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Chptr 5, 6, 7 Vocab
Legislative Branch Vocabulary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| administrative assistant | member of a lawmaker's personal staff who runs the lawmaker's office, supervises the schedule, and gives advice |
| at-large | as a whole |
| bicameral legislature | two houses |
| calendars | a schedule that lists the order in which bills will be considered in Congress |
| caseworker | a member of a lawmaker's personal staff who handles requests for help from constituents |
| caucus | a private meeting of party leaders to choose candidates for office |
| bill | a proposed law |
| censure | a vote of formal disapproval of a member's actions |
| cloture | a procedure that allows each senator to speak only 1 hour on a bill under debate |
| census | a population count |
| committee staff | the people who work for the House and Senate committees |
| conference committee | a temporary joint committee set up when the House and the Senate have passed different versions of the same bill |
| constituents | a person whom a member of Congress has been elected to represent |
| filibuster | a method of defeating a bill in the Senate by stalling the legislative process and preventing a vote |
| gerrymander | to draw a district's boundaries to gain an advantage in elections |
| incumbent | elected official that is already in office |
| joint committee | a committee of the House and the Senate that usually acts as a study group and reports its findings back to the House and the Senate |
| legislative assistant | a member of a lawmaker's personal staff that makes certain that the lawmaker is well informed about proposed legislation |
| majority leader | the Speaker's top assistant whose job is to help plan the majority party's legislative program and to steer important bills through the House |
| personal staff | the people who work directly for individual senators and representatives |
| president pro tempore | the Senate member, elected by the Senate, who stands in as president of the Senate in the absence of the VP |
| quorum | the minimum number of members who must be present to permit a legislative body to take official action |
| reapportionment | the process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census |
| redistrict | to set up new district lines after reapportionment is complete |
| select committee | a temprorary committee formed to study one specific issue and report its findings to the Senate or House |
| seniority system | a system that gives the member of the majority party with the longest uninterrupted service on a particular committee the leadership of that committee |
| session | a period of time during which a legislature meets to conduct business |
| standing committee | a permanent committee in Congress that oversees bills that deal with certain kinds of issues |
| subcommittee | a group within a standing committee that specializes in a subcategory of its standing committee's responsibility |
| whips | an assistant to the party floor leader in the legislature |
| appropriations bill | a proposed law to authorize spending money |
| contempt | willful obstruction of justice |
| expressed powers | powers directly stated in the Constitution |
| immunity | freedom from prosecution for witnesses whose testimony ties them to illegal acts |
| impeachment | a formal accusation of misconduct in office against a public official |
| implied powers | powers that the government requires to carry out the expressed constitutional powers |
| impoundment | the president's refusal to spend money Congress has voted to fund a program |
| interstate commerce | trade among the states |
| legislative veto | the provisions Congress wrote into some laws that allowed it to review and cancel actions of executive agencies |
| national budget | the yearly financial plan for the national government |
| necessary and proper clause | Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to make all laws that are necessary and proper for carrying out its duties |
| perjury | lying under oath |
| revenue bill | a law proposed to raise money |
| subpoena | a legal order that a person appear or produce requested documents |
| appropriations | approval of government |
| authorization bill | a bill that sets up a federal program and specifies how much money may be appropriated for the program |
| casework | the work that a lawmaker does to help constituents with problems |
| entitlement | a required government expenditure that continues from one year to the next |
| hearing | a session at which a committee listens to testimony from people interested in the bill |
| lobbying | direct contact made by a lobbyist in order to persuade government officials to support the policies their interest group favors |
| lobbyist | interest group representative |
| logrolling | an agreement by two or more lawmakers to support each other's bills |
| pocket veto | when a president kills a bill passed during the last 10 days of Congress is in session by simply refusing to act on it |
| pork-barrel legislation | laws passed by Congress that appropriate money for local federal projects |
| private bill | a bill dealing with individual people or places |
| public bill | a bill dealing with general matters and applying to the entire nation |
| rider | a provision included in a bill on a subject other than the one convered in the bill |
| simple resolution | a statement adopted to cover matters affecting only on house of Congress |
| tax | the money that people and businesses pay to support the activities of the government |
| veto | rejection of a bill |
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