Congressional Committees: Crash Course Government and Politics #7

Summary

This Crash Course episode delves into the intricacies of the US Congress, highlighting its committees as essential for efficiency and expertise development. It explains the roles of standing, special, joint, and conference committees, emphasizing their legislative and oversight functions. The video also touches on historical reforms, especially under Newt Gingrich, which centralized power and altered committee dynamics. Additionally, it discusses congressional staff's role in legislation and the caucus system's impact on identity building and coordination among legislators.

Takeaways

• 🏛️ Congress is complex and important, with the House of Representatives and Senate divided into committees for efficiency.
• 📚 There are standing committees that handle the day-to-day business, with the House having 19 and the Senate 16.
• 👥 Congress members serve on multiple committees, each led by a chairperson who often represents the committee in the press.
• 🌐 Special or select committees are created for specific issues beyond the scope of standing committees, with varying degrees of permanence and authority.
• 🔗 Joint committees consist of members from both houses and oversee tasks like managing the Library of Congress.
• 📝 The main reason for many committees is efficiency in legislation and allowing Congress members to develop expertise on specific topics.
• 🗳️ Serving on a committee helps Congress members build their brand for re-election and claim credit for their work.
• 🔑 Committee chairs have 'Gatekeeping Authority', controlling which ideas become bills and manage the bill-writing process.
• 🔍 Committees also have oversight power to check on the implementation of laws through hearings and staff scrutiny.
• 📈 Changes under Newt Gingrich in 1994 increased the power of the Speaker, reduced subcommittees, and altered seniority rules for committee chairs.
• 👩‍💼 Congressional staff is crucial, with individual staffers assisting legislators and specialized staff agencies providing research and assessment.

Q & A

What is the main reason Congress is divided into committees?

The main reason Congress is divided into committees is to make the legislative process more efficient by allowing smaller groups to handle specific tasks, which makes it easier to write and review legislation.

What are standing committees, and how many are there in the House of Representatives and the Senate?

Standing committees are relatively permanent committees that handle the day-to-day business of Congress. There are 19 standing committees in the House of Representatives and 16 in the Senate.

What is the purpose of special or select committees?

Special or select committees are created to address particular issues that are beyond the jurisdiction of standing committees. Some are temporary, while others, like the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, are permanent. Some have only advisory authority, meaning they cannot write laws.

Why do congressional committees allow members of Congress to develop expertise?

Committees allow members of Congress to focus on topics relevant to their constituencies or personal interests, enabling them to develop expertise in those areas, such as a Congressperson from Iowa serving on the agriculture committee.

What is 'Gatekeeping Authority' in Congress?

'Gatekeeping Authority' is the power that committee chairs have to control which bills or ideas get considered and potentially become laws. This authority allows them to decide which issues make it to the agenda and which do not.

What happens when a bill 'dies in committee'?

When a bill 'dies in committee,' it means that it did not receive a majority vote in the committee, preventing it from being reported out to the full House or Senate. In this case, the bill is essentially discarded.

What is the function of Congressional staff?

Congressional staff assist members of Congress by researching and writing legislation, handling casework for constituents, and performing personal functions, such as managing calendars. Staff agencies like the Congressional Research Service and the Congressional Budget Office provide unbiased research and assess the financial impact of bills.

What were the key changes to the committee system under Newt Gingrich's leadership in 1994?

Under Newt Gingrich's leadership in 1994, the power of the Speaker was increased, the number of subcommittees was reduced, and the seniority rules for appointing committee chairs were changed. Committee chairs were no longer automatically the longest-serving members; instead, they were chosen through votes, with the Speaker having significant influence.

What is the purpose of caucuses in Congress?

Caucuses in Congress are semi-formal groups organized around particular identities or interests. They allow like-minded members of Congress to gather, discuss ideas, and coordinate legislative efforts. Examples include the Congressional Black Caucus and the Republican Study Group.

How do committees help Congresspeople build their identity for reelection?

