other.
The Constitution provides checks and balances
Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
among the three branches of the federal government. Its authors expected the greater power to lie with Congress as described in Article One.
The influence of Congress on the presidency has varied from period to period depending on factors such as Congressional leadership, presidential political influence, historical circumstances such as war, and individual initiative by members of Congress. The impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
made the presidency less powerful than Congress for a considerable period afterwards. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen the rise of presidential power under politicians such as Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, and George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
. Congress restricted presidential power with laws such as the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (, , ) is a United States federal law that governs the role of the Congress in the United States budget process.
The Congressional budget process
Titles I through IX of the law are als ...
and the War Powers Resolution
The War Powers Resolution (also known as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 or the War Powers Act) () is a federal law intended to check the U.S. president's power to commit the United States to an ...
. The presidency remains considerably more powerful today than during the 19th century. Executive branch officials are often loath to reveal sensitive information to members of Congress because of concern that information could not be kept secret; in return, knowing they may be in the dark about executive branch activity, Congressional officials are more likely to distrust their counterparts in executive agencies. Many government actions require fast coordinated effort by many agencies, and this is a task that Congress is ill-suited for. Congress is slow, open, divided, and not well matched to handle more rapid executive action or do a good job of overseeing such activity, according to one analysis.
The Constitution concentrates removal powers in the Congress by empowering and obligating the House of Representatives to impeach
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In E ...
executive or judicial officials for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors". Impeachment is a formal accusation of unlawful activity by a civil officer or government official. The Senate is constitutionally empowered and obligated to try all impeachments. A simple majority in the House is required to impeach an official; a two-thirds majority in the Senate is required for conviction. A convicted official is automatically removed from office; in addition, the Senate may stipulate that the defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...
be banned from holding office in the future. Impeachment proceedings may not inflict more than this. A convicted party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of law. In the history of the United States, the House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted. Another resigned before the Senate could complete the trial. Only three presidents have ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
in 1868, Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
in 1999, Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
in 2019 and 2021. The trials
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
of Johnson, Clinton, and the 2019 trial of Trump all ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction
In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is consid ...
. In 1974, Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
resigned from office after impeachment proceedings in the House Judiciary Committee
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...
indicated his eventual remove from office.
The Senate has an important check on the executive power by confirming Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
officials, judges, and other high officers "by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate". It confirms most presidential nominees but rejections are not uncommon. Furthermore, treaties negotiated by the President must be ratified by a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate to take effect. As a result, presidential arm-twisting of senators can happen before a key vote; for example, President Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, urged her former senate colleagues to approve a nuclear arms treaty with Russia in 2010. The House of Representatives has no formal role in either the ratification of treaties or the appointment of federal officials, other than in filling a vacancy in the office of the vice president; in such a case, a majority vote in each House is required to confirm a president's nomination of a vice president.[
In 1803, the Supreme Court established ]judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
of federal legislation in ''Marbury v. Madison
''Marbury v. Madison'', 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of Judicial review in the Uni ...
'', holding that Congress could not grant unconstitutional power to the Court itself. The Constitution did not explicitly stated that the courts may exercise judicial review. The notion that courts could declare laws unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
was envisioned by the founding fathers
The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
. Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
, for example, mentioned and expounded upon the doctrine in Federalist No. 78
Federalist No. 78 is an essay by Alexander Hamilton, the seventy-eighth of ''The Federalist Papers''. Like all of ''The Federalist'' papers, it was published under the pseudonym Publius.
Titled "The Judiciary Department", Federalist No. 78 wa ...
. Originalists on the Supreme Court have argued that if the constitution does not say something explicitly it is unconstitutional to infer what it should, might, or could have said. Judicial review means that the Supreme Court can nullify a Congressional law. It is a huge check by the courts on the legislative authority and limits Congressional power substantially. In 1857, for example, the Supreme Court struck down provisions of a Congressional act of 1820 in its Dred Scott
Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an Slavery in the United States, enslaved African Americans, African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet Robinson Scott, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for freedom for themselves and thei ...
decision. At the same time, the Supreme Court can extend Congressional power through its constitutional interpretations.
The Congressional inquiry into St. Clair's Defeat of 1791 was the first Congressional investigation of the executive branch. Investigations are conducted to gather information on the need for future legislation, to test the effectiveness of laws already passed, and to inquire into the qualifications and performance of members and officials of the other branches. Committees may hold hearings, and, if necessary, subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
people to testify when investigating issues over which it has the power to legislate. Witnesses who refuse to testify may be cited for contempt of Congress
Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Co ...
