Transcription
Hey everybody, welcome back! You made it to Unit 2: Interaction among branches of government. And we're going to jump right into Congress. Be sure to smash that like button as you get your notes ready to go. [Music]
Congress is also known as the legislative branch. So the main power of Congress is—you might need to sit down for this—to make legislation. In Unit 1, we talked about republicanism, which is a representative form of government. We can also say that it's the democratic principle that the will of the people is reflected in policy debates and decisions by their representatives. And nowhere in U.S. government is this principle stronger than in the structure of Congress.
Congress is bicameral, with the Senate designed to represent states equally and the House representing the people. The AP exam loves to focus on the differences between the House and the Senate, so let's start with the House. The House has 435 members, who each represent a district and serve two-year terms. So the entire House is up for election every two years. This is one reason that we often say that the House is closer to the people; it's true in both space and time. Whoa! This closeness also affects their behavior, though, since there's always another election right around the corner. The House is more formal, it has more rules, and has a bigger emphasis on leadership. In fact, unless you have a leadership role or are really good at TikTok, the power of individual representatives is pretty limited. The House has the power of impeachment, and all tax and revenue bills are initiated here.
Next, the Senate has 100 members, two from each state, and they each serve six-year terms. One-third of the Senate is up for election every two years. This is less formal and has far fewer rules. So every so often, some random senator from Noersville will grind the entire Senate to a halt because he can. Its non-legislative powers include confirming presidential nominations, ratifying treaties, and holding impeachment trials.
Zooming back out and looking at Congress as a whole again, Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution established Congress's enumerated powers, and they're pretty extensive. They include the power to pass a federal budget. They can raise revenue three different ways: by laying and collecting taxes, by borrowing money, and by coining money. Congress also has the power to declare war and to provide the money that's necessary to maintain the armed forces—which is their most significant check when the president wants to get involved in a bunch of foreign, let's call them, adventures. Congress is also in charge of determining the process for naturalization—meaning how people can become U.S. citizens. There's been lots of talk about reforming this for a long time, but so far not much in the way of results from Congress.
Congress is also empowered to establish federal courts as well as their jurisdiction—meaning the type of cases that they're allowed to hear. As we talked about in Unit 1, Congress can regulate interstate commerce, and we know that the expansion of that to anything affecting interstate commerce has significantly broadened congressional power. Another callback is the Necessary and Proper Clause, which also expanded congressional power by giving Congress implied powers, letting them make legislation on things not specifically mentioned in the Constitution as long as it's related to their enumerated powers. Congress has used these clauses to make legislation on all sorts of things, including economic, environmental, and social issues. And another one that we'll talk more about later is that they can also conduct Congressional oversight of the executive branch to make sure that the president and the bureaucratic agencies are acting in a way that Congress approves.
At this point, it should be clear that Congress has a lot of power. It was designed to be the preeminent branch of government. In the next video, we'll get into more specifics on a lot of these concepts, so stick around until next time. This has been a La Money Production. Thanks again for watching. Ring that bell, subscribe, smash that like button if you haven't, and if you're looking for some great study aids and test prep, then be sure to check out the Ultimate View Packet. And I will see you in the next video.