The document discusses the powers and structure of the United States Congress as established by the Constitution. It is divided into two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, in order to establish checks and balances of power. Members of Congress exercise legislative powers to make laws, oversight of the executive branch, and represent constituents. Their powers are both explicitly stated and have been interpreted more broadly over time to address national issues. Key powers discussed include taxation, borrowing, regulating interstate commerce, coining currency, bankruptcy, foreign relations, and war powers.

1. The Legislative Branch
Chapters 10, 11, 12
Date

2. Congress: Constitutional
Principles
✤ Separation of Powers: the Constitution gives Congress the power to
make laws. Separating the power to make laws from the power to
enforce and the power to review them prevents the misuse of
government authority.
✤ Checks and Balances: the Constitution gives Congress a number of
powers with which it can check the actions of the executive branch
and the judicial branches
✤ Limited Government: Congress can exercise only those powers given
to it by the Constitution- and, in doing so, it cannot violate any
provision of the Constitution

3. Bicameral Congress
✤ Historical Reasons: the British Parliament had consisted of two houses
since the 1300’s
✤ Practical: to settle the conflict between the Virginia and New Jersey
Plans (population vs. equal proportion)
✤ Theoretical: for the houses to have the ability to check on the other, to
“diffuse” the power of Congress

4. Complaints
✤ For more than 200 years now, some people have argued that equal
representation of the state in the Senate is undemocratic and should
be eliminated
equal representation of the states does not reflect the country’s
population distribution
✤ The Senate was purposefully created as a body in which the states
would be represented as coequal members and partners in the Union,
without this compromise there might never have been a Constitution

5. Terms
✤ Ever since 1789, Congress has met for two-year terms (each term of
Congress lasts 2 years)
✤ 20th Amendment: each two-year term starts, “noon of the 3rd day of
January”

6. Sessions
✤ Session of Congress is that period of time during which, each year,
Congress assembles and conducts business
✤ There are two sessions to each term of Congress- one each year
✤ session + session = term
1 + 1 = 2
✤ Neither house may adjourn ending a session without the consent of
the other
✤ The Constitution does give the president the power to prorogue (end,
discontinue) a session if the two houses cannot agree on a date

7. Special Sessions
✤ The President may call Congress into special session if there is an
emergency situation
✤ 26 special sessions of Congress have met (the Senate has been called
alone 46 times to consider treaties or appointments)
✤ Last special session was called by Harry Truman in 1948 to consider anti-inflation
and welfare measures in the aftermath of WWII
✤ The President may threaten to call a special session if the two houses are
ready to adjourn but have not addressed or acted on some measure high
on his legislative agenda
✤ Fewer now because Congress meets for longer sessions

8. The House of Representatives
✤ The 435 members of the House represent districts of roughly equal
populations but very different characteristics
✤ Serve unlimited 2 year terms
✤ Often described as the branch closest to the people because of the
short terms and small districts

9. Congressional Elections
✤ Tuesday following the first Monday in November in each even-numbered
year
✤ Congressional elections that occur in the nonpresidential years are
called off-year elections
✤ far more often than not, the party in power (the party of the president)
LOSES seats in the off-year elections

10. Size and Terms
✤ The exact size of the House is set by Congress, not the Constitution;
the Constitution provides that the seats in the House shall be
apportioned among the States on the basis of their populations
✤ Each state is guaranteed a seat no matter their population (7 states
have one rep: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, ND, SD, Vermont,
Wyoming)
✤ 2 year terms

11. Reapportionment
✤ Article I directs Congress to redistribute the seats in the House after
each decennial census
✤ Reapportionment Act of 1929:
(1) the “permanent size of the House is 435 1:650,000
(2) following each census the Census Bureau is to determine the
number of seats each State should have
(3) when the Bureau is ready the plan is sent to the President,
President to Congress
(4) If it’s not rejected within 60 days it becomes effective

12. Elections
✤ Held on the same day in every state by written ballot
✤ Off-year elections: elections held on non-presidential election years;
most often the party in power loses seats

13. Congressional Districts
✤ two different ways to fill seats: single-member district or at-large
✤ in 1842 Congress got rid of the general ticket system, thereafter, all
the seats in the House were to filled from single-member districts
(technically the states with only one district still fill “at-large”)
✤ each state legislature is responsible for determining districts granted
they are:
-contiguous territory
-population equality
-compactness

15. Gerrymandering
✤ Districts that have been drawn to the advantage of the political party
that controls the State’s legislature
✤ Widespread today!
✤ Often takes one of two forms:
(1) to concentrate the opposition’s voters in one or a few districts
comfortably safe for the dominant party
(2) to spread the opposition as thinly as possible among several
districts, limiting the opposition’s ability to win anywhere in the region
✤ Main goal: to create as many safe districts as possible

16. Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964
✤ The Court held that the Constitution demands that the States draw
congressional districts of substantially equal populations
✤ “one person one vote” had a huge impact on the reapportionment of
Congress, however it is still possible for States to gerrymander
✤ Gerrymandering based on race is unconstitutional (15th Amendment),
however United Latin American Citizens v. Perry states there is
nothing in the Constitution that says a state cannot do it if the
legislature believes it is in its advantage to do so

17. Qualifications: House
✤ Formal Qualifications:
(1) must be at least 25 years of age
(2) must have been a citizen of the U.S. for at least seven years
(3) must be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected
✤ The House is the judge of “The Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of
its Members”; they can challenge the member-elects placement, refuse
to seat a member by majority vote, may “punish its Members for
disorderly Behavior” and “with Concurrence of two-thirds expel a
Member”
✤ Powell v. McCormack: House may not refuse to seat someone if they
meet formal qualifications

18. Senate
✤ Nearly 1/3 of all members of the Senate once served in the House of
Representatives, 0% of the Representatives have ever served in the
Senate

19. Size, Election, Terms
✤ The Constitution states that the Senate, “shall be composed of two
Senators from each State”
✤ Framers hoped a smaller Senate would be a more enlightened and
responsible body, reinforced this hope by giving them longer terms
and setting the qualifications for membership in the Senate above
those for the House
✤ Because they represent entire states, they represent a larger, more
diverse constituency

20. Size, Election, Terms
✤ Originally chosen by State legislatures until the ratification of the 17th
Amendment
✤ Only one Senator is election from any state at any given election
making the Senate a “continuous body”
✤ Each Senator is elected at-large

21. Size, Election, Terms
✤ 6 year terms, no limit on number of terms
✤ Only a 1/3rd of terms expire every two years (continuous body)
✤ Senators are supposed to be less concerned with the interests of a
special small locality and more focused on the “big picture” of national
interest
✤ More famous
✤ All-time record holder- Robert Byrd (D)- West Virginia, elected to 9
straight terms in the Senate, starting in 1958

22. Qualifications
✤ Must be at least 30 years of age, citizen of the U.S. for at least 9 years
and an inhabitant of the State from which he or she was elected
✤ The Senate may exclude a member by a majority vote, may punish its
members for disorderly behavior by majority vote, and with a 2/3 vote
may expel a member
✤ 15 members of the Senate have been expelled ever, 14 during the
Civil War, a few have resigned

23. Members of Congress

24. Personal and Political
Backgrounds
✤ NOT a cross section of the American people
✤ Average member: white male in his early 50’s
✤ Median age in the House: 55
✤ Median age in the Senate: 60
✤ Nearly all are married, on average have 2 children, only a few say they
do not have religious affiliation (60% Protestant, 30% Catholic, 7%
Jewish, one Muslim)

25. Personal and Political
Backgrounds
✤ 1/3 of the House and 1/2 Senators are lawyers, nearly all went to
college, 4/5 have a college degree, most have advanced degrees
✤ The average Senator is serving a 2nd term, the typical Representative
is on their 4th
✤ Several Senators are former governors, several have held high cabinet
positions

26. The Job
✤ Play 5 Major Roles:
(1) Legislators
(2) Representatives of their constituents
(3) Committee Members
(4) Servants of their constituents
(5) Politicians

27. Representatives
✤ Each lawmaker has four broad voting options:
Trustee- believes that each question they face must be decided on its
own merit, regardless of their constituents
Delegates- agents of those who elected them
Partisans- vote the party line (leading factor)
Politicos- combine all the basic elements (their own views on what is
best for the people and the party)

28. Committee Members
✤ Laws are referred to committees, committees screen them and
decided which are ready to go to the floor for consideration
✤ Oversight function- process by which Congress, through its
committees, checks to see that the various agencies in the executive
branch are working effectively and acting in line with the policies that
Congress has set by law

29. Servants
✤ Try to help people who have various problems with the federal
bureaucracy (e.g. Social Security, passports, small business loans,
Alec)

30. Compensation
✤ Senators and Representatives earn 165,200 a year (special positions
such as Speaker of the House, president pro temp earn more)
✤ Tax deductions, travel allowances, cheaper health and life insurance,
nice retirement plan, franking privilege (mail), free printing of
speeches, newsletters, etc.

