The Legislative Branch PDF

The Legislative Branch Objective In this lesson, you will identify the structure and powers of the legislative branch and describe the pros and cons of partisanship. The Structure and Powers of Congress make laws, not to enfor...

The Legislative Branch Objective In this lesson, you will identify the structure and powers of the legislative branch and describe the pros and cons of partisanship. The Structure and Powers of Congress make laws, not to enforce them. The modern Congress possesses only the power to ________ important Nevertheless, Congress remains the single most _________________ institution in American democracy. The Capital of the United States federal In 1790, Congress decided to create a ______________ city as the nation's capital: the District of Columbia. veto The District is governed by an elected mayor and city council, but Congress has the power to ________ its budget and legislation. vote In 1961, the Twenty-third Amendment gave DC residents the right to ________ in presidential elections, and 1970 the District was given three electoral votes. Since ________, Washingtonians have been represented by a active nonvoting member of the House of Representatives. Efforts persist to give that member an ___________ vote. The House of Representatives and the Senate bicameral The modern Congress is _________________, meaning it has two houses, or legislative chambers. The Senate upper is the __________ lower house of Congress; the __________ chamber is the House of Representatives. congress The Framers of the Constitution divided ______________ in two because they wanted each house to role serve a specific ________. vote In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment changed the Constitution to elect senators by popular _______. Congressional Terms and Sessions representatives The group of _____________________ senators and _____________ who serve together in the two-year period January between congressional elections is known as a Congress. A new Congress begins in ______________ following the latest congressional election. The Rule of Law idea passed down to the Founding Fathers. Rule Congress governs the US according to the rule of law, an ________ government of law means that the ____________________ must act in accordance with established laws.  guarantee Several parts of the Constitution, particularly the Fifth Amendment, _______________ the rule of law. clause The due process ___________ states that "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property... without the due process of the law." pass laws. The article assigns the Article I of the Constitution deals with the authority to ________ powers legislative (law making) _____________ of the federal government to "a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives." Checks and Balances The Founding Fathers believed it was important to separate the functions of government so that no one or absolute group of people could have ________________ power. They divided the US government into three branches: write The legislative branch, which is Congress, has the authority to ___________ pass laws. and ________ president The executive branch, headed by the _________________, enforces the laws passed by Congress. interprets The Supreme Court and all lower courts constitute the judicial branch, which _________________ and constitutional applies laws and decides whether laws are ________________________. The executive and judicial branches can check legislature the actions of the __________________. president The __________________ has the power to veto legislation passed by Congress. block The Supreme Court also can __________ laws by declaring them unconstitutional. Congress wields authority over the other two _______ Judges branches. ___________ must be confirmed by Congress. treaties Congress must approve ________________ the president makes with other nations. executive Congress has the power, called impeachment, to remove members of the ________________ and judicial ______________ branches who have broken the law. Bicameral Structure and Relations mirror The Founding Fathers wanted Congress to ____________ the structure of British Parliament with its upper each house to have a _________________ and lower houses. They intended ________ different character and role. The bicameral structure of Congress also solved the Founding Fathers' argument over the representation of states the ____________ population in the legislature. Representation in the House was based on __________________ with equal each state having __________ representation in the Senate. The House of Representatives expanded as the country expanded, until the Reapportionment Act of capped 1929 ____________ 435 the number of representatives at ______. state The Senate has two seats for every __________, it now contains 100 senators. Powers of Congress enumerated Congressional powers are ___________________, meaning they are specifically named in Article I, Section 8, implied of the US Constitution. Or they are _____________, justifiable which means they are reasonably _________________ as necessary to carry out the enumerated powers. pass laws, set federal tax rates, and The enumerated powers of Congress include the power to ________ money regulate interstate commerce. It can authorize the spending of public money and borrow __________. regulates Congress __________________ bankruptcy, oversees the postal system, controls the patent and territories copyright system, makes laws for the ____________________ of the US, establishes federal courts, declares ________________ foreign war, and shares with the president the conduct of ______________ affairs. implied Most of Congress's ______________ powers are based on the Constitution's necessary and proper clause. Non-Legislative Functions of Congress (House & Senate) Congress possesses several powers that do not fall under its legislative authority. Many of these powers oversight involve __________________ of the other branches. For example, the president must obtain congressional appointments approval for __________________ to the Supreme Court