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The Organization of Congress

Key Terms Bicameral legislature, Reapportionment, Redistricting, Reapportionment Act of 1929, Baker v. Carr, Reynolds v. Sims, Wesberry v. Sanders, Gerrymandering, Packing, Cracking, At-large, Franking privilege, Descriptive representation, Substantive representation, Incumbent, Sophomore Surge, Credit claiming, Pork-barrel legislation, Casework, Speaker of the House, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Whips, House Rules Committee, Quorum, Committee of the Whole, Senatorial Courtesy, Filibuster, Cloture, Standing committees, Joint committees, Conference committees, Select committees, Subcommittee, Legislative oversight, Seniority system, Congressional caucus Learning Targets: I can summarize the background of the members of Congress, and I can discuss the privileges & benefits of office. I can evaluate the principle factors influencing the outcome of congressional elections. I can compare & contrast the House & Senate, and I can discuss the role of congressional leaders, committees, & caucuses in organizing Congress. Candidates who run for the House must be 25 years of age when seated, must have been a citizen of the United States for seven years, and must be an inhabitant of the state from which they are elected. It is also customary for the candidate to live in the district that he or she represents. Members are elected for unlimited 2-year terms.

Representation

&

Reapportionment

The most complicated aspects of the mechanics of congressional elections are the issues of reapportionmentthe allocation of seats in the House to each state after each census every 10 yearsand redistrictingthe redrawing of the boundaries of the districts within each state. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 set up an automatic system to conduct the politically sensitive process of taking seats away from some states while giving them to others, while ensuring that each state receives representation proportional to its population within the 435 seat House of Representatives. The act requires the Census Bureau to allocate seats fairly among the states following each national census, which occurs every ten years.

Congressional Membership
The United States Congress is a bicameral legislatureit is made up of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. It plays a central role in formulating national policies. In doing so, Congress initiates and approves laws dealing with everything from health care to tax changes.

The

House

of

Representatives

With its 435 members, the House of Representatives is the larger body of Congress. The Constitution does not fix the number of representatives in the House. It simply states that the number of House seats must be apportioned, or divided, among the states on the basis of population. Each state is entitled to at least one seat in the House, no matter how small its population.

Congressional

Redistricting

While the Census Bureau now determines how many seats each state receives in the House, the states remain in charge of drawing the boundaries of congressional districts within their own borders, so long as they are geographically contiguous, compact in shape, and roughly equal in population.

Redistricting

Cases

Over the years, some state legislatures abused the redistricting power. They did so in two waysby creating Congressional districts of very unequal populations and by gerrymandering. During the early 1960s, for example, there were 13 states in which the largest district in the state had twice the population of the smallest district. In these states, a person's vote in the largest districts had only half the value of a person's vote in the smallest districts. In a series of decisions, the Supreme Court addressed redistricting issues in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. In a case originating in Tennessee, Baker v. Carr (1962), the Court held that federal courts could decide conflicts over drawing district boundaries. Two years later, in Reynolds v. Sims, the Court held that the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment required that seats in both houses of the Alabama state legislature be apportioned based on population. In Wesberry v. Sanders (Georgia, 1964), the Court ruled that the Constitution clearly intended that a vote in one Congressional district was to be worth as much as debate in another district. This principle has come to be known as the "oneperson, one-vote" rule. As a result, today each Congressional district contains about 720,000 people.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Congressional districts must be compact and contiguous, or physically adjoining. This requirement, plus the one-person, one-vote ruling, has cut down on some of the worst examples of gerrymandering. Nevertheless, the competitive struggle of the two-party system continues to fuel the practice of gerrymandering.

The

Senate

The Senate differs from the House of Representatives in several ways. First, the Senate has less than one-fourth the number of seats as the House. Senators represent a larger base of constituents than House members do; two senators represent their entire state as representatives at-large, whereas House members represent a single district within their state. Senators must be at least 30 years of age, they must be a resident of the state they represent, and they must have been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years. In an effort to maintain continuity in the Senate, only one-third of the senators stand for re-election at one time, once every six years. With the high rate of incumbent retention, the Senate membership tends to change much slower than the membership of the House of Representatives.