, and those who testify falsely may be charged with perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
. Most committee hearings are open to the public (the House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
and Senate intelligence committees are the exception); important hearings are widely reported in the mass media and transcripts published a few months afterwards.[ Congress, in the course of studying possible laws and investigating matters, generates an incredible amount of information in various forms, and can be described as a publisher.] Indeed, it publishes House and Senate reports[ and maintains databases which are updated irregularly with publications in a variety of electronic formats.][
Congress also plays a role in presidential elections. Both Houses meet in joint session on the sixth day of January following a presidential election to count the electoral votes, and there are procedures to follow if no candidate wins a majority.][
The main result of Congressional activity is the creation of laws,] most of which are contained in the United States Code, arranged by subject matter alphabetically under fifty title headings to present the laws "in a concise and usable form".[
]
Structure
Congress is split into two chambersHouse and Senateand manages the task of writing national legislation by dividing work into separate committees which specialize in different areas. Some members of Congress are elected by their peers to be officers of these committees. Further, Congress has ancillary organizations such as the Government Accountability Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
and the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
to help provide it with information, and members of Congress have staff and offices to assist them as well. In addition, a vast industry of lobbyists helps members write legislation on behalf of diverse corporate and labor interests.
Committees
Specializations
The committee structure permits members of Congress to study a particular subject intensely. It is neither expected nor possible that a member be an expert on all subject areas before Congress.[English (2003), pp. 46–47] As time goes by, members develop expertise in particular subjects and their legal aspects. Committees
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
investigate specialized subjects and advise the entire Congress about choices and trade-offs. The choice of specialty may be influenced by the member's constituency, important regional issues, prior background and experience. Senators often choose a different specialty from that of the other senator from their state to prevent overlap. Some committees specialize in running the business of other committees and exert a powerful influence over all legislation; for example, the House Ways and Means Committee
The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...
has considerable influence over House affairs.
Power
Committees write legislation. While procedures, such as the House discharge petition
In United States parliamentary procedure, a discharge petition is a means of bringing a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from the committee by "discharging" the committee from further consideration of a bi ...
process, can introduce bills to the House floor and effectively bypass committee input, they are exceedingly difficult to implement without committee action. Committees have power and have been called ''independent fiefdoms''. Legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks are divided among about two hundred committees and subcommittees which gather information, evaluate alternatives, and identify problems. They propose solutions for consideration by the full chamber. In addition, they perform the function of ''oversight'' by monitoring the executive branch and investigating wrongdoing.[Committee Types and Roles](_blank)
Congressional Research Service, April 1, 2003
Officer
At the start of each two-year session, the House elects a Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, speaker who does not normally preside over debates but serves as the majority party's leader. In the Senate, the vice president is the ex officio ''president'' of the Senate. In addition, the Senate elects an officer called the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, president pro tempore. ''Pro tempore'' means ''for the time being'' and this office is usually held by the most senior member of the Senate's majority party and customarily keeps this position until there is a change in party control. Accordingly, the Senate does not necessarily elect a new president pro tempore at the beginning of a new Congress. In the House and Senate, the actual presiding officer is generally a junior member of the majority party who is appointed so that new members become acquainted with the rules of the chamber.
Support services
Library
The Library of Congress was established by an act of Congress in 1800. It is primarily housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill, but also includes several other sites: the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Washington, D.C.; the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia; a large book storage facility located at Fort Meade, Maryland; and multiple overseas offices. The Library had mostly law books when it was burned by a British raiding party during the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, but the library's collections were restored and expanded when Congress authorized the purchase of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
's private library. One of the library's missions is to serve Congress and its staff as well as the American public. It is the largest library in the world with nearly 150 million items including books, films, maps, photographs, music, manuscripts, graphics, and materials in 470 languages.
Research
The Congressional Research Service, part of the Library of Congress, provides detailed, up-to-date and non-partisan research for senators, representatives, and their staff to help them carry out their official duties. It provides ideas for legislation, helps members analyze a bill, facilitates public hearings, makes reports, consults on matters such as parliamentary procedure, and helps the two chambers resolve disagreements. It has been called the "House's think tank" and has a staff of about 900 employees.
Budgeting
The Congressional Budget Office or CBO is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency which provides economics, economic data to Congress.
