The document provides an overview of the structure and organization of Congress. It describes the two chambers of Congress (House and Senate), including their differences in size, terms of office, and procedural rules. It also outlines the party leadership structure and roles in both chambers, as well as the various types of committees - standing, select, joint - that conduct legislative work.

1. How Congress Works
Part I
Structure, Organization,
& Legislative Process

2. Who’s in Congress?

3. Demographic Profile of the 111th Congress
Age Groups
Gender
Party
Ethnicity
Source: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/demographics.tt

4. House-Senate Differences
Senate
House




435 members; 2 yr
terms
Low turnover
Speaker bill referral
hard to challenge
Scheduling/rules
controlled by majority
party with powerful
Rules Committee
(controls time of debate,
amends., etc)




100 members; 6 yr
terms
Moderate turnover
Referral decisions easily
challenged
Scheduling/rules agreed
to by majority & minority
leaders

5. House-Senate Differences




House
Debate limited to 1
hour
Members policy
specialists
Emphasizes tax &
revenue policy
More formal &
impersonal




Senate
Unlimited debate
unless cloture
invoked
Members policy
generalists
Emphasizes foreign
policy
More informal &
personal

6. Party Leadership
Bicameral Democratic Leadership
Senate Republican Leadership
110th Congress
110th Congress

7. HOUSE LEADERSHIP
Speaker
(majority party)
Republicans:
• Majority Leader
• Majority Whip
• Chairman of the
Caucus
• Steering & Policy
Committee
• Democratic
Congressional
Campaign Committee
Majority Leader: Eric Cantor
Represents Republicans on the
House Floor
Speaker of the House
John Boehner
Elected by the whole of the House of
Representatives, the Speaker acts as
leader of the House and combines
several roles: the institutional role of
presiding officer and administrative
head of the House, the role of leader
of the majority party in the House, and
the representative role of an elected
member of the House. The Speaker of
the House is second in line to succeed
the President, after the Vice President.
Elected by the whole of the House of
Representatives, the Speaker acts as
leader of the House and combines
several roles: the institutional role of
presiding officer and administrative
head of the House, the role of leader
of the majority party in the House, and
the representative role of an elected
member of the House. The Speaker of
Majority Whip: Kevin McCarthy
the House is second in line managing
Assists leadership in to succeed
the President, after the Vice President.
party’s legislative program

8. HOUSE LEADERSHIP
Democrats:
• Minority Leader
• Minority Whip
• Chairman of
Conference
• Policy Committee
• Committee on
Committees
• National Republican
Congressional
Committee
• Research Committee
Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi
Minority Whip
Steny Hoyer

9. SENATE LEADERSHIP
President of the Senate
(Vice President)
President Pro Tempore
(majority party)
Democrats:
• Majority Leader
• Majority Whip
• Chairman of Conference
• Policy Committee
• Steering Committee
• Democratic Senatorial
Campaign Committee
President of the Senate
Joe Biden (D-DE)
President Pro Tem
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Majority Whip
Richard Durbin (D-IL)

10. SENATE LEADERSHIP
Republicans:
• Minority Leader
• Minority Whip
• Chairman of
Conference
• Policy Committee
• Committee on
Committees
• Republican Senatorial
Committee
Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Minority Whip
Jon Cornyn (R-TX)

11. Strength of Party Structure?
•
Measure of party strength:
1. Ability of leaders to control party rules
and organization
2. Extent to which party members vote
together in the House and Senate
• Senate: less party-centered and leader
oriented

12. Party Unity
• Lower today than 100 years ago, but…..
• Ideology important variable explaining party
voting (members vote with their party 80% of the
time)
• Party polarization - vote in which majority of
democrats oppose majority of republicans
• Polarization trends:
o 1976 HR = 36%; S = 37%
o 1995 HR = 73%; S = 69%
o 2000 HR = 43%; S = 49%

13. CAUCUSES
• Groups (may be bipartisan) meeting to pursue
common legislative objectives
• Rivals to parties in policy formulation
• Examples: Democratic Study Group,
Congressional Black Caucus, Tuesday Lunch
Bunch, Human Rights, Congressional Caucus for
Women’s Issues, Out of Iraq Caucus,
Rural Caucus, Travel & Tourism Caucus, House
Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children

14. "Congress in session is Congress
on public exhibition, whilst
Congress in its committee-rooms
is Congress at work.” - Woodrow Wilson

15. Legislative Committees:
Function and Purpose

16. Legislative Committees:
Function & Purpose
1. Consider bills (a.k.a. “mark-up” bills)
A bill with a member’s mark-up notes

17. Legislative Committees:
Function & Purpose
2. Maintain oversight of executive agencies
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifies before a Senate Appropriations
Committee hearing re: the Department of Defense Budget (May, 2006)

18. Legislative Committees:
Function & Purpose
3. Conduct investigations
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testified before the Senate Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee on Hurricane Katrina (Feb., 2006

19. Types of Committees
 Standing Committees - permanent panel with full
legislative functions and oversight responsibilities
• Subcommittees – formed to tackle very specific
tasks within the jurisdiction of the full committees
 Select or Special Committees - groups appointed for a
limited purpose and limited duration
 Joint Committees - includes members of both
chambers to conduct studies or perform housekeeping
tasks
 Conference Committee - includes members of House &
Senate to work out differences between similar bills

20. Standing Committees

21. House Standing Committees
Agriculture
Appropriations
Armed Services
Budget
Education & Workforce
Energy & Commerce
Financial Services
Government Reform
House Admin.
International Relations
Judiciary
Resources
Rules
Science
Small Business
Standards of Official
Conduct
Transportation &
Infrastructure
Veterans Affairs
Ways & Means

22. Senate Standing Committees
Finance
Foreign Relations
Governmental Affairs
Appropriations
Health, Education, Labor
Armed Services
& Pensions
Banking, Housing, & Urban
Judiciary
Affairs
Rules and Administration
Budget
Small Business and
Commerce, Science,
Entrepreneurship
Transportation
Energy & Natural Resources Veterans Affairs
Agriculture, Nutrition, &
Forestry
Environment and Public
Works

23. Special, Select Committees
• House Select
Committee on
Energy
Independence &
Global Warming
• Senate Select
Committee on
Ethics
• House & Senate
Select Committees
on Intelligence
Gen. Michael Hayden is sworn in during a full
committee hearing of the Senate Select Intelligence
Committee on his nomination to be director of the
Central Intelligence Agency.

24. Joint Committees
• Joint Economic Committee
• Joint Committee on Printing
• Joint Committee on Taxation
Joint Committee on
Taxation hearing

25. Title: Resolution
Date: 12/28/06
Artist: Bob Gorrell
Source: http://www.gorrellart.com/

26. Artist: R.J. Matson, New
York Observer & Roll Call
Date: 1/18/07
Source:
http://www.cagle.com