Serving on a committee or being a committee chair helps Congresspeople build their public identity and establish a record of accomplishment, which they can use to appeal to voters during reelection campaigns, especially when Congress passes fewer laws.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ Understanding Congress and Its Committees

This paragraph introduces the complexity of the U.S. Congress and its structure, emphasizing the importance of committees in managing the legislative process. Craig, the host, explains that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are divided into standing committees to handle daily business, with 19 and 16 committees respectively. He mentions the role of committee chairs, who often represent their committees in the media. Special or select committees are created for specific issues beyond the scope of standing committees, with varying degrees of permanence and authority. Joint committees, composed of members from both houses, oversee shared responsibilities like the Library of Congress. The necessity of committees is justified by their efficiency in drafting legislation and by allowing members to develop expertise in specific areas. Historical reasons and attempts to adjust the committee system are also briefly touched upon.

05:01

🛠️ The Role of Congressional Staff and Caucuses

The second paragraph delves into the roles of congressional staff and caucuses. Staff Assistants support individual legislators in their legislative duties, including research, writing legislation, and handling constituent requests. The paragraph also discusses Staff Agencies, which provide unbiased research and financial oversight for Congress. Post-1994 reforms led to an increase in individual staff and a reduction in agency staff, shifting legislative work towards personal offices. Caucuses, which are informal groups organized around shared identities or interests, are mentioned as a way for members to coordinate efforts and develop leadership outside of formal committee structures. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the importance of committees and staff in making lawmaking efficient and in helping legislators build an identity for re-election.

Keywords

💡Congress

Congress is the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives. It plays a central role in the video's theme by being the main subject of discussion. The script describes how Congress operates, including its committee structure and legislative processes.

💡Committees

Committees are smaller groups within the House of Representatives and the Senate that handle specific areas of legislation. They are crucial for the efficiency and expertise development among Congress members, as highlighted in the script. The video explains how standing committees, special or select committees, and joint committees function within Congress.

💡Standing Committees

Standing Committees are permanent committees in Congress that handle the day-to-day legislative work. The script mentions that the House has 19 and the Senate has 16 standing committees, emphasizing their importance in the legislative process.

💡Chairperson

The chairperson, or chair, leads a committee and is often the one mentioned in the press. The script uses the example of the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee to illustrate the visibility and influence of this role within Congress.

💡Gatekeeping Authority

Gatekeeping Authority refers to the power of committee chairs to decide which bills are considered and which are not. This concept is central to understanding how legislation is controlled and prioritized in Congress, as explained in the script's discussion of the committee process.

💡Mark-up

Mark-up is the process of writing and amending a bill within a committee. The script describes how committee chairs manage this process, which is a critical step in立法立法 before a bill can move forward.

💡Oversight Power

Oversight Power is the authority of Congress to monitor the implementation of laws. The script explains how committees exercise this power through staff assignments and hearings, which is essential for ensuring that laws are enforced as intended.

💡Subcommittees

Subcommittees are smaller divisions of standing committees that focus on specific issues. The script mentions that the number of subcommittees was reduced under Newt Gingrich's speakership, indicating a shift in the structure of Congress.

💡Seniority

Seniority traditionally determined who became the chair of a committee, usually the longest-serving member of the majority party. The script discusses how this was changed under Gingrich, allowing for more dynamic leadership selection in Congress.

💡Staff Agencies

Staff Agencies are groups that work for Congress as a whole, such as the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office. The script highlights their role in providing unbiased research and financial oversight, which supports the legislative process.

💡Caucuses

Caucuses are informal groups of Congress members organized around particular interests or identities. The script gives examples like the Congressional Black Caucus and the Bike Caucus, emphasizing their role in coordinating efforts and providing leadership opportunities outside of formal committee structures.

Highlights

Congress is complex and confusing, but it's the most important branch.

The House has 19 standing committees and the Senate 16.

Congressmen and Senators serve on multiple committees.

Committees allow Congressmen to develop expertise on certain topics.

Committees also allow Congressmen to follow their own interests.

Serving on a committee helps build a Congressperson's brand for re-election.

Congress has committees for historical reasons and has worked since 1825.

Any member of Congress can propose a bill, but it has to go to a committee first.

The chair of a committee has 'Gatekeeping Authority' over bills.

If a bill doesn't receive a majority of votes in the committee, it 'dies in committee'.

Committees exercise oversight by scrutinizing laws and holding hearings.

The number of subcommittees was reduced under Newt Gingrich's speakership in 1994.

Seniority rules in appointing chairs were changed under Gingrich.

The Speaker has more influence over who gets chosen as committee chairs.