Salary

&

Benefits

Gerrymandering
Historically, state legislatures have abused their power to divide the state into congressional districts by gerrymandering, or creating unusually shaped districts, for political purposes. Gerrymandering often results in district boundaries that have irregular shapes. The term gerrymander can be traced to Massachusetts politician, Elbridge Gerry, who attempted to redistrict Massachusetts in 1812 in order to favor Democratic-Republicans. "Packing" and "cracking" are ways to gerrymander. Packing a district means drawing the lines so that they include as many of the opposing party's voters as possible. Crowding the opposition's voters into one district makes the remaining districts safe for the majority party's candidates. Cracking means dividing an opponent's voters into other districts. The division weakens the opponent's voter base.

The Senate and the House set their own salaries. In 1789, salaries for both houses were $6 per day. Low pay in the early years deterred some people from running for Congress. As a result, Congress has voted itself periodic salary increases. The current salary for members of the House and Senate is $174,000. In addition to their salaries, members of Congress enjoy a number of benefits and resources for conducting official business. These include stationary, postage for official business (called the franking privilege), a medical clinic, and a gymnasium. Members also receive large allowances to pay for their office staff and assistants, trips home, telephones, telegrams, and newsletters. All members are entitled to an income tax deduction to help maintain two residencesone in their home state and one in Washington, D.C. Moreover, when they retire, senators and representatives may be eligible for pensions of $150,000 or more for life.

Characteristics of Congress
Characteristics
The characteristics shared by members of Congress tend to be more uniform than the constituents they represent. Like members tend to be male, white, wealthy, and have a law or business career background. Since the characteristics of members of Congress do not match the demographics of the American people, they cannot claim descriptive representationthat is, representing constituents by mirroring their personal, politically relevant characteristics. They may, however, engage in substantive representationrepresenting the interests of groups. For example, members of Congress with a background of wealth and privilege, such as the late Senator Edward Kennedy, can be champions for the interests of the poor. Moreover, most members of Congress have lived in the constituencies they represent for many years and share the beliefs and attitudes of a large proportion of their constituents. If they do not share such perspectives, they may find it difficult to keep their seats come election time. At the same time, women and African Americans in Congress are achieving important positions on committees, increasing the chances of making descriptive representation effective.

Congressional

Elections

Congressional elections are demanding, expensive, and, as you will see, generally foregone conclusionsyet members of Congress are first and foremost politicians. Men and women may run for Congress to forge new policy initiatives, but they also enjoy politics and consider a position in Congress near the top of their chosen profession. Even if they dislike politics, without reelection they will not be around long enough to shape policy.

Today, the incumbentor the candidate who currently holds officeenjoys an advantage in most congressional elections. In a race for a seat in the House of Representatives, incumbents win 80 to 90 percent of the time. If House candidates develop a following during their first term, they can expect to get 8 to 10 percent more votes when running for re-election, even if they do not receive party support. This increase in voter support is called the sophomore surge, a phenomenon that began in the 1960s. Incumbent candidates in the Senate are re-elected at a lower rate than those in the House, but still have a huge advantage over new candidates. This is because Senators report to diverse constituents across an entire state, while House representatives report to a more uniform, and usually much smaller, district. The difference in constituent diversity and size opens up a larger base for opposition to a Senate incumbent. In addition, senators who run every six years have less contact with voters, making the Senate incumbent seat harder to maintain. There are several reasons incumbents hold an advantage over new candidates. First, since many Americans know that incumbency often leads to re-election, it tends to stifle election competition. A second reason incumbents hold an advantage is that they have an almost two-toone advantage in raising money over new candidates. Incumbents typically have an easier time gaining the financial support of Political Action Committees (PACs) and interest groups since these organizations can review voting records to verify support for their cause. For example, in the 1997-1998 congressional races, PACs donated $158.3 million to incumbents, while they only donated $21.4 million to challengers. While the bigger spender does not always win, more funding, especially in the primaries, is a great advantage.

The

Power

of

Incumbency

While the president is limited to serving two terms in office, members of Congress can serve an unlimited number of terms. In the midnineteenth century, most congressional representatives served only a single term because at that time politics was not considered a career. However, by the mid-twentieth century, congressional representatives began to view holding congressional office as a prestigious career.

