November 12, 2024: What to Expect from a New Congress

 
 

What to Expect from a New Congress

Updated November 12, 2024

Author: Catherine Rowland, Legislative Affairs Director (catherine@progressivecaucuscenter.org); Mariam Malik, Senior Foreign Policy Associate (mariam@progressivecaucuscenter.org) 

A new Congress brings more than new members: it can shepherd in numerous changes to the House and Senate’s operations. This explainer breaks down some of the key changes that can come with a new Congress. This list is not exhaustive. For definitions of frequently used terms, check out Understanding Capitol Hill Jargon. 

Who Crafts the Legislative Calendar? 

The majority party in each chamber decides which bills get a vote. Typically, majority party leaders do not put a bill before their chamber for a vote if most members of their party do not support the measure or if it has insufficient support to pass. 

The majority party also sets the schedule for its chamber, deciding which weeks their chamber will be “in session" and which weeks will be designated "district work periods," also known as "recess." When Congress is "in session," members are in Washington, D.C. for legislative proceedings, such as votes and committee activities. During "recess," members can be in their home states or districts.

The House and Senate calendars affect how Congress functions. For example, when Republicans took control of the House in 1995, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich structured the House calendar to encourage members to spend more time in their districts—not in Washington. Numerous scholars attribute heightened partisan rancor in Congress to this change, which made it harder for members to socialize and develop relationships that might result in legislative partnerships. Should either chamber rework its calendar, it could mitigate—or exacerbate—this phenomenon. 

Additionally, challenges posed by Congress’s schedule can make it more difficult for some individuals, like parents, to serve as members at all. Some members have proposed changes to allow caregivers in Congress to manage their responsibilities more easily. 

Who Approves Presidential Nominations and Policy?

The majority party in either chamber has considerable opportunities to promote or obstruct the president’s agenda.  

For example, the Senate considers presidential nominees for positions in the executive and judicial branches, including on the Supreme Court. The House does not consider nominations. Unlike legislation, which is subject to the filibuster and almost always requires 60 votes to pass, the Senate can end debate on all nominees with a simple majority vote. This means that the majority party can approve nominees without any support from members of the minority. 

Congress can also block an administration’s policies—or reverse the previous administration’s—through the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which enables Congress to undo rules issued by federal agencies. During the 115th Congress (2017-2018), for example, the Republican-controlled Congress overturned 16 Obama Administration rules. These included regulations protecting access to the Title X Family Planning Program, penalizing employers who failed to report workplace injuries, and more. 

Under the CRA, Congress has a limited period—generally, 60 days—after a rule is issued to pass resolutions of disapproval that, once signed by the president, prevent that rule from taking effect or nullify it retroactively. These resolutions are exempt from the filibuster, meaning they can move forward with a simple majority vote in the Senate. The CRA also prevents agencies from issuing new rules that have the same outcome as one overturned by the CRA unless Congress explicitly allows for such a rule via legislation. Of course, a president may veto a resolution of disapproval to uphold their administration’s rule. In this case, Congress can override the president’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber. 

Who Controls Committees’ Agenda and Activities? 

House

In the House, the majority party has the power to determine committee “ratios”—that is, the ratio of majority party members to minority party members on each committee. The only exception to this rule is the House Committee on Ethics, on which there is an equal number of majority and minority members. According to the Congressional Research Service:

Historically, the number of majority seats on some committees has exceeded, in varying degrees, the strength of the majority party in the House chamber, regardless of which party has been in power. This generally has ensured that the majority party has a sufficient number of members distributed across committees to control voting in many committees.

Senate

In the Senate, an “organizing resolution” must be adopted at the beginning of each Congress to determine matters like committee assignments and ratios. According to the Congressional Research Service, “it has been the practice of the Senate to apportion committee seats to the majority and minority parties in a manner that corresponds closely to the party strength in the full chamber.” Thus, Senate committee ratios have historically favored the party in the majority, like in the House—but, unlike the House, those ratios tend to mirror that of majority-to-minority members in the chamber. 

Ratios

By controlling the ratio of seats each party is allotted on committees, the majority improves the likelihood that legislation it favors will have sufficient votes to pass at the committee level. Committees’ ratios also have implications for committees’ ability to subpoena documents and testimony during investigations. Most House committees may authorize a subpoena via a majority vote, but most committee chairs can also authorize subpoenas unilaterally without the ranking minority member’s explicit approval (though many committees have a minority consultation or notification requirement). 

In the Senate, however, most committees require either a majority vote or an agreement between the chair and ranking member to issue a subpoena. This means that absent a cooperative ranking member or a majority of seats on their committee, a Senate committee chair could be thwarted from subpoenaing documents or testimony by a minority united in opposition to doing so.

