Congressional Leadership: Crash Course Government and Politics #8

Summary

Crash Course Government and Politics explores the intricate leadership structure of Congress, highlighting key figures like the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader. The video explains how these leaders, often elected by the majority party, wield significant influence through committee assignments, agenda setting, and media access. It also touches on the role of political parties in shaping legislation and maintaining discipline, emphasizing the impact of party unity on Congress's efficiency and the public's perception of government actions.

Takeaways

• 🏛️ The Congressional leadership includes roles such as Majority Leader, Minority Whip, and they are closely tied to political parties.
• 🗣️ The Speaker of the House is the third most powerful person in the U.S. and is elected by the majority party every two years.
• 📊 The Majority Whip's role is to count votes and ensure party members vote in line with the party's stance.
• 🔝 The House Majority Leader is chosen by the Speaker and is influential within the party, often due to popularity with certain factions.
• 🔉 The Minority Party also has leadership roles, including a Minority Leader who acts as the party's spokesperson.
• 🌐 The Senate's leadership structure is simpler with the Majority Leader and Minority Leader, and the Vice President presiding over sessions.
• 💼 Congressional leaders exercise power through committee assignments, shaping the legislative agenda and rewarding or punishing members.
• 📰 Leaders have greater access to the press, which they use to set the public agenda and maintain influence.
• 💵 They also wield power through fundraising and campaign finance, directing money to key races and influencing colleagues.
• 🤝 Political parties are crucial in Congress for organizing, setting agendas, and providing a framework for cooperation and discipline among members.
• 🤔 The unity of a political party can significantly impact the leadership's ability to set and推进 an agenda, as seen with the challenges faced by Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party Movement.

Q & A

Who are considered the leaders in Congress?

The leaders in Congress are those with titles such as Majority Leader, Minority Whip, and others who play significant roles within their respective political parties.

What is the significance of the Majority Leader and Minority Whip in the House of Representatives?

The Majority Leader and Minority Whip are key figures in the House of Representatives. The Majority Leader is responsible for managing the legislative agenda and ensuring party discipline, while the Minority Whip assists the Minority Leader in counting votes and maintaining party unity.

Who is the third most powerful person in the United States according to the script?

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is considered the third most powerful person in the United States.

How often are the elections for the Speaker of the House held?

Elections for the Speaker of the House are held every two years, coinciding with the election of the entire House of Representatives.

What is the role of the Majority Whip in the House?

The Majority Whip's primary task is to count votes on important legislation and ensure that party members vote in line with their party's stance.

Who presides over the Senate sessions, and what is their role?

The Vice President of the United States presides over the Senate sessions, although this is one of their few official constitutional duties.

What is the President pro tempore's role in the Senate?

The President pro tempore presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President and is typically the most senior member of the majority party.

How do Congressional leaders exercise power in terms of committee assignments?

Leaders exercise power by assigning members to committees, which allows them to ensure their views are represented and to reward or punish members with desirable or undesirable committee assignments.

What is the significance of the House Rules Committee in shaping the agenda of Congress?

The House Rules Committee is significant because it decides how debate will occur in the House, including the duration of debate and whether amendments will be allowed.

How does the majority party's control of Congress impact the legislative process?

The majority party's control of Congress ensures that they have a majority on all important committees, choose the committee chairs, and thus have a significant influence over the legislative agenda.

What challenges can lack of party unity pose to Congressional leadership?

Lack of party unity can make it difficult for leadership to set and maintain an agenda, as seen with the Tea Party Movement's impact on Speaker Boehner's ability to lead in 2011.

How does the media's interaction with Congressional leaders influence the public's perception of political issues?

Congressional leaders have greater access to the press, particularly TV, which allows them to set the public agenda by determining which issues are discussed and highlighted in the media.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ Congressional Leadership Structure

This paragraph introduces the topic of Congressional leadership, emphasizing the importance of understanding the roles of key figures like the Majority Leader and Minority Whip. It explains that these leaders are deeply connected to political parties and their functions within Congress. The paragraph also mentions the significance of the Speaker of the House, who is the third most powerful person in the U.S. and is elected by the majority party every two years. The duties of the Majority Whip and Majority Leader in the House are outlined, as well as the roles of the Minority Leader and Minority Whip. The paragraph humorously notes the Speaker's influence and the process of electing these leaders, using then-Speaker John Boehner as an example.

