How many members in the House?
435
How many members in the Senate?
100
Who is the leader in the House?
The Speaker
Who officially presides over the Senate?
The Vice President
Who presides over the senate on a day-to-day basis?
The president pro tempore
What are the terms of office for House members?
None of the above
What are the terms of office for Senate members?
6 years
These House committees cover broad social areas, are permanent, and can introduce legislation.
Standing committees
These House committees do investigative work, are temporary, and cannot introduce legislation.
Select committees
These House committees do highly specialized work on socio-economic sectors.
subcommittees
This committee must reconcile the House and Senate versions of a bill before it can proceed to the President.
Conference committee
These House committees create programs and propose budgets for those programs.
Authorization committees
These House committees fix the actual budgets for specific programs.
Appropriation committees
What occurs every ten years after the census?
Reapportionment of the House seats
What term describes redrawing congressional district boundaries every ten years?
Redistricting
What term is given to irregularly drawn congressional districts that entrench partisan control?
Gerrymandering
Where is the elastic clause found in the Constitution?
Article 1 section 8
How many House members will there be if Washington D.C. gets 2 representatives, as proposed?
437
What gives Congress the power to execute the legislation it passes?
The necessary and proper clause ,The elastic clause , The implied clause
What are the three theories of representation?
The trustee, instructed delegate, and politico theories
These legislators serve as the mouthpieces of their constituents.
Delegates
These legislators make decisions based on their conscience.
Legislative Trustees
These legislators make decisions that favor their constituents' pocketbook issues and decide non-bread and butter issues based on their conscience.
Politicos
Who are the congressional whips?
Congressional legislators assigned by their respective parties to build support among their members to vote for their party bills or defeat bills sponsored by the opposition party
What is the CBO?
The Congressional Budget Office
What are the terms of office for senators?
Every 6 years with 1/3 up for election every 2 years
What is the role of House and Senate minority leaders?
The minority leaders speak for their House or Senate members in the media and lead the minority party agenda in their respective assemblies
What are continuing resolutions?
They are bills passed automatically to finance the federal government if Congress and the President cannot pass a budget.
Where do bills traditionally originate?
With the House
Which assembly of Congress represents state geography?
The Senate
What is a filibuster, which institution has the filibuster, and how is a filibuster brought to a conclusion?
A filibuster is when a Senator has the floor for an unlimited amount of time but has to continue speaking. When the Senator stops speaking the filibuster ends or when at least 15 Senators signs-off on Rule 22 called cloture that allows a vote on the floor
What is a blue slip?
The blue slip is a senatorial courtesy that gives any of the two senators from the same state that Presidential nominee is from, to reject the President's nominee without question or explanation, forcing the President to nominate a different individual fo
What is the Congressional power of oversight?
Congress has the power to oversee federal departments and agencies to be sure they are operating within the law or operating effectively according to that department or agencies mission
What is one of the checks the Senate has on the President?
The Senate has the power of advise and consent over presidential nominations to the federal courts and federal departments and agencies, and making treaties with foreign governments
What is one of the checks Congress has over the president?
The power of impeachment
What is the role of the House in impeachment proceedings?
The House acts like a grand jury by hearing evidence of possible wrong doing and voting on whether the wrongdoings deserve to be tried as criminal acts or acts unfitting a president before sending the matter on to the Senate
What is the role of the Senate in impeachment proceedings?
The Senate acts as trial jury to convict the president of high crimes or misdemeanors and removes the president from office
Who determines who is going to chair House committees?
The Speak of the House
What is the partisan composition of House committees?
They are roughly equal in partisan members with the chair always being from the majority party
When is a president "impeached?
The president is impeached when, by a vote of the House, it determines that there is enough evidence against the president to send the matter onto the Senate
What is the overriding interest of House members?
Working to get reelected
How many members are there in Congress?
535
When does the U. S. fiscal year begin and end?
Oct 1 to Sept 30
Which Constitutional amendment says "No law, varying the compensation for the services
of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of
Representatives shall have intervened.
27th
Which amendment gave the people the right to vote for their Senators?
17th
Who draws U.S congressional districts in the states?
The state legislatures
What are benign gerrymandered districts called?
Majority-minority districts
What is a partisan gerrymandered district called?
Safe seats
What Constitutional amendment and clause compels counting all persons (not all citizens) of the U.S. population during the census?
The equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment
What term most accurately describes when the House and Senate are controlled by opposing parties?
Congressional gridlock