In addition, members of Congress work hard to get themselves known in their constituencies, and they usually succeed. In a typical week, members spend some time in their home districts, even though their districts may be hundreds of miles from Washington. Similarly, members use the franking privilege to mail newsletters to every household in their constituency. More recently, members of Congress have employed technology to bring franking into the digital age. Congressional staffers track the interests of individual voters, file the information in a database, and then use e-mails or phone calls to engage directly with voters on issues they know they care about. Using taxpayers money, legislators employ a new technology that allows them to call thousands of households simultaneously with a recorded message, inviting people in their districts to join in on a conference call. With the push of a button, the constituent is on the line with the House memberand often 1,000 or more fellow constituents. Equally important, the lawmaker knows from the phone numbers where the respondents live and, from what they say on the call, what issues interest them. Information gathered from these events, as well as from emails and phone calls from constituents, gets plugged into a database, giving the incumbent something a challenger could only dream ofa detailed list of the specific interests of thousands of would-be voters. Credit claiming is also helpful at campaign time. Incumbents can stress their policy making record and emphasize their stands on new policy issues. They can also demonstrate how they have helped their constituents by introducing bills, voting for legislation, and bringing pork-barrel legislationfederal projects, grants, and contractsto their districts. A final way in which incumbents hold an advantage over new candidates is that they may use casework, or the direct consideration of a constituents problem, when trying to gain reelection. For example, an incumbent might use his or her political connections to help an individual cut through the bureaucratic red tape on a personal issue, which would then result in good word-of-mouth publicity for the incumbent. Although incumbents usually enjoy an advantage, special circumstances can negatively influence an incumbents re-election. For example, scandal, major economic shift, or a

lasting change in the arrangement of political forces could influence a candidates re-election. Incumbent or not, all congressional candidates must appeal to the more motivated voters, since only about 37 percent of the population vote in mid-term or off-year congressional elections the elections that occur between presidential election years. Those who do vote are usually party regulars, political activists, or those who might be strongly affected by the outcome. As a result, candidates must appeal to partisan voters, those loyal to a specific party.

The House of Representatives

Leading 100 senators or 435 representatives in Congresseach jealous of his or her own power and responsible to no higher power than the constituencyis no easy task. Few members of the House, fewer still in the Senate, Robert Peabody once wrote, consider themselves followers. Much of the leadership in Congress is really party leadership. There are a few formal posts whose occupants are chosen by nonparty procedures, but those who have the real power in the congressional hierarchy are those whose party put them there.

Rules

for

Lawmaking

The main task of each house of Congress is the sameto make laws. Because the House and Senate differ in many ways, each house has organized itself to carry out its work . The House and Senate each print their rules every two years. House rules are generally aimed at defining the actions an individual representative can take, such as limiting representatives to speaking for five minutes or less during a debate. The complex rules in the House are geared toward moving legislation quickly once each reaches the floor. House debates rarely last more than one day. Moreover, leaders of the House of Representatives have more power than leaders in the Senate. For example, the rules of the House allow its leaders to make key decisions about legislative work without consulting other House members.

House

Leadership

More than four times as large as the Senate, the hierarchical organization of the House allows both Democrats and Republicans to give chosen leaders, such as the Speaker of the House and the majority and minority leaders, the power to influence members of their parties. The leader of

the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House. This is the only legislative office mandated by the Constitution. The party that holds the most seats in the House, the majority party, elects this leader. The Speaker is also second in line for the presidency after the vice president. Some Speakers, like Thomas B. Reed in the late 1800s and Joe Cannon in the early 1900s, wielded their authority by changing House rules, limiting debates, and increasing power of certain committees in order to increase their own power. A great revolt in 1910 whittled down the Speakers powers and gave some of them to committees, but six decades later, members of the House restored some of the Speakers powers. Today the Speaker does the following: y y Presides over the House when it is in session Plays a major role in making committee assignments, which are coveted by all members to ensure their electoral advantage Appoints or plays a key role in appointing the partys legislative leaders and the party leadership staff Exercises substantial control over which bills get assigned to which committees

Usually the House starts its floor sessions at noon or earlier Monday through Friday. Mondays are reserved for routine work, and not much is done on Fridays because many representatives leave to go to their home districts over the weekend. Thus, most of the House's important work is done from Tuesday through Thursday. Committees do most of the work in Congress. Because the membership of the House is so large, its members must organize themselves into smaller groups in order to accomplish their work efficiently. In the committees, representatives have more influence than on the House floor, and they have time to study and shape bills.

