Congress

I find the concept of seniority in Congress an interesting one. It’s not a practice explicitly (or even implicitly) prescribed in the Constitution. Yet, for all intents and purposes, it’s quite conventional on Capitol Hill. Just to reiterate the terminology, the seniority system is a practice of granting privileges in Congress to members who have served the longest. At first glance, it makes sense. There’s a saying that one must “earn your keep” – junior senators must do their time as the…

crucial power given to Congress is to regulate commerce between states, foreign nations, and Indian tribes. With this Congress can control anything that directly affects the flow of commerce, i.e. discrimination based on race. Even if Congress sometimes uses this ability to over step their boundaries of commerce, such as United States v. Lopez, their main prerogative is to guarantee the stream of commerce and protect the citizens. In the Constitution, the Founders gave Congress the exclusive…

executive and legislative branches of the federal government, specifically the President and Congress. The President and Congress function on the Madisonian system of checks and balances which are defined as “a system in which each branch of the government has some power over the others” (Bianco 7). These checks and balances delineate what titles and powers are given to the President, what powers Congress…

The Second Continental Congress, formed in the early stages during the development of America, consisted of prestigious individuals, such as John Adams, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. This group convened after declaring independence from Britain in 1776 with the goal to form a new system of government for the country to follow. On November 15, 1777, two and a half years after the start of the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation were adopted. Adjustments were made for the next…

There are many things that make up the organizational structure of congress. The first would be informal structures. There are various norms that provide an informal structure for the way congress works. There is universalism which is a norm that states when benefits are being split up they should be awarded to as many districts and states as possible. When handing out federal highway dollars or expenditures for the Pentagons weapons programs, the benefits are generally spread across the entire…

In the United States, our Congress has two chambers which is referred to as a bicameral legislature. The two chambers consist of the House and Senate. The House of Representatives has 435 members and the Senate has 100 members. Permanent committees responsible for particular areas of public policy are known as standing committees. Most of the work that goes on in Congress is done through these committees which have their own subcommittees. There are also committees that deal with agriculture,…

year in Congress. We passed many bills in full house, and in committee, we approved and amended other people's bills. I wrote two bills, and one of them made it past full Senate, but the others didn't make it past committee. My first bill, Presidents from Outside the Country, explained why I think that people who have been born outside the United States of America should be able to run for President. The first time I tried it in committee, it was voted down. On the third day of Congress, we went…

get around congress to make laws and decision that congress doesn’t want to. Is this something that the Executive branch has too much power the answer no; it’s not because the orders work like laws being put into effect. If it’s found unconstitutional the Supreme Court can say no to law and reinterpret it. (Jeffrey C. fox, Catawba College). The reason executive orders are not too much power for the president. The purpose of it is for the president to use it when congress doesn’t…

111th congress and it is the oldest in history. Congress men and women are growing old and have no term limit which means that they could run until they get elected out. This means that all the congressmen and women are trying to do from the day they step in, is try to get reelected and not focus on bigger issues. This is where term limits comes in and limits congressmen and women to a certain amount of years in office. By doing this, the major issues can be resolved without having congress…

“Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises to pay debt for the common defense and the general welfare of the United States, but all duties imports and excises uniform throughout the United States.” Congress doesn’t have the power to control taxes. Congress also doesn’t have the power to control commerce laws. The year is 1781 is it okay for Congress to have any power? If you look back in history at the year 1781 the thirteen colonies created the…