congress
A handy guide to all Congress happenings on both sides of the aisle. Thank goodness for this political body that keeps Presidential power in check.
United States Congress
There are three branches of government, judicial, legislative, and executive. The President leads the executive branch, while the judicial branch's highest office is the Supreme Court of the United States. Congress has the power to make laws, as the legislative branch of the United States system of governance. Congress is the only branch of the government elected by the people. The people have given Congress the power to make the laws, to declare war, and to raise public money, as well as to impeach and try federal officers. Congress approves or impeaches the President, and has the power to approve treaties negotiated by the executive branch, as well as help out with oversight and major investigations.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is made up of the California State Assembly and 80 members. The California State Senate has 40 members, with both houses of the legislature convening at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. I want to serve the California State Legislature as a member someday because it is one of ten full-time state legislatures in the United States. The State assembly consists of 61 Democrats, and 18 Republicans with one vacancy, while the Senate is composed of 29 Democrats, and 11 Republicans. There was a brief period between 1995 and 1996 where Republicans ran the show, the Democrats have run the California Assembly since the 1970 election.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 27th Amendment
Gregory Watson was an undergrad at the University of Texas, Austin, who rediscovered a forgotten amendment, the 27th Amendment to be accurate. This Amendment had come about on September 25, 1789, including eleven other proposed amendments. The first Congress had wanted to address the issue of salaries for Congress. In 1982, Watson had dredged up this amendment by writing a paper about it. This amendment had not been fully ratified in the 18th century, as it had become constitutional on May 5, 1992, because this was a ratification period of 202 years, 7 months and 10 days when this amendment was finally ratified.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Commerce/Justice
On June 20 and 21, the House debated more amendments to the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill (HR 3055). There were 31 votes, 23 party line and 8 non-party line. Steil sided with the Republicans 21 out of 23 times on HR 3055 amendment votes, for a support score of 91 percent.
By John Heckenlively7 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch June 1
We have a first this week on Bryan Watch. Representative Steil’s first extreme vote, Roll Call #232 (June 3). Steil was one of 58 Republicans to vote against HR 2157, the supplemental appropriations bill for FY 2019. The bill would provide $17 billion in relief for victims of hurricanes in the Carolinas and Georgia, typhoons in the Pacific, and flooding in the Midwest.
By John Heckenlively7 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: May Week 3
There were two major issues this week in the House: Equality for LGBTQ citizens, and expanding access to health care. The week closed with the House passing HR 5, The Equality Act, just in time for Gay Pride month in June. Steil joined with most Republicans in voting against it (RC 217, May 17).
By John Heckenlively7 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: May Week 1
Bryan Watch: May Week 1 Congress is back in session, so it's time to take a look at what they’ve been up to. The big issue of the week for the House was HR 9, the Climate Action Now Act. The bill would require the Trump Administration to come up with a plan to implement the carbon emission reduction standards created by the 2015 Paris Convention on Climate Change.
By John Heckenlively7 years ago in The Swamp
The 17th Amendment
This Amendment was passed by Congress, May 13, 1912 and ratified on April 18th, 1913. As such, the Constitutional Amendment declares that Congressional Senators can serve a six-year term in Congress. This came out of the fact that late in the 19th century, some state legislatures were in a deadlock over the election of a senator if different parties controlled different houses. This Amendment was designed to alleviate the deadlock by making sure that Senate vacancies were able to last months or years. It was also built to prevent special interest groups or other political situations to gain control over the state legislature.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment was about giving black men the right to vote, seeing as it stated that the United States cannot deny the vote based on race, color, or whether one had been a slave or not. The 15th Amendment was the beginning of a step out of class struggle, and into radical social equality when it granted black men the right to vote. The government could not be allowed to vote based on race, color, or “previous condition of servitude.” The Southern states, however, used intimidation tactics such as a poll tax, literacy tests and more to scare black voters out of casting their vote. Black men, many of whom had been slaves, were ruled to have the right to vote, because, by 1869, amendments were passed to abolish slavery as Republicans of the time felt that it was crucial to the survival of their party to be against slavery.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
