Problems in American Democracy

by Thames Williamson

549. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION.—Each house of Congress has the right to determine its own rule of practice, punish members for disorderly conduct, and, by a two-thirds vote, expel a member. Members guilty of acts of violence or abusive language may be punished by a vote of censure, or may be obliged to apologize to the house. For the commission of a grave offense, a Congressman may be expelled from the house to which he was elected.

The Constitution requires that "each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered upon the journal." The object of this is to secure a permanent record of legislative action, as well as publicity of proceedings. The vote by yeas and nays fixes responsibility for his vote upon each member by making it a matter of public record. The Congressional Record, an official account of Congressional debates and proceedings, appears daily during Congressional sessions. This is supposedly a verbatim report of what is said in each house, but as a matter of fact members are allowed to edit and revise their remarks before these are printed. In the case of the House, many of the published speeches have never been delivered at all.

550. THE OFFICERS OF CONGRESS.—In the House of Representatives the chief officer is the Speaker, or presiding officer. The Speaker is chosen from the membership of the House by that body itself. As will be pointed out shortly, this officer is an important personage.

In the Senate the Vice President of the United States acts as the presiding officer. In the absence of the Vice President, or in case that officer succeeds to the Presidency, the Senate itself chooses a president pro tempore to occupy the chair. The presiding officer of the Senate is much less powerful than the Speaker of the House, indeed he is little more than a chairman or moderator.

There are a number of additional officers of Congress, who are chosen by the respective houses from outside their own membership. These officers include a clerk, who in the Senate is called the secretary; the door-keeper; the sergeant-at-arms; the postmaster; and the chaplain. Nominally these officers are chosen by each house, but as a matter of practice the choice is made by the caucus of the majority party, which is held a few days before the organization of each house.

551. THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—A few days before the organization of the House, the caucus of the majority party settles upon its choice for Speaker. The candidate chosen invariably receives the solid vote of his party in the House, since it is a rule of the caucus that party members who take part in its discussions must abide by its decisions.

As chairman of the House, the Speaker performs the customary duties of a presiding officer. He opens and closes the sittings of the House, maintains order, and decides questions of parliamentary law. The Speaker acts as the official representative of the House in its collective capacity, and authenticates all official proceedings by his signature. It is he who announces the order of business, states the question, and announces the vote. He also has the right to appoint the chairman of the committee of the whole. The Speaker takes part in debate and may also vote.

552. POWER OF THE SPEAKER OVER LEGISLATION.—In addition to performing the customary duties of a presiding officer, the Speaker possesses important powers over legislation. The imperfect organization of the House, and its lack of effective leadership, as well as the vast amount of business coming before it, have tended to centralize much of the legislative power of the House in the hands of this officer.

The Speaker of the House has the power to determine to which committee a bill shall be referred. Thus he may determine the fate of a measure by sending it to a committee which he knows to be hostile to the bill, or to a friendly committee, just as he likes.

It is the Speaker who decides when a member is entitled to the floor, and no motion or speech can be made except by a member who has been duly recognized by the chair. There are a number of unwritten rules in this regard, but in the last analysis the Speaker may recognize only persons whom he desires to have speak. Thus Congressmen who are not of the Speaker's party may be kept from making themselves heard upon important measures. When a bill is before the House, the chairman of the committee in charge of the measure usually hands the Speaker a list of Congressmen who are to be heard upon the floor. By recognizing only those whose names appear on this list, the Speaker may confine the discussion to members who are favored by himself and his party.