Topic 2.2 Notes – Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress

How Congress Is Built to Make Policy

Article I creates a bicameral legislature, which means Congress has two chambers. A bill has to pass the House and the Senate in the exact same wording before it can become law. That alone creates a major hurdle.

Congress has broad policymaking power. It can make laws, tax, spend, borrow, regulate commerce, declare war, create lower federal courts, investigate the executive branch, and use the power of the purse to shape policy through funding.

Some powers are enumerated powers, meaning they are listed in the Constitution. Others are implied powers, which come from the Necessary and Proper Clause. In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court backed this idea by saying Congress can use reasonable means to carry out its listed powers.

The House and Senate were designed to work differently:

The big test idea is that Congress has legislative power, but its structure creates many veto points before policy can pass.

Committees and Leadership as Gatekeepers

Most bills do not go straight to the floor. They go first to committees, where the real detailed work happens. Committees hold hearings, debate, investigate, and mark up bills by changing their language.

A committee can also just do nothing. That matters because committee inaction can kill a bill as effectively as a no vote.

Types of committees

• Standing committees are permanent and do most legislative work.
• Select committees are temporary or issue-specific and often investigate.
• Joint committees include House and Senate members and usually study issues.
• Conference committees are temporary groups that reconcile House and Senate versions of a bill.

Committee leadership reflects party control:

• The majority party controls the chair.
• The ranking member is the top minority-party member.

Party leaders matter too:

• Speaker of the House is elected by a majority of House members and shapes the agenda.
• Majority and minority leaders organize party strategy.
• Whips count votes, pressure members, and keep the party organized.

A bill may also get calendar assignment, which means it is placed on the schedule for possible floor action.

House Rules and Senate Rules

Different chamber rules produce different outcomes.

House procedures

• Revenue bills must originate in the House.
• The Rules Committee decides how debate will work.
  • Open rule allows amendments.
  • Closed rule blocks amendments.
  • Modified rule allows only some amendments.
• The Committee of the Whole lets the House debate and amend major bills more quickly.
• A discharge petition can force a bill out of committee, but it almost never works.

Senate procedures

• Bills usually reach the floor by unanimous consent.
• A hold is an informal warning from a senator who wants delay.
• A filibuster delays or blocks final action by extending debate.
• Cloture ends debate, usually with 60 votes on ordinary legislation.

Reconciling the chambers

If the House and Senate pass different versions, a conference committee writes a compromise. Then both chambers must pass the identical final version.

Other tools show up a lot on tests:

• Rider amendments attach extra provisions to bigger bills.
• Omnibus bills package many measures into one large bill.

The Budget and Spending Politics

Budget choices are policy choices. Congress decides where money goes.

• Mandatory spending is required by existing law. Main examples are Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
• Discretionary spending is decided yearly through appropriations. Examples include defense, education, and infrastructure.

As entitlement costs rise, Congress has less room to move money around unless it raises taxes, cuts programs, or increases the deficit. If appropriations do not pass, some discretionary parts of government can shut down.

When you read a budget graph, say what the data shows before you explain why. Also, do not confuse a share of spending with a dollar amount.

How Congress Actually Builds Coalitions

Lawmaking is a long process of agenda control, bargaining, amendment, and compromise.

• Pork-barrel legislation gives local projects funding inside larger bills and helps members claim credit at home.
• Logrolling means trading votes or favors to build support.

These practices can help bills pass in a fragmented Congress, but they can also raise spending and hide who is responsible.

The usual path looks like this:

1. Introduce bill
2. Refer to committee
3. Hearings and markup
4. Calendar assignment and leadership scheduling
5. Floor debate under chamber rules
6. Passage in each chamber
7. Conference committee if needed
8. Identical passage by both chambers