Federal Legislative Power in the USA

The American Presidency

UNIT 16

U.S. Congress- bicameral federal legislature – has two branches- Article I of the Constitution:All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress

of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

CONGRESS

the SENATE the HOUSE of

REPRESENTATIVES(co-equal houses)

- all congressmen (535) - both senators and representatives are chosen in DIRECT election

U.S. Congress - Powers- powers of the Congress – limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers reserved to the states and

the people

Article 1 - The Legislative BranchSection 8- to lay and collect Taxes, Duties;- to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the

several States, and with the Indian Tribes;- to coin Money;- to constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;- to declare War;- to provide and maintain navy;- to make rules for the government and regulation of the land

and naval forces;- etc.+ each house has some RESERVED powers

The House of Representatives

- composition and powers of the House are established in Article I Section 2 of the US ConstitutionComposition:- proportional representation (435 representatives-the number fixed by law) – seats apportioned among the states by the number of inhabitants (determined by census conducted every 10 years)- appointed for the term of office of 2 years;may be re-elected an unlimited number of times“The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.”

Reserved powers:- the sole Power of Impeachment- to propose bills on tax collection

U.S. Senate

- composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article I Section 3 of the US Constitution Composition:– two senators from each state – 100 senators serving staggered six-year terms (divided into 3 classes – every 2 years “one class shall be vacated” - so one third is chosen every second year) - each senator has one vote- the Vice President of the US – President of the Senate – “shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided”Reserved powers:- ratification of treaties- confirmation of presidential nominations to high-level judicial and executive positions- the sole power to try all impeachments

Legislative procedure The work of Congress is initiated by the introduction of a proposal

in

one of four forms: the bill, the joint resolution, the concurrent

resolution, and the simple resolution. – BILL - the most common

bills may be introduced only by a congressman bills may originate in either house (except bills for raising

revenue – “all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives but the Senate may propose, or concur with, amendments” - Article I Section 7

general appropriation bills (by tradition) also originate in the House of Representatives

the majority of laws originate in the House of Representatives bills traverse a maze of committees and subcommittees,

debates, and amendments in both chambers of Congress before they become laws

Legislative procedure

There are two types of bills

a) PUBLIC - affects the population at large

b) PRIVATE - affects a specified individual or a private entity

A bill that has been agreed to in identical form by both

bodies becomes the law of the land only after:

1. Presidential APPROVAL

2. failure by the President to return it with objections to the House in which it originated within 10 days (Sundays excepted) while Congress is in session – POCKET VETO

3. the overriding of a presidential VETO by a two-thirds vote in each House – REGULAR VETO

How US laws are made?

Step 1: Introduction Step 2: Committee Consideration Step 3: Committee Action Step 4: Subcommittee Review Step 5: Mark Up Step 7: Publication of Committee Report Step 8: Floor Action -- Legislative Calendar Step 9: Debate Step 10: Voting Step 11: Bill Referred to Other Chamber Step12: Conference Committee Step 13: Final Action – Enrollment Step 14: Overriding the Veto

Vocabulary practiceInsert the right verb:

sign veto introduce draft approve

originate vote on report take

1. Members of the president’s staff may _______ a bill and ask a congressman to ________ it.

2. Bills may _________ either in the House or in the Senate.

3. A bill submitted to the House is ___________ .

4. If the bill is ___________ out of committee it is submitted to the Senate for a vote which may be ___________ with or without debate.

5. If the Senate does not change the bill and if a majority _________ , the bill goes to the president for signing.

6. A bill becomes a law if the president ____________ it.

7. If the president ___________ a bill, two thirds of both House and Senate must approve it again before it becomes a law.

Vocabulary practice

Complete the text about the United States Congress using the terms given below:

bicameral, vote, state, entitled, direct, term, passage, authority,

elected, legislature, senators

The United States Congress is the ____________ of the United States federal

government. It is ____________, comprising the House of Representatives (or simply the

House) and the Senate.

Each __________ is represented in the House proportionally to its population, and is

____________ to at least one representative. The total number of representatives is

currently fixed at 435, though Congress has the ________ to change that number. Each

representative serves for a two-year ________ and may be re-elected an unlimited

number of times. The House is often considered to be the "lower house," with the Senate

as the "upper house," although the United States Constitution does not use such

language. The Constitution provides that the approval of both houses is necessary for the

___________ of legislation.

Vocabulary practice – cont.

Complete the text about the United States Congress using the terms given below:

bicameral, vote, state, entitled, direct, term, passage, authority,

elected, legislature, senators

In the Senate, each state has two __________. Therefore, there are 100

senators, serving staggered six-year terms. Every two years, approximately

one-third of the Senate is __________.The Vice President of the United States is

the President of the Senate and serves as its presiding officer, but is not a

Senator and does not _______.

Both Senators and Representatives are chosen through __________ election.

The EXECUTIVE Power

Article II.