05:00

🗣️ Power Dynamics in Congress

This paragraph delves into the powers and strategies of Congressional leaders, particularly focusing on how they exercise influence through committee assignments, shaping the legislative agenda, and controlling media access. It discusses the role of the Speaker of the House in assigning members to committees, which can be used to reward or punish them. The paragraph also highlights the importance of party unity in facilitating an efficient legislative process and how the majority party's control over committee chairs can significantly impact the legislative agenda. The narrative touches on the challenges faced by leadership when party unity is weak, using the Tea Party Movement's impact on Speaker Boehner as an example. The paragraph concludes by encouraging viewers to pay attention to the agenda set by Congressional leaders and the issues that are not being discussed, suggesting that understanding these dynamics can provide insight into the government's actions and inactions.

Keywords

💡Congressional Leadership

Congressional Leadership refers to the individuals within the United States Congress who hold positions of authority and influence, such as the Majority Leader, Minority Whip, and Speaker of the House. These leaders play a crucial role in organizing and directing the legislative process. In the video, the concept is introduced as a way to understand the structure of power within Congress, with examples like the Speaker of the House being the third most powerful person in the country.

💡Majority Leader

The Majority Leader is a key leadership position in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. They are responsible for managing the legislative agenda and ensuring that the majority party's priorities are addressed. In the script, the Majority Leader is depicted as having significant influence over the issues that are brought to the floor for debate.

💡Minority Whip

The Minority Whip is a party leader who works to ensure party unity and adherence to the party line on votes. They are tasked with counting votes and encouraging members of their party to vote in a particular way. The script humorously refers to the Minority Whip's role as 'whipping them into line,' highlighting their role in maintaining party discipline.

💡Speaker of the House

The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer in the House of Representatives and is traditionally from the majority party. They wield considerable power, including the authority to assign members to committees and to shape the legislative agenda. The video script mentions John Boehner as an example, emphasizing the Speaker's influence and responsibilities.

💡Political Parties

Political parties are organized groups of individuals who share similar political ideologies and work together to achieve common goals. In the context of the video, parties are shown to be integral to the functioning of Congress, influencing leadership positions, committee assignments, and the legislative process. The video script discusses how parties organize and raise funds to win elections and how party unity can affect the legislative agenda.

💡Committee Assignments

Committee assignments are the appointments of members of Congress to serve on specific committees. These assignments are a significant way in which Congressional leaders exercise power, as they can influence the direction and outcomes of legislative work. The video explains how leaders can use these assignments to reward or punish members, and how the Speaker of the House has particular sway in this area.

💡Agenda Setting

Agenda setting is the process by which leaders decide which issues will be discussed and prioritized in Congress. It is a powerful tool that can shape the legislative focus and public discourse. The video script discusses how leaders use this power, often by preventing certain items from being discussed rather than by promoting them.

💡Media Access

Media access refers to the ability of Congressional leaders to engage with the press and public through various media channels. This access allows them to shape public perception and set the agenda for what issues are considered important. The video script notes that leaders, like the Speaker, can command the attention of reporters and use this to influence public discourse.

💡Fundraising

Fundraising is the process of collecting financial resources to support political campaigns. In the video, it is mentioned that Congressional leaders have the ability to raise money and direct it to support their colleagues, which can strengthen party unity and influence. This power is particularly significant for the leaders of the House, who often have more campaign funds to allocate.

💡Party Unity

Party unity refers to the degree to which members of a political party agree and act in concert on legislative matters. The video script discusses how unity can facilitate the leadership's ability to set an agenda and pass legislation. Conversely, a lack of unity, as exemplified by the Tea Party movement's impact on Speaker Boehner, can hinder the legislative process and lead to gridlock.

💡Tea Party Movement

The Tea Party Movement is a conservative political movement known for its advocacy of limited government, lower taxes, and strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution. In the video, it is mentioned as an example of how a faction within a party can challenge leadership and influence the legislative agenda, sometimes leading to difficulties in passing legislation.

Highlights

Congressional leadership includes positions like Majority Leader and Minority Whip, which are closely tied to political parties.

The Speaker of the House is the third most powerful person in the U.S. and is always from the majority party.

The Majority Whip's role is to count votes and ensure party members vote along party lines.

The House Majority Leader is chosen by the Speaker and is often popular within the party.

Minority Party leaders include a Minority Leader and a Minority Whip, but no Speaker.

