House
This term describes a version of redistricting where a House district is changed in order to benefit one group of people.
What is gerrymandering?
This phrase from the Constitution describes the ability of the Senate to give approval of certain presidential actions.
What is advice and consent?
This Constitutionally required address is traditionally given once a year by the President and typically reflects on the past year's accomplishments and rallies support for the upcoming year's policy agenda.
What is the State of the Union?
Although many argued that having a plurality of people as president would serve as a powerful check on tyranny, Hamilton argued that their needed to be one powerful (energetic) executive for these two primary reasons.
What are that the president needs to act decisively and that the president needs to be held accountable?
This term describes a situation when one party controls the presidency and the opposing party controls at least one chamber of Congress. This often leads to gridlock.
What is a divided government?
The House version of this type of committee makes important decisions about how a bill will be debated on the House floor.
What is the rules committee?
This unwritten rule in the Senate means that no member of the Senate that is present objects to a procedure that will occur.
What is unanimous consent?
This term describes a situation in which a bill dies when a session of Congress ends because the president did not sign it.
What is a pocket veto?
This Constitutional amendment limits the president to two terms in office.
What is the 22nd Amendment?
The primary role of this type of committee is to reconcile differences between House and Senate bills.
What is a conference committee?
The House has exclusive authority to originate this kind of bill.
What is a revenue bill?
This term describes the approval of a presidential appointee by the Senate.
What is confirmation?
This informal power is most often used to clarify implementation or to state displeasure with part of a bill that has recently become a law.
What is a signing statement?
This numerical majority is required to ratify a treaty in the Senate.
What is a 2/3 majority?
Most of the mandatory spending budget is allocated for the funding of these types of programs. If people are eligible for these they are required by law to receive them.
What are entitlements?
In this SCOTUS decision, the Court ruled that matters of House redistricting were justiciable.
What is Baker v. Carr?
If the Senate wants to end a filibuster and call for a vote, they can invoke this type of motion with a 3/5 majority.
What is a cloture?
This informal power of the president allows for the negotiation of terms with a foreign nation without the consent of the Senate.
What is an executive agreement?
This proclamation, passed by Congress in 1973, was issued to encourage the president to include Congress when using the "commander-in-chief" power.
What is the War Powers Act?
When a member of Congress acts in direct accordance with his or her constituents' wishes, they are said to be taking on this persona of representation.
What is a delegate?
This term describes the process by which House members decide how to spend money in the discretionary spending budget.
What is appropriations?
This committee conducts research and hearings after a federal court nominee has been submitted by the President.
What is the Senate Judiciary Committee?
This is the most common way that Presidents use executive orders.
What is to direct executive agencies to do something?
In its decision in U.S. v. Nixon, the Court stated that, although this informal presidential power did exist, it is not unlimited and did not apply to this specific criminal investigation.
What is executive privilege?
In the Court's decision in Shaw v. Reno, it was decided that a North Carolina Congressional district violated this clause from the 14th Amendment.
What is the equal protection clause?