Gingrich increased the number of individual staff and reduced the staff of staff agencies.

Congressional staff is incredibly important for legislative work.

Caucuses are semi-formal groups of Congresspeople organized around particular identities or interests.

Committees and staff allow individual legislators to develop expertise.

Committee membership helps Congresspeople build an identity for voters.

Transcripts

Hi, I'm Craig and this is Crash Course Government and Politics and today we're going to get

down and dirty wallowing in the mud that is Congress. Okay, maybe that's a little unfair,

but the workings of Congress are kind of arcane or byzantine or maybe let's just say extremely

complex and confusing, like me, or Game of Thrones without the nudity. Some of the nudity, maybe.

However, Congress is the most important branch, so it would probably behoove most Americans

to know how it works. I'm going to try to explain. Be prepared to be behooved.

[Theme Music]

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are divided up into committees in order

to make them more efficient. The committees you hear about most are the standing committees,

which are relatively permanent and handle the day-to-day business of Congress. The House has 19

standing committees and the Senate 16. Congressmen and Senators serve on multiple committees.

Each committee has a chairperson, or chair, who is the one who usually gets mentioned

in the press, which is why you would know the name of the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Tell us in the comments if you do know, or tell us if you are on the committee, or just say hi.

Congress creates special or select committees to deal with particular issues that are beyond

the jurisdiction of standing committees. Some of them are temporary and some, like the Senate

Select Committee on Intelligence, are permanent. Some of them have only an advisory function

which means they can't write laws. The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global

Warming has only advisory authority which tells you pretty much all you need to know

about Congress and climate change.

There are joint committees made up of members of both houses. Most of them are standing

committees and they don't do a lot although the joint Committee on the Library oversees

the Library of Congress, without which we would not be able to use a lot of these pictures.

Like that one, and that one, and ooh that one's my favorite.

Other committees are conference committees, which are created to reconcile a bill when

the House and Senate write different versions of it, but I'll talk about those later when

we try to figure out how a bill becomes a law.

So why does Congress have so many committees? The main reason is that it's more efficient

to write legislation in a smaller group rather than a larger one. Congressional committees

also allow Congressmen to develop expertise on certain topics. So a Congressperson from

Iowa can get on an agriculture committee because that is an issue he presumably knows something

about if he pays attention to his constituents. Or a Congressperson from Oklahoma could be

on the Regulation of Wind Rolling Down the Plain Committee.

Committees allow members of Congress to follows their own interests, so someone passionate

about national defense can try to get on the armed services committee. Probably more important,

serving on a committee is something that a Congressperson can claim credit for and use

to build up his or her brand when it comes time for reelection.

Congress also has committees for historical reasons. Congress is pretty tradish, which

is what you say when you don't have time to say traditional. Anyway, it doesn't see much

need to change a system that has worked, for the most part, since 1825.

That doesn't mean that Congress hasn't tried to tweak the system. Let's talk about how

committees actually work in the Thought Bubble.

Any member of Congress can propose a bill, this is called proposal power, but it has

to go to a committee first. Then to get to the rest of the House or Senate it has to be reported out of committee.

The chair determines the agenda by choosing which issues get considered. In the House

the Speaker refers bills to particular committees, but the committee chair has some discretion

over whether or not to act on the bills. This power to control what ideas do or do not become

bills is what political scientists call "Gatekeeping Authority", and it's a remarkably important

power that we rarely ever think about, largely because when a bill doesn't make it on to

the agenda, there's not much to write or talk about.

The committee chairs also manage the actual process of writing a bill, which is called

mark-up, and the vote on the bill in the committee itself. If a bill doesn't receive a majority

of votes in the committee, it won't be reported out to the full House or Senate. In this case

we say the bill "died in committee" and we have a small funeral on the National Mall.

Nah we just put it in the shredder.

Anyway, committee voting is kind of an efficient practice. If a bill can't command a majority

in a small committee it doesn't have much chance in the floor of either house. Committees

can kill bills by just not voting on them, but it is possible in the House to force them

to vote by filing a discharge petition - this almost never happens.

Gatekeeping Authority is Congress's most important power, but it also has oversight power, which

is an after-the-fact authority to check up on how law is being implemented.

