Congressional Flow Chart

Congressional Flow Chart

Bellam, Calderon, Chou, de la Paz, Hopham

Personal Staff

Lobbyists

House Rules Committee

Executive Bureaucracy

People hired by a business or a cause to persuade legislators to support that business or cause. Lobbyists get paid to win favor from politicians.

Spend their time on casework, providing services to constituents. They answer mail, communicate members views to voters, and help constituents solve problems.

and

Group that considers all bills reported from policy and fiscal committees and determines whether, and in what order, to schedule their consideration on the floor of the House; also reviews, adopts, and schedules consideration of floor resolutions

Lobbyists try to influence legislation on behalf of a group or individual who hires them.

Bills are then passed to the

Executive bureaucracies are commonly the source of regulations. In this context, the executive branch of government consists of leader(s) of an office or multiple offices.

They then can propose a

which is then submitted to the

Bill

contribute to the overall success of an individual or a group thereof in influencing the government.

Then

A proposed law, drafted in legal language. Anyone can draft a bill, but only a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate can formally submit a bill for consideration.

Staff Agencies

led by

Information is relayed from the House to the Senate via

A bill must undergo a series of considerations before becoming a law.

responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions. Congress has three important staff agencies:

1. Congressional Research Service ( CRS)

2. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

3. Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

Staff agencies each have their own function in order to support a specific sector. The CRS provides members with nonpartisan studies and also tracks the progress of major bills, prepares summaries of bills, and makes information available electronically. The CBO focuses on analyzing the president's budget and making economic projections about the performance of the economy, the cost of proposed policies, and the economic effect of taxing and spending alternatives. The GAO reviews the activities of the executive branch to see if it is following the the congressional intent of laws by investigating the efficiency and effectiveness of policy implementations. Also sets government standards for accounting, provides legal options, and settles claims against the government.

is

which

often

Joint Committees

House Committee Chairs

staff agencies oversee that success in the Congressional world.

headed

A committee chair serves as the parliamentary head of a committee.

Perform housekeeping functions or studies.

by

Conference Committee

the

but a

The chair sets the committee’s agenda. The House Committee Chairs lead the Policy Committee in developing minority policy positions. It also serves as the party’s communicator and educator on key policy issues.

Given narrow jurisdictions, therefore lacking authority to report legislation. Composed of members of both houses, can be investigative in nature, and may issue periodic reports to the House and Senate. Joint committees can be appointed to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same bill.

Speaker of the House

A committee of the United States Congress that is appointed by the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill. The committee is generally composed of senior Members of the standing committees of each House that originally considered the legislation.

House Committee Chairmen are awarded the position based on seniority and work to decide whether and when bills will be discussed.

Second in line to succeed the President, after the Vice President; leader of the House, institutional role of presiding officer and administrative head of the House, partisan role of leader of the majority party in the House, and the representative role of an elected Member of the House

Conference committees operate after the House and the Senate have passed different versions of a bill. The Conference committees are responsible for drafting a compromise bill that both houses can accept. Conference committees are extremely controversial when the houses are controlled by different parties. House rules require that one conference meeting is open to the public. Many times, the conference committee produces a conference report combining the work of the House and Senate into a final version of the bill.

who

who is countered by

is also a

In 2011, agreements were made in Iowa after the Iowa House agreed to conference committees to settle the differences between the House and Iowa Senate. Legislators met in conference committees and compromises were found on four major budget bills.

is

a

Once an agreement is reached, the

is used if there are differences in the same bill in the two houses

House Majority/ Minority Leader

Congressperson

Standing Committee

A member of legislative congress, especially the US House of Representatives

includes the speaker, majority and minority leaders, assistant leaders, whips and a party caucus or conference. The speaker acts as leader of the House and combines several institutional and administrative roles. Majority and minority leaders represent their respective parties on the House floor.

investigates the proposed laws.

Permanent bodies with specific responsibilities established by rules of chamber.

Congressperson Brown campaigned for the United States Senate in the 2014 election. Brown won the Republican nomination by a significant margin, but was defeated in a difficult race by incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen in the general election.

Standing committees serve as the Senate's principal investigative arm. They review bills, most of which are never sent to the floor. They also have oversight responsibility to monitor agencies, programs, and activities within their jurisdictions, and in some cases in areas that cut across committee jurisdictions. Standing committees are permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules, these committees exist beyond the adjournment of each two-year meeting of Congress.

Minority leaders counters the Speaker in order to voice possible areas of opposition and voice minority rights. Majority leaders, conversely, voice the concerns of the masses. Regardless, both minority and majority leaders plan agendas, schedule floor consideration, and consult with other Congresspeople to further understand how well a bill or policy is being received.

