Lesson 2.2: The Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress
Enduring Understanding:
The republican ideal in the U.S. is manifested in the structure and operation of the legislative branch.Learning Objectives:
Explain how the structure, powers, and functions of both houses of Congress affect the policymaking process.Essential Knowledge:
By design, the different structures, powers, and functions of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives affect the policy-making process.Though both chambers rely on committees to conduct hearings and debate bills under consideration, different constitutional responsibilities of the House and Senate affect the policy-making process.
- Chamber-specific procedures, rules, and roles that impact the policy-making process include:
- Number of chamber and debate rules that set the bar high for building majority support .
- Roles of Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, party leadership, and committee leadership in both chambers
- Filibuster and cloture
- Holds and unanimous consent in the Senate
- Role of Rules Committee, Committee of the Whole, and discharge petitions in the House
- Treaty ratification and confirmation role of the Senate
Pork barrel legislation and logrolling affect lawmaking in both chambers.
Debrief 2.1:
Complete the following question on a separate sheet of paper.
Activity #1 - Congressional Session Prep
Each of you will act as a member of Congress in an upcoming class simulation. In this simulation your goal is to pass at least one bill (created by you or your classmates) into a law. This bill may alter or add any classroom rule, policy, or procedure provided that it does not violate the Constitution. In your case, the Constitution is NKCSD district or OPHS policy. For this exercise, we must assume these policies are "supreme".Here is the order in which we will proceed:
House and Senate assignments
Selection of leadership for each house (Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader)
Committee assignments (Minimum of 3 members per committee)
Committee on Classroom Procedures
Committee on Rules and Consequences
Committee on Assessments and Grading
Committee on Projects and Group Work
Authoring of bills by all member of congress
