2
How a Bill Becomes a Law
America Government Unit IV Part A: The Legislative Branch
All bills must be introduced by a Congressman
either House of Congress
Either the Speaker or the President or the
Senate refer the bill to a Standing Committee, a permanent groups of Congressman who consider bills of the same category.
Identical bills must be passed by both the
House and the Senate before it goes to the president. Bills are often proposed simultaneously in both houses
The Powers of Congress
HoR Part III
Many of the powers of congress were covered
previously and are laid out in Article I. These powers include:
Taxing, Borrowing Money, Trade, Currency,
Bankruptcy, Foreign Relations, Declaring War, Naturalizing Immigrants, Copyrights & Patents, Weights & Measures, Administration of Territories, Amending the Constitution, & Eminent Domain.
Of course, The Elastic Clause from Article I
Section 8 gives Congress many implied powers as well.
The US Senate
Census (official count of population) is taken every
10 years determines the number of reps a state gets.
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 froze the
number of members at 435.
Gerrymandering is the process of redrawing
congressional districts, a power of the State's Government, in order for one party to gain a majority of seats and electors.
Wesberry v Sanders was a US Supreme Court
case that made purposely under-representing minorities illegal
THE FILIBUSTERERS!!!!!!!
The Senate consists of 100
members who serve 6 year office. 2 are elected for each state.
You must be 30 years old and be a
US citizen for 9 years, and live in the state you are running for before being elected.
Continuous Body- All of the Senate's
seats are never up for re-election at once. (33 or 34 every 2 years)
Gerrymandering
Congress in Action: Part II
Congress in Action Part I
Nancy Pelosi
Kevin MaCarthy
Both houses of congress also contain the
following positions:
Floor Leaders: Majority and Minority leaders.
Strategists who try to carry our party wishes.
Party Whips: Gather support for each party's
initiatives
Both houses of Congress are concerned with
making laws in the form of bills (proposed laws) that must approved by both Houses of Congress & then be signed into law by the President
Steny Hoyer
Steve Scalise
The Bicameral US Congress
https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2016/01/maps.jpg&w=1484
HoR Part II
President of the Senate: Head office of the
Senate is also held by the Vice President. He only votes if there is a tie.
President Pro Tempore: Temporary
replacement for the VP. From the majority party of the senate. Same duties as President of Senate.
Speaker of the House: Head office of HoR.
Chosen by majority party. Votes to break ties and keeps order.
Mike Pence
Tim Kaine
Orrin Hatch
Tim Ryan
Congress: The term used to collectively identify
both houses of America's bicameral legislature
Congress is split into the House of Representatives
& the Senate
Congress runs in terms (2 year periods of time
between Congressional elections), which are broken down into sessions (1 year block of time that congress meets during. It cant end without both houses agreeing.)
Special Session - Emergency meetings of
Congress called by the President during times of crisis
House elections are held every 2 years.
Each district is referred to as a Single
Member District because only one member represents the citizens within the district, roughly 700,000 people.
Currently Ohio is sitting with 16 districts,
Youngstown, Warren and Akron all fall within the 13th.
Tim Ryan from Niles is the representative
for the 13th district
How a Bill Becomes a Law Part II
The House of Representatives
Congress Checks the Other Two Branches
The House of Representatives consists of 435 members form all
fifty states. Representation is based upon population, With 12 states in the double digits and 38 in the singles. To be a representative you must be at least 25 and have lived in the US for a minimum of 7 years
Bills are investigated in Subcommittees, lower level staffers working for Congressmen, that either do ro don't recommend it to the standing committee
If it is passed by the committee, the Bill is sent to either the Speaker or Pres. of the Senate for introduction.
The Bill is read before each house, re it must be approved bu a majority of either Senators or Representatives. If approve3d, it is taken to the other house where the same thing happens.
Filibuster - A special tool that allows Senators to talk a bill to death. They may talk about anything to block a vote on a bill. EX. Strom Thurmond talked for over 24 hours in 1957
If both houses approve the bill, it is then sent to the President, who can either sign it into law, Veto (send it back), or ignore it and let it become law.
Congress can override a presidential veto with a 2/3 majority vote. Only happened once in the Obama presidency.
1. Congress can Impeach the
President
2. The Senate approves
presidential nominees & Treaties
3. The HoR can pick the president
is no canidate gets 270 elctoral votes!