It was created as an independent non-partisan agency by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (, , ) is a United States federal law that governs the role of the Congress in the United States budget process.
The Congressional budget process
Titles I through IX of the law are als ...
. It helps Congress estimate revenue inflows from taxes and helps the budgeting process. It makes projections about such matters as the national debt as well as likely costs of legislation. It prepares an annual ''Economic and Budget Outlook'' with a mid-year update and writes ''An Analysis of the President's Budgetary Proposals'' for the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senate's Appropriations Committee. The speaker of the House and the Senate's president pro tempore jointly appoint the CBO director for a four-year term.
Lobbying
Lobbyists represent diverse interests and often seek to influence Congressional decisions to reflect their clients' needs. Advocacy group, Lobby groups and their members sometimes write legislation and Whip (politics), whip bills. In 2007, there were approximately 17,000 federal lobbyists in Washington, D.C. They explain to legislators the goals of their organizations. Some lobbyists represent non-profit organizations and work pro bono for issues in which they are personally interested.
Police
Partisanship versus bipartisanship
Congress has alternated between periods of constructive cooperation and compromise between parties, known as bipartisanship, and periods of deep political Polarization (politics), polarization and fierce infighting, known as partisanship. The period after the Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
was marked by partisanship, as is the case today. It is generally easier for committees to reach accord on issues when compromise is possible. Some Political science, political scientists speculate that a prolonged period marked by narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress has intensified partisanship in the last few decades, but that an alternation of control of Congress between Democrats and Republicans may lead to greater flexibility in policies, as well as pragmatism and civility within the institution.
Procedures
Sessions
A term of Congress is divided into two "legislative session, sessions", one for each year; Congress has occasionally been called into an extra or ''special session''. A new session commences on January3 each year unless Congress decides differently. The Constitution requires Congress to meet at least once each year and forbids either house from meeting outside the Capitol without the consent of the other house.
Joint sessions
Joint sessions of the United States Congress occur on special occasions that require a concurrent resolution from House and Senate. These sessions include counting electoral votes after a presidential election and the president's State of the Union address. The State of the Union, constitutionally mandated report, normally given as an annual speech, is modeled on Britain's Speech from the Throne, was written by most presidents after Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson but personally delivered as a spoken oration beginning with Woodrow Wilson, Wilson in 1913. Joint Sessions and Joint Meetings are traditionally presided over by the speaker of the House, except when counting presidential electoral votes when the vice president (acting as the president of the Senate) presides.
Bills and resolutions
Ideas for legislation can come from members, lobbyists, state legislatures, constituents, legislative counsel, or executive agencies. Anyone can write a bill, but only members of Congress may introduce bills. Most bills are not written by Congress members, but originate from the Executive branch; interest groups often draft bills as well. The usual next step is for the proposal to be passed to a committee for review.[ A proposal is usually in one of these forms:
*Bills are laws in the making. A House-originated bill begins with the letters "H.R." for "House of Representatives", followed by a number kept as it progresses.][
*Joint resolutions. There is little difference between a bill and a joint resolution since both are treated similarly; a joint resolution originating from the House, for example, begins "H.J.Res." followed by its number.][
*Concurrent Resolutions affect only the House and Senate and accordingly are not presented to the president. In the House, they begin with "H.Con.Res."][
*Simple resolutions concern only the House or only the Senate and begin with "H.Res." or "S.Res."][
Representatives introduce a bill while the House is in session by placing it in the ''hopper'' on the Clerk's desk.][ It is assigned a number and referred to a committee which studies each bill intensely at this stage.][ Drafting statutes requires "great skill, knowledge, and experience" and sometimes take a year or more.][ Sometimes lobbyists write legislation and submit it to a member for introduction. Joint resolutions are the normal way to propose a constitutional amendment or declare war. On the other hand, concurrent resolutions (passed by both houses) and simple resolutions (passed by only one house) do not have the force of law but express the opinion of Congress or regulate Parliamentary procedure, procedure. Bills may be introduced by any member of either house. The Constitution states: "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." While the Senate cannot originate ]revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
and appropriation bills
An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...
