On Which Factor Is the House of Representatives Membership Based
The United States Congress is fabricated up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Learn more virtually the powers of the Legislative Co-operative of the federal government of the United States.
Established past Article I of the Constitution, the Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the United States Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the sole authorization to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or refuse many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers.
The Business firm of Representatives is made up of 435 elected members, divided among the fifty states in proportion to their full population. In addition, there are 6 non-voting members, representing the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and four other territories of the United States. The presiding officer of the bedroom is the Speaker of the House, elected past the Representatives. He or she is tertiary in the line of succession to the Presidency.
Members of the Business firm are elected every ii years and must be 25 years of historic period, a U.Due south. citizen for at to the lowest degree seven years, and a resident of the land (only not necessarily the commune) they correspond.
The House has several powers assigned exclusively to it, including the power to initiate acquirement bills, impeach federal officials, and elect the President in the case of an electoral college necktie.
The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, 2 for each state. Until the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, Senators were chosen past state legislatures, not by popular vote. Since then, they take been elected to vi-twelvemonth terms past the people of each state. Senator's terms are staggered so that most one-third of the Senate is up for reelection every two years. Senators must be 30 years of age, U.S. citizens for at least nine years, and residents of the land they correspond.
The Vice President of the United states of america serves as President of the Senate and may cast the decisive vote in the event of a tie in the Senate.
The Senate has the sole power to confirm those of the President's appointments that require consent, and to ratify treaties. There are, however, 2 exceptions to this dominion: the House must likewise approve appointments to the Vice Presidency and any treaty that involves foreign merchandise. The Senate also tries impeachment cases for federal officials referred to it past the House.
In gild to pass legislation and send it to the President for his signature, both the House and the Senate must pass the same neb past majority vote. If the President vetoes a bill, they may override his veto by passing the bill again in each chamber with at to the lowest degree ii-thirds of each torso voting in favor.
The Legislative Process | Powers of Congress | Government Oversight
The Legislative Process
The first step in the legislative process is the introduction of a bill to Congress. Anyone tin write it, but but members of Congress can introduce legislation. Some of import bills are traditionally introduced at the asking of the President, such as the annual federal upkeep. During the legislative procedure, even so, the initial bill can undergo drastic changes.
After being introduced, a bill is referred to the appropriate committee for review. There are 17 Senate committees, with 70 subcommittees, and 23 House committees, with 104 subcommittees. The committees are not set in stone, but alter in number and course with each new Congress as required for the efficient consideration of legislation. Each committee oversees a specific policy area, and the subcommittees have on more than specialized policy areas. For example, the Firm Commission on Ways and Means includes subcommittees on Social Security and Merchandise.
A beak is start considered in a subcommittee, where information technology may exist accepted, amended, or rejected entirely. If the members of the subcommittee concord to motility a bill frontward, it is reported to the full committee, where the procedure is repeated again. Throughout this stage of the process, the committees and subcommittees call hearings to investigate the claim and flaws of the pecker. They invite experts, advocates, and opponents to announced before the commission and provide testimony, and tin can compel people to appear using amendment power if necessary.
If the full committee votes to approve the bill, it is reported to the flooring of the House or Senate, and the majority party leadership decides when to place the bill on the agenda for consideration. If a bill is particularly pressing, it may be considered correct abroad. Others may wait for months or never be scheduled at all.
When the neb comes up for consideration, the House has a very structured debate process. Each fellow member who wishes to speak simply has a few minutes, and the number and kind of amendments are usually limited. In the Senate, debate on most bills is unlimited — Senators may speak to problems other than the bill nether consideration during their speeches, and any amendment can exist introduced. Senators can utilise this to filibuster bills under consideration, a procedure by which a Senator delays a vote on a bill — and by extension its passage — by refusing to stand up downwards. A supermajority of lx Senators can pause a delay by invoking cloture, or the cession of debate on the bill, and forcing a vote. Once debate is over, the votes of a simple bulk passes the bill.
A beak must pass both houses of Congress earlier it goes to the President for consideration. Though the Constitution requires that the two bills have the exact same wording, this rarely happens in practice. To bring the bills into alignment, a Conference Committee is convened, consisting of members from both chambers. The members of the committee produce a conference report, intended as the concluding version of the bill. Each bedchamber so votes once again to approve the briefing report. Depending on where the bill originated, the last text is then enrolled past either the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, and presented to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate for their signatures. The bill is then sent to the President.
When receiving a bill from Congress, the President has several options. If the President agrees substantially with the bill, he or she may sign it into law, and the bill is then printed in the Statutes at Large. If the President believes the law to be bad policy, he may veto it and ship it back to Congress. Congress may override the veto with a two-thirds vote of each bedchamber, at which indicate the bill becomes law and is printed.
There are two other options that the President may exercise. If Congress is in session and the President takes no action within 10 days, the bill becomes constabulary. If Congress adjourns before 10 days are upward and the President takes no action, and so the bill dies and Congress may not vote to override. This is called a pocket veto, and if Congress still wants to pass the legislation, they must begin the entire process anew.
Powers of Congress
Congress, equally one of the iii coequal branches of government, is ascribed pregnant powers by the Constitution. All legislative ability in the regime is vested in Congress, meaning that information technology is the only function of the government that can make new laws or modify existing laws. Executive Branch agencies upshot regulations with the full force of law, but these are simply under the authorisation of laws enacted by Congress. The President may veto bills Congress passes, but Congress may also override a veto past a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the Business firm of Representatives.
Article I of the Constitution enumerates the powers of Congress and the specific areas in which it may legislate. Congress is besides empowered to enact laws deemed "necessary and proper" for the execution of the powers given to whatever office of the government under the Constitution.
Part of Congress'southward practise of legislative authority is the institution of an annual budget for the government. To this end, Congress levies taxes and tariffs to provide funding for essential government services. If plenty money cannot exist raised to fund the government, and so Congress may also authorize borrowing to make upwards the departure. Congress can too mandate spending on specific items: legislatively directed spending, commonly known every bit "earmarks," specifies funds for a particular projection, rather than for a government agency.
Both chambers of Congress have all-encompassing investigative powers, and may compel the production of evidence or testimony toward whatever end they deem necessary. Members of Congress spend much of their fourth dimension holding hearings and investigations in commission. Refusal to cooperate with a Congressional subpoena can result in charges of contempt of Congress, which could result in a prison term.
The Senate maintains several powers to itself: Information technology ratifies treaties past a two-thirds supermajority vote and confirms the appointments of the President by a majority vote. The consent of the Business firm of Representatives is also necessary for the ratification of trade agreements and the confirmation of the Vice President.
Congress also holds the sole ability to declare war.
Regime Oversight
Oversight of the executive branch is an important Congressional bank check on the President's ability and a balance against his discretion in implementing laws and making regulations.
A major way that Congress conducts oversight is through hearings. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Commission on Homeland Security and Government Affairs are both devoted to overseeing and reforming government operations, and each commission conducts oversight in its policy area.
Congress as well maintains an investigative organization, the Government Accountability Part (GAO). Founded in 1921 every bit the Full general Bookkeeping Office, its original mission was to audit the budgets and fiscal statements sent to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Managing director of the Office of Direction and Upkeep. Today, the GAO audits and generates reports on every aspect of the government, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent with the effectiveness and efficiency that the American people deserve.
The executive branch as well polices itself: Sixty-four Inspectors Full general, each responsible for a different agency, regularly audit and report on the agencies to which they are attached.
Source: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/legislative-branch
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