Congressional Leadership

House

Speaker: Mike Johnson (R-LA)

House Majority Leader: Steve Scalise (R-LA) majority whip: Tom Emmer (R-MN)

Minority Leader: Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) Minority whip: Katherine Clark (D-MA)

Senate

President - JD Vance (R-OH) President Pro Tempore - Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Sen Major Leader: John Thune (R-SD) whip - John Barasso (R-WY)

Minority leader - Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Minority whip - Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Presidential Elections: every 4 years 2020,2024,2028

• President
• All 435 House members
• 1/3 of the senators

Midterm Elections: 2022,2026,2030

• All 435 House members
• next 1/3 of the senators

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Senate is the upper hosue, legislatively the adu;ts in the room

• Has checks on the executive, can advise and consent to presidential decisions

House is more susceptible to trends

• Foudners had a distrust of the judgement of the poeple
• thought that the house of the people would be much more radical
  • politically radical, open to great change
  • legislation that they produce, bicameral legislature, would have to be agreed to by the senate
  • senate would be cooling coaster to hot cup of tea
• Corey Booker represents the entire state, but Mikie SHerril represents only a part of new jersey and represents us
  • Easier access to her, represents a smaller area
  • often up for re election

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Apportionment should be relatively equal

• Based on census every 10 years
• Political process: state legislatures have the power to gerrymander even if it is controversial
  • Trump told Texas to create 5 more republican seats in the House
• A president experiencing their first midterm election, their party will usually lose a lot of congress seats during the midterm
  • Barack obama said “shalacked”
  • 2010 obamas democrats lost 63 house seats and 6 senate seats
    • Wave election
• History dictates that democrats should win in a landslide this midterm election, but given everything donald trump has done (unpopular), he governs for the base, lower education level, the secret sauce to trump getting elected is that republicans were the party of the wealthy libertarians, lower taxes, libertarians, wealthy business types, evangelical christians. Things have radically changed, pro business republicans would have freaked out over tariffs which is something the democratic party wanted in the 80s and 90s to protect people in unions etc. Donald trump upended all of that, there was no more obama coalition. Trump targeted people who didn’t vote, white working class people who gave up on the political system. Appealed to tjose people by talking nontraditionally as an outsider and businessman. That is the new coalition aka maga. Will those people vote in midterms? Young people perceived the republican party differently 25 years ago, and those same people are still voting. 2024 running on democracy for the democrats LOST.

Apportionment

• Elections
• Single member districts
• at large
• 1842 apportionment act

Delegate

• Trustee

• Politico

  • Doing what is best for a certain side or goal
  • Party control is everything, especially in the senate

• Racial + Ethnic Gerrymandering

• Partisan Gerrymandering

• In our hyper partisan environment the majority party always wins and nobody can change others opinions

Committees

• Appointed by speaker
• Prestigious and have power
• Senate Finance Committe is one of the most desirable

Whips

• Make sure that peace and party lines are maintained
• People who might go astray have to get back in line
• Have to be strict
• “whip” people into shape

Legislative Process

• Bills must be introduced by a member of congress
• Only house can propose revenue bills such as taxation
• Can be submitted to multiple committees at a time
  • Hold hearings to see what the impacts of bills will be if there is a regulation change
• Killing Bills
  • Tabled, “oh yeah well look at it later”
  • Lose a vote in committee, whether its formal or informal
  • Discharge petition: requires a vote and rarely works
• House Rules committee / amendments
  • Speaker
  • Scheduled debate + usters
  • Changes are proposed to bills to benefit people
    • Make people want to vote for your bill by adding something that helps them
• Committee of the Whole
  • Created for a particulat bill or issue
  • 100 member quorum
• Senate
  • Any senator can place a hold on legislation to communicate their reservations
    • Filibuster, speak a bill to death and block a vote
    • Cloture - 60 votes
• Presidential
  • Signs bills into law
  • Veto, can be overridden by congress with a 2/3 vote in each house
  • Pocket veto
    • Has 10 days to veto and if he doesn’t it becomes law
    • if you are within 10 days of the end of a legislative session and congress passes a law he can just leave it and it can go out on its own
• Budgeting process
  • Office of management + budget
    • Executie
    • since 1970
    • russel vought
      • Head of Office of Management right now
      • will spend a lot of money before the budget is up so they dont get less funding
  • Proposal budget submitted in feb
  • Congress creates beurocratic agencies and funds it
    • Congressional budgeting office
      • estimates
      • Aids congress in budgetary matters
  • Congressional Budget + Impoundment Act 1974
    • Pres. budgets must be reviewed by congressional committees like the appropriations committee
  • Actual budgeting and funding is done by funding committee
  • Pork Barrell Spending
    • Earmarks
    • Things are put in the budget to use up the amount of money that is given
  • Logrolling
• Entitlement Programs
  • Social Security and medicare are already locked in
  • money HAS to go there no matter what
• Discretionary spending
• 16th amendment
  • income tax
• Budget surplus vs deficit
  • deficit spending
    • We spend money while we are still in debt, going further into debt
    • Entitlement programs are popular and it costs a lot to run
  • national debt
• Lame duck period
  • After new congress election, some senators are still in office from november to january 3rd if they lose the election
  • Can’t get anything done because everyone knows you lost
• Congress today
• Rich and well connected people are the only people with money for PACs and running ads for political offices
  • mostly old white men, just like congress