Legislature

• The House of Representatives is the lower house which has 435 members. They represent congressional districts, and are elected every 2 years.
• The Senate is the upper house of Congress which has 100 members, 2 from each state. They serve 6 year terms.
• 1992 was declared 'the year of the woman' in Congress and the number of women elected doubled in just one election. Following the 2016 election, women make up 19% of the house and 21% of the senate.
• Federal courts have allowed districts to draw congressional district boundaries that are more likely to return a Representative from an ethnic minority group. After they were redrawn in 1990, African American representation increased, with African Americans now making up 12% of Congress (they represent 13% of the population).
• The joint powers of Congress are:

  • law-making
  • overseeing the executive branch
  • overriding President's veto
  • initiating amendments
  • impeaching public officials
  • confirming an appointed VP
  • declaring war
• The sole powers of the Senate are:

  • confirming appointments
  • ratifying treaties
• The sole power of the House is beginning considering of money bills.
• The legislative process consists of introduction, committee, timetabling, debate in house and senate, conference and executive signature.
• During the committee phase bills can be pigeon-holed as committees can choose not to hear certain ones.
• Minority party input is reduced in the conference phase and partisanship is more likely.
• During debate in the Senate, filibusters may take place to delay the passage of legislation. For example, in 2013, the Senate filibustered the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court for 21 hours. This can be ended with a cloture (60 votes).
• The executive can delay signing legislation by leaving something on the desk for 10 days, a regular veto (which Congress can override with a 2/3 vote), or a pocket veto if the legislative session ends within 10 days.