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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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3 votes
1 answer
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How did the Senate filibuster rules apply to Sen Rand Paul's filibuster?

I understand the basics of a Senate Filibuster. But after Sen Rand Paul's filibuster on 3/6/2013 he was interviewed by CNN and mentioned: The floor was left unguarded. Was he referring to a ...
Geek Num 88's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
18k views

If a bill was referred to a Committee, and died there, is there a way to tell what happened?

In this answer, I linked to a bill that was listed as dead in a Committee. Another user asked what happened to the bill, why did it die and who supported/opposed it (votes or otherwise): Where can I ...
user4012's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
5k views

Is the Senate required to pursue a trial if presented with articles of impeachment?

The current make-up of Congress could potentially lead to a situation where the House was able to draft and pass articles of impeachment against the sitting president. However, the Senate is ...
SoylentGray's user avatar
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8 votes
4 answers
1k views

Why are US laws written in such convoluted formats?

In recent times, the fiscal cliff has become a hot topic in the United States, and its resolution was applauded by both parties in Congress. However, upon reading parts of the actual American ...
Snakes and Coffee's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
160 views

Is there a video online that shows the congressional session which confirms the US Presidential Election?

Normally the sessions of United States congress are available online for review by the public. Are the session(s) which involve the certification of the results of the US Presidential Elections (of ...
Paul Williams's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
5k views

Are all retroactive laws, ex post facto laws?

In the United States, Congress' seeming inability to pass a fiscal cliff bill before the 1/1/13 12:00 AM deadline has sparked discussion that Congress could potentially pass a bill sometime in January ...
Michael Kingsmill's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
149 views

What are the criteria for avoiding the fiscal cliff?

One of the biggest items in the news is that we will go off the "Fiscal cliff" (large amount of tax increases and spending cuts) if Congress doesn't come to an agreement of some kind. My question is: ...
Sam I am says Reinstate Monica's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why aren't there more representatives in the United States Congress?

The United States House of Representatives has had 435 members since 1911 or so. But the population has increased drastically since then, such that the average citizen is more under-represented now ...
Brendan's user avatar
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13 votes
3 answers
12k views

How do independents choose a party to caucus with?

I know that several independents in the US Senate (ie. Bernie Sanders) caucus with the Democrats. Officially, what does that mean? How do independents choose whom to caucus with (both ideologically ...
segiddins's user avatar
  • 403
25 votes
4 answers
4k views

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?
UKB's user avatar
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