In the first century of the nation, service in Congress was not a career for most people and at least a third of the seats in Congress changed hands at each election. However, most of the members of the modern Congress are professional politicians who expect to rise in politics.
Incumbents, which are officeholders, have a roughly 90% probability of winning reelections. Incumbents can secure his or her position by catering to the constituency, the people residing in the incumbent’s state or district. Because constituency opinions matter a lot, members of Congress work hard to get their share of federal spending projects called pork. Incumbents also respond to their constituents’ individual requests, a practice known as the service strategy. Incumbents also have an advantage when it comes to raising campaign funds. Due to the costs of TV advertising, polling, and campaigns, House and Senate members often have to spend a lot of office in order to be elected (1 million for House and several to 20 million for Senate). It is hard for challengers to win elections because incumbents’ past campaigns and constituent service enable them to develop mailing lists of potential contributors. However, it is also the case that there will be open-seat election where there will be no incumbents. House members have another electoral advantage. Every ten years each population census are reallocated among the states in proportion to their population, a process called reapportionment. States are required by law to have House districts that are as nearly equal in population as possible, therefore states have to redraw their district boundaries. This responsibility is called the redistricting, and the party that controls the legislature will redistrict in a way that favours its own party, which is called gerrymandering. Midterm elections, those that occur midway through a president's term, are often won by the party different from that of the president's.
Incumbents, which are officeholders, have a roughly 90% probability of winning reelections. Incumbents can secure his or her position by catering to the constituency, the people residing in the incumbent’s state or district. Because constituency opinions matter a lot, members of Congress work hard to get their share of federal spending projects called pork. Incumbents also respond to their constituents’ individual requests, a practice known as the service strategy. Incumbents also have an advantage when it comes to raising campaign funds. Due to the costs of TV advertising, polling, and campaigns, House and Senate members often have to spend a lot of office in order to be elected (1 million for House and several to 20 million for Senate). It is hard for challengers to win elections because incumbents’ past campaigns and constituent service enable them to develop mailing lists of potential contributors. However, it is also the case that there will be open-seat election where there will be no incumbents. House members have another electoral advantage. Every ten years each population census are reallocated among the states in proportion to their population, a process called reapportionment. States are required by law to have House districts that are as nearly equal in population as possible, therefore states have to redraw their district boundaries. This responsibility is called the redistricting, and the party that controls the legislature will redistrict in a way that favours its own party, which is called gerrymandering. Midterm elections, those that occur midway through a president's term, are often won by the party different from that of the president's.
The U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislature, meaning it has to chambers, the House and the Senate. At the start of each two-year congressional term, party members will elect their party leaders. Party members also meet periodically in closed session, which is called a party caucus, to plan strategy, discuss issues, and resolve policy differences.
In the House, the most important actor is the Speaker. Members of the House will elect the Speaker, so when members of the House vote for the Speaker, the leader of the majority party will inevitably become the Speaker. The Speaker is active in developing the party’s positions on issues and in persuading party members in the House to support them. The Speaker also has the power to speak first during House debate on legislation and the power to recognise members to talk.
In the Senate, the most important position is the majority leader, who leads the majority-party caucus. The Senate majority leader formulates the majority party’s legislative agenda and encourages party members to support it. The majority leader is assisted by the majority whip, who sees to it that members know when important votes are scheduled. However, the majority leader is not as powerful as the Speaker because the leading officer of the Senate is the vice president.
Most of the work in Congress is conducted through standing committees, which are permanent committees with responsibility for particular areas of public policy. There are twenty standing committees in the House and sixteen in the Senate, each with its own specific field of focus. Most of the standing committees have subcommittees, each of which has a defined jurisdiction. Select committees have a designated responsibility, joint committees perform the advisory function, and the conference committees are joint committees formed temporarily to work out differences in House and Senate versions of a particular bill.
In order for a bill, a proposed legislative act, to become a law, it has to go through a numerous amount of steps:
1. introduce to the House/Senate
2. discuss in full committee
3. discuss in subcommittee
4. discuss in full committee
5. back to House/Senate floor
6. President/conference committee
If a bill appears to have a merit, the subcommittee will schedule hearings on it. After the hearings, if the subcommittee feels that the legislation is needed, then members will recommend the bill to the full committee. In the House, both the full committee and a subcommittee can mark up a bill, that is to have the authority to change its content. During the debate of a bill, a filibuster, which is a procedural tactic whereby a minority of senators can block a bill by talking until other senators give in and the bill is withdrawn from consideration or altered to fit opponents' demands. A filibuster can be defeated by a cloture, which limits debate to thirty hours. In the House, proposed amendments must directly relate to the bill's content. But in the Senate, a rider, that is when members propose any amendment to any bill, can be used.
In order for a bill, a proposed legislative act, to become a law, it has to go through a numerous amount of steps:
1. introduce to the House/Senate
2. discuss in full committee
3. discuss in subcommittee
4. discuss in full committee
5. back to House/Senate floor
6. President/conference committee
If a bill appears to have a merit, the subcommittee will schedule hearings on it. After the hearings, if the subcommittee feels that the legislation is needed, then members will recommend the bill to the full committee. In the House, both the full committee and a subcommittee can mark up a bill, that is to have the authority to change its content. During the debate of a bill, a filibuster, which is a procedural tactic whereby a minority of senators can block a bill by talking until other senators give in and the bill is withdrawn from consideration or altered to fit opponents' demands. A filibuster can be defeated by a cloture, which limits debate to thirty hours. In the House, proposed amendments must directly relate to the bill's content. But in the Senate, a rider, that is when members propose any amendment to any bill, can be used.
The Congress is also expected to perform three functions, the lawmaking, the representation, and the oversight. The lawmaking function means to have the authority to make the laws necessary to carry out the powers granted to the national government. In other words, the Congress makes the laws authorising federal programs and appropriating the funds necessary to carry them out. The representation function means that the members of the Congress represent various interests within American society, giving people a voice in the national legislature. Last but not least, the Congress exercises the oversight function in order to see that the executive branch carries out the laws faithfully.