Warm Up #2

1. What is a confederation?

2. Why would the original founding fathers have wanted a confederation style of government?

3. Provide at least 3 reasons why a colonist would remain loyal to England.

Article 1: The Legislative Branch

Article I=The Legislative Branch

Bicameral

HOR+SEN= U.S. Congress

535 Voting Members

Terms in CongressEach Congress = 2

years

• Begins Jan. 3 of odd years & given #

114th Jan 2015-Jan 2017

Sessions

• 2 per term.• Jan.- Nov.• Joint

Session

Congress.gov

The House of Representatives

435 MembersTerritories= non-voting delegate

2 year termsNO term limits

Qualifications

Congressional Districts

Constituents

gerrymandering Purpose= strengthen a political parties control

NC Representatives; Dist. 9& 12

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Robert Pittenger, R, District 9

Alma Adams, D, District 12

Leadership in the House of Representatives

Speaker of the House

Minority Leader

Majority Leader

Minority/ Majority Whips John Boehner

Impeachment= bringing charges against a civil official

Starts in House

Senate holds the trial2/3rds vote to convict & removesimple majority= no future office

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States#Senate

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.ARTICLE II, SECTION 4

The House of Representatives ... shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. Art. I, Sec. 2, Cl. 5:

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. no Person shall be convicted without Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present. Art. I, Sec. 3, Cl. 6 & 7:

The Senate2 per state

Serve 6 year termsNo term limits

Staggered Elections

Qualifications

Warm Up

Article I Section IIIPresident of the Senate= VP

President Pro Tempore-

Majority Leader

Minority Leader-

Mitch McConnell -R

Powers Exclusive to the Senate

1. Confirm presidential nominationsPresident "shall nominate, and by and with the

Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for..." (Article II, Section 2)

2. Ratify treaties •(needs 2/3rds approval)

3. Try any impeachment initiated in the House

Types of CommitteesStanding Committees

permanent subcommittees =specific areas of an issueEX) Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Appropriations Armed Services Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Budget Commerce, Science, and Transportation Energy and Natural Resources

Select Committee

Joint Committee

Conference Committee

Filibuster’sNo rule limiting amount of time spent debating a bill

Filibuster- tactic to delay/stop a vote on a bill used only in the SEN. Used by the minority partyNot common, but they are threatened often

Threat has same impact as actualMust have someone continuously speaking in order to maintain the filibusterGoal is for the majority party to drop the bill completely or to compromise on something in the bill

Rand Paul Filibuster

ClotureFilibusters can be stopped with a vote of cloture

Cloture sets a time limit to debate on a topic/bill

In order to bring cloture need 60 votes (3/5ths of the Senate)

The process of cloture takes so long that it blocks the Senate from moving on to other bills

Senators want to avoid going through this process

Quorum & Quorum Roll Call

Quorum- the required number of Senators present to conduct business

According to constitution a simple majority (51) is required to conduct business

Rarely 51 Senators are present, and business goes on as usual

If someone wants to stop debate when 51 Senators are not present they can call for a Quorum Call The names of all 100 senators are called very slowly and it takes up a lot of time.If there are not 51 Senators present once a quorum call has occurred then they cannot proceed with the debate

The “Sergeant at Arms” responsible for getting 51 Senators to show up or the Senate must be adjourned. Could be 2 A.M.

Way to block legislation.

Perks of being a member of Congress $223,500 Speaker of the House Salary

$193,400 Majority & Minority Leaders in the House and Senate, President Pro Tempore

Every other member of Congress makes $174,500

Free parking, office space and furniture, trips to their home state, free job related mail, gym membership, medical clinic, restaurant deals, and low cost life insurance.