4.13 Congressional Leadership and Committees

Congressional
Leadership &
Committees

Unit 4-13

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Lesson Overview

• Students Will Be Able To:
• Identify roles and characteristics of leadership positions and committees in Congress.
• Sequentially order the steps of a congressional committee working on a bill.
• Apply knowledge of Congress to identify the correct committee for a piece
of legislation.
• Vocabulary:
• Committee Chairperson
• Congressional Committees
• Floor Leader
• Party Caucus
• President Pro Tempore
• Presiding Officer
• Speaker of the House
• Whip

Essential Question- What roles do leaders and committees have in Congress?

The House's Presiding Officer: Speaker of the House

• Both the HOR and the Senate have a Presiding Officer- a chamber leader

• For the HOR this officer is called the- Speaker of the House (or simply Speaker)

• Point to Ponder- How does this position need to use compromise and agreements to work effectively?

So how is the Speaker of the House chosen?

Multiple Choice

Which statement accurately describes how the Speaker of the House gains the position:

• The minority party in the House of Representatives selects the Speaker; this rule keeps the balance of power between the parties

• The House of Representatives elects the Speaker, so the Speaker is usually from the party with a majority in the House

• The president appoints the Speaker, so the Speaker is usually from the same party as the president

The Speaker of the House Continued...

• This is one of the most powerful positions in American Government

• They lead the Party that has the Majority in the HOR and appoint people to committees

• They are also third in line for the Presidency (Line of Succession)

• However, as we have seen recently this position can be taken away by voting them out of office

The Senate's Presiding Officer: President of the Senate

• According to the Constitution (Remember it is the Blueprints of the Nation), the Vice President is the -President of the Senate

• Unlike the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate does not have a major role in Congress-
• Reasons
• The Vice President is not a Representative or a Senator
• The VP is elected by the people and not the Senate (unlike the Speaker of the House who is elected by the House Members)
• Over time the VP has come to be more involved in the Executive Branch as opposed to the Legislative

• Main role is to cast tiebreaking votes in the Senate when needed

• Usually, they are not even at Senate Meetings at all, the President Pro Tempore is instead

The President Pro Tempore

• So the President Pro Tempore- is a senator that presides over the Senate in the absence of the VP

• Comes from Latin, means- "For the time Being"
• Usually the most experienced Senator from the majority party

• Presides over the Senate but also allows newer members to presdie as well to gain experience

• Cannot vote to break a tie like the VP can

Floor Leaders

• Before the start of each new session of Congress, each party in each house meets at a Party Caucus, sometimes called a Party Conference

• Here is where they elect, Floor Leaders-people who lead the party caucus in their
chambers
• So, their titles are based on who is in the majority and minority
• House Majority Leader
• House Minority Leader
• Senate Majority Leader
• Senate Minority Leader
• They set the agenda for the party and try to create unity

Whips

• The assistants to the floor leaders are called "Whips"
• Comes from the word called "Whipper-In" which was a person who
oversaw keeping all the hunting hounds together
• So, the Whips oversee keeping all the members and their votes together

Why do you think that the
leaders would want to make
sure all the members and
votes were united and on the
same page?

Congressional Committees

• Congressional Committees- are groups within Congress assigned to handle legislation

• Each committee has a leader called a committee chairperson each committee has an odd number of
members, and the majority party has the control of the committee

• They develop bills for legislation based on research and hearings
• They introduce the proposed bills to the entire floor of the Senate and or House of Representatives.

Congressional Committees

Types of Committees

• Standing Committees (They do in fact sit
down)
• Permanant Committees (Always have them), the HOR has 20 and the Senate has 16

• Joint Committees
• These have both the HOR and Senate members on them

• Conference Committees
• These are temporary joint committees formed to help pass a bill through both houses

• Select Committees
• These are formed to address/investigate current issues

Essential Question- What roles do leaders and committees have in Congress?

The House's presiding speaker is the Speaker of the House.
The vice president and the president pro tempore have
this role in the Senate.

Each party in each chamber has a floor leader.

Committees serve specific roles within Congress.