and other courts, appointments to cabinet-level positions (for example, Secretaries of State and Education), and to independent regulatory agencies. investigating Another part of Congress's oversight function involves ______________________ abuse of power or other behavior contrary to the public interest. Congress often employs investigations to provide a forum for educating the public about important issues. Congress plays a key role in formally amending the Constitution. Any proposed change must pass both two thirds houses by a ______-_________ vote before being sent to the states for approval. Impeachment Impeachment is the process of The Constitution also grants Congress the power of impeachment. ________________ removing an official from office for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." first During the impeachment process, the House of Representatives must __________ vote by a two-thirds margin try to impeach, or accuse, the official. Then the Senate must _______ the impeachment and decide whether to removed convict the official. If convicted, the official is ______________ from his or her position. Districts and Membership states Senators represent entire ___________, and every state has two senators. The states are subdivided into districts congressional _____________ of roughly equal population, with each district represented by a single member of the House of Representatives. Apportionment reapportioned In contrast to the Senate, the 435 seats in the House are ______________________, or distributed, among the population states according to _______________________. entire Members of the House who are chosen by the ____________ population of a state are known as representatives-at-large. Redistricting election All of the ______________ districts in a state must contain roughly the same number of people, so after each redraw census, the state legislatures meet to ______________ district lines; known as redistricting. Gerrymandering benefits State legislatures often redraw district lines in a way that ________________ the party that controls the partisan legislature. Extreme examples of _________________ redistricting are referred to as gerrymandering. Membership Requirements The requirements to be elected to a two-year term in the House of Representatives. A person must be 25 years old and have been a US citizen for a minimum of __________ at least ____ seven years. 30 years old and The requirements for senators in Article I, Section 3. The candidate must be over ____ nine have been a citizen for at least ________ years to be elected to a six-year term as a US senator. Organization and Leadership Speaker of the House members The Speaker has the parliamentary (procedural) power to recognize or ignore _____________ who wish to rules speak on the floor; to interpret House ___________, which allows the Speaker to determine which legislation  committees is assigned to each committee; to appoint members of special and conference _________________; and to calendar delay or speed up the legislative _______________. President of the Senate The vice president of the US serves as president of the Senate. The vice president may not participate debates in Senate _____________ tie and can vote only in the event of a ______. Majority and Minority Leaders political The members of the majority and minority parties elect leaders in each chamber. They are _______________ party leaders whose leadership abilities and powers of persuasion are recognized by their fellow lawmakers. supervise The role of the leaders is to ________________ the handling of legislative business. assist Majority and minority whips ____________ the majority and minority leaders. The whips intentions sound out the voting ___________________ of party members and attempt to persuade ______________ or pressure their party's members to vote according to the party position. agenda In the Senate, the majority leader controls the ____________ and schedule because the Senate president's tie role is primarily ceremonial until a _______ vote needs to be broken. The Party System shape Both houses of Congress use the party system primarily to ___________ House their organization. The ___________ Senate behaves more hierarchically and rigidly than the smaller _____________, where an individual senator can influence wield substantial ________________. structures The two-party system dominates US politics because it is so ingrained in congressional _________________. The Legislative Process laws In its fundamental role, the legislative branch creates the __________ of the land. cooperation The process of changing a proposed bill into a new law is complex and requires ____________________ and compromise _____________________. How a Bill becomes a Law formally An idea can come from outside of Congress. But a bill must be ______________ introduced by a member of Congress, either by a member of the House of Representatives into the House, or by a member of the Senate into the Senate. Congressional leaders refer the proposed bill to a (standing/rules) committee for review. If approved, it floor goes to the __________ of where it originated to be considered by the entire chamber.  vote A quorum or a majority of members must be present to vote. No quorum, no ________. A Senator can “filibuster” a bill by speaking non-stop until close of business day to stall the bill or block vote the _________. related Amendments are revisions or changes to the bill; they must be ______________ to the bill or they can not be added. Once a bill passes both the House and the Senate is goes to the president for a vote. If the President law approves the bill, the bill becomes _________. If the president vetoes the law, the process starts over. Summary What are the main roles of the House of Representatives and the Senate? The House has several main roles like the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officials, and even to elect the President in the case of an Electoral College tie. But the Senate has some different roles. They take action on bills, resolutions, amendments, motions, nominations, and treaties by voting.