The majority and minority leaders of the House are second in power. These figures lead each partys delegation. The majority leader works closely with the Speaker, his partisan ally. The minority leader serves as floor leader of the minority party. The majority and minority leaders are assisted on the floor and in party caucuses by the majority and minority whips, who carry the word to party troops, counting votes before they are cast and leaning on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill. Party whips also report the views and complaints of the party rank and file back to the leadership.

The

House

Rules

Committee

Lawmaking

in

the

House

The Rules Committee, unique to the House, reviews most bills coming from a House committee before they go to the full House. Performing a traffic cop function, the Rules Committee gives each bill a rule, which schedules the bill on either the Union Calendar or House Calendar, allots time for debate, and sometimes even specifies what kind of amendments may be offered. Today, the committee usually brings legislation to the floor under rules that limit or prohibit amendments and thus the opportunities for the minority to propose changes. The Rules Committee also settles disputes among other House committees. For example, the Armed Services Committee may be considering a bill that involves an area also covered by the Veterans' Affairs Committee. The Rules Committee can help resolve any dispute between the two committees. Finally, the Rules Committee can delay or block bills that representatives and House leaders do

To a visitor, the floor of the House of Representatives may seem totally disorganized. Some representatives talk in small groups or read newspapers. Others constantly walk in and out of the chamber. Most representatives are not even on the floor because they are in committee meetings, talking with voters, or taking care of other business. Representatives reach the floor quickly, however, when it is time to debate or vote on proposed bills.

not want to come to a vote on the floor. In this way, the Rules Committee draws criticism away from members who might have to take an unpopular stand on a bill if it reaches the floor.

majority is required to confirm the appointment. The Senate also has the right to confirm treaties and try impeached officials. A two-thirds vote is required for a treaty confirmation or to convict an impeached official. Senate committees operate similarly to the House committees. The Senate has 16 standing committees that are further divided into subcommittees. Examples of Senate committees include the Armed Services Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, and the Environment and Public Works Committee. Members of the Senate also serve on joint, conference, and select committees. As in the House of Representatives, senators try to serve on committees that will allow them to affect legislation that will impact their home state. For example, a Nebraska senator will seek a seat on the Agricultural Committee. Senators will also seek seats on the so-called power committees (Appropriations, Armed Services, Judiciary, and Finance) to gain personal prestige and help affect national policy.

Quorum

for

Business

A quorum is the minimum number of representatives who must be present to permit a legislative body to take official action. For a regular session, a quorum consists of the majority of the House - 218 members. When the House meets to debate and amend legislation, it may sit as a Committee of the Whole. In that case, only 100 members constitute a quorum. This procedure helps speed the consideration of important bills. The Committee of the Whole cannot, however, pass a bill. Instead, it reports the measure back to the full House with whatever changes it has made. The House then has the authority to pass or reject the bill.

The Senate
The Senate at Work
Power in the Senate is not as clearly defined as it is in the House, and it is much more widely dispersed. Although the Constitution makes the vice president of the United States the president of the Senate, the real power is held by the majority and minority leaders who dictate legislative agenda. The party whips are the senators who ensure good communication among party members and work with the party leaders to urge members to vote with the party on key issues. Due to their key role, the whips retain a great deal of power, as well. As in the House, committee and sub-committee chairpersons also command significant power. The Constitution delegates specific powers to the Senate. The power of confirmation gives the Senate particular authority and influence over the president and the executive department. The Senate has the power to confirm the most important presidential appointments, including major heads of bureaucratic agencies, federal judges (including Supreme Court Justices), and top advisors in the executive office. Senate hearings usually precede confirmations in the appropriate committee. For example, the Justice Department Committee reviews the appointment of federal judges through interviews and public hearings. Senatorial courtesy is the practice whereby the president, before making a judicial appointment in a particular state, ensures that the senators from that state support the nomination. When a candidate has made it through committee approval, a simple Senate