In general,

Senator

House Majority Leader Cantor became House Majority Leader when the 112th Congress convened on January 3, 2011. He previously served as House Minority Whip from 2009 until 2011. His district includes most of the northern and western sections of Richmond, along with most of Richmond's western suburbs and portions of the Shenandoah Valley.

as

Due to their permanent nature, standing committees exist beyond the adjournment of each two-year meeting of Congress.

is

A member of the senate must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the United States for at least nine years, and an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected; must be duly sworn in

assisted by

a

Seniority System

House Majority/ Minority Whip

Senator McCain has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, opposed spending that he considered to be pork barrel, and played a key role in alleviating a crisis over judicial nominations.

The practice of granting privileges to members of Congress (Senators and Representatives) who have served the longest.

determines who is in charge, as in the case with

Assistants to the floor leaders who are also elected by their party conferences. The majority and minority whips (and their assistants) are responsible for mobilizing votes within their parties on major issues. In the absence of a party floor leader, the whip often serves as acting floor leader.

The privileges with the seniority system range from choice of offices to choice of committee assignments, for example. In addition, members with a longer term of service on a committee are assumed to be "senior" and have more power in the committee. Seniority is usually considered when each party awards committee chairmanships. Seniority is also more important in the Senate than in the House of Representatives due to the nature of the terms of office.

The role of the majority leader has been defined by history and tradition. This officer is charged with scheduling legislation for floor consideration; planning the daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas; consulting with Members to gauge party sentiment; and, generally working to advance the goals of the majority party.

and

Senate Committee Chair

House Majority Whip Scalise is the current United States House of Representatives Majority Whip and representative for Louisiana's 1st congressional district, serving since 2008. He is a member of the Republican Party and the chairman of the 170-member conservative House Republican Study Committee.

A committee chair serves as the parliamentary head of a committee. They are in charge of the consideration of measures or policy issues that may become public law, review or study a law or issue with focus on the quality of federal programs.

Senate Majority/ Minority Leader

Other Congress people, however, such as

elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Senate spokesmen for their parties and to manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate. By custom, the presiding officer gives the floor leaders priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate.

Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction. Seniority is used to determine who will be given the position. The chair leads the Policy Committee in developing minority policy positions. The chair serves as the party’s communicator and educator on key policy issues.

The majority and minority leaders serve as spokesmen for their parties when defending their stance on various issues. The majority leader has also evolved to speak for the Senate as an institution. The majority leader works with the committee chairs and ranking members, scheduling business on the floor by calling bills from the calendar and keeping members of the party advised about the daily legislative program. In consultation with the minority leader, the majority leader structures unanimous consent agreements by which the Senate limits the amount of time for debate and divides that time between the two parties. If a time limit cannot be agreed upon, the majority leader might file for cloture to shut off debate. The majority and minority leaders coordinate party strategy and try to keep their parties united on roll-call votes. They open the day’s proceedings, keep legislation moving, and protect the rights and interests of party members. The presiding officer in the Senate calls first on the majority leader, then minority, then on the managers of the bill being debated, which allows the two different leaders to have the first and most say in the proceedings.

and their assistants, the

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada is the current Senate minority leader. He was first elected to the Senate in 1986. He was elected to a third term in 1998 and chosen to serve as the Democratic whip.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is the current Senate majority leader.Elected to that position unanimously by his Republican colleagues in 2014, he is only the second Kentuckian to ever serve as Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate. Senator McConnell previously served, again by the unanimous vote of his colleagues, as the Republican Leader in the 110th, 111th, 112th and 113th Congresses and as the Majority Whip in the 108th and 109th Congresses. He was first elected to the senate in 1984.

Senate Majority/Minority Whip

do not have as much authority as the

Assistants to the floor leaders who are also elected by their party conferences. The majority and minority whips (and their assistants) are responsible for mobilizing votes within their parties on major issues. In the absence of a party floor leader, the whip often serves as acting floor leader.

Select Committees

Whips are mostly responsible for counting heads and rounding up party members for votes and quorum calls, and will occasionally stand in for the majority and minority leaders in their absences. The development of party whips coincided with the evolution of party leaders in the Senate; the Democrats established their first whip in 1913, with the GOP establishing their own two years later.

A committee established by the Senate for a limited time period to perform a particular study or investigation that is beyond the authority or capacity of a standing committee.

inform the Chair of other considerations

A select committee is created by a resolution that outlines its duties and power and the procedures for appointing members. The committees generally expire on completion of their designated duties. Several select committees are treated as standing committees by House and Senate rules. 21st century select committees include the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which was eventually disbanded by the House in 2011 following Republican victories at the 2010 mid-terms.

Some select committees, like those to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, are intended to have limited lives. Others, like the Select Committee on Aging and Indian Affairs, have existed for a number of years and actually produce legislation.