The Senate's leadership structure is simpler with the Majority Leader and Minority Leader as key figures.

The Vice President presides over the Senate sessions, with the President pro tempore filling in when needed.

Leadership in Congress exercises power through committee assignments, shaping the legislative agenda.

The Speaker of the House has significant influence over committee assignments.

Leadership can set the agenda by controlling which issues are discussed in Congress.

Agenda setting is often a negative power, exercised by keeping items off the agenda.

Congressional leaders have greater access to the press, which helps set the public agenda.

Leadership can raise and distribute campaign funds, influencing colleagues and races.

Political parties play a crucial role in organizing and raising funds to win elections.

The majority party in each house chooses the Speaker and controls committee chairs.

Political parties provide a framework for cooperation and common values among members.

Party discipline is essential for leadership to set an agenda and maintain unity.

Lack of party unity can hinder the leadership's ability to set and推进 an agenda, as seen with the Tea Party Movement.

Understanding Congressional leadership and their motivations can explain why certain issues are addressed or ignored.

Transcripts

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

the leadership structure of Congress! I know, pretty exciting stuff! Now calm down, let me explain.

[Theme Music]

Are you ready to talk about Congressional leadership? You better be.

So, the Congressional leadership are the Congresspersons with titles like Majority Leader

and Minority Whip, and they have a lot to do with political parties, so we're going to talk about

what the political parties do in Congress as well. Even if you don't follow politics, you probably

have heard of the name and titles, if not the functions, of the various leaders. I'm

going to need some help on this one, so... Let's go the Clone Zone!

In the Clone Zone today I've got House Clone and Senate Clone to help me explain Congressional

leadership. House Clone in the house! Take it away.

The leader of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House, and he or she

is the third most powerful person in the country. The speaker is always elected by whichever

party is in the majority. These elections take place every two years, because the whole

House is elected every two years. That's a lot of elections! At the time of the shooting

of the episode the Speaker of the House is John Boehner from Ohio, known for his tan, tears, and tacos.

Yeaah, he's oddly really good at making tacos. I had the barbecue pork at his house one time....

Yeah, I had the beef taco! He called it la lengua. Interesting choice.

Yeah. The speaker has two assistants to help run the house. The Majority Whip has the primary

task of counting votes on important pieces of legislation, and making the party members

vote along with their party. Whipping them into line, I suppose. (whipping noise)

The third in line is the House Majority Leader, who helps the majority and probably does other

stuff, but mainly he's chosen by the speaker because he's popular with particular factions

within the party. The Minority Party, that's the one with fewer members elected in a term,

duh (scoffs), also has a Minority Leader, and a Minority Whip, but no speaker. The Minority

Leader is the de facto spokesperson for the minority party in the House, which is why you often see him or

her on TV, or on your phone, or, your iPad, or your pager. I don't think you can see it on your pager.

Hey, that was some pretty good stuff you said there House Clone.

What's the deal with the Senate, Senate Clone?

Things are simpler over in the Senate because we have only 100 august members and not the

rabble of 435 to try to "manage." The leader of the Senate is the Majority Leader and he

(so far it's always been a he) is elected by the members of his party, which by definition

is the majority party, the one with 51 or more members. There's also a Minority Leader,

which, like the Minority Leader in the House, is the party's spokesperson. The Vice President

presides over the Senate sessions when he doesn't have anything better to do, even though

it's one of his few official constitutional duties. When the veep is off at a funeral,

or undermining the president with one of his gaffes, the President pro tempore presides.

The President pro tem is a largely ceremonial role that is given to the most senior member

of the majority party. Senior here means longest serving, not necessarily oldest, although

it can be the same thing. No one would want to be a Congressional leader if there was

no power involved, so it's important to know what powers these folks have, and how they

exercise them. Also, I'm not supposed to do this, but let's go to the Thought Bubble.

I love saying that!

The primary way that leaders in both the House and Senate exercise power is through committee

assignments. By assigning certain members to certain committees, the leadership can

ensure that their views will be represented on those committees. Also, leaders can reward

members with good committee assignments, usually ones that allow members to connect with their

constituents, or stay in the public eye, or punish wayward members with bad committee

assignments. Like the committee for cleaning the toilets or something. The Speaker of the

House is especially powerful in his role assigning Congressmen to committees.