The Senate is different from the House in how it conducts business and determines legislation. Historically, the Senate has held itself out to be a contemplative body that is willing to spend more time discussing legislation. Unlike the House, the Senate has open and unrestricted debate on bills. In fact, one unique strategy used by senators to block legislation is the filibuster. A filibuster occurs when opponents of a proposed piece of legislation debate the topic as long as possible to prevent the Senate from voting on the bill. By refusing to sit down, a senator, or group of senators, can literally talk a bill to death. Unwilling to yield the floor, the senators can force a motion that will end proceedings on the bill. The longest filibuster was over 24 hours long and was carried out by South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond during

a debate on a civil rights bill in the 1950s. The filibuster failed, and the bill was made law in spite of Senator Thurmonds efforts. Despite its power, the filibuster can be deterred. A motion for cloture, or a vote to limit debate and end a filibuster, can be entertained in the Senate. Senators voting on cloture usually vote along strict partisan lines, and as it requires a three-fifths majority (or 60 votes) to pass, parties that call for cloture seldom succeed. The filibuster was once an extraordinary tactic that senators used sparingly and seldom. However, it has become a common method used to defeat presidential appointments and legislation that has the potential to split party loyalties. Many have sought to change the rules to make filibustering difficult to enact.

corresponds to the committees area of concern. Because the majority party in each house controls the standing committees, it selects a chairperson for each from among its party members. In addition, party membership on standing committees is usually divided in direct proportion party's strength in each house. For example, if 60 percent of the members of the House of Representatives are Republicans, the 60 percent of the members of each House standing committee will be Republicans as well. Joint committees are congressional committees that draw members from both the House and the Senate. In theory, they act as study groups with responsibility for reporting their findings back to the House and Senate in an effort to coordinate the work of the two houses of Congress. In practice, lawmakers usually limit joint committees to handling routine matters such as are handled by the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress. Some joint committees, however, have been set up to study more volatile matters such as atomic energy, defense, and taxation. Joint committees do not have the authority to deal directly with bills or to propose legislation to Congress. Conference committees also draw members from both the House and the Senate. These committees gain consensus on similar bills passed by the House and the Senate before they are presented to the president. In this way, conference committees play a key role in policy making. The committee accomplishes this task by bargaining over each section of the bill. A majority of the conferees from each house must accept the final compromise bill - called a conference report - before it can be sent back to

Committees & Subcommittees

Bills begin and end their lives in committees, whether they are passed into law or not. Hearings from interest groups and agency bureaucrats are held at the committee and subcommittee level, and committee members play key roles in floor debate about the bills that they foster. Committees help to organize the most important work of Congressconsidering, shaping, and passing laws to govern the nation. 8,000 or so bills go to committee annually. Fewer than 10% of those bills make it out for consideration on the floor.

Types
There are committees: four

of
types of

Committees
congressional

Standing committees are always assembled and are the most important committees of the House. There are approximately 20 standing committees. Examples include the Agriculture, Budget, Rules, Ways and Means, and Appropriations Committees. Standing committees handle bills within their areas of concern. Each committee is broken into subcommittees that hold hearings, discuss proposed laws, add amendments, and conduct oversight on the bureaucratic agency that

the floor of the House and Senate. When the conference committee's report does reach the floor of each house, it must be considered as a whole. It may not be amended. Select committees are appointed for specific purposes, such as matters of great public concern, overlooked problems, or problems of interest groups who claim that Congress has not met their needs. Some, like the select committees to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, are obviously intended to have limited lives. Others, like the Select Committee on Aging and the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, have existed for a number of years and actually produce legislation. Sometimes long-standing select committees eventually become standing committees.

Committees handle oversight mainly through hearings. Agency heads and even cabinet secretaries testify, bringing graphs, charts, and data on the progress they have made and the problems they face. However, the majority party largely determines if and when a committee will hold hearings. When the presidents party has a majority in a house of Congress, that chamber is generally not aggressive in overseeing the administration because it does not wish to embarrass the president.

