Congress: House Rules Committee & Senate

• Both the House and Senate establish their own agendas and utilize committees to narrow down the numerous bills introduced.

House Rules Committee

• A key institution unique to the House that plays a significant role in agenda setting.
• Reviews most bills from a House committee before they reach the full House.
• Acts like a "traffic cop," providing each bill with a "rule" that schedules it, allots debate time, and specifies potential amendments.
• Today, the committee typically limits or prohibits amendments, restricting the minority party's ability to propose changes.
• Generally responsive to House leadership, as the Speaker of the House appoints its members.

Senate's Relationship to the President

• Approves treaties, war declarations, and foreign negotiations.
• Confirms nominations for official positions such as ambassadors and Supreme Court justices.

Conference Committees

• Panels composed of House and Senate members formed to reconcile differences in legislation passed by both chambers.

Constituency Service

• Involves securing federal funds for states and districts.
• Pork barrel consists of federal projects, grants, and contracts for state and local governments, businesses, colleges, and other institutions.
• Members of Congress often announce these awards through their offices, taking credit for new infrastructure or projects.

Christmas Tree Bill

• A bill that attracts many unrelated floor amendments, often providing special benefits to various groups or interests through riders.

Tax Legislation

• The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are responsible for writing the tax codes, subject to Congressional approval.

Debate Rules

• House limits each person's debate time to 5 minutes.
• Senate allows unlimited debate via filibuster, which can only be ended by a supermajority (3/5 of Congress).

Leadership Positions

• In democratic governments, the majority party appoints leaders, exemplified by the British Parliament's Prime Minister.
• House leaders include the Speaker, majority and minority leaders, assistant leaders, whips, and a party caucus or conference.
• The Speaker leads the House, combining institutional and administrative roles.
• Majority and minority leaders represent their parties on the House floor.
• Whips assist leadership in managing their party's legislative program.
• A party caucus or conference is a meeting or organization of all party members in the House.
• Senate leadership positions include floor leaders/party leaders and whips.
• Floor leaders act as spokespersons for their party's positions.
• Whips ensure party discipline in the legislature.

Powers of the Speaker of the House

• The Speaker is the most important leader in the House.
• This position is mandated by the Constitution.
• Selected by the majority party and typically a senior member.
• Powers include:
• Presiding over the House during sessions.
• Playing a major role in committee assignments.
• Appointing party legislative leaders and leadership staff.
• Exercising substantial control over bill assignments to committees.

Differences Between British Parliament and Congress

• Congress has a balance of power between houses.
• Represents all people (districts and states).
• No direct tie to the executive seat.
• Representatives have set election times.
• Senate seats are elected on a rotating basis.
• One-third of the Senate is up for election every two years. Once elected you remain for six years.

Legislative Oversight

• Involves review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, and policy implementation.
• Provides the legislative branch with an opportunity to inspect, examine, review, and check the executive branch and its agencies.
• Committees conduct oversight mainly through hearings, reviewing agency budgets and implementation of laws.

Presidential Responsibilities

• Outlined in Article II of the Constitution.
• Includes the power to:
• Call state units of the National Guard into service.
• Make treaties with Senate approval.
• Receive ambassadors and work with foreign leaders.
• Nominate heads of governmental departments, federal judges, and Supreme Court justices (subject to Senate approval).
• Issue pardons for federal offenses.
• Convene Congress for special sessions.
• Veto legislation (limited by potential override by a two-thirds vote in Congress).

War Powers Act

• Limits the President's authority to wage war and reasserts Congressional authority over foreign wars.
• Requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing troops.
• Forbids forces from remaining for more than 90 days without Congressional approval.

Line-Item Veto

• The power of an executive authority to nullify specific provisions of a bill without vetoing the entire package.
• Often used by state governments, but not at the federal level.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

• Produces the president's budget.
• Examines agency programs, policies, and procedures to ensure they comply with the president's policies.
• Coordinates inter-agency policy initiatives.