, it has the power to amend or reject them. Congress has sought ways to establish appropriate spending levels.[
Each chamber determines its own internal rules of operation unless specified in the Constitution or prescribed by law. In the House, a U.S. House Committee on Rules, Rules Committee guides legislation; in the Senate, a Standing Rules of the Senate, Standing Rules committee is in charge. Each branch has its own traditions; for example, the Senate relies heavily on the practice of getting "unanimous consent" for noncontroversial matters.][ House and Senate rules can be complex, sometimes requiring a hundred specific steps before a bill can become a law.][ Members sometimes turn to outside experts to learn about proper Congressional procedures.]
Each bill goes through several stages in each house including consideration by a committee and advice from the Government Accountability Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
.[ Most legislation is considered by standing committees which have jurisdiction over a particular subject such as Agriculture or Appropriations. The House has twenty standing committees; the Senate has sixteen. Standing committees meet at least once each month.][ Almost all standing committee meetings for transacting business must be open to the public unless the committee votes, publicly, to close the meeting.][ A committee might call for public hearings on important bills.][ Each committee is led by a chairperson, chair who belongs to the majority party and a ranking minority member, ranking member of the minority party. Witnesses and experts can present their case for or against a bill.][ Then, a bill may go to what is called a ''mark-up'' session, where committee members debate the bill's merits and may offer amendments or revisions.][ Committees may also amend the bill, but the full house holds the power to accept or reject committee amendments. After debate, the committee votes whether it wishes to report the measure to the full house. If a bill is ''tabled'' then it is rejected. If amendments are extensive, sometimes a new bill with amendments built in will be submitted as a so-called ''clean bill'' with a new number.][ Both houses have procedures under which committees can be bypassed or overruled but they are rarely used. Generally, members who have been in Congress longer have greater seniority and therefore greater power.][
A bill which reaches the floor of the full house can be simple or complex][ and begins with an enacting formula such as "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled..." Consideration of a bill requires, itself, a ''rule'' which is a simple resolution specifying the particulars of debatetime limits, possibility of further amendments, and such.][ Each side has equal time and members can yield to other members who wish to speak.][ Sometimes opponents seek to ''recommit'' a bill which means to change part of it.][ Generally, discussion requires a ''quorum'', usually half of the total number of representatives, before discussion can begin, although there are exceptions.] The house may debate and amend the bill; the precise procedures used by the House and Senate differ. A final vote on the bill follows.
Once a bill is approved by one house, it is sent to the other which may pass, reject, or amend it. For the bill to become law, both houses must agree to identical versions of the bill.[ If the second house amends the bill, then the differences between the two versions must be reconciled in a United States congressional conference committee, conference committee, an ''ad hoc'' committee that includes senators and representatives][ sometimes by using a ''reconciliation process'' to limit budget bills.][ Both houses use a budget enforcement mechanism informally known as ''pay-as-you-go'' or ''paygo'' which discourages members from considering acts that increase budget deficits.][ If both houses agree to the version reported by the conference committee, the bill passes, otherwise it fails.
The Constitution specifies that a majority of members (a quorum) be present before doing business in each house. The rules of each house assume that a quorum is present unless a quorum call demonstrates the contrary and debate often continues despite the lack of a majority.
Voting within Congress can take many forms, including systems using lights and bells and electronic voting.][ Both houses use voice voting to decide most matters in which members shout "aye" or "no" and the presiding officer announces the result. The Constitution requires a Voting methods in deliberative assemblies, recorded vote if demanded by one-fifth of the members present or when voting to override a presidential veto. If the voice vote is unclear or if the matter is controversial, a recorded vote usually happens. The Senate uses Voting methods in deliberative assemblies, roll-call voting, in which a clerk calls out the names of all the senators, each senator stating "aye" or "no" when their name is announced. In the Senate, the Vice President may cast the tie-breaking vote if present when the senators are equally divided.
The House reserves roll-call votes for the most formal matters, as a roll call of all 435 representatives takes quite some time; normally, members vote by using an electronic device. In the case of a tie, the motion in question fails. Most votes in the House are done electronically, allowing members to vote ''yea'' or ''nay'' or ''present'' or ''open''.][ Members insert a voting ''ID card'' and can change their votes during the last five minutes if they choose; in addition, paper ballots are used occasionally (''yea'' indicated by green and ''nay'' by red).][ One member cannot cast a proxy vote for another.][ Congressional votes are recorded on an online database.]
