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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Why couldn't Republicans who voted to repeal Obamacare so many times under Obama do it under a Republican president?
I seem to recall that Republicans voted to amend or repeal Obamacare dozens of times when Obama was president. It was a meme that they had so many better ideas about health care. They seemed to be ...
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Why does Donald Trump wield influence over Republican Congressmen & Senators?
Given that Donald Trump lost the recent Presidential election, why is it that congressmen continue to visit Mar-A-Lago? In what way is Donald Trump a power broker? What is it that congressmen seek ...
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Is it true that "Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story" in the House impeachment proceedings?
I was just reading the editorial Trump Should Be Removed from Office in Christianity Today, and I was struck by this quote (emphasis mine):
Let’s grant this to the president: The Democrats have had ...
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Can members of the US Congress lie during debate without penalty?
If a bill is being debated in the Senate or House, are there any rules or laws which prevent a member of congress from simply lying while making a speech for or against a bill?
I'll propose this (...
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Why do members of Congress in committee hearings ask witnesses the same question multiple times?
I must've seen at least 3 Congressmen ask Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, who Individual 1 was, despite the fact that in the beginning he had already said it was Donald ...
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Why hasn't the US political system taken recourse against Trump for his politically motivated firings?
The answers to this question - What reasons may Donald Trump have had for firing FBI Director James Comey? - appear to suggest that there is widespread certainty that the sacking was politically ...
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Why is lying to Congress a crime?
Why is it considered a crime if you lie while testifying before Congress, but Representatives seem to be able to say whatever they want without repercussions?
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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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How do politicians scrutinize bills that are thousands of pages long?
The recently passed stimulus bill is said to be 5,593 pages long, and allocates $900 billion in funds. It's no surprise that there was no chance to read or amend the bill.
The logistics of revising a ...
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Where does Trump's authority to cut funding to WHO come from, if Congress controls spending?
I always thought that Congress controlled US government spending; the so called "power of the purse". However, on April 14th, Trump gave a press conference during which he signalled that he would ...
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Is the creation of new states via partitioning really possible in the US? Are there any precedents to this?
Background: The Senate provides as much representation to Wyoming with a population of 580,000, as California with 39.5 million inhabitants. According to [1]
State
Rural
Exurban
Suburban
Urban
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Why are Democrats blocking COVID-19 pandemic relief bills with the objection that it's not enough instead of passing it and then passing another?
I read an article that said that the most recent COVID-19 relief bill was not passed because Democrats didn't think it was enough. The article is here: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/11/gops-coronavirus-...
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What could the US federal government do to reform the police?
There is a widespread belief that policing in the USA suffers from systemic racism. Let us suppose that Joe Biden gets elected President and decides that this is a priority. Let us also suppose that ...
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In the US, what is the role of and relationship between federal law and state law?
(This is an attempt at a canonical question about an important distinction in US law and politics that is different than many other countries. It was suggested by this comment on another question. I'm ...
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Why was Congress able to create an Air Force without a constitutional amendment?
Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution enumerates the powers of Congress and includes the creation of military forces:
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use ...
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In the United States, why aren't both legislative chambers involved in the Supreme Court confirmation process?
I'm following the situation around the recent Supreme Court vacancy left by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As a non-American, what's strange to me is that confirming a new SCOTUS Justice ...
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Why is the US Congress getting involved in the privacy issues at Facebook?
Mark Zuckerberg is testifying in the US Congress this week about issues surrounding privacy at Facebook. However it's not clear to me why the legislative branch would become involved in such minute ...
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If one party controls the house and 2/3 of the senate, what's to stop them taking the presidency?
From my understanding (Wikipedia), the House of Representatives can impeach the president with a simple majority. The Senate can then convict the president with a supermajority (2/3 of the Senate). ...
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Why are congressional votes not secret?
In general, a person in the United States has the right to vote. As far as I can tell, this vote is private—no one else knows who you voted for. Why are the votes in congress public? Wouldn't it help ...
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How can a single member of the House derail a Congressional bill?
I read a news article today that claims that a Congressional bill to provide disaster relief to US communities has been derailed, because a single member of the House of Representatives objected to it....
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What's to stop the House majority party from voting to expel every member of the House minority party from committees?
Marjorie Taylor Greene was expelled by the House of Representatives this week from committee assignments after her comments on conspiracy theories. The vote passed by 230-199 with 11 Republicans ...
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Can the US president unilaterally hurt Congress members financially?
Recently, the US president posted yet another tweet, stating that:
If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end ...
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Can Congress end the government shutdown without the President's agreement? [duplicate]
Negotiations over the current US government shutdown have, as far as I've heard, mainly been between the President and Congressional Democrats. So far, Republicans in Congress seem to be siding with ...
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What prevents a single senator from passing a bill they want with a 1-0 vote?