Committees exercise oversight by assigning staff to scrutinize a particular law or policy

and by holding hearings. Holding hearings is an excellent way to take a position on a particular issue.

Thanks Thought Bubble. So those are the basics of how committees work, but I promised you

we'd go beyond the basics, so here we go into the Realm of Congressional History.

Since Congress started using committees they have made a number of changes, but the ones that have

bent the Congress into its current shape occurred under the speakership of Newt Gingrich in 1994.

Overall Gingrich increased the power of the Speaker, who was already pretty powerful.

The number of subcommittees was reduced, and seniority rules in appointing chairs were changed.

Before Gingrich or "BG" the chair of a committee was usually the longest serving member of

the majority party, which for most of the 20th century was the Democrats. AG Congress,

or Anno Gingrichy Congress, holds votes to choose the chairs. The Speaker has a lot of

influence over who gets chosen on these votes, which happen more regularly because the Republicans

also impose term limits on the committee chairs.

Being able to offer chairmanships to loyal party members gives the Speaker a lot more

influence over the committees themselves.

The Speaker also increased his, or her -- this is the first time we can say that, thanks

Nancy Pelosi -- power to refer bills to committee and act as gatekeeper.

Gingrich also made changes to congressional staffing. But before we discuss the changes,

let's spend a minute or two looking at Congressional staff in general.

There are two types of congressional staff, the Staff Assistants that each Congressperson

or Senator has to help her or him with the actual job of being a legislator, and the

Staff Agencies that work for Congress as a whole.

The staff of a Congressperson is incredibly important. Some staffers' job is to research

and write legislation while others do case work, like responding to constituents' requests.

Some staffers perform personal functions, like keeping track of a Congressperson's calendar,

or most importantly making coffee - can we get a staffer in here?

As Congresspeople spend more and more time raising money, more and more of the actual

legislative work is done by staff. In addition to the individual staffers, Congress as a

whole has specialized staff agencies that are supposed to be more independent. You may

have heard of these agencies, or at least some of them.

The Congressional Research Service is supposed to perform unbiased factual research for Congresspeople

and their staff to help them in the process of writing the actual bills. The Government

Accountability Office is a branch of Congress that can investigate the finances and administration

of any government administrative office. The Congressional Budget Office assesses the likely

costs and impact of legislation. When the CBO looks at the cost of a particular bill it's called "scoring the bill."

The Congressional reforms after 1994 generally increased the number of individual staff and

reduced the staff of the staff agencies. This means that more legislation comes out of the

offices of individual Congresspeople.

The last feature of Congress that I'm going to mention, briefly because their actual function

and importance is nebulous, is the caucus system. These are caucuses in Congress, so don't confuse

them with the caucuses that some states use to choose candidates for office, like the ones in Iowa.

Caucuses are semi-formal groups of Congresspeople organized around particular identities or

interests. Semi-formal in this case doesn't mean that they wear suits and ties, it means

that they don't have official function in the legislative process.

But you know what? Class it up a little - just try to look nice.

The Congressional Black Caucus is made up of the African American members of the legislature.

The Republican Study Group is the conservative caucus that meets to discuss conservative

issues and develop legislative strategies.

Since 2010 there is also a Tea Party caucus in Congress. There are also caucuses for very

specific interests like the Bike Caucus that focuses on cycling.

There should also be a Beard Caucus, shouldn't there? Is there a Beard Caucus Stan? No? What

about an eagle punching caucus?

The purpose of these caucuses is for like minded people to gather and discuss ideas.

The caucuses can help members of Congress coordinate their efforts and also provide

leadership opportunities for individual Congresspeople outside of the more formal structures of committees.

There are a lot of terms and details to remember, but here's the big thing to take away: caucuses,

congressional staff, and especially committees, all exist to make the process of lawmaking more efficient.

In particular, committees and staff allow individual legislators to develop expertise;

this is the theory anyway. Yes it's a theory.

Committees also serve a political function of helping Congresspeople build an identity

for voters that should help them get elected. In some ways this is just as important in

the role in the process of making actual legislation.

When Congress doesn't pass many laws, committee membership, or better yet, being a committee

chair is one of the only ways that a Congressperson can distinguish him or herself. At least it

gives you something more to learn about incumbents when you're making your voting choices.

Thanks for watching. I'll see you next week.

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