Party Influence on House of Representatives

CHANGES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

This research paper describes the changes which have occurred in the leadership, organization and management of the House of Representatives under the Republicans in 19941995, as compared with the way business was conducted under the Democrats previously, and discusses the effects of such changes on the legislative process. On January 3, 1995, the Republicans took control of both the Senate and the House for the first time in more than forty years. In deciding how to further their legislative agenda and political purposes, House Republicans under their new Speaker, Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia faced a number of challenges and choices with respect to the way they would run the House. A number of changes have been made, some of which were designed to streamline operations, others came in response to demands for procedural and ethical reforms and still others strengthened the powers of the Speaker. Although some of these measures enjoy broad support and are likely to endure, the principal effect of many of these changes has been to enable the Republican leadership to control more tightly the legislative process.

Reforms in The House and the Democrats

By the time that Gingrich became Speaker of the House, serious questions were being raised as to the effectiveness of the House as a legislative body. The Constitution requires all revenue and appropriations bills to originate in the House which since its inception has init

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his presidency" (Drew 107). Broary summed up in November, 1994: "Democrats argued loudly and publicly over congressional reform for the past two years and, in the end accomplished nothing" (2778). Republican 'Reforms' in the House Prior to the 1990s, liberal Democrats organized in the House Democratic caucus had dominated the movement to reform the House. In the 103rd Congress, a group of freshman Republican members had pushed for term limits and made proposals to reduce the role of the Appropriations committees in the budgetmaking process which had been partially adopted by the HamiltonBoren committee. The Republican House leadership had focused on procedural issues which were of concern, principally the Rules Committee which Cohen said the Democrats had been making increasing use of "by organizing House debate and votes in a way that stacks the deck in their favor" (94). Public opinion polls taken before the off year 1994 election showed that "Senate minority leader Bob Dole and the Republican party come in for special criticism for being too negative and obstructionist" (Johnson 373). Perhaps the most vitriolic obstructionist of all had been Gingrich. Nevertheless, the Republicans' Contract with America, which was a

Category: Government - P