Congressional Voting and Legislative Processes

What is being measured when people track the way a member of Congress votes in terms of his or her party?

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  Media influence

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  Reelection potential

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  Interest group influence

• Loyalty

• Partisanship

Congressional committee hearings are ________.

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  an attempt to create new congressional policies without having to go through cumbersome committee procedures

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  the equivalent of federal district court proceedings

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  done so that Congress can distance itself from public policy issues

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  often designed to send signals from committee members to the relevant parts of the bureaucracy

Cloture is a ________.

• mechanism used by a joint meeting of the House and Senate to end a filibuster

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  mechanism used by the House to end a filibuster

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  mechanism used by the Senate to end a filibuster

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  process by which senators delay or prevent action on a bill

What type of committee, specified in the House and Senate rules, is relatively permanent?

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  A joint committee

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  A select committee

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  A fixed committee

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  A standing committee

In the Senate’s advisory and content role, it has the power to ________.

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  impeach a sitting president

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  coin money

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  confirm presidential appointments

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  regulate commerce

________ is unique to the House of Representatives.

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  The power to advise and consent for judicial appointments

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  The power to originate revenue bills

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  The power to advise and consent for upper-level executive appointments

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  The power to advise and consent for treaties

How was it possible for Republicans to control the congressional agenda virtually unopposed from 1995 to 2006?

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  The Republicans enjoyed large majorities in the House during this period and so had been able to pass most bills, regardless of party unity.

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  The Democrats had not been able to use their majority status due to their lack of unity, so the Republican minority had been able to get their bills through.

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  Even though he was a Democrat, the president supported every measure that the House put before him.

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  Despite their small majority, the GOP had enjoyed unprecedented unity, which enabled them to pass nearly all of their bills during this period.

Regarding influence, the House of Representatives is more influential than the Senate ________.

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  when trying impeached officials

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  on foreign affairs

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  in approval of treaties

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  on the budget

Which of the following is a bill that is introduced in both chambers of Congress at the same time?

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  Bicameral bill

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  Dual bill

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  Companion bill

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  Comparison bill

A committee that draws members from both the Senate and the House is a ________ committee.

• standing

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  joint

• select

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  sub-