Leadership in Congress 113 th Congress 2013 -2015

Leadership in Congress 113 th Congress: 2013 -2015

Introduction • Leadership in Congress is based on how many seats your political party controls • Majority Party: Political party that controls the most seats in the House or Senate • Minority Party: Political party that does not control the majority of seats in the House or Senate • The majority party elects the senior leaders of both the House and Senate

Republicans: 233 US House of Representatives Democrats: 200 113 th Congress (2013 -2015) Independent: 0 Vacant: 2 Total: = 435

House of Representatives 2014 John Boehner (R-OH) Speaker of the House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D- CA) Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R- VA) Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D- MD) James Clyburn (D- SC) Assistant Democratic Leader Majority Whip Kevin Mc. Carthy (R-CA )

Former Speaker of the House 2007 -2011 Nancy Pelosi (D) • 8 th District from California • Elected Speaker in 2007 • First female Speaker • Elected to the House in 1987

Speaker of the House 2011 -Present John Boehner (R) • • • Ohio (8 th district) Born 1949 (12 brothers and sisters) Married with 2 daughters Elected to Congress in 1990 Elected to 11 th term 2010 Elected Speaker 2011 Focused on removing government barriers to private-sector job creation and economic growth, cutting government spending, reforming Congress, and repealing the Obama Health Care law

The Role of the Speaker • Three main roles, as the Representative for his or her district, as a leader of his or her party, and as the leader of the House as a whole. • Elected by the majority party in the House • Calls the House to order • Administering the oath of office to House Members. • Presides over debate, recognizing Members to speak on the floor, and preserves order • 2 nd in line to succeed the President after the VP • Leads the appointment process for the chairs of the various committees and subcommittees

Floor Leaders • Majority and Minority Leaders: Ø Party officers elected by their party Ø Legislative strategists who carry out the decisions of their party and try to get their bills passed Ø Chief spokesperson of their party • Majority and Minority Whips: Ø Party officers elected by their party Ø Whips check with party members and inform the floor leader how members plan to vote (whip count) Ø Ensure that all members are present to vote Ø Ensure that members always vote along party lines

US Senate (2014) Republicans: 45 Democrats: 53 Independent: 2 Vacant: 0 Total: = 100 2 Independents: Both generally vote with the Democrats

U. S. Senate Vice President: Joseph Biden President of Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Majority Leader Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Mitch Mc. Connell (R-KY) Richard Durbin (D-IL) John Cornyn (R-TX) Majority Whip Minority Whip

President of the Senate • Vice President of the United States • Presides over the Senate but is not a Senator • Can only vote in order to break a tie vote

Pro Tempore of Senate (2013) Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Born: March 31, 1940 Office: Senator (Vermont) since 1975 Education: Georgetown University, Saint Michael's College, Georgetown University Law Center

Former Pro Tempore of Senate Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) Elected: January 3, 1959 Longest Serving Senator 51 years! Born: 1917 Died: 2010

The Role of the Pro Tempore • The Constitution requires the Senate to elect a president pro tempore to serve as presiding officer in the absence of the vice president. The president pro tempore is authorized to preside over the Senate, sign legislation, and issue the oath of office to new senators. (Can preside over debate) • Elected by the majority party • Generally performs same duties as the Speaker

Committee Chairman • They head (are in charge of) the standing or permanent committees in Congress • Each chairperson is usually that committee’s longest standing (serving) member from the majority party

Committee Chair Powers • • They call meetings of their committee Schedule committee hearings (public or private) Hire staff to work for the committee Recommend members to sit on a conference committee • Select the sub committee chairpersons • They often receive favors from lobbyists and large contributions from PACs

Seniority Rule • This custom (not a rule or law) says that the most important Congressional leadership roles go to the members who have served the longest • Seniors have privileges over Freshmen