This document provides an overview of the US Congress, including its structure and powers. It notes that Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House has 435 members with 2-year terms, apportioned based on state populations. The Senate has 100 members with 6-year terms, with two senators per state. Congress has expressed powers like lawmaking, taxation, borrowing, commerce regulation, and oversight of the executive branch. Bills must pass through both chambers and committees to become law.

1. CONGRESS
CONGRESS

2. House of Representatives

3. Senate

11. Terms and Sessions of
Congress
• A term of Congress is 2 years long
• A session of Congress is when they
meet during a term
– 1st year of term = 1st session
– 2nd year = 2nd session
• We’re currently in the 117th Congress,
1st Session

12. Congressional Elections
• Congressional elections occur every
two years
• Some fall on presidential election years
(ex: 2012, 2016, 2020, etc.)
• Some fall between presidential election
years (2014, 2018, 2022, etc.)
• Every member of the House is up for
reelection every 2 years, but only some
senators are

13. The House of
Representatives
• Made up of 435 members, known as the
“people’s house”; is the closest
representation citizens have to the
federal government
• The seats in the House are apportioned
(distributed) based on state populations
– The more people your state has, the more
representatives you get in the House

14. Reapportionment
• Seats in the House must be
redistributed every 10 years (after the
census)
• Reapportionment Act of 1929:
– House “permanently” has 435 seats
– Census Bureau decides on the # of seats
each state should get (same # of seats
gets shuffled around)

16. Districts
• States are divided up into districts, or
sections, and each district votes for
ONE member to go to the House
– Ex: VA has 11 districts
– Each district must have about the same
number of people (about 710,000 people
each)

19. Gerrymandering
• Drawing new districts to give an
advantage to a political party (the one
that controls the state legislature)
– Districts can be drawn to contain a larger
amount of one party so they win a majority
in the district
– OR districts can be drawn to spread out
the opposition so they don’t win the
majority in any district

20. -VA has 11 districts (and so has 11 representatives in the
House of Representatives, 1 rep. per district)
-Chesterfield County spans both District 4 and District 7
-VA was ordered to redraw its districts in 2016

26. • Constituents – the people a
Congressperson represents in their
district/state
– Remember, your members of Congress
work for YOU

27. Qualifications for House
Members
• Must be at least 25 years old
• Must have been a U.S. citizen for at
least 7 years
• Must live in the state (and district) they
are representing
• Representatives have a 2-year term

28. Capitol Virtual Tour
• http://www.aoc.gov/virtual-
tours/capitolbldg/tourfiles/index.html

29. The Senate
• 100 members (2 for every state)
• Framers believed the smaller Senate
would be more responsible than the
House (who could easily be influenced
by events)
• Given a 6 year term and more
qualifications than the House

30. Electing Senators
• Also directly elected by the people
during the Nov. elections (used to be
chosen by state legislatures before 17th
Amendment)
• Each senator is elected from the whole
state (NOT a district)
• Continuous body - not all senators are
up for reelection every election (only
about 33/100 senators at a time)

31. • Senators are more focused on the “big
picture” of government, while the House
is closer with the people in their districts
• Many presidential candidates come
from the Senate

32. Qualifications for
Senators
• Have higher standards than House
members:
– Must be at least 30 years old
– Must be a U.S. citizen for 9 years
– Must live in the state that they are
representing

33. U.S. Representative
Donald McEachin
(VA-04)
Senator
Mark Warner
(VA)
Senator
Tim Kaine
(VA)
U.S. Representative
Abigail Spanberger
(VA-07)

34. Congress and Political
Parties
• Each chamber is controlled by a political party
– Party with over half the seats = majority party
– Party with less than half the seats = minority
party
--House currently has a Democrat majority
--Senate currently has a Democrat majority
– The majority party controls highest leadership
positions, committees, and how bills go through
the chamber

35. Speaker of the House
• Leader of the House
and majority party
• Presides over and
keeps order in the
House
<---Today’s Speaker:
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

36. Speaker of the House
(continued)
• Applies the rules of the House
• Sends bills to various committees
• Rules on questions of procedure
• Puts motions to a vote
• Decides the outcome of votes
Speaker is 2nd in line to the presidency
after the vice-president

37. President of the Senate
• The Vice-President is the
president of the Senate (but
NOT a member of the Senate)
– controls questions, voting,
etc.
– Cannot speak or debate on
the floor; can only vote to
break a tie
– Today’s VP: Kamala Harris->

38. President Pro Tempore
• Serves as President of
the Senate when the VP
is absent
• Elected by the Senate
and majority party
• 3rd in line to the
presidency
Today’s Pres. PT:
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
----->