Getting

on

Committee

The

Committees

at

Work

Every bill goes to a committee, which has virtually the power of life and death over it. The whole House or Senate usually considers only bills that obtain a favorable committee report. A new bill that the Speaker sends to a committee typically goes directly to a subcommittee, which can hold hearings on the bill. Sizable committee and subcommittee staffs conduct research, line up witnesses for hearings, and write and rewrite bills. Committees and their subcommittees produce reports on proposed legislation. A committees most important output, however, is the marked-up (rewritten) bill itself, which it submits to the full House or Senate for debate and voting. The work of committees does not stop when the bill leaves the committee room. Members of the committee usually serve as floor managers of the bill, helping party leaders hustle votes for it. They are also the cue givers to whom other members turn for advice. When the Senate and House pass different versions of the same bill, some committee members serve on the conference committee. The committees and subcommittees do not leave the scene even after legislation passes. They stay busy in legislative oversight, the process of monitoring the bureaucracy and its administration of policies, most of which were established by Congress. Members constantly monitor how the bureaucracy is implementing a law, providing opportunities to refine existing policies or respond to new problems.

One of the primary objectives of an incoming member of Congress is getting on the right committee. A new member of the House from Iowa would probably prefer to be on the Agriculture Committee while a freshman senator from New York might seek membership on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Members seek committees that will help them achieve three goals: reelection, influence in Congress, and the opportunity to make policy in areas they think are important. Just after their election, new members communicate their committee preferences to their partys congressional leaders and members of their state delegation. Every committee includes members from both parties, but a majority of each committees members, as well as its chair, come from the majority party in the chamber. Each party in each house has a slightly different way of picking its committee members. Party leaders almost always play a key role.

Committee System

Chairs

&

the

Seniority

Committee chairs are the most important influencers of the committee agenda. They play dominant roles in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house. Until the 1970s, there was a simple way of picking committee chairs: the seniority system. If committee members had served on their committee longest and their party controlled the chamber, they got to be chairsregardless of their party loyalty, mental state, or competence. The chairs were so powerful for most of the twentieth century that they could bully members or bottle up legislation at any timeand with almost certain knowledge that they would be

chairs for the rest of their electoral life. Then in the 1970s, younger members of Congress revolted, and as a result both parties in both branches permitted members to vote on committee chairs. Today seniority remains the general rule for selecting chairs, especially in the Senate, but there are plenty of exceptions. In addition, new rules have limited both committee and subcommittee chairs to three consecutive twoyear terms as chair, and committee chairs have lost the power to cast proxy votes for those committee members not in attendance. In general, committee chairs are not as powerful as they were before the reform era. The party leadership in the House has much more control over legislation, often giving committees deadlines for reporting legislation and at times, for its priority legislation, even bypassing committees. Congressional Caucuses Although the formal organization of Congress consists of its party leadership and its committee structures, the informal organization of Congress is also important. Informal networks of trust and mutual interest have long sprung from numerous sources, including friendship, ideology, and geography. Lately, the informal organization of Congress has been dominated by a growing number of caucuses. In this context, a caucus is a group of members of Congress who share some interest or characteristic. There are more than 250 caucuses, most of them containing members from both parties and some containing members from both the House and the Senate. The goal of all caucuses is to promote the interests around which they are formed. Caucuses press for committees to hold hearings, push particular legislation, and pull together votes on bills they favor. They are somewhat like interest groups but with a difference: their members are members of Congress, not petitioners to Congress on the outside looking in. This explosion of informal groups in Congress has made the representation of interests in Congress a more direct process. Some caucuses, such as the Congressional Black Caucus, the Caucus for Womens Issues, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, focus on advancing the interests of demographic groups. Others, such as the Sunbelt Caucus, are based

on regional groupings. Still others, such as the Republican Study Committee, are ideological group-ings. Many other caucuses are based on economic interests. For example, the Congressional Bourbon Caucus advocates for the bourbon industry by fighting proposals like a tax increase on liquor, while the Congressional Gaming Caucus deals with issues like reinvigorating the tourism industry and making sure regulations for Internet gambling are fair. Other caucuses focus, for instance, on health issues or foreign policy matters dealing with specific countries.