After passage by both houses, a bill is Enrolled bill, enrolled and sent to the president for approval.[ The president may sign it making it law or veto it, perhaps returning it to Congress with the president's objections. A vetoed bill can still become law if each house of Congress votes to override the veto with a two-thirds majority. Finally, the president may do nothingneither signing nor vetoing the billand then the bill becomes law automatically after ten days (not counting Sundays) according to the Constitution. But if Congress is adjourned during this period, presidents may veto legislation passed at the end of a Congressional session simply by ignoring it; the maneuver is known as a pocket veto, and cannot be overridden by the adjourned Congress.
]
Public interaction
Advantage of incumbency
Citizens and representatives
Senators face reelection every six years, and representatives every two. Reelections encourage candidates to focus their publicity efforts at their home states or districts.[ Running for reelection can be a grueling process of distant travel and fund-raising which distracts senators and representatives from paying attention to governing, according to some critics.] Although others respond that the process is necessary to keep members of Congress in touch with voters.
incumbency, Incumbent members of Congress running for reelection have strong advantages over challengers.[ They raise more money] because donors fund incumbents over challengers, perceiving the former as more likely to win, and donations are vital for winning elections. One critic compared election to Congress to receiving life tenure at a university. Another advantage for representatives is the practice of gerrymandering. After each ten-year census, states are allocated representatives based on population, and officials in power can choose how to draw the Congressional district boundaries to support candidates from their party. As a result, reelection rates of members of Congress hover around 90 percent,[ causing some critics to call them a privileged class.][ Academics such as Princeton's Stephen Macedo have proposed solutions to fix Gerrymandering in the United States, gerrymandering in the U.S. Senators and representatives enjoy free mailing privileges, called franking privileges; while these are not intended for electioneering, this rule is often skirted by borderline election-related mailings during campaigns.
]
Expensive campaigns
In 1971, the cost of running for Congress in Utah was $70,000 but costs have climbed. The biggest expense is television advertisements. Today's races cost more than a million dollars for a House seat, and six million or more for a Senate seat.[
*
*
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*] Since fundraising is vital, "members of Congress are forced to spend ever-increasing hours raising money for their re-election."
The Supreme Court has treated campaign contributions as a free speech issue. Some see money as a good influence in politics since it "enables candidates to communicate with voters". Few members retire from Congress without complaining about how much it costs to campaign for reelection.[ Critics contend that members of Congress are more likely to attend to the needs of heavy campaign contributors than to ordinary citizens.][
Elections are influenced by many variables. Some political scientists speculate there is a ''coattail effect'' (when a popular president or party position has the effect of reelecting incumbents who win by "riding on the president's coattails"), although there is some evidence that the coattail effect is irregular and possibly declining since the 1950s.][ Some districts are so heavily Democratic or Republican that they are called a safe seat; any candidate winning the primary will almost always be elected, and these candidates do not need to spend money on advertising.] But some races can be competitive when there is no incumbent. If a seat becomes vacant in an open district, then both parties may spend heavily on advertising in these races; in California in 1992, only four of twenty races for House seats were considered highly competitive.
Television and negative advertising
Since members of Congress must advertise heavily on television, this usually involves negative advertising, which smears an opponent's character without focusing on the issues.[
*
*
*
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*] Negative advertising is seen as effective because "the messages tend to stick." These advertisements sour the public on the political process in general as most members of Congress seek to avoid blame. One wrong decision or one damaging television image can mean defeat at the next election, which leads to a culture of risk avoidance, a need to make policy decisions behind closed doors,[ and concentrating publicity efforts in the members' home districts.][
]
Perceptions
Prominent Founding Fathers writing in ''The Federalist Papers'' felt that elections were essential to liberty, that a bond between the people and the representatives was particularly essential, and that "frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured." In 2009, few Americans were familiar with leaders of Congress. The percentage of Americans eligible to vote who did, in fact, vote was 63% in 1960, but has been falling since, although there was a slight upward trend in the 2008 election.[
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*
*
*] Public opinion polls asking people if they approve of the job Congress is doing have, in the last few decades, hovered around 25% with some variation.[
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*
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*] Scholar Julian Zeliger suggested that the "size, messiness, virtues, and vices that make Congress so interesting also create enormous barriers to our understanding the institution... Unlike the presidency, Congress is difficult to conceptualize." Other scholars suggest that despite the criticism, "Congress is a remarkably resilient institution... its place in the political process is not threatened... it is rich in resources" and that most members behave ethically. They contend that "Congress is easy to dislike and often difficult to defend" and this perception is exacerbated because many challengers running for Congress run ''against'' Congress, which is an "old form of American politics" that further undermines Congress's reputation with the public:[
An additional factor that confounds public perceptions of Congress is that Congressional issues are becoming more technical and complex and require expertise in subjects such as science, engineering and economics.][ As a result, Congress often cedes authority to experts at the executive branch.][
Since 2006, Congress has dropped ten points in the Gallup confidence poll with only nine percent having "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in their legislators. Since 2011, Gallup poll has reported Congress's approval rating among Americans at 10% or below three times.] Public opinion of Congress plummeted further to 5% in October 2013 after parts of the U.S. government deemed 'nonessential government' shut down.
