US Gov. - Unit 2

Separating the legislature into two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives

Citizens in a district represented by an elected official

Bias towards one's own political party

Majority party: party with the most members in the legislature; holds the most powerful leadership positions (Speaker of the House and Majority Leader)minority party: the remaining party; has Minority Leader

House

• Speaker of the House: most significant member of House of Representatives and very influential in the legislature
• Majority Leader: 2nd in command of the majority party; helps plan their party's program
• Minority Leader: organizes Minority Party; influence = limited

Senate

• Vice President: can cast a vote in a tie; rarely with Senate
• Vice President Pro Tempore: a person in place of the Vice President
• Floor Leaders (real leaders of the Senate)
  • Majority Leader: most influential in Senate
  • Minority Leader: shares power with Majority Leader

1. standing committees: evaluate most of the proposed laws; conduct investigations
2. select committees: temporarily created for a specific topic
3. joint committees: deals with major issues in both houses
4. conference committees: temporarily formed to create a compromise of a bill between the House and Senate

When a senator endlessly argues about an issue about a bill to purposefully block or delay action on a bill

Distributing a proportional number of the legislative body to match the population of each state

• Each state gets two senators
• Number of the House of Representatives depends on the population of the state

A person who is currently holding office

Shared powers to

• make laws
• coin money, declare war, raise an army, regulate commerce, establish federal courts

House of Representatives' powers

• originate revenue bills
• impeach an elected official

Senate's powers

• advice the President
• approve treaties
• hold impeachment trials

Gives Congress the authority to make laws that are necessary for their powers; "necessary and proper"

• evaluates the annual budget and determines the amount for each program
• investigates crimes made by public officials

Overspending money on a legislature's local district that may have been unapproved

Group of advisors of the President; heads of the executive government's departments

• Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, etc.

Group of agencies that advise and influence a President's agenda

• National Security Council, Office of Management and Budget, National Economic Council

People who directly serve the President as advisors (including the Chief of Staff)

• gather info., write reports, and present the President's views to the media