Questions tagged [congress]
A congress is typically the legislative body of a country, but without the executive powers of a parliament or president. Use with a relevant country tag.
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Writings or public statements advising elected politicians on how to make hard choices
While not always seen in this light, members of congressional or parliamentary bodies are regularly faced with moral choices when deciding how to vote in situations where the answers to questions like ...
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Has a majority of one political party in one house of Congress ever voted in opposition to the same party in the other house in the same Congress?
Has there ever been a case where a majority of a political party votes one way on some bill in the Senate but a different way on the same bill in the House of Representatives?
For example, has a ...
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Has the Congress of the US ever passed an "Amnesty law" and are such laws constitutional?
Amnesty laws are laws that reduce the penalty of or allow the release of prisoners convicted of various offences i.e someone is convicted of an offence with a mandatory minimum imprisonment without ...
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Why is it the President's job to resolve conflicts in Congress?
Yesterday the Republican-led US House of Representatives passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling, but it includes many spending cutbacks that are objectionable to Democrats. The Democrat-led Senate is ...
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Why doesn't the US ratify treaties that have been widely ratified elsewhere?
The Wikipedia article List of treaties unsigned or unratified by the United States lists, among others, some famous treaties that have been widely ratified like the Convention on Rights of Persons ...
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Why didn't Democrats get rid of the debt ceiling while they were in power?
Since 1995, Democrats and Republicans have been in constant disagreement over the debt ceiling, with Democrats wanting to raise it and Republicans resisting their efforts. During this time, Democrats ...
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Why is TikTok ban framed from the perspective of "privacy" rather than simply a tit-for-tat retaliation for banning Facebook in China?
There's currently tons of disputes in the media over the extent to which TikTok is supposed to be "spying" on US users and (afaik) the planned ban, if executed, will be done on the grounds ...
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Where do I find when the next congressional hearing about an issue I'm following is? (e.g. Gamestop)
How do I find out when the next US congressional hearing is regarding ___?
This is not a question for discussing current events surrounding Gamestop and Robinhood.
I expected "when is the next ...
CommunityBot
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What is the point of TikTok congress hearing when most of the lawmakers believe CCP can have full control of TikTok?
I watched some video clips about TikTok congress hearing and one thing is clear that most of the lawmakers believe CCP can have full control/influence of TikTok. It is a bipartisan unity that nothing ...
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Origin of "longtime House Republican principle that states no bill should pass without a 'majority of the majority' on board"?
Politico's March 22, 2023 McCarthy’s newest challenge: Keeping the House GOP peace on war power includes the following:
Should a standalone war powers repeal bill come up, only a handful of ...
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What are the causes for partisan politics to have grown more severe then in the past, and how much is down to echo chambers? [duplicate]
From my, admittedly limited, knowledge of US history it seems that congress tended to be a bit less patrician in the past. Congressman were more likely to support bipartisan initiatives, more likely ...
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Are congressional investigations ever more than political theater? How often does one actually lead to actionable results?
I've seen so many congressional investigations over the years, and generally they all feel pointless to me.
In particular, every case the news talks about the investigation for a little while, you ...
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Apportionment: Where is the actual language for "the method known as the method of equal proportions" in the U.S.C.?
In the United States Congress, there are two legislative bodies: the House of Representatives and the Senate. These two bodies are structured differently from the very beginning in Article 1 of the U....
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Can the Senate block House Subpoenas?
Does the Senate have the ability to block a subpoena submitted by the house of representatives?
JJJ♦
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What is the current state of US's dilemma on waiving CAATSA for India?
India's purchase of Russian S-400 was eligible for CAATSA sactions.
No sanctions have been applied yet using CAATSA.
There were talks that India would get a waiver, and
there was a house of ...
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Last 'real' US budget (before 2023)?
When was the last time the US Congress passed a true annual budget, in one or several installments, that was signed by the President? In recent memory the practice has been to pass a series of "...