“The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States”

- Holds office for the term of 4 years, since 1951 limited to two terms

Requirements for presidential candidates

- must be at least 35 years of age

- must be a natural born citizen

- must have lived in the USA for at least 14 years

U.S. Presidential Election

- Since 1804 conducted under the Twelfth Amendment (1804 - provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are elected)

- Regulated by federal and state laws

INDIRECT ELECTION

ELECTORAL VOTE – voters vote for members of the U.S. Electoral College

- directly elects the President and the Vice President on Election Day (the Tuesday between November 2nd and 8th)

POPULAR VOTE – each state votes for members of the Electoral College; if one votes for the Republican candidate, he/she really votes for an elector who will be "pledged" to vote for the Republican candidate - the candidate who wins the popular vote in a state wins all the pledged votes of the state's electors – people vote “for the electors of a candidate”

Electoral College

Directly elects the President and Vice President

Electors in the College – each state allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its representatives in Congress (House+Senate) + Washington DC (the same number of Electors as the state with the smallest population )

States determine by their state legislation how their electors are to be chosen - generally selected by the political party committees within the states

Electors - vote for the candidates they have pledged for (designated candidates)

The states and the Disctrict of Columbia each conduct their own popular elections on Election Day

Powers of the U.S. President

Read the text in the book and find the powers of the US

President. Sort them out under the following headings:

Executive powers: ______________________________

______________________________________________

Powers related to legislation: _____________________

______________________________________________

Powers related to judiciary: _______________________

______________________________________________

Legislative powers

1. Approving or vetoing legislation

2. State of the Union address (lays out his legislative agenda for the

next year – outlines his legislative priorities)

3. Indirectly proposes legislation to Congress

(only through a congressman)

Judicial powers of the U.S. President

1. To appoint federal court judges.

2.To pardon people convicted of federal crimes (except in cases of impeachment)

3.To reduce a person's jail sentence or fine.

Impeachment

Read the text and answer the questions:

What is impeachment? Who can be impeached? What are the grounds for impeachment? What body has the power of impeachment? What is the role of the House and what of the

Senate in the process of impeachment?

Impeachment

The process that enables legislative body to remove a public

official from office (President, Vice President all civil officers of the

US)

Authorized by the Constitution

It consists of two parts:

I an accusation or indictment – The sole power of House of representatives

II a trial – The sole power of Senate

Civil officers = federal judges and cabinet members, but not Senators and Representatives

THE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT defined by the Constitution

a) TREASON

b) BRIBERY

c) HIGH CRIMES or MISDEMEANORS

- an impeacheable offence is not limited to conduct which is indictable, but conduct that undermines the integrity of a public office or is in disregard of constitutional duties or involves abuse of power is generally regarded as grounds for impeachment

Essential terms

House of Representatives – Predstavnički/Zastupnički dom

co-equal houses – ravnopravan

senators and representatives - senatori i članovi Predstavničkog doma

a staggered term – mandatno razdoblje na trećini kojega se obnavlja trećina članstva

a bill for raising revenue – prijedlog financijskog zakona

appropriation bill (a legislative act proposing to authorize the expenditure of public funds for a specified purpose) – prijedlog proračuna

to report a bill – izložiti nacrt zakona

to approve a bill in identical form / reject / ignore / amend a bill

an enrolled bill – konačni tekst zakona usvojen u Predstavničkom domu i Senatu i pripremljen za potpis predsjednika

to sign a bill into a law – potpisom proglasiti prijedlog zakona zakonom

to veto a bill – staviti veto na prijedlog zakona

a “pocket veto” (President takes no action on the bill for ten days after Congress has adjourned their second session) – ignoriranje izglasanog prijedloga zakona od strane predsjednika

to “override” a presidential veto of a bill and force it into law – nadglasavanje veta

to impeach – impeachment–specijalni optužni postupak s ciljem smjenjivanja s položaja

the sole power of impeachment – ovlast pokretanja postupka utvrđivanja odgovornosti

articles of impeachment – optužnica u postupku utvrđivanja odgovornosti

misconduct – teška povreda radne radne dužnosti

majority vote – glasati (običnom) većinom

a two-thirds vote – glasati dvotrećinskom većinom

to pledge to vote for a candidate - obvezati se glasati za određenog kandidata

electoral college - izborno tijelo

to pardon –pomilovati, amnestirati

Complete the 1st part of Barack Obama's mini biography with the Simple Past

Tense form of the verbs in the list.

bring up (Passive) be born visit leave remarry

travel live manage work return write

Part I  Barack Obama …………………… to a white American mother, Ann Dunham,

and a black Kenyan father, Barack Obama, Sr., who ……………………. both young college students at the University of Hawaii. When his father …………….. for Harvard, she and Barack stayed behind, and his father ultimately ……………………. alone to Kenya, where he ………………….. as a government economist. Barack's mother ………………………. an Indonesian oil manager and moved to Jakarta when Barack was six. At the age of ten he returned to Hawaii, where he ……………………… largely by his grandparents. The family ……………………… in a small apartment - his grandfather was a furniture salesman and an unsuccessful insurance agent and his grandmother worked in a bank - but Barack ………………………... to get into Punahou School, Hawaii's top prep academy. His father ………………………… to him regularly but, though he ………………………… around the world on official business for Kenya, he ……………………. only once, when Barack was ten.

Grammar practice – The Simple Past Tense

Grammar practice IIComplete the 2nd part of Barack Obama's mini biography with the Simple

Past Tense form of the verbs in the list.

win attend begin run turn down attend  run become elect (Passive) find gain

Obama ……………………. Columbia University, but …………………….. New York's racial tension

inescapable. He ……………………………. a community organizer for a small Chicago church-based

group for three years, helping poor South Side residents cope with a wave of plant closings. He then

…………………………….. Harvard Law School, and in 1990 became the first African-American editor of

the Harvard Law Review. He …………………………. a prestigious judicial clerkship, choosing instead to

practice civil rights law back in Chicago, representing victims of housing and employment

discrimination and working on voting-rights legislation. He also ……………………… teaching at the

University of Chicago Law School. Eventually he ………………….. as a Democrat for the state senate

seat from his district, which included both Hyde Park and some of the poorest ghettos on the South

Side, and won.

In 2004 Obama ………………………. to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, representing Illinois, and

……………………….. national attention by giving a rousing and well-received keynote speech at the

Democratic National Convention in Boston. In 2008 he ………………. for president as a democrat and

………………….. He is set to become the 44th president of the Unites States and the first African

American ever elected to that position.