Congressional leaders shape the agenda of Congress, having a huge say in which issues

get discussed and how that discussion takes place. The Speaker is very influential here,

although how debate happens in the House is actually decided by the House Rules Committee,

which makes this a rather powerful committee to be on. The Senate doesn't have a rules

committee, so there's no rules! Aw, yeah! There's rules. The body as a whole decides

how long debate will go on, and whether amendments will be allowed, but the Majority Leader,

if he can control his party, still has a lot of say in what issues will get discussed.

Agenda setting is often a negative power, which means that it is exercised by keeping

items off the agenda rather than putting them on. It's much easier to keep something from

being debated at all than to manage the debate once it's started, and it's also rather difficult

for the media to discuss an issue that's never brought up, no matter how much the public

might ask, "But why don't you talk about this thing that matters a lot to me?" Thanks, Thought Bubble.

Speaking of the media, Congressional leaders can also wield power because they have greater

access to the press and especially TV. That's the thing people used to watch. Instead of YouTube.

This is largely a matter of efficiency. Media outlets have only so many reporters, and they

aren't going to waste resources on the first-term Congressman from some district in upstate

New York. No one even goes to upstate New York. Is there anyone in upstate New York?

Has anyone ever gone to upstate New York?

When the Speaker calls a press conference reporters show up, and the Majority Leader can usually

get on the Sunday talk shows if he wants. Media access is a pretty handy way to set an agenda for the public.

Finally, Congressional leaders exercise a lot of power through their ability to raise

money and to funnel it into their colleague's campaign. I want colleagues like that. Each

House of Congress has a special campaign committee and whoever chairs it has the ability to shift

campaign funds to the race that needs it most, or to the Congressperson he or she most wants

to influence. The official leadership has little trouble raising money since donors

want to give to proven winners who have a lot of power, and get the most bang for their

buck. Since the leaders usually win their races easily, this is more true in the House

than the Senate. They frequently have extra campaign money to give. Often the donations

are given to political action committees, or PACs, which we'll talk about in another episode.

We're going to spend a lot of time talking about political parties, and probably having

parties of our own in later episodes, especially their role in elections, but they are really

important once Congress is in office too. One way that parties matter is incredibly

obvious if you stop to think about it. It's contained in the phrase "majority rules."

This is especially true in the House, where the majority party chooses the Speaker, but

it's also the case in the Senate. This is why ultimately political parties organize

and raise so much money to win elections: if one of the parties controls both houses and the presidency,

as the Democrats did in 2008 through 2009, that party is much more likely to actually get things done.

The party that's the majority in each house is also the majority on all of that house's

committees, or at least the important ones, and, as we saw in the last episode, committees

are where most of the legislative work in Congress gets done. Gets did. As you probably

figured out, the majority party chooses the committee chairs, too, so it's really got

a lock on that sweet legislative agenda. Parties also can make Congress more efficient by providing

a framework for cooperation. The party provides a common set of values, so a Republican from

Florida and one from Wyoming will have something in common, even if their constituents don't.

These common values can be the basis of legislation. Sometimes.

But sometimes -- [punches eagle] -- that happens.

Political parties also provide discipline in the process. When a party is more unified

it's easier for the leader to set an agenda and get the membership to stick to it. Right? Unified.

Lack of party unity can make it difficult for the leadership. In 2011 a large group

of very conservative newbie Congressmen associated with the Tea Party Movement made it difficult

for Speaker Boehner to put forward an agenda.

The Tea Party caucus felt Boehner compromised too much with the Democrats, even though his

agenda was, by some standards, pretty conservative. As a result, Congress wasn't able to get much

done, except make itself unpopular.

So, if you combine all this with the stuff we learned about Congressional committees,

you should have a pretty good understanding of how Congress actually works. Yay! Understanding!

As this course progresses and you fall in love with politics, and myself, be on the

lookout for how the leadership sets the agenda and pay attention to what issues might be

floating around that aren't getting discussed in Congress.

Understanding who the Congressional leaders are, and knowing their motivations, can give

you a sense of why things do and don't get done by the government. And, if you're lucky,

you live in a district represented by a member of leadership. In that case, the person you

vote for will be in the news all the time, which is kind of satisfying, I guess.

Yeah, I voted for that guy! Yeah! And now he's on the TV! Yeah!

Thanks for watching. We'll see you next week. What do you think, can we be unified?

Can we get things done? We can't.

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Thanks for watching.

Someday, maybe the eagle and I will get along.

Not today. Not today.