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Is there a process for 'removing' a law
Any good student of Schoolhouse Rock knows how a bill becomes a law, but how do laws get removed, like obsolete laws?
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What is the effect of U.S. House members being sworn in?
In the January 2023 crisis over electing Speaker of the House in the U.S., usually one of the first things mentioned in any coverage is that without a Speaker, "House members can't even be sworn ...
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Data Source for 2012 US Congress and US Senate Elections
I need to find a good data source for the 2012 United States Congress and Senate elections.
I have found this: http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2012/federalelections2012.shtml The problem is that it is ...
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Why would US Senator Adam Schiff be addressed as "Chairmanship" rather than "Chairman"? [closed]
At the very end of the December 11, 2022 Face The Nation video Schiff says Jan. 6 committee's probe "far out ahead" of Justice Department the show's "moderator and CBS News senior ...
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What happens to a resolution after an unfavorable recommendation in the US Congress?
In the United States House of Representatives, what happens after a resolution is sent to the house with an unfavorable recommendation - for example, Congressman Nadler's H.Res 111 - I suspect this ...
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How do congressional investigation committees maintain continuity after losing committee members?
Are there congressional rules on how to replace committee members who lose their congressional status? Is there precedent, and what was the impact/effect on the ongoing investigation, and the outcome ...
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Why didn't Democrats legalize marijuana federally when they controlled Congress?
A notable majority of the US is supportive of legalizing marijuana, with Democrats having a much higher level of support, and Biden's own platform including legalizing it. Given the overwhelming ...
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Why did the 72nd Congress' U.S. House session not meet until December 1931?
After the 1930 U.S. House of Representatives elections, newly elected members officially took office the following March but there was no active session of Congress until December 1931. Considering ...
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Why is Nevada asking Congress for permanent DST in Pacific Time, instead of adopting Mountain Time and abolishing DST on their own?
Reading "Daylight saving time in the United States" on Wikipedia, it is my understanding that Uniform Time Act of 1966, as per the weights-and-measures power, prohibits the states from extending DST (...
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What was the House Popular Vote excluding uncontested races?
In the aftermath of most Congressional elections, it is often noted that Democrats did better in the House popular vote than they did in terms of actual seats won, indicating a role for the incumbency ...
CDJB♦
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Federal government's power to mandate the sale of specific product
Can the Federal government (Congress/agency) mandate that private firms offer a specific product?
Example: Seller of wood tables MUST also offer plastic table.
OR...
All hardware stores (defined ...
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What do the numbers mean after the R and D when describing seats in the House of Representatives?
I'm sure this is basic but my Google search results are overwhelmed by links to current events.
[...] Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert appears in real danger of losing her R+15 seat [...]
What does R+...
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Countries with a very plural congress/parliament
As Brazil heads toward it's runoff, one striking feature is that it's very multiparty. No party has more than 13/81 and 77/513 senate and house seats, respectively (about 15%). Are there any countries ...
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Legal weight of the Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA)
I've been a bit (well, very) confused regarding the proposed Electoral Count Reform Act.
Purportedly, it apparently attempts to (among other things) do the following:
Dictate which state official(s) ...
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If both houses together are called Congress, why does Congressperson refer to members of the House of Representatives?
The US Senate is referred to as the upper house of Congress. And the 'House of Representatives' which is also part of Congress, is referred as the lower house.
A member of the US Senate is called a ...
JJJ♦
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In which house of Congress of the USA is a bill introduced first?
US Congress has two houses, Senate (called Upper house), House of Representatives ( Lower). When a bill is introduced, which house is it supposed to be first or can it be introduced in either? Are ...
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Is Day light time ending in USA
There was couple of news regarding US Senate agreeing on Day light Savings time ending. But I do see it is getting continued. Will it end in 2022or 2023 ?
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Gender-neutral term for a Senator or Representative
Is there a gender-neutral term for a Senator or Representative?
