Across
- 5. a provision by the House Rules Committee that permits floor debate and the addition of new amendments to a bill
- 6. the elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate
- 7. a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate
- 9. the chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives
- 16. a roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party
- 19. the elected leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate
- 23. the residents in the area from which an official is elected
- 24. a normally closed political party business meeting of citizens or lawmakers to select candidates, elect officers, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters
- 25. a party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party’s legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes
- 27. joint committees created to work out a compromise on House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation seniority the ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee in Congress
- 29. the formal charge by the House of Representatives that a government official has committed “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”
- 30. an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate’s “advice and consent”
- 32. the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies
- 33. a rule or process in a legislative body aimed at ending debate on a given bill
- 34. a presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session
- 35. a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture
- 37. representative is held accountable to a constituency if he or she fails to represent that constituency properly;
Down
- 1. having a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or houses
- 2. a bill that deals with a number of unrelated topics
- 3. the session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearings on a bill
- 4. a representative who votes according to the preferences of his or her constituency
- 8. legislative committees formed of members of both the House and Senate
- 10. the process occurring after every decennial census, redistricting the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives
- 11. a representative who votes based on what he or she thinks is best for his or her constituency
- 12. the apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party
- 13. a provision by the House Rules Committee limiting or prohibiting the introduction of amendments during debate
- 14. vote a vote in which each legislator’s yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members alphabetically
- 15. legislative support agencies responsible for policy analysis
- 17. the practice of referring a bill to more than one committee for consideration
- 18. representatives have the same racial, gender, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents;
- 20. the president’s constitutional power to turn down acts of Congress
- 21. temporary legislative committees set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committees
- 22. a tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down
- 26. holding the political office for which one is running
- 28. (congressional) associations of members of Congress based on party, interest, or social group, such as gender or race
- 31. the amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend
- 34. appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home districts
- 36. a gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their House leaders