Smaller states and bigger states
When the Constitution was ratified in 1787, the ratio of the populations of large states to small states was roughly twelve to one. The Connecticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise (also known as the Great Compromise of 1787 or Sherman Compromise) was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation each state woul ...
gave every state, large and small, an equal vote in the Senate. Since each state has two senators, residents of smaller states have more clout in the Senate than residents of larger states. But since 1787, the population disparity between large and small states has grown; in 2006, for example, California had seventy times the population of Wyoming. Critics, such as constitutional scholar Sanford Levinson, have suggested that the population disparity works against residents of large states and causes a steady redistribution of resources from "large states to small states". Others argue that the Connecticut Compromise was deliberately intended by the Founding Fathers to construct the Senate so that each state had equal footing not based on population,[ and contend that the result works well on balance.
]
Members and constituents
A major role for members of Congress is providing services to constituency, constituents. Constituents request assistance with problems. Providing services helps members of Congress win votes and elections and can make a difference in close races. Congressional staff can help citizens navigate government bureaucracies.[ One academic described the complex intertwined relation between lawmakers and constituents as ''home style''.]
Motivation
One way to categorize lawmakers, according to political scientist Richard Fenno, is by their general motivation:
# Reelection: These are lawmakers who "never met a voter they didn't like" and provide excellent constituent services.
# Good public policy: Legislators who "burnish a reputation for policy expertise and leadership".
# Power in the chamber: Lawmakers who spend serious time along the "rail of the House floor or in the Senate cloakroom ministering to the needs of their colleagues". Famous legislator Henry Clay in the mid-19th century was described as an "issue entrepreneur" who looked for issues to serve his ambitions.[
]
Privileges
Protection
Members of Congress enjoy parliamentary privilege, including Parliamentary immunity, freedom from arrest in all cases except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace, and freedom of speech in debate. This constitutionally derived immunity applies to members during sessions and when traveling to and from sessions. The term "arrest" has been interpreted broadly, and includes any detention or delay in the course of Police, law enforcement, including Summons, court summons and subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
s. The rules of the House strictly guard this privilege; a member may not waive the privilege on their own but must seek the permission of the whole house to do so. Senate rules are less strict and permit individual senators to waive the privilege as they choose.
The Constitution guarantees absolute freedom of debate in both houses, providing in the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution that "for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place." Accordingly, a member of Congress may not be sued in court for slander because of remarks made in either house, although each house has its own rules restricting offensive speeches, and may punish members who transgress.
Obstructing the work of Congress is a crime under federal law and is known as contempt of Congress
Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Co ...
. Each member has the power to cite people for contempt but can only issue a contempt citationthe judicial system pursues the matter like a normal criminal case. If convicted in court of contempt of Congress, a person may be imprisoned for up to one year.
Postage
The franking privilege allows members of Congress to send official mail to constituents at government expense. Though they are not permitted to send election materials, borderline material is often sent, especially in the run-up to an election by those in close races. Some academics consider free mailings as giving incumbents a big advantage over challengers.
Pay
From 1789 to 1815, members of Congress received only a daily payment of $6 while in session. Members received an annual salary of $1,500 per year from 1815 to 1817, then a per diem salary of $8 from 1818 to 1855; since then they have received an annual salary, first pegged in 1855 at $3,000.[Senate Salaries since 1789.](_blank)
United States Senate. Retrieved August 13, 2007.[Salaries of Members of Congress](_blank)
(pdf). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved August 12, 2007. In 1907, salaries were raised to $7,500 per year, the equivalent of $173,000 in 2010. In 2006, members of Congress received a yearly salary of $165,200. Congressional leaders were paid $183,500 per year. The Speaker of the House of Representatives earns $212,100 annually. The salary of the President pro tempore for 2006 was $183,500, equal to that of the Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate.[Salaries of Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Officials](_blank)
(pdf). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved August 12, 2007. Privileges include an office and paid staff. In 2008, non-officer members of Congress earned $169,300 annually.