Legislative Agenda 

Members of the majority party also control the work a committee does, such as choosing the legislation the committee considers, determining the committee’s oversight plan, and deciding hearing topics. The majority may even choose to rename a committee or subcommittee to underscore its focus on a particular topic or reframe its work. For example, the House Committee on Education and Labor has, in recent decades, alternatively been named “the Committee on Education and the Workforce” under Republican majorities. 

Because the majority chooses topics for committee hearings, it has considerable power to direct public and media attention to specific issues. Moreover, the majority oversees invitations for witnesses to testify before committees, so it can ensure particular perspectives are amplified. The majority does this by inviting more hearing witnesses who share the majority’s viewpoint on an issue—to the extent such a viewpoint exists—than witnesses who share the minority party’s viewpoint. 

Who Decides How the Chambers Operate?

The majority in the House and Senate can modify the chambers’ rules for day-to-day operations. For example, in 2018, the Senate agreed, on a bipartisan basis, to let senators bring infant children onto the Senate floor during votes. However, operational changes do not always have bipartisan support. On May 15, 2020, for instance, the House passed H. Res. 965, which allowed House members to vote remotely by proxy and for committees to conduct their business virtually on account of the pandemic. No Republicans—then in the minority—voted for the resolution. 

The majority can also change the rules that govern legislative debate. For example, at the beginning of the 117th Congress (2021-2022), the House Democratic majority modified a procedural motion known as the “motion to recommit” (MTR). This motion allowed the minority party to force “gotcha” votes on poison pill amendments. During the 116th Congress (2019-2020), those votes targeted immigrants, reproductive rights, and historically disadvantaged communities. 

For an overview of significant rules changes that occurred at the start of the current Congress (2023-2024), see Navigating New Rules in a New Congress. 

Who Chooses Key Leadership Positions in the Chambers? 

House 

The Speaker of the House is elected by a majority vote at the start of each Congress before new members are even sworn into office. Each party puts forward a nominee for Speaker, but the members-elect are not required to vote for their party’s nominee. Given the now-entrenched two-party system, all Speakers of the House in the modern era have been from the party that holds the majority of House seats. Other leadership positions, such as the party leader and whip, are selected by the respective parties in closed-door party meetings. 

Perhaps the Speaker’s most important function is to control what happens on the House floor. A Speaker can use this power to advance their party’s legislative agenda. The Speaker also affects the House’s operations through their power to select key personnel, including the House’s Parliamentarian, Legislative Counsel, Historian, and other positions. The Speaker also appoints the director of the Congressional Budget Office, in conjunction with the Senate’s President Pro Tempore. Other critical House figures, such as the Clerk and Sergeant at Arms, are elected by the House—thus, conferring control over who serves in these positions to the majority party. 

The Speaker is second in the line of presidential succession, behind the Vice President, regardless of whether the same party controls the House and White House.

Senate 

In the Senate, party leaders and whips are elected by the senators within that party. One exception, however, is the President Pro Tempore, which presides over the Senate in the absence of its president, the Vice President of the United States. According to the Senate Historical Office, “Although the Constitution does not specify who can serve as President Pro Tempore, the Senate has always elected one of its members to serve in this position. Since the mid-20th century, tradition has dictated that the senior member of the majority party serve as President Pro Tempore.” 

Similar to the House Speaker, the President Pro Tempore appoints several important figures in the chamber, such as the Senate’s legislative counsel. The President Pro Tempore also sits in the presidential line of succession, behind the House Speaker.

Who Invites Speakers to Address Congress?

The president’s State of the Union is perhaps the best-known example of an address to Congress. Typically, the Speaker invites the president to address a joint session of Congress early in each calendar year. However, the Speaker is not required to do this and may deviate from tradition based on current circumstances. In January 2019, for example, amidst the longest government shutdown in history, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rescinded her invitation for President Donald Trump to deliver the State of the Union until after the government reopened. 

Foreign leaders are also occasionally invited to address Congress. While the majority party may adhere to tradition and consult with the executive branch when inviting foreign leaders, they may sometimes take a more adversarial approach. In 2015, for example, House Speaker John Boehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress without consulting with President Barack Obama’s White House or State Department. The affront was considered particularly egregious given Prime Minister Netanyahu’s vocal opposition to the nuclear agreement the Obama Administration was negotiating with Iran. The example demonstrates how the majority party’s convening power might be used to thwart the White House’s agenda or embarrass the president and the president’s party. 

Further Reading

 
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