39. Party Officers
• Party caucus - meeting of the political
parties in House and Senate to choose
leaders
• Floor Leaders - Most important leaders
chosen by their political parties
– try to direct floor activities to their political
party’s benefit
– Two types: majority leader and minority
leader (leaders of majority and minority
parties)

40. House Floor Leaders
• House minority leader
(R-LA):
Kevin McCarthy -->
• House majority
leader (D-MD):
Steny Hoyer--->

41. Senate Floor Leaders
• Senate majority
leader (D-NY):
Chuck Schumer ---->
• Senate minority
leader (R-KY):
Mitch McConnell --->

42. Whips
• Floor leaders are helped by party
whips (majority and minority whips)
• Are a connection between floor leaders
and Congress members
• Makes sure members are present to
vote and get opinions of party members

43. House Whips
• Majority Whip:
James Clyburn (D-
SC) --->
• Minority Whip:
Steve Scalise (R-LA)
------>

44. Senate Whips
• Majority Whip (D-IL):
Dick Durbin ---->
• Minority Whip (R-SD):
John Thune -------->

45. Seniority Rule
• the people who have been in Congress
the longest generally will hold the higher
leadership positions

46. Congress as a Job
Members of Congress are:
1.) lawmakers
2.) representatives
3.) committee members
4.) servants of their constituents
5.) politicians

47. Expressed Powers of
Congress
(powers are given to Congress by the
Constitution)
• Congress is given sole law-making
power in government (Congress IS the
legislative branch)

48. Money Powers
• *Congress is given ALL money
powers in the national government*
• Tax – money people pay the gov’t to
fund public projects and gov’t expenses
– Congress can’t tax for personal benefit
(only public good)
– Can’t tax exports (only imports)

49. The Borrowing Power
• Congress can borrow money to help
pay for gov’t needs that aren’t covered
by taxes
• No limits on how much money they can
borrow or what it’s for

50. The Currency Power
• The power of Congress to print and regulate $$$
• Legal tender - money that someone must accept
as payment (currency that is worth something)
• The federal gov’t can’t spend any money without a
law by Congress (CONGRESS SPENDS THE
GOV’T’S MONEY)
• Congress authorizes the nation’s budget every
year
• Appropriate - to assign something for a specific
use (ex: to appropriate funds for schools, etc.)

51. The Commerce Power
• Commerce = trade
• The power of Congress to regulate
trade between the states (includes
physical and electronic goods, even
Internet) AND between the U.S. and
other countries

52. Other Expressed Powers
of Congress
War Powers - Only Congress can declare
war and raise/maintain armed forces
Naturalization - makes rules on how
people become U.S. citizens
Postal Power - can create post offices
(and the rules about what you can and
cannot mail)

53. • Copyrights and Patents
– Copyright - the exclusive right to your own
creative work (good for the life of the
author + 70 years)
– Patent - the exclusive right to manufacture
and sell a new and useful invention (good
for 20 years)

54. • Judicial Powers of Congress:
– Create federal courts
– Define federal crimes and punishments
• Counterfeiting, piracy and felonies on the high
seas, offenses against international law, and
treason

55. Congress’s Implied Powers
• NECESSARY AND PROPER CLAUSE
– Congress can make laws that are needed
and appropriate in helping it do its
Constitutional job
• McCulloch v. Maryland:
– Congress created the Bank of the U.S. but
its legality was challenged
-Supreme Court upheld the Bank of the U.S.,
saying it was a Necessary and Proper power
of Congress

56. Nonlegislative Powers of
Congress
• 1.) Plays a part in amending the
Constitution (2/3 vote of both
chambers)
• 2.) Role in Presidential Election:
– House can choose the president if no one
wins the majority of electoral votes

57. Oh, the Scandal!
• Impeach  to officially accuse/bring
charges against an official (does NOT
mean to remove)
-gov’t officials can be removed from office
for “treason, bribery, or other high
crimes and misdemeanors”

58. Process of Impeachment
Begins in the House: Judiciary Committee
investigates, then brings the case to the
House floor
– Majority vote votes yes --> the official is
impeached (officially accused but not
removed)
• Evidence then sent to the Senate: official is
put on trial
-2/3 vote is needed to convict (no courts
involved)  if convicted, THEN the
official is removed from office

60. Executive Powers of
Congress
• The Senate ONLY approves some
things that the executive branch does
– approves presidential appointments by
majority vote (51+ votes)
– approves treaties by a 2/3 vote (67+ votes)

