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| The process of allotting congressional seats to each state following the decennial census according to their proportion of the population. |
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| The power delegated to the House of Representatives in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president, or other "civil officers," including federal judges, with "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing government officials from office. |
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| The process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as populations shifts within a state. |
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| The drawing of congressional districts to produce a particular electoral outcome without regard to the shape of the district. |
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| The political party in each house of Congress with the most members. |
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| The political party in each house of Congress with the second most members. |
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| Party Caucus or conference |
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| A formal gathering of all party members. |
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| The only officer of the House or Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution; The chamber's most powerful position; traditionally a member of the majority party. |
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| The head of the party controlling the most seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate; is second authority to the Speaker of the House and in the Senate is regarded as its most powerful member. |
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| The head of the party with the second highest number of elected representatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate. |
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| Party leader who keeps close contact either all members of his or her party, takes vote counts on key legislation, prepare summaries of bills, and acts as a communications link within a party. |
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| Committee to which proposed bills are referred; continues from one Congress to the next. |
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| Standing committee that includes members from both houses of Congress setup to conduct investigations pr special studies. |
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| Special joint committee created to reconcile differences in bill passed by the House and Senate. |
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| Select (or special) committee |
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| Temporary committee appointed for a specific purpose. |
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| Petition that gives a majority of the House or Representatives the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction. Get a bill out of committee. |
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| Time of continuous service on a committee |
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| A session on which committee members offer changes to a bill before it goes to the floor. |
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| A tactic by which a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill or nomination is brought to the floor. This request signals leadership that a member mat have objections to the bill (or nomination) and should be consulted before further action is taken. |
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| A formal way of haling Senate action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate. |
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| Mechanism requiring 60 senators to vote to cut debate |
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| The formal, constitutional authority of the president to reject bills lasses by both houses of Congress, thus preventing them from becoming law without further congressional action. |
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| If Congress adjourns during the ten days the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of Congress, the bill is considered vetoed without the presidents signature. |
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| Confessional budget act of 1974 |
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| Act that established the congressional budget plan by laying out a plan for congressional action on the annual budget resolution, appropriations, reconciliation, and any other revenue bills. |
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| Aprocedure that allows consideration of controversial issues affecting the budget by limiting debate to 20 hours, thereby ending threat of a filibuster. |
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| Legislation that allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs. |
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| Funds that an appropriations bill designates for specific projects within a state or congressional districts. |
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| Passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a 60-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra 30 days to permit withdrawal) unless Congress explicitly gives it approval for a longer period. |
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| A process whereby Congress can nullify agency regulations by a joint resolution of legislative disapproval. |
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| A process by which presidents, when selecting district court judges, defer to the senators in whose state the vacancy occurs. |
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| Role played by an elected representative who listens to constituents' opinions and thus uses his or her best judgement to make a final decision. |
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| Role played by an elected representative who votes the way his or her constituents would want him to, regardless of his or her own opinions. |
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| Role played by an elected representative who act's as a trustee or as a delegate, depending on the issue. |
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| The political condition in which different political parties control the presidency and Congress. |
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| The political condition in which the same political party controls the presidency and Congress. |
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| Vote trading; voting to support a colleague's bill in return for a promise of future support. |
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| Get a stalled bill out of committee |
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| Provision added to a piece of legislation not germane to the bill's purpose. |
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