Us Congress Final

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Soft-money loophole

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A period of time in which (changed by mccain feingold) there was a loophole in the wall where soft-money could be donated to the political parties, and the political parties donated it to the candidates themselves

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House & Senate Majority Whip

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primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in the legislature, most whips are concerned primarily with ensuring a desired attendance for an important vote

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'Nuclear Option'

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is an attempt by a majority of the United States Senate to end a filibuster by majority vote, as opposed to 60 senators voting to end a filibuster. Although it is not provided for in the formal rules of the Senate, the procedure is the subject of a 1957 parliamentary opinion and has been used on several occasions since.

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Elastic Clause of the Constitution

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Article One, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution, also known as the ‘necessary and proper clause.’ “The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

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Thurmond Rule

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named after the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who decreed that no lifetime judicial appointments would move in the last six months or so of a lame-duck presidency. Not a formal rule, and very controversial

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Unanimous Consent Agreement

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A device used in the Senate to expedite legislation. Much of the Senate’s legislative business, dealing with both minor and controversial issues, is conducted through unanimous consent or unanimous consent agreements. Used to invoke cloture.

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“Great Compromise” at the Constitutional Convention

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Also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was an agreement between large and small states in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, that defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have and established a bicameral legislature (Senate and House of Representatives).

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Congressional Intent

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Congressional intent is incredibly important, the federal courts take into consideration the congress’s intent when they passed the law (look at the committee reports, conference reports, the debate on the floor)

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Who elects the Speaker?

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A caucus of the majorities party’s members selects the speaker who is then formally elected by the full House at the beginning of each new congress.

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Cloture on a rules change

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when cloture is invoked on a question of changing the rules of the Senate, two-thirds of the Senators voting (not necessarily two-thirds of all Senators) is the requisite majority.

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Byrd Rule

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“measures cannot be included in the Senate reconciliation package if they do not have revenue or entitlement components or if such components are ‘merely incidental’ to a broader policy question.” It takes 60 votes in the Senate to waive the Byrd Rule

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filling the amendment tree

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essentially limits the offering of amendments by taking all available slots for amendments on legislation in order to block competing amendments

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House of Representatives 'Blue Slip'

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Refers to the rejection slip given to Senate tax and spending bills which have not originated in the House in the first place, per the House's interpretation of the origination clause (All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills)

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Hard Money

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campaign contributions that are directly to a candidate, and are regulated by the FCC

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Authorization Committees

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Usually establish or continue federal agencies and programs, recommend their funding be at certain levels, and permit the enactment of appropriations to them.

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Appropriations Committees

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The process by which congress provides budget authority, usually through the enactment of 12 separate appropriations bills. It provides for a small percentage of the federal budget, usually the obligations of the federal government

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'closed rule' in the house

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The rules committee grants a closed rule that prohibits the offering of amendments.

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Standing Order in the Senate

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the rules of order adopted by the US Senate that govern its procedure

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Next two after the Vice President in the line of succession to the presidency:

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Speaker of the House of Representatives (Nancy Pelosi), President Pro Tempore of the Senate (Robert Byrd)

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NRCC and DSCC

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The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. It is the only organization solely dedicated to electing more Democrats to the United States Senate. “Blue Slip” in the Senate Judiciary Committee- In the Senate, it refers to slips on which Senators from the state of residence of a federal judicial nominee give an opinion on the nominee.

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“Blue Slip” in the Senate Judiciary Committee

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- In the Senate, it refers to slips on which Senators from the state of residence of a federal judicial nominee give an opinion on the nominee.

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“Open rule” in the House

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- An Open Rule permits all relevant amendments to be offered to a bill, without any restriction

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PAYGO

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PAYGO- is a term used to refer to financing where budgetary restrictions demand paying for expenditures with funds that are made available as the program is in progress. It compels new spending or tax changes to not add to the federal deficit. New proposals must either be "budget neutral" or offset with savings derived from existing funds.[1] The goal of this is to require those in control of the budget to engage in the diligence of prioritizing expenses and exercising fiscal restraint.

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Cloture petition

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Under its current formulation, Rule XXII requires a cloture petition (signed by 16 Senators) to be presented to the Senate. Two calendar days later, and one hour after the Senate convenes, the presiding officer is required to order a live quorum call and, after its completion, to put this question to the membership: “Is it the sense of the Senate that debate shall be brought to a close?” If three-fifths of the entire Senate membership (60 of 100) votes in the affirmative, cloture is invoked and the Senate is subject to post- cloture procedures that will eventually end the debate and bring the clotured bill, amendment, or motion to a vote.

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Examples of super majorities on the Constitution

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A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds majority.
the United States Constitution requires a supermajority of two-thirds of both houses of Congress to propose a Congress-driven constitutional amendment; it also requires a three-quarters supermajority of state legislatures for final adoption of any constitutional amendment, a two-thirds supermajority of both houses of Congress to pass a bill over the president's veto, and a majority of the fixed membership to elect a President and Vice President (of Electors in the Electoral College, or if the election should pass to the Congress to decide, a majority of State delegations in the House to elect the President, and a majority of Senators to elect the Vice President).

