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 2.3
You are in charge of the Federal Budget ($4,500,000,000,000) of spending (Expenditures) and Taxation (Revenue). How would you divide it up. List off the percentages that you would allocate (or assign) to each of the following categories in your notebooks...
Expenditures
- Social Security
- Medicare/Medicaid
- Military
- Science (Research)
- Energy
- Environment
- Education
- Internation Aid
- Transportation
- Housing and Urban Development
- Veterans Benefits
- Food and Agriculture
- Interest on Debt
Revenue
- Personal Income Tax
- Corporate Taxes
- Payroll Tax
- Excise Taxes (Gas, Tobacco, Alcohol)
- Tariffs and Duties on Imports
Take a look at the actual percentage breakdown...
What were some of the areas in which you differed from the actual budget? How were you the same?
Activity #1: How The Budget Basics...
Go to The Budget Basics Website. Answer the following questions in your notebooks...
- What responsibilities do the President and Congress have when it comes to making the budget?
- What is a Fiscal Year? When is the Government's Fiscal Year?
- What happens when the government cannot pass a budget by October 1st?
Activity #2: TIP-C
Use the TIP-C model (Title, Information, Patterns, Conclusion) to analyze the two graphs below. Record the answers in your notebooks...
In your notebooks, answer this question... What are the two ways to get rid of a deficit?
Activity #3: Free Response Question:
Take a look at the following pie chart...
In your notebooks, answer the following questions:
- Identify a change in Federal Spending from 1970 to 2023 as represented in the charts above.
- Explain a reason why this change has occurred.
- Explain why making changes to the budget is often difficult for elected officials.