Some critics complain Congressional pay is high compared with a median American Household income in the United States, income of $45,113 for men and $35,102 for women. Others have countered that Congressional pay is consistent with other branches of government. Another criticism is that members of Congress have access to free or low-cost medical care in the Washington D.C., Washington, D.C., area. The petition to "remove health-care subsidies for Members of Congress and their families" garnered over 1,077,000 signatures on the website Change.org. In January 2014, it was reported that for the first time over half of the members of Congress were millionaires. Congress has been criticized for trying to conceal pay raises by slipping them into a large bill at the last minute. Others have criticized the wealth of members of Congress. Representative Jim Cooper of Tennessee told Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig that a chief problem with Congress was that members focused on lucrative careers as lobbyists after servingthat Congress was a "Farm team, Farm League for K Street (Washington, D.C.), KStreet"instead of on public service.
Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Like other federal employees, Congressional retirement is funded through taxes and participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3% of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2% of their salary in Social Security taxes. And like federal employees, members contribute one-third of the cost of health insurance with the government covering the other two-thirds.
The size of a Congressional pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest three years of their salary. By law, the starting amount of a member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of their final salary. In 2018, the average annual pension for retired senators and representatives under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) was $75,528, while those who retired under FERS, or in combination with CSRS, was $41,208.
Members of Congress make fact-finding missions to learn about other countries and stay informed, but these outings can cause controversy if the trip is deemed excessive or unconnected with the task of governing. For example, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported in 2009 that lawmaker trips abroad at taxpayer expense had included spas, $300-per-night extra unused rooms, and shopping excursions.[ Lawmakers respond that "traveling with spouses compensates for being away from them a lot in Washington" and justify the trips as a way to meet officials in other nations.]
By the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, Twenty-seventh Amendment, changes to Congressional pay may not take effect before the next election to the House of the Representatives. In ''Boehner v. Anderson'', the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the amendment does not affect Cost-of-living index, cost-of-living adjustments.[30 Federal Reporter, F.3d 156 (D.C. Cir. 1994)] The Supreme Court of the United States has not ruled on this yet.
See also
*Caucuses of the United States Congress
*Congressional Archives
*Current members of the United States House of Representatives
*Current members of the United States Senate
*
*List of United States Congresses
*
*Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
*Term limits in the United States
*United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
*United States Congressional Baseball Game
*United States congressional hearing, United States Congressional hearing
*United States presidents and control of Congress
Notes
Citations
References
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Further reading
*Baker, Ross K. (2000). ''House and Senate'', 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton. (Procedural, historical, and other information about both houses)
*Barone, Michael and Richard E. Cohen. ''The Almanac of American Politics, 2006'' (2005), elaborate detail on every district and member; 1920 pages
*Berg-Andersson, Richard E. (2001)
Explanation of the types of Sessions of Congress
(Term of Congress)
*Berman, Daniel M. (1964). ''In Congress Assembled: The Legislative Process in the National Government''. London: The Macmillan Company. (Legislative procedure)
*Bianco, William T. (2000) ''Congress on Display, Congress at Work'', University of Michigan Press.
*Hamilton, Lee H. (2004) ''How Congress Works and Why You Should Care'', Indiana University Press.
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*Imbornoni, Ann-Marie, David Johnson, and Elissa Haney. (2005)
*Lee, Frances and Bruce Oppenheimer. (1999). ''Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation''. University of Chicago Press: Chicago. (Equal representation in the Senate)
*Rimmerman, Craig A. (1990). "Teaching Legislative Politics and Policy Making". ''Political Science Teacher'', 3(Winter): 16–18.
*Ritchie, Donald A. (2010). ''The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction''. (History, representation, and legislative procedure)
* (Legislative procedure, informal practices, and other information)
*Story, Joseph. (1891). ''Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States''. (2 vols). Boston: Brown & Little. (History, constitution, and general legislative procedure)
*Tarr, David R. and Ann O'Connor. ''Congress A to Z'' (CQ Congressional Quarterly) (4th 2003) 605pp
*Wilson, Woodrow. (1885). ''Congressional Government''. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
*''Some information in this article has been provided by th
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External links
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U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
{{Authority control
Legislative branch of the United States government,
1789 establishments in the United States
Bicameral legislatures, United States
National legislatures