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Secret Holds

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A secret hold is a parliamentary procedure within the Standing Rules of the Senate within the United States Senate that allows one or more Senators to prevent a motion from reaching a vote on the Senate floor. Current Senate rules allow the hold to be only temporarily anonymous.

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ABSCAM and the Keating five

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Abscam (sometimes ABSCAM) was a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sting operation run from the FBI's Hauppauge, Long Island, office in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The operation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property but was converted to a public corruption investigation.
The investigation ultimately led to the conviction of a United States Senator, five members of the House of Representatives, one member of the New Jersey State Senate, members of the Philadelphia City Council, and an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The five senators, Alan Cranston (Democrat of California), Dennis DeConcini (Democrat of Arizona), John Glenn (Democrat of Ohio), John McCain (Republican of Arizona), and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (Democrat of Michigan), were accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of a regulatory investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). The FHLBB subsequently backed off taking action against Lincoln.

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Cloture

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is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end.
Why senate majority leader consults with minority leader on schedule- In consultation with the minority leader, the majority leader fashions unanimous consent agreements by which the Senate limits the amount of time for debate and divides that time between the parties. When time limits cannot be agreed on, the majority leader might file for cloture to shut off debate.

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appointment to an open house seat

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An election (especially for a legislature) in which no incumbent is running is often called an open seat; because of the lack of incumbency advantage, these are often amongst the most hotly-contested races in any election

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“Magic Words” Buckley v Valeo

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The Eight Magic Words cannot be used in issue advertisements in the United States. The Eight Magic Words are banned from use to reduce political slander from directly influencing voting, and to reduce the direct involvement in campaigns by political parties and other independent groups.
The eight magic words are "vote for," "elect," "support", "cast your ballot for", "Smith for Congress", "vote against", "defeat", "reject", or any variations thereof. These words directly advocate support or rejection of a specific candidate, and are therefore forbidden under the 1976 Supreme Court decision Buckley v. Valeo.

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President of the Senate

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The Vice President of the United States is designated by the Constitution as the President of the Senate. The vice president holds a casting vote in the Senate (i.e., can only vote in the case of a tie). Vice presidents have cast tie-breaking votes 242 times. While vice presidents used to regularly preside over the Senate, modern vice presidents have done so only rarely—vice presidents usually only preside to swear in new senators, during joint sessions, and when casting a tie-breaking vote. The Senate chooses a president pro tempore to preside in the vice president's absence. Modern presidents pro tempore, too, rarely preside over the Senate. In practice, the junior senators typically preside in order to learn Senate procedure.

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Reconciliation Process

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Reconciliation is a legislative process of the United States Senate intended to allow a contentious budget bill to be considered without being subject to filibuster. Because reconciliation limits debate and amendment, the process empowers the majority party. Reconciliation also applies in the United States House of Representatives, but since the House regularly passes rules that constrain debate and amendment, the reconciliation process represented less of a change in that body.

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Conference committee

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A conference committee is a committee of the Congress appointed by the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill. The conference committee is usually composed of the senior Members of the standing committees of each House that originally considered the legislation.

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Budget Resolution

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While Congress is not bound by the President’s budget, it is often used as a starting point for the Congressional budget process. The Budget Committees of the House and Senate hold hearings on the budget, taking testimony from Administration officials, Members of Congress and expert witnesses in preparation of the annual budget resolution. Committees of the House and Senate are expected to submit their views on the budget no later than six weeks after the President’s submission. After testimony, the committees "markup" their respective budget resolutions. This process allows members of the Budget Committees to offer amendments and make changes to the starting text, which is usually presented as the Chairman’s mark. Under the Budget Act, the Senate Budget Committee must report its version of the budget resolution by April 1. While the House Budget Committee has no similar requirement, House action generally proceeds concurrently with that of the Senate.

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Substitute amendment

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A Substitute Amendment is an amendment that would replace existing language of a bill or another amendment with its own [2].

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Right of prior recognition (Senate and House)

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house= the speakers most important source of power is his or her control of the flow of business on the house floor. By precedent, the speaker has the power to recognize members on the House floor without appeal. That means that the speaker may choose to ignore members who seek recognition to call up legislation that the speaker prefers to consider later or to block.
Senate= The majority leader is the principal leader of the senate. The majority leader sets the senate’s schedule and plans the order of business for the Senate Floor. Critial to that funcion is a procedural advantage granted to the majority leader by pecedent: the right of first recognition. The presideing officer recognizes the majority leader to speak or to offer a motion before recognizing any other senator, a practice that dates back to the 1930’s.

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Article 1, section 5

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Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

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Expedited procedures or "fast-track" procedures

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are special procedures that Congress has adopted to provide for timely consideration of some types of matters. These generally limit the time for debate and provide for a final majority vote by the Senate. ( An example would be reconciliation.)

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duly elected and sworn vs present and voting

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Cloture in the Senate requires a 3/5 vote of senators "duly elected and sworn", that is 60 when all 100 senate seats have senators who have been elected and sworn in. Cloture for rules changes, however, requires a 2/3 vote of senators "present and voting", that is 67 if all 100 senators vote (for example if only 75 senators voted and the vote was 50-25, cloture would be invoked on a rules change.

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"Appointment to an open House seat"

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is an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you know that under Article I Section 2 of the Constitution, vacancies in the House seats must be filled by election. For the Senate, governors may fill vacancies.