House of Representatives
435 members
Who is the head of the senate?
US Vice President
What is the Rules Committee?
Where the speaker of the house is. Where they decide who gets to talk and for long
Who is the last person who gets the bill?
The president -- unless he sends it back.
What is ex post facto law?
cannot punish a person from an act committed before there was a law against it
What is the amount of representatives based on?
The population of each state
How many senators are there?
100 senators
What is the Appropriations Committee?
All spending and all funding for any programs in the world
What vote is needed from Congress to override a president's veto?
⅔ (67%) of both houses is needed to override the president's veto.
What is Writ of Habeas Corpus
To bring an individual to court to make sure their arrest is lawful
What do representatives represent?
represent the entire state only the specific district they are elected from
How many senators does every state get?
2 senators
What are Select or Special Committees?
Groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration
How many votes are needed to end debate in the senate?
⅗ (60) of the senate must agree to end debate (this is called “cloture”
What is Gerrymandering?
The act of purposefully drawing voting district boundaries to favor 1 political party (rigging an election)
What are the qualifications to be a house member?
Qualifications
25 years old
Citizen for last 7 years
Live in state your running in
What are the qualifications to be a senate member?
Qualifications
30 years old
Citizen for 9 years
Live in-state running for the office of
Viewed as more important (Bigger brother to the house
What are Subcommittees?
Examples: Education Committee, Appropriations Committee, Climate change committee
What is a filibuster?
A way to talk a bill to death in the senate only because everyone has unlimited time to talk
What is the 17th Amendment?
passed to allow citizens to elect senators
What was the Reappointment act of 1929?
Kept the house at a set number of 435 representatives, set the census to be taken every 10 years to monitor state populations
How many terms does a senate get?
6 terms
What are Standing Committees?
Permanent Panel with full legislative functions and oversight and responsibilities
What is it called when the bill dies after 10 days?
Pocket veto
What was the Baker V. Carr case?
Court case where the supreme court decided the courts may decide redistricting cases where lines are drawn illegally. (Pack and Crack)
Pack: you can’t pack a huge population in one district. The same number of people in the same district
Crack: You can’t split or skip districts, they have to be all together