POLI 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Chuck Schumer, Mitch Mcconnell, Nancy Pelosi
22 May 2018
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I. Congressional Organization
a. The party and leadership structure—Speaker of the House, majority and minority
leaders (both houses), President Pr Tempore (senate), whips (both houses)
i. House: majoritarian. Majority has control.
ii. Senate: individualistic institution. Each senator can change the process. Has a lot
of individual control.
iii. All of this organization of parties developed over the years. Did not come about
in the constitution
iv. Leader of House: Speaker of the House. (Paul Ryan). Speaker is mentioned in the
Constitution—person who runs the House of Representatives. He also has the
job to lead the party.
1. Underneath speaker of house: majority leader and minority leader
2. Majority leader: leads majority party. Minority leader: leads minority
party
3. Majority leader: Kevin McCarthy. Minority leader: Nancy Pelosi.
4. Next people underneath: whips
a. Majority whip: tries to get people on board with legislation.
b. Minority whip: does same
v. Senate: Has official leader. Vice President: Mike Pence
1. Vice President does not often go to Senate. Vice President comes when
they need to break a tie.
2. Next person: President Pro Tempore (Pro temp). Temporary president
of the Senate. Not really in charge either. Longest serving member of
the majority party. Orin Hatch. Only really symbolic.
3. Majority and Minority Leader: have to agree to do stuff.
a. Majority leader: Mitch McConnell.
b. Minority Leader: Chuck Schumer.
b. The committee structure—standing, select, joint, and conference committees
i. Different types:
ii. Committees duties: hearing, markup, oversight (committee goes back after law
is passed and makes sure that the law is carried out correctly)
iii. Standing committee: permanent, no matter who is in Congress. Most
committees are self explanatory.
iv. Select committee: temporary. Add a committee when they just need it for a
little. Y2K oittee: tur of the etury. Coputer prograers did’t realize
that the century would change, worried they would lose the money.
v. Joint committee: meant to expedite legislation. Deal with boring and common
issues. Joint committee on the library of congress. Joint committee on taxes.
vi. Conference committee:
c. Congressional offices and staff
II. Lawmaking process
a. Setting the Agenda: ideas can come from a lot of different places.
i. Can come from legislators (who work in field, specialize in it, etc). Bring that
knowledge into Congress.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Congressional organization: the party and leadership structure speaker of the house, majority and minority leaders (both houses), president pr tempore (senate), whips (both houses, house: majoritarian. Has a lot of individual control: all of this organization of parties developed over the years. Did not come about in the constitution: leader of house: speaker of the house. (paul ryan). He also has the job to lead the party: underneath speaker of house: majority leader and minority leader, majority leader: leads majority party. Minority leader: leads minority party: majority leader: kevin mccarthy. Minority leader: nancy pelosi: next people underneath: whips, majority whip: tries to get people on board with legislation, minority whip: does same, senate: has official leader. Vice president: mike pence: vice president does not often go to senate. Vice president comes when they need to break a tie: next person: president pro tempore (pro temp). Most committees are self explanatory: select committee: temporary.