31. Compensation
✤ Congress determines its own pay (not during session)
✤ Two limits to the level of Congressional Pay:
President’s veto
Fear of voter backlash

32. Membership Privileges
✤ cannot be arrested during their attendance at the session of their
respective house except in cases of felony, treason, or breach of the
peace
✤ Article I: “for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any other Place” e.g. the courts
protects representatives and senators from suits for libel or slander
arising out of their official conduct; to protect the freedom of legislative
debate

33. The Scope of Congressional
Powers

34. Congressional Powers
✤ Congress has only the powers delegated to it by the Constitution
examples: cannot create a national public school system, require
people to vote or attend church, set a minimum age for marriage, etc
✤ CONGRESS HAS THE FOLLOWING POWERS: (1) explicitly in it
specific wording- the expressed powers; (2) the implied powers; (3)
by the inherent powers

35. Strict vs. Liberal Construction
✤ Federalists vs. Anti-federalists: just how much power will Congress
have and what will those powers be?
✤ Strict constructionists (Tommy J): Congress should only be able to
exercise the (1) expressed powers and (2) those implied powers
absolutely necessary to carry out the expressed powers
---believed that only the states could protect and preserve their own
interests

36. Liberal Constructionists
✤ Alexander Hamilton- favored a more liberal, or broad, interpretation of
the Constitution in terms of the powers given to Congress
✤ Historically speaking, the liberal constructionists have won this battle-over
the course of time the powers wielded by the federal government
have grown
✤ factors responsible for this include: wars, economic crises and other
national emergencies (especially in technology and
communication), Congress and the president have regarded their
powers in broader and broader terms, and generally the American
people have agreed with these interpretations of the Constitution

37. Expressed Powers of Money and
Commerce
✤ The ways in which Congress exercises two of its expressed powers-the
power to tax and the power to regulate foreign and interstate trade-play
a much greater role in the lives of everyone in this country than
most of us realize.

38. The Power to Tax
✤ Article I, Section 8, Clause 1: “To lay and collect Taxes, Duties,
Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common
Defense and general Welfare of the United States...”

39. Tax Revenue Spending 2010
Date

40. Limits of the Taxing Power
✤ Congress cannot lay a tax on church services, because a tax would
violate the 1st Amendment; nor could it lay a poll tax as a condition for
voting in federal elections- for that would violate the 24th Amendment
✤ Congress may only tax for public purposes, not for private benefit, “only
to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general
Welfare of the United States...”

41. More Limits on Taxing...
✤ Congress may not tax exports, therefore tariffs may only be levied on
goods brought into the country, not going out
✤ Direct taxes (one that must be paid directly to the government by a
person on whom it is imposed, i.e. income tax 16th Amendment) must
be apportioned among the states according the their population
✤ an indirect tax is one first paid by one person but then passed
on to another therefore it is indirectly paid by the second
person (like an import tax which would raise the price at the
store)

42. The Borrowing Power
✤ Article I, Section 8, Clause 2 gives Congress the power to, “borrow Money
on the credit of the United States”
✤ Congress has put a ceiling on the public debt, but regularly raises it when
the debt threatens to overtake it
✤ For decades Congress has practiced deficit financing, which is
spending more money than it takes in each year, then borrowing to make
up the difference
✤ government’s books have showed a deficit in all by seven years from
1931-1969, and they were red every year from 1969-1998
✤ Balanced Budget Act of 1997- reported modest surpluses in 1998,
and larger ones in 1999, 2000, 2001

43. The Commerce Power
✤ power of Congress to regulate interstate and foreign trade- has proved
to be more responsible for the building of a strong and united country
than any other provision in the Constitution
✤ Gibbons v. Odgen (1824) - steamboats in NY = power of federal
government to regulate interstate commerce

44. Limits on the All-Powerful
Commerce Clause
✤ cannot tax imports
✤ cannot favor the ports of one state over those of any other in the
regulation of trade
✤ cannot require that “Vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to
enter, clear, or pay Duties in another”
✤ could not interfere with the slave trade until the year 1808

45. The Currency Power
✤ Congress has the power to coin Money regulate the value of money,
states are denied that power
✤ first national notes of legal tender: greenbacks in 1893, finally found to
be constitutional in 1871 and 1884

46. Bankruptcy Power
✤ bankruptcy is the legal proceeding in which the bankrupt’s assets are
distributed among those to whom a debt is owed
✤ states and federal government have concurrent power to regulate
bankruptcy, however today federal bankruptcy law is so broad it all but
excludes the states from the field and nearly all cases are heard in
federal district courts

47. Other Expressed Powers

48. Foreign Relations Powers
✤ The National Government has greater powers in the field of foreign
affairs than in any other area
✤ Congress shares power with the president in this area
✤ Foreign relations power comes from two sources:
✤ from various expressed powers, especially the war powers
and the power to regulate foreign commerce
✤ from the fact that the United States is a sovereign state in the
world community