61. Investigatory Powers
• Congress can conduct investigations to:
– Gather information for law-making
– Focus public attention on an issue
– Investigate and expose wrong-doings of
the Executive Branch (known as
congressional oversight)

62. How a Bill Becomes a
Law
• Bill - a written idea for a law (a
proposed law)
– Ideas come from members of Congress,
the Executive Branch, and constituents
• Bills can start in either the House or the
Senate depending on who wrote them
– ex: bills start in the House if written by a
representative, start in the Senate if
written by a senator
– A bill must pass through BOTH chambers

63. Committees in Congress
• MOST work in Congress is done in
committees (Congress does group
work!)
– Here they write/edit/vote on bills, do
research, hold hearings, etc.
• 3 types: standing, select, and joint
committees

64. 1.) Standing Committees
• Permanent committees dealing with
different topics
– Bills are sent here for consideration FIRST
• Reps are assigned to 1-2 committees,
senators assigned to 3-4

65. House Rules Committee
• Most powerful standing committee in
the House - the “traffic cop”/ “final filter”
• Decides which bills make it to the floor
of the House for debate (schedules
them)
• Sets time and debate limits on bills
• Senate does NOT have a Rules
Committee for this purpose

66. 2.) Select Committees
• Temporary committees formed for a
specific purpose, such as investigation
of the gov’t (ex: committees for
impeachment)

67. 3.) Joint Committees
• Committees that have members of
BOTH the House and the Senate
• Work together in investigating,
managing, and writing bills
• Ex: conference committee

68. The Process
(when going through the House)
• 1.) The bill introduced in the House;
numbered and titled by the clerk (ex: H.R. 34
if starting in the House; S. bills keep their
label)
– Printed/uploaded and given to the members to
read
• 2.) Speaker sends the bill to the proper
committee
– Ex: Committee on Agriculture would get bills about
agriculture, farming, etc.

69. The Process (Cont’d)
• 3.) Debate in Committee - the bill is
discussed/edited/rewritten, etc. and
either passes or dies in committee
– Subcommittees help do research

70. Committee Votes on Bills
• Do pass - the bill is passed/agreed to
• Refuse to Report - the bill is ignored
and dies
• Report as Amended - the bill is passed
with edits
• Report Committee bill - committee has
written a replacement bill

71. • 4.)The Rules Committee decides if,
how, and when the bill will be debated
on the floor
• 5.) Debated on the floor of the House
(follows rules/time limits set by Rules
Committee)
– If passed, it is sent to the Senate (if it
hasn’t been there already)

72. The Process
(when going through the Senate)
• 1.) Bill is introduced to the Senate
– Titled and numbered by the clerk
(ex: S. 83 if starting in the Senate; H.R. bills
keep their label)
• 2.) Sent to standing committee (read,
debated, edited, etc.)
• 3.) Sent to floor for debate (few/no
debate limits unless set by floor leaders)

73. A Filibuster
• Filibuster – when a senator talks a bill
“to death” by holding the Senate floor
and not giving it up
• Used as a way to block voting on a bill
until changes are made to it or it’s
dropped

74. Cloture Rule
• controls a filibuster by limiting Senate
debate
• Difficult to pass
• If approved by at least 60 senators, it
limits debate for no more than 30 hours
with 1 hour of debate maximum for each
senator

75. Conference Committee
• BOTH the House and the Senate must
pass the SAME version of a bill
• Conference Committee – (type of joint
committee) - group of Reps and
Senators that compromise and create
ONE VERSION of a bill that both
chambers can agree on

76. The Bill and the President
• The President can:
– Sign the bill into law
– Veto (reject) the bill
– Put the bill aside for 10 days (while
Congress is in session) and it becomes a
law automatically
– put the bill aside for 10 days and if
Congress adjourns, the bill dies (pocket
veto)

77. Congressional Override
• Congress can override a president’s
veto
• 2/3 of House and of 2/3 Senate must
vote to override (then bill becomes law)
• Uncommon – hard to get that much
Congressional support behind an
override

78. How Do Members of Congress
Vote?
• 4 ways they can vote:
1.) Trustee: vote according to their own
judgment and conscience on an issue
2.) Delegate: they vote the way the people from
their state would want them to
3.) Partisan: they vote according to what their
political parties want
4.) Politico: try to balance the trustee,
delegate, and partisan options

79. QUIZ
• Gerrymandering
• Impeach
• Congressional
oversight
• Whip
• Floor leader
• Speaker of the
House
• Vice President
• President Pro
Tempore
• Trustee
• Delegate
• Partisan
• Politico