US legislative

 Congress is a bicameral legislature. The Senate is the upper house, designed to balance the power of the House of Representatives, which represents the people, with a body that represents the states. Senators used to be elected by state legislatures, not by popular vote, but the 17th Amendment changed this. In the Senate, there are 100 directly elected members, with equal representation from each state. Their purpose is to represent state interests. Both the Senate and the House must pass identical versions of a bill for it to become law.

They have the power of "advice and consent," which means the president must seek Senate approval for appointments for example, cabinet members, ambassadors, and judges. They also ratify treaties negotiated by the president, requiring a two thirds majority. The Senate conducts investigations and oversees the executive branch. Committees in the Senate hold hearings to examine the actions of government officials, ensuring accountability.

Unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate has no Speaker. It has its own leadership structure. The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice President of the United States, who serves as President of the Senate. Their role is mostly ceremonial and they only vote in the case of a tie. The Senate also has whips, who are responsible for rounding up members for votes and occasionally standing in for the majority or minority leader. After each new Congress, they elect one member to be party leader. The party in control is the majority leader, the other becomes the minority leader.

The House of Representatives represents the interests of the people. Representation in the House is proportional to the population. Today, there are 435 members. The Speaker of the House, formerly Kevin McCarthy, presides over the chamber and assigns members to committees.

The House is organised into committees responsible for reviewing and writing legislation. Committees are made up of House members, who are appointed and chaired by members of the House. All tax bills must originate in the House. The House also monitors the day to day running of the government through oversight, using committee hearings.

How are bills passed? First, a bill is introduced in either chamber. It is then assigned to a committee, which researches, discusses, and amends it. The bill is then put forward to the chamber for a vote. If it passes one chamber, it goes to the other, where the same process occurs. Any differences between the chambers are worked out. Once both chambers agree, the bill goes to the president, who can either approve or veto it. In most cases, Congress can override a veto. However, if the president does not sign it and Congress adjourns, the bill fails by default. This is known as a pocket veto.

In times of hyper partisan division, compromise is still possible. For example, Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass the First Step Act (2018), which helped to reform the criminal justice system.

The Senate has a filibuster rule, which allows senators to block or delay legislation by extended speaking. A cloture vote can end a filibuster with a three fifths majority. The House does not have this rule.

The House has the "power of the purse," meaning it can decide how government funds are spent, which programs receive funding, and the amount allocated.

Tribalism is very strong in the US today however, the system was not built for it. The UK was designed for adversarial politics, with deep and broad disagreements between the main political parties. In the US, tribalism causes gridlock and prevents government action because the US system wasn't designed for this level of partisanship. Tribalism is driven by biased news media, media silos, and religion. The Founding Fathers were concerned about unchecked, tyrannical presidential power, so they deliberately made Congress substantially stronger but they did not expect Congress or the presidency to become as powerful as they are now.

So what can Congress do to the president? They can investigate, including the right to subpoena, which is a court order ordering someone to appear or provide records. Congress can subpoena any federal employee or documents. Roger Stone, for example, is currently in prison for not attending a congressional subpoena.

Censure is another tool, which is a formal, public 'condemnation'.

Congress can override a presidential veto with a two thirds majority. They can ratify treaties, confirm or refuse cabinet members and Supreme Court appointees, and they can impeach the president.

Committee systems in Congress also play a key role.

Congressional caucuses are groups of members of Congress who work together to achieve shared legislative goals. Most members belong to multiple caucuses but all belong to either the House or Senate party caucus. The main party caucuses are the House Republican Caucus, the Senate Republican Caucus, the House Democratic Caucus, and the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Smaller caucuses may form around shared ideologies. For example, in 2011, the House Freedom Caucus formed with 45 Republicans committed to limited government. Some caucuses include members from both parties. For example, the Bipartisan Heroin and Opioid Task Force includes both Democrats and Republicans.

Each party caucus elects a leader called the majority leader if the party has control of the chamber, or the minority leader if it does not.

There are several types of congressional committees:

  1. Standing committees – These are permanent and each focuses on a specific policy area, such as foreign affairs or agriculture. There are 20 standing committees in the House and 16 in the Senate. Much of their work is done via subcommittees.
  2. Select committees – These are created to deal with specific, urgent issues to prevent standing committees from being overloaded. Most are temporary, though some are permanent, such as the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Select committees generally do not write legislation instead, they investigate issues. For example, from 2017 to 2020, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigated Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
  3. The House Rules Committee – This is a highly sought-after position. This committee sets the rules for debate on bills, including how much time a bill will have on the House floor and whether amendments will be allowed. Open rules allow members to suggest amendments closed rules do not. For example, between 2017 and 2020, 56% of bills were subject to closed rules. The committee has just 13 members.
  4. Conference committees – These are temporary committees formed to resolve differences when the House and Senate pass different versions of the same bill. They have become less frequent in recent years. For example, the 104th Congress had more than 60 conference committees, while the 115th had only seven.

Three notable congressional caucuses include:

  1. House Freedom Caucus (2021) – Consisted of 45 conservative Republicans committed to limited government. In early 2018, they opposed Trump’s budget, forcing Republicans to rely on Democratic votes to pass it.
  2. Congressional Progressive Caucus – Made up of nearly 100 progressive Democrats, the most liberal faction of the party. Their policy positions often align with the pressure group Justice Democrats. Most members represent safe Democratic (blue) districts.
  3. Congressional Black Caucus – Officially bipartisan, though it includes only four Republican members.

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