49. War Powers
✤ The Constitution makes the president the commander in chief of the
nation’s armed forces, therefore the president dominates the field
✤ Only Congress may declare war
✤ Congress has the power to raise and support armies, to provide and
maintain a navy, and to make rules pertaining to the governing of land
and naval forces
✤ War Powers Resolution of 1973- Congress claimed the power to
restrict the use of American forces in combat where a state of war
does not exist

50. Other Expressed Powers
✤ Naturalization- the process by which citizens of one country become
citizens of another
✤ Postal Power- in the Constitution
✤ Copyrights and Patents- copyright is the exclusive right of an author to
reproduce, publish, and sell his or her creative work (life of the author
plus 70 years); patents grant a person to sole right to manufacture,
use, or sell any machine, etc (good for 20 years)

51. Expressed Powers...
✤ Powers over territories and other areas- Congress has the power to
acquire, manage, and dispose of various federal areas; eminent
domain
✤ Judicial powers- create all of the federal courts below the Supreme
Court and to structure the federal judiciary; power to define federal
crimes and set punishment for violators of federal law

52. Implied Powers

53. Necessary and Proper Clause
✤ the constitutional basis for ALL implied powers is found in the
Necessary and Proper Clause
✤ has often been called the “Elastic Clause” because it has been
stretched so far and made to cover so much over the years

54. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
✤ “Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution,
and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that
end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of
the Constitution, are constitutional.”
-John Marshall, Opinion of the Court

55. The Nonlegislative Powers

56. Electoral Duties
✤ the House may be called on to elect a president (the 12th Amendment)
if no one receives a majority of the electoral votes the top three
candidates are chosen between by each state casting a vote, a
majority of votes is required for election
✤ the House has twice chosen a president: Jefferson in 1800 and
John Q Adams in 1825
✤ similarly, the Senate must choose a vice president, the vote is not by
states but by senator with a majority for the full Senate necessary for
election
✤ the Senate has chosen a vice president once, Richard Johnson in
1837

57. 25th Amendment...
✤ provides for the filling of a vacancy in the vice presidency; when one
occurs, the president nominates a successor, subject to majority bote
in both houses
✤ this process has been used twice, Gerald Ford in 1973, and
Nelson Rockefeller in 1974

58. Impeachment
✤ the president, vice president and all civil officers may be removed from
office on impeachment for and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high
crimes and misdemenors
✤ the House has the sole power to impeach- accuse- the Senate has the
sole power to try- judge- in impeachment cases
✤ impeachment requires only a majority vote in the house; conviction
requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate
✤ the Chief Justice presides over the Senate when a president is to be tried
✤ there have been 17 impeachment cases to date, 7 convictions; all 7
being removed were federal judges

59. Johnson and Clinton
✤ Johnson: troubles with Reconstruction and disagreements with the
Radical Republicans caused tension, deliberate violation of the Tenure
of Office Act triggered his impeachment out of political revenge; House
votes 126-47 to impeach on 11 different articles, falls one vote short of
impeachment in the Senate
✤ Clinton: impeached by the House in 1998 for committing perjury and
obstruction of justice because of withholding information; House votes
228-206 on one count of perjury and 221-212 on obstruction of justice
(partisan voting), 55-45 to acquit on perjury, 50-50 on obstruction

60. Richard Milhous Nixon
✤ Watergate scandal in 1972, brought to light by the Washington Post,
traced all the way up to high-level officers in Nixon’s administration
✤ Investigations reveal long list of illegal acts, including bribery, perjury,
income tax fraud, and illegal campaign contributions as well as using the
FBI and the IRS for personal and partisan purposes
✤ House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of impeachment against
President Nixon in July of 1974, charged with obstruction of justice, abuse
of power, and failure to respond to the committee’s subpoenas
✤ When it became clear that the full House would impeach and the Senate
would convict, Nixon resigned on August 9th, 1974

61. Executive Powers
✤ Appointments: all major appointments made by the president must be
confirmed by the Senate by majority vote;
✤ appointment of a cabinet member is rarely turned down, only 12 of
more than 600 appointments have ever been rejected
✤ federal officers who serve in various states (i.e. US attorneys or
federal marshals) fall under the unwritten rule of senatorial
courtesy- the Senate will turn down the appointment if the senator
from that state objects
✤ Treaties: 2/3 Senate must approve

62. ...
✤ Investigatory Power: Congress has the power to investigate any
matter that falls within the scope of its legislative powers, exercised
through its standing committees or special committees
✤ Congress may choose to conduct investigations for several reasons,
most often inquires are held to (1) gather info useful to Congress in the
making of some legislation; (2) oversee the operations of various
executive branch agencies; (3) focus public attention on a particular
subject; (4) expose the questionable activities of public officials or
private persons; (5) promote the particular interests of some members
of Congress