Rule of Propinquity

• The closer one is to power, the more power one has.
• Having the right connections makes a big difference.

Veto Power

• The President can reject a bill passed by Congress.
• Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote.

Executive Orders (EOs)

• State mandatory requirements for the Executive Branch and have the effect of law.
• Two types: proclamation (creates national holidays) and national security directives (focus on security and defense).

Unitary Executive Theory

• 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.
• Example: The president as commander in chief can unilaterally commit troops to a foreign country.

Spoils System

• Practice of rewarding supporters with government jobs.
• Made famous by Senator William Marcy, who said, "To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy."
• Pendleton Civil Service Act provided for the selection of some government employees by competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation.
• Hatch Act prohibits civil service employees from actively participating in partisan politics while on duty.

Civil Service

• Permanent professional branches of a government's administration, excluding military and judicial branches and elected politicians.
• Federal government jobs are awarded based on merit, selected through competitive exams.
• Pendleton Civil Service Act mandated federal government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit.

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

• Manages the civil service of the federal government.
• Coordinates recruiting of new government employees and manages their health insurance and retirement benefits programs.
• Elaborate rules about hiring, promotion, working conditions, and firing.
• Assigns each job a GS (General Schedule) rating from GS 1 to GS 18, with salaries keyed to rating and experience.

Senior Executive Service (SES)

• Approximately 9,000 members at the top of the civil service system (GS 16–18).
• The "cream of the crop" of federal employees.
• Hold key positions just below top Presidential appointees.
• The president may move them from one agency to another as leadership needs change.

Regulatory Agencies

• Government agencies responsible for some sector of the economy, making and enforcing rules to protect the public interest.

Government Corporations

• Provide a service that could be handled by the private sector.
• Charge for their services, often at cheaper rates.
• TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) was the first government corporation.

Independent Executive Agencies

• Agencies that are not cabinet departments, regulatory commissions, or government corporations.
• Administrators are typically appointed by the president and serve at his will.
• Examples: National Science Foundation (NSF), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Federal Reserve Board (FRB)

• Charged with governing banks and regulating the money supply and interest rates.
• Monitors financial system risks.

Iron Triangles vs. Issue Networks

• Iron triangles: committees in the House and Senate, federal departments and agencies, and think tanks and interest groups all work together to develop and conserve their own power, and expand their political influence.
• Issue networks: alliances of various interest groups and individuals who unite to promote a common cause or agenda.
• Issue networks have led to more widespread participation in bureaucratic policymaking.

Legislative Veto

• A provision allowing a congressional resolution to nullify an action taken by an executive agency.
• Ruled unconstitutional in Immigration and Nationality Act.

INS v. Chadha (1983)

• The Immigration and Nationality Act allowed a one-House veto of executive actions.
• The Court held that the particular section of the Act violated the Constitution's separation of powers.

National Performance Review (NPR)

• The federal government's implementation of the concepts of reinventing government.

Freedom of Information Act

• A federal law that generally provides that any person has a right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to federal agency records.
• Allows the public to gain access to government documents.

Office of the Solicitor General

• Supervises and conducts government litigation in the United States Supreme Court.

Court Opinions

• Majority opinion: A judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court.
• Dissenting opinion: An opinion written by a judge who disagrees with the majority opinion.
• Concurring opinion: An opinion written by a judge who agrees with the majority's decision but for different reasons.
• Stare decisis: A decision in court made based on previous court cases

Judicial Review

• The Supreme Court's ability to declare a Legislative or Executive act in violation of the Constitution.
• Established in Marbury v. Madison (1803).

Judicial Philosophies

• Judicial restraint: A judge does not inject his or her own preferences into legal proceedings and rulings.
• Judicial activism: Judges decide cases to advance their preferred policies and go beyond the applicable law to consider broader societal implications of its decisions.

Legal Brief

• A written argument submitted to the court to persuade the courtroom to rule in favor of that lawyer's client.