A Member of the House of Representatives 03.01

The United states of america Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Learn more than virtually the powers of the Legislative Branch of the federal government of the United States.

Established by 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 authority to enact legislation and declare war, the correct to ostend or turn down many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers.

The House of Representatives is fabricated upwards of 435 elected members, divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population. In improver, at that place are half dozen 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 chamber is the Speaker of the House, elected by the Representatives. He or she is third in the line of succession to the Presidency.

Members of the House are elected every two years and must be 25 years of age, a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and a resident of the state (but non necessarily the district) they represent.

The House has several powers assigned exclusively to information technology, including the power to initiate acquirement bills, impeach federal officials, and elect the President in the case of an electoral college tie.

The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, 2 for each country. Until the ratification of the 17th Subpoena in 1913, Senators were chosen past state legislatures, non by popular vote. Since then, they have been elected to 6-twelvemonth terms by the people of each state. Senator's terms are staggered so that about 1-third of the Senate is upwards for reelection every two years. Senators must be 30 years of age, U.S. citizens for at least nine years, and residents of the state they represent.

The Vice President of the United States serves equally President of the Senate and may bandage the decisive vote in the event of a necktie in the Senate.

The Senate has the sole power to confirm those of the President'southward appointments that crave consent, and to ratify treaties. In that location are, however, two exceptions to this rule: the House must also approve appointments to the Vice Presidency and any treaty that involves strange trade. The Senate also tries impeachment cases for federal officials referred to information technology by the Firm.

In lodge to pass legislation and ship information technology to the President for his signature, both the House and the Senate must laissez passer the same bill by majority vote. If the President vetoes a bill, they may override his veto past passing the bill again in each chamber with at least ii-thirds of each body voting in favor.

The Legislative Process | Powers of Congress | Regime Oversight

The Legislative Process

The start step in the legislative procedure is the introduction of a bill to Congress. Anyone can write it, but just members of Congress can introduce legislation. Some important bills are traditionally introduced at the request of the President, such as the almanac federal budget. During the legislative process, however, the initial bill tin can undergo drastic changes.

Afterwards beingness introduced, a bill is referred to the appropriate commission for review. There are 17 Senate committees, with 70 subcommittees, and 23 House committees, with 104 subcommittees. The committees are not set in stone, merely modify in number and form with each new Congress equally required for the efficient consideration of legislation. Each committee oversees a specific policy expanse, and the subcommittees have on more specialized policy areas. For example, the House Committee on Means and Means includes subcommittees on Social Security and Trade.

A bill is beginning considered in a subcommittee, where it may be accepted, amended, or rejected entirely. If the members of the subcommittee agree to motion a pecker forrard, it is reported to the total committee, where the process is repeated again. Throughout this stage of the process, the committees and subcommittees phone call hearings to investigate the merits and flaws of the bill. They invite experts, advocates, and opponents to announced earlier the committee and provide testimony, and can hogtie people to appear using subpoena power if necessary.

If the total committee votes to approve the beak, it is reported to the flooring of the House or Senate, and the majority party leadership decides when to identify the bill on the calendar for consideration. If a bill is especially pressing, it may exist considered right away. Others may wait for months or never exist scheduled at all.

When the beak comes upwardly for consideration, the House has a very structured fence process. Each 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 nigh bills is unlimited — Senators may speak to problems other than the bill under consideration during their speeches, and whatsoever amendment can exist introduced. Senators tin can use this to filibuster bills nether consideration, a process by which a Senator delays a vote on a bill — and by extension its passage — past refusing to stand down. A supermajority of sixty Senators can break a filibuster by invoking cloture, or the cession of debate on the bill, and forcing a vote. Once debate is over, the votes of a simple majority passes the bill.

A bill must pass both houses of Congress earlier information technology goes to the President for consideration. Though the Constitution requires that the two bills take the verbal aforementioned wording, this rarely happens in do. To bring the bills into alignment, a Briefing Committee is convened, consisting of members from both chambers. The members of the commission produce a conference report, intended as the terminal version of the neb. Each sleeping accommodation then votes again to approve the conference study. Depending on where the bill originated, the final text is then enrolled by either the Clerk of the Firm or the Secretary of the Senate, and presented to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate for their signatures. The nib 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 information technology into law, and the bill is and then printed in the Statutes at Large. If the President believes the law to be bad policy, he may veto it and send it back to Congress. Congress may override the veto with a two-thirds vote of each sleeping accommodation, at which betoken the bill becomes constabulary and is printed.

In that location are two other options that the President may exercise. If Congress is in session and the President takes no action within x days, the bill becomes law. If Congress adjourns before 10 days are up and the President takes no activeness, and then 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 brainstorm the entire process anew.

Powers of Congress

Congress, as i of the 3 coequal branches of government, is ascribed significant powers past the Constitution. All legislative ability in the authorities is vested in Congress, meaning that it is the only role of the government that tin can make new laws or change existing laws. Executive Branch agencies effect regulations with the full force of law, only these are simply under the authority of laws enacted by Congress. The President may veto bills Congress passes, merely Congress may too override a veto by a 2-thirds vote in both the Senate and the Business firm of Representatives.

Commodity I of the Constitution enumerates the powers of Congress and the specific areas in which it may legislate. Congress is also empowered to enact laws deemed "necessary and proper" for the execution of the powers given to any part of the government under the Constitution.

Part of Congress's exercise of legislative potency is the establishment of an annual budget for the government. To this stop, Congress levies taxes and tariffs to provide funding for essential regime services. If enough money cannot be raised to fund the government, and so Congress may also authorize borrowing to brand up the difference. Congress can also mandate spending on specific items: legislatively directed spending, ordinarily known equally "earmarks," specifies funds for a particular project, rather than for a government agency.

Both chambers of Congress take extensive investigative powers, and may hogtie the production of evidence or testimony toward whatever end they deem necessary. Members of Congress spend much of their time holding hearings and investigations in commission. Refusal to cooperate with a Congressional subpoena tin can result in charges of contempt of Congress, which could result in a prison house term.

The Senate maintains several powers to itself: It ratifies treaties by a two-thirds supermajority vote and confirms the appointments of the President past a majority vote. The consent of the House of Representatives is also necessary for the ratification of merchandise agreements and the confirmation of the Vice President.

Congress as well holds the sole power to declare war.

Regime Oversight

Oversight of the executive branch is an of import Congressional check on the President's power 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 Committee on Homeland Security and Regime Affairs are both devoted to overseeing and reforming authorities operations, and each commission conducts oversight in its policy expanse.

Congress also maintains an investigative organization, the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Founded in 1921 as the General Accounting Office, its original mission was to audit the budgets and financial statements sent to Congress past the Secretary of the Treasury and the 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 too polices itself: Sixty-four Inspectors General, each responsible for a different bureau, regularly audit and study on the agencies to which they are fastened.

thompsonwaguastind1993.blogspot.com

Source: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/legislative-branch

Share this post