Legislative Branch Worksheet

Course Completion Express Workshop (Cohort) The Legislative Branch This ‘Course Completion Express Workshop” worksheet provides a roadmap of many key concepts from the course sections discussing the history and structure of the U.S. Constitution. The worksheet SHOULD NOT be treated as a comprehensive guide to what you need to know to successfully demonstrate competency over the material. Rather, this worksheet is designed to help you focus on many core concepts as PART of your educational journey in the course. If you plan to print this checklist and hand-write your answers, first add more white space after each question. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH (The Senate and the House of Representatives, in Congress) 1. The French Enlightenment-era philosopher named _______________ gave us the idea of a government divided into 3 branches to distribute political power and the government process. 2. The U.S. House of Representatives has __________ members (since 1911) and the # of representatives per state is determined based on _______________. The number of Representatives per state is reapportioned (divided up fairly) every _____ years following the ______________. 3. The U.S. Senate has _____ members, with each state having _____ senators. 4. Members of the House of Representatives are elected every _____ years and must be at least ____ years old and ____ years a U.S. citizen. 5. Senators are elected every _____ years (with 1/3 up for reelection every two years) and must be _____ years old and _____ years a U.S. citizen. 6. The powers of Congress expressly listed in the Constitution are called the _______________ powers from Article 1, Section 8. 7. The Necessary and Proper clause from Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is the basis for the _______________ powers that Congress exercises in addition to its expressed powers. 8. The power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states is called the _______________ Clause. This was an important addition to the Constitution because: __________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________. 9. Congress was given all the following expressed powers in reaction to the weakness of the Confederation Congress except for which of the following: 1 a) The power to regulate the interstate economy b) The power to raise taxes and borrow money to run the government c) The power to maintain an army, a navy, and to control state militias to implement federal law and suppress domestic uprisings d) The power to appoint Supreme Court Justice 10. Congress has the power to impeach the President, Supreme Court Justices, federal judges, Department and agency heads, and other officers of the United States government for treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. What is the role of each Congressional chamber in the impeachment process: a) The House of Representatives: ______________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________. b) The Senate: ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________. 11. What are two “checks and balances” powers that the Senate (but NOT the House of Representatives) has in relation to the power of the President: a) _____________________________________________________________________________________ b) _____________________________________________________________________________________ 12. Describe how the MAJOR steps in the law-making process work (note: I am giving you steps a and d): a) Introduction: Imagine a Senator introduces a proposed law (called a bill) to the Senate chamber. b) Committee Action: c) Floor Action: d) The bill is sent to the House of Representatives e) Committee Action: f) Floor Action: g) Conference Committee: h) Congressional votes on the Conference Committee Report: i) Presidential Action: 2 j) Potential Congressional override of veto: 13. The term for the role Congress plays in monitoring of the actions and spending made by the Executive Branch as part of its implied duties since Congress controls the annual budget and passes the laws for the Federal government is called __________________. This often involves calling Executive Branch officials to testify before Congress. Answer Key: 1. Montesquieu (pronounced /MONT-es-cue/). 2. 435, population, 10 years, U.S. Census 3. 100, 2 4. 2, 25, 7 5. 6, 30, 9 6. Enumerated (aka Expressed) 7. Implied 8. Commerce Clause – The creation of the Commerce Clause (“to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states...”) corrected the national government’s lack of ability to regulate any economic activity under the Articles of Confederation. Under this earlier system, states were constantly arguing over border disputes, interstate trade, control over shared waterways, and more. 9. A, B, C. 10. The Impeachment process can charge, try, convict, and remove from office the President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States for the offense “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors” (Constitution, Article II, Section 4). In this process: 3 a. The House investigates all potentially impeachable offenses and bring official charges, called “Articles of Impeachment” against the official. This is impeachment. b. The Senate holds a trial to investigate the impeachment articles brought against the government official. The Senate can either convict and remove from office (2/3 of Senators present have to vote ‘yes’) or acquit of the charges (in which case the person returns to their duties). This is conviction/acquittal of the impeachment charges. 11. 1). The Senate can approve the ratification of treaties negotiated by the President and Executive Branch with foreign governments. 2). The Senate confirms all Presidential appointments to the Supreme Court, Federal Courts, and other high-level officers of the United States. This is called the “advice and consent” of the Senate. 12. The Law-Making Process: a. Introduction: Imagine a Senator introduces a proposed law (called a bill) to the Senate chamber. b. Committee Action: The bill is sent down to a specialized committee for “mark-up” where the bill is discussed, debated, amended, and voted on. If the committee votes to approve”, the bill is voted “out of committee” where it returns to the full Senate for further debate and a vote. c. Floor Action: Once the senior Senate leadership schedules discussion, the Senate will discuss and debate, amend, and ultimately vote on the proposed law. If the Senate votes “yes”, then the bill is attached to a report and sent to the House of Representatives for that body’s consideration. d. The bill is sent to the House of Representatives: The House processes the Senate bill and starts the same process discussed above. In some cases, the House may have already been working on a similar bill, in which case they do NOT use the Senate’s version. e. Committee Action: Just like in the Senate, the House of Representatives has specialized committees. One of these committees will discuss and debate, amend, and eventually vote on the bill. If the committee votes the bill “out of committee”, the bill returns to the House Rules Committee to determine the terms of debate. f. Floor Action: The Speaker of the House holds considerable power to create a Legislative Calendar determining when the proposed bill will be up for discussion (if ever). Eventually, the bill should make it to the House floor for discussion and debate, amendment, and eventual vote on the proposed law. Unlike the Senate (which has unlimited debate unless 3/5 of the present Senators vote for “cloture” to shut down debate with only 30 additional hours), the House usually imposes strict time limits for individual comments in order to keep debate moving ahead with 435 members. If the House votes “YES”, but the bill has changed from when the Senate passed it, the bill goes to a CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. g. Conference Committee: The Conference Committee is a joint committee of Senators and House members who work out any discrepancies and develop a SINGLE compromise bill. The Committee reports back to the full Senate and House what are those changes. 4 h. Congressional votes on the Conference Committee Report: Both the Senate and the House of Representatives has to vote to approve the compromise bill developed by the Conference Committee. This final bill, if approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives, is then send to the White House for the President’s signature into law or the President’s veto of the proposed law (a key check on Legislative power). i. Presidential Action: The President has 10 days (not including Sunday) to either sign the bill and make it an official U.S. law or to veto the bill. If the President vetoes (rejects) the proposed law, she must sent the bill back to the originating chamber of Congress (in this case, the Senate) with a report explaining the reasons for the veto. j. Potential Congressional override of veto: Most of the time, a Presidential veto kills the bill. However, if 2/3 of the Senate AND 2/3 of the House of Representatives both feel strongly on the importance of the bill and vote to OVERRIDE the Presidential Veto, then the bill still becomes law even without a Presidential signature. 13. Congressional Oversight 5