Senator: gender-neutral, but only includes Senators
Representative: gender-neutral, but only includes Representatives
Congressman: male-...
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Why did Sen. Ed Markey's delegation to Taiwan fly aboard a USAF (passenger) jet?
I understand that Nancy Pelosi regularly gets a USAF passenger jet for long-distance abroad (C-40, a modified Boeing 737 if I'm not mistaken), because she's third in the "line of succession" ...
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Why are military academy cadets nominated by congress members?
On a related note, students at the military academies are nominated by individual senators and congressmen. Upon graduation, Congress passes a law to commission the new officers. (from a recent answer ...
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Has the State Department submitted any reports to Congress under 22 U.S.C. § 1741 (aka “Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act”)?
According to this law (22 U.S.C. § 1741) an annual report to Congress needs to be submitted by the State Department, listing United States nationals they consider wrongfully detained abroad.
Have any ...
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Trying to find a quote about how voting for the good parts of a bill also means voting for the bad parts of a bill
During one of the presidential debates (probably during the primaries) I remember there being an exchange between a long time congressman (maybe Ron Paul or Bernie Sanders) and another candidate about ...
CDJB♦
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Do Congressional representatives and senators read letters we send them?
I'm American. And I recently wrote my representative and senators to express my opinion about bills on which they might vote soon. I got no response at all from two of these letters, and from the ...
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Can I see the expected future actions on a bill?
The Congress.gov site provides with detailed and up-to-date information about bills. However, I fail to find the information about any planned/anticipated actions related to an arbitrary bill, e.g. ...
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Who in US Congress with close ties to militias & white power groups suggested the US government had "real culpability" in Oklahoma City Bombing/1995?
In the Hari Sreenivasan interview of "Nicole Hemmer... an author and historian specializing in the history of conservative media in the U.S" in the June 10, 2022 How Laundering a Conspiracy ...
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Have there been any meaningful federal laws passed in the USA recently?
I don't live in the US, but I am drowned in news from the US, even more than those from my country.
I understand that the US is a very polarized society, where one of the main stated goals of both of ...
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What congressional committees' jurisdiction US entertainment industry, e.g. Hollywood, falls under?
I googled extensively but found little certainty about US entertainment industry's oversight by US Congress. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation website explicitly states ...
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Government Oversight Committee
How is a committee, for example, the House Intelligence Committee formed, how do the people that oversee the intelligence agencies get selected?
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Are US Congressional districts required to be connected?
With all the talk of gerrymandering of late, I was looking up North Carolina's past election maps. And man, the 2016 map which caused the court case looks downright normal compared to some of the ones ...
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Did Devin Nunes ever reveal evidence of unmasking abuse?
When the name of a US citizen is incidentally collected by the US Intelligence Community as part of intelligence activities, the name in masked in intelligence reports to protect the person’s identity....
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How and to what extent did lobbyists contribute to Trump/Pence's "next man and first woman" to the Moon? (via Artemis and Commercial Crew programs)
When I first saw the title to Ars Technica's May 16, 2022 Former NASA leaders praise Boeing’s willingness to risk commercial crew I thought it suggested that Boeing and it's troubled Boeing_Starliner ...
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When is the US Senate required to pass bills unanimously?
According to the BBC News website, the US senator Rand Paul has managed to delay approving financial aid package to Ukraine:
Paul, who has historically opposed spending on foreign aid, refused to ...
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On what basis could the US federal government codify Roe v. Wade?
There are proposals to pass a federal law allowing abortion in all states, in case Roe v. Wade is overturned. Ignoring the political feasibility of passing such a law, on what constitutional basis can ...
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How many pieces of US legislation passed with a supermajority in both houses of Congress without being vetoed
To override a U.S. presidential veto requires a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress. According to this Wikipedia page, this has happened 111 times. What I'm having trouble finding is: ...
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