402 Chapter 11 | Congressa campaign stop or a fund-raiser for a candidate with party leaders or the president. For
example, President Obama held dozens of fund-raisers for Democrats in 2014, earning
him the label of “Fundraiser-in-Chief” from CNN.^33 Such events typically raise $500,000
to more than $1 million. President Trump campaigned actively for congressional
Republicans during the 2018 midterms. Despite headlining a record-breaking fund-
raiser, he held fewer for other candidates than any president since Ronald Reagan.^34
Despite these positive reinforcements, members’ desire for reelection always
comes before party concerns and leadership rarely tries to force a member to vote
against his or her constituents’ interests. For example, Democrats from rural areas,
where most constituents support gun ownership and many are hunters, would not be
expected to vote the party line favoring a gun control bill. But if a member of Congress
did something much more extreme that crossed the party’s leadership—for example,
supporting the opposing party’s candidate for Speaker or passing strategic information
to the opposition—he or she could expect to be disciplined by the party’s leaders.
The most difficult challenge for party leadership in recent years in terms of party
cohesion has been the Freedom Caucus within the House Republicans. This group of
conservative members forced several government shutdowns during the Obama years
over funding for Obamacare and tax increases. Most significantly, they forced John
Boehner to resign as Speaker of the House in September 2015 and then rejected the heir
apparent, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, because he was too moderate. Finally,
they agreed to accept Paul Ryan as Speaker, but nine Freedom Caucus members
voted against him.^35 When President Trump was elected, many Republicans believed
that they would finally be able to enact a conservative policy agenda, but it has been
difficult to pass legislation that both the Freedom Caucus in the House and moderate
Republicans in the Senate can agree to. The deadlock over DACA, discussed in the
chapter opener, is a prime example.The Committee System The committee system in the House and Senate is another
crucial part of the legislative structure. There are four types of committees: standing,
select, joint, and conference. Standing committees, which have ongoing membership
and jurisdictions, are where most of Congress’s work gets done. These committees
draft legislation and oversee the implementation of the laws they pass. For example, the
Agriculture Committees in the House and Senate have jurisdiction over farm programs
such as commodity price supports, crop insurance, and soil conservation. But they also
create and oversee policy for rural electrification and development; the food stamp and
nutrition programs; and the inspection of livestock, poultry, seafood, and meat products.
Many committees share jurisdiction on policy—for example, the House Natural
Resources Committee oversees the National Forest Service and forests on federally
owned lands, and the Agriculture Committee oversees policy for forests on privately
owned lands. There are 21 standing committees in the House and 20 in the Senate.
Select committees typically address a specific topic for one or two terms, such as
the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming that operated
from 2007 to 2010. These committees do not have the same legislative authority as
standing committees; rather, they mostly serve to collect information, provide policy
options, and draw attention to a given issue.
There are four joint committees made up of members of both the House and the
Senate, and they rarely have legislative authority. The Joint Committee on Taxation,
for example, does not have authority to send legislation concerning tax policy to the
floor of the House or Senate. Instead, it gathers information and provides estimates of
the consequences of proposed tax legislation. Joint committees may also be temporary,
such as the “Supercommittee” (officially the Joint Select Committee on Deficit
Reduction) that was formed in 2011 to try to reach bipartisan agreement on a deficit
reduction plan. The committee failed to reach agreement and was disbanded in 2012.standing committees
Committees that are a permanent
part of the House or Senate structure,
holding more importance and
authority than other committees.select committees
Committees in the House or Senate
created to address a specific issue for
one or two terms.joint committees
Committees that contain members of
both the House and Senate but have
limited authority.Full_12_APT_64431_ch11_374-417.indd 402 16/11/18 10:30 AM