As a follow-up to this question, the answer there indicates that by the rules set by the Senate, a quorum is assumed to be present unless someone requests a roll-call vote. Because of this rule, the ...
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As a non-U.S. citizen, who can I write to in the U.S. government about a corrupt organization?
I am a South African citizen and was involved in Scientology for some years. I have recently been watching Leah Remini's exposé documentary series on Scientology and I would like to get the Church of ...
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What can be done about a US president who refuses to co-operate with an impeachment panel?
Is it possible to prevent a sitting US President from hindering an impeachment investigation against him or her?
The Washington Post just reported that:
Trump personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani ...
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Is there a way that Congress could secretly vote on approving a potential war?
The US killed Soleimani without notifying Congress, which a lot of people in Congress are angry about. There are fears this could start a war, which would constitutionally require congressional ...
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Could a Senator commit perjury if they swear the oath at the impeachment trial in the senate?
A Senator is on record of having explicitly stated "I'm not an impartial juror" in regards to the upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate. Another Senator said, "I am trying to give a pretty clear ...
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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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Is the Senate Compelled to Acquit Trump?
Given congress's recent decision to bar witnesses and evidence from being presented as part of President Trump's impeachment trial, are members of the Senate compelled to acquit based on lack of ...
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Is it true that Republicans have an unfair geographical advantage in elections for the House of Representatives?
I'm not from the U.S. but someone told me that the Republican Party had an unfair advantage in elections for the House of Representatives. This advantage would be geographic.
The voters who usually ...
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Why does the US Congress have two chambers?
Why does the US have separate houses (House of Representatives and Senate) to form Congress?
Put another way, what is the reasoning behind a bicameral legislature in the USA?
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Can Trump force Congress to delay the Nov. 3, 2020 general US elections?
This is related to today's news that Trump mentioned the idea of delaying the election in one of his tweets.
I understand that the president cannot legally change the election date, but according to ...
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Why are lawsuits between the President and Congress not automatically sent to the Supreme Court
When the United State Congress and the President are involved in a legal fight together, the resulting legal case originates in a US District Court for DC, as was the case for United States v. Nixon. ...
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What power does the Vice President really have?
According to the Constitution, the Vice President is the head of the Senate, but doesn't really explain what that means except to say that he doesn't get to vote except to break a tie.
Aside from ...
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Are members of the military allowed to wear civilian clothes when testifying in Congress?
The question is sparked by the attention that media has to military personnel wearing dress uniform when testifying in front of a US Congress committee, calling it "pulling the soldier card" in regard ...
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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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Did Obama notify Congress (the Intelligence committees in particular) that the bin Laden raid was ongoing?
Trump said recently that he did not notify Congress that the raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was ongoing because Trump feared a leak from Congress. So he only notified Congress after the US ...
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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 ...
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Why is there a significant difference between religious makeup of the legislative body and that of adult population in US?
According to this article there seem to be quite a difference between religion of Congress members and that of general population:
The religious makeup of the legislative body is overwhelmingly and
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Why was Apple included in a Congressional hearing about anti-trust?
As a German I am watching the reports of the hearing in Congress with interest (Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple). But it is not clear to me why Apple was also summoned. The iPhones have a market ...
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Can the President of the US limit First Amendment rights?
The First Amendment to the US Constitution reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, ...
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Which act of Congress authorized the Ukrainian aid which was allegedly withheld?
According to multiple media sources, U.S. aid to Ukraine was authorized by Congress. I am having difficulty identifying precisely which act would have authorized the specific aid which the Trump ...
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What does "bipartisan support" mean in the United States?
Is there a definition of "bipartisan support"? For the Senate in the US, when can you claim a bill was supported/passed by bipartisanship, and when you can't claim thus?
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Will NORAD Santa tracker be affected by the government shutdown?
If the government shutdown that started about 12 hours ago (at the moment of writing the question) will continue (and probably will) later than 24 december, than what will happen with NORAD Santa ...
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Does the US require a House vote to begin an impeachment inquiry?
Does the US require a House vote to begin an impeachment inquiry?
News sources such as this CNN article seem to show a disagreement between the White House saying that a House vote is required, while ...
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Was the whistle-blower's (12 Aug 2019) complaint deemed credible?
Despite rhetoric to the contrary, did the Inspector General (Michael Atkinson- IGIC) determine that the whistle-blower's complaint appeared credible?
This question can be answered factually. The ...
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How many people would it take for California to run the country?
Every ten years, the census reapportions Congressional representation. There are 385 seats in the House that are "up for grabs" based on each state's population. Since a majority in the House is 218 ...
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Is there any equivalent to the background checks required in professional spheres for those who seek public office?
Every job offer I receive comes with the provision that I pass a background check, to which I have no choice but submit.
It was said of one politician that they wouldn't be allowed to work at a 7-...
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What are the limits on an impeached and not convicted president?
What, if any, are the limits on an impeached and not convicted president?
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