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The majority party of the Senate elects a majority leader, who performs some of the same tasks as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The minority party also elects a minority leader. Leaders in the Senate have much less ability to punish and reward members than their counterparts do in the House. Senators are expected to be independent, and party leaders give members wide latitude in how they behave.
Floor Debate Rules
A major difference between the House and Senate concerns the rules governing floor debate. In both houses, a majority of members must vote in favor of a bill for it to pass, but the rules for the debating and voting process differ greatly.
Debate in the House
Due to its large size, the House does not permit unlimited debate. Before a bill goes to the floor for debate, it must go through the House Rules Committee, which passes a rule to accompany each bill. This rule determines how much debate is permitted, as well as how many amendments to the bill can be proposed. A closed rule strongly limits or forbids any amendments, whereas an open rule allows for anyone to propose amendments.
Debate in the Senate
Because senators are supposed to be experienced and independent legislators, the Senate offers few rules for floor debate. In general, there are no rules: Senators can speak for as long as they wish and offer as many amendments as they want. This leads to the filibuster, a tactic in which a senator in the minority on a bill holds the floor indefinitely with the aim of blocking all Senate business until the majority backs down. A filibuster can be stopped by a vote of cloture, which requires sixty votes. Filibusters are uncommon, but even the threat of one can cause consternation among senators.
Because senators are allowed to offer as many amendments as they wish, they sometimes propose amendments that have nothing to do with the bill. These amendments are called riders and can serve a number of purposes. One rider may be added to attract votes—by adding funding for a popular cause, for example—whereas others can discourage votes by adding a controversial provision to a bill.
The Longest Filibuster
Filibusters are the stuff of legend, in part because of the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), in which actor Jimmy Stewart plays the part of a senator who filibusters against corrupt senators. Former senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina holds the record for the longest filibuster: twenty-four hours and eighteen minutes against a civil rights bill in 1957.
Committees: Little Legislatures
Members of Congress serve on a number of committees and subcommittees. Committees are sometimes called little legislatures because of the influence they wield. These committees do most of the legislative work in Congress and therefore have great power in determining which bills get reviewed and in shaping the laws that are passed. Only after a committee has reviewed a bill does the whole body deliberate and vote on it. The committee system allows Congress to operate more efficiently through division of labor and specialization.
Types of Committees
There are four major types of congressional committees:
- Standing committees: The most common type of committee, standing committees deal with issues of permanent legislative concern. Standing committees also handle the vast majority of legislation. Most standing committees have subcommittees covering more specific areas of an issue.
- Conference committees: A very common kind of joint committee with members from both the House and the Senate. For a bill to become law, both houses must approve identical versions. When different versions are passed, the leaders create a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two bills. Conference committees issue a single bill for both houses to vote on.
- Select committees: Select committees are created for a limited period and for a specific purpose.
- Joint committees: Joint committees consist of members of both houses, usually created to deal with a specific issue.
The table on the next page lists some of the current standing committees in Congress.
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House |
Senate |
| Agriculture Appropriations Armed Services Budget, Education, and Workforce Energy and Commerce Financial Services Government Reform Homeland Security House Administration International Relations Judiciary Resources Rules Science Small Business Standards of Official Conduct Transportation and Infrastructure Veterans’ Affairs Ways and Means | Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Appropriations Armed Services Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Budget Commerce, Science, and Transportation Energy and Natural Resources Environment and Public Works Finance Foreign Relations Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Judiciary Rules and Administration Small Business and Entrepreneurship Veterans’ Affairs |
Committee Powers
Committees have a great deal of power over bills. Thousands of bills are introduced in Congress during each congressional session, but only a small fraction of those bills are actually put to a vote on the floor. Most bills, particularly controversial ones, die in committees. Committees review bills, hold hearings, rewrite the bill in open session (called markup), and choose whether to refer a bill to the whole house.
Committees are not all-powerful, especially in the House. Although most bills die in committee, the whole House can override the committee’s decision to kill a bill by passing a discharge petition, which brings the bill out of the committee and to a vote. Discharge petitions are not that common because they anger the members of the committee that initially killed the bill.
Composition of Committees
Party leaders determine which members serve on each committee. The majority party always has a majority of members on each committee. The majority party names the chair of each committee based on seniority, power, loyalty, and other criteria. Committee chairs have substantial power: They schedule hearings and votes and can easily kill a bill if they choose. The senior committee member from the minority party is called the ranking member.
Members of Congress try to get good committee assignments. Most members want to be on powerful committees, such as the Ways and Means Committee (which deals with taxes and revenue), or on a committee that covers issues important to their constituents. Getting a good committee assignment can make reelection easier for members.
The Staff System
Congress employs a significant number of people, called staffers, who assist members in a variety of ways. There are several types of staff:
- Members’ staff: Each member has staffers who provide clerical support, help with constituent relations, and conduct research on issues important to the member. The members divide their staffers between their home offices and their offices in Washington, D.C.
- Committee staff: Each committee employs a number of staffers who organize and administer the committee’s work. Staffers also conduct research, offer legal advice, and draft legislation.
- Staff agencies: Organizations created by Congress to offer policy analysis, including the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office, employ staffers.
