The End

 No class Thursday: 

Papers due tomorrow night at 11:59 pm.

Stylistic reminders

• The apostrophe
• Words

Review of the Dualities:

Two chambers: House v. Senate

• Senate filibuster.  Where you stand depends on where you sit.

Two Congresses: Policy priorities v. constituent priorities

• Taking credit for benefits you voted against.

Two parties:  GOP v. Dems

• Demographic differences
• Polarization in the electorate
• And it is not just budget priorities

Two political branches: Congress v. President

Life Lessons

Simulation?

Leadership:

In all bodies, those who will lead must also, in a considerable degree, follow. They must conform their propositions to the taste, talent, and disposition of those whom they wish to conduct; therefore, if an assembly is viciously or feebly composed in a very great part of it, nothing but such a supreme degree of virtue as very rarely appears in the world, and for that reason cannot enter into calculation, will prevent the men of talent disseminated through it from becoming only the expert instruments of absurd projects! If, what is the more likely event, instead of that unusual degree of virtue, they should be actuated by sinister ambition and a lust of meretricious glory, then the feeble part of the assembly, to whom at first they conform, becomes in its turn the dupe and instrument of their designs. In this political traffic, the leaders will be obliged to bow to the ignorance of their followers, and the followers to become subservient to the worst designs of their leaders.

    Mickey Edwards: "People think what they think, not what         we want them to think."

About “problems of political courage in the face of constituent pressures, and the light shed on those problems by the lives of past statesmen.’’ Three types of pressure:

• pressure to be liked
• pressure to be re-elected, and
• pressure of the constituency and interest groups.

The problem is that all three considerations have a legitimate place.

In addition to the courage of your convictions, you should also have the courage of your doubts.

Sometimes, compromise takes courage.

Taft

• Prewar isolationism
• And why JFK downplayed that side of the story
• Nuremberg (start video at 11:00)
• Taft against NATO
• The story that led to the LBJ-RFK feud

On October 29, 1940, Congressman Lyndon Johnson happened to be in President Franklin Roosevelt’s office when FDR’s isolationist ambassador to London, Joseph Kennedy—at whom Roosevelt was furious for his freelancing and his insufficient outrage against Adolf Hitler—returned to the United States. LBJ omits the detail that as FDR invited Kennedy by telephone for dinner, he drew his finger across his throat, razor fashion. Johnson twits Roosevelt for his indifference to civil rights, contrasting that unfavorably with LBJ’s own record.

I was with President Roosevelt the day he fired Joe Kennedy. He picked up the phone and said, “Hello, Joe, are you in New York? Why don’t you come down and have a little family dinner with us tonight?” Then he hung up and said, “That son of a bitch is a traitor. He wants to sell us out.” Well, Kennedy did say Hitler was right.

Anyway, Roosevelt didn’t have any Southern molasses compassion. He didn’t get wrapped up in going to anyone’s funeral. Roosevelt never submitted one civil rights bill in twelve years. He sent Mrs. Roosevelt to their meetings in their parks, and she’d do it up good. But President Roosevelt never faced up to the problem.

Inherent limitations of Congress:

• Except in simulation, legislation is slow. (And swift action is not necessarily smart action.)
• In a body resting on geographic representation, parochialism is inevitable. (And it is often legitimate.)
• A multi-member, bicameral institution will have a hard time planning.  (And planning is overrated.)

Foreign Policy and National Security II

• Adjourn at noon for course evals.
• For next week, Davidson ch. 16
• Last weekly writeups

Presidential advantages on war and peace

Hamilton in Federalist 8: "It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority."

Tocqueville, p. 126: "If the Union’s existence were constantly menaced, and if its great interests were continually interwoven with those of other powerful nations, one would see the prestige of the executive growing, because of what was expected from it and of what it did."

Knowledge and experience:

The Constitution and War:

Article I, section 8:

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

 To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

Article II, section 2:

The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States;

CRS explains that a declaration of war has enormous legal consequences

[A] declaration of war automatically brings into effect a number of statutes that confer special powers on the President and the Executive Branch, especially concerning measures that have domestic effect. A declaration, for instance, activates statutes that empower the President to interdict all trade with the enemy, order manufacturing plants to produce armaments and seize them if they refuse, control transportation systems in order to give the military priority use, and command communications systems to give priority to the military. A declaration triggers the Alien Enemies Act, which gives the President substantial discretionary authority over nationals of an enemy state who are in the United States. It activates special authorities to use electronic surveillance for purposes of gathering foreign intelligence information without a court order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It automatically extends enlistments in the armed forces until the end of the war, can make the Coast Guard part of the Navy, gives the President substantial discretion over the appointment and reappointment of commanders, and allows the military priority use of the natural resources on the public lands and the continental shelf. 

There have been 11 declarations of war.

Before Pearl Harbor, direct US involvement in WWII was not certain.

On 1/23/1941, Charles Lindbergh testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, calling for a negotiated peace with Hitler.  He had this exchange with Rep. Luther Johnson (D-TX):

Use of military force abroad (usually without a declaration of war)

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The War Powers Resolution -- From CRS:

The War Powers Resolution (P.L. 93-148) was enacted over the veto of President Nixon on November 7, 1973, to provide procedures for Congress and the President to participate in decisions to send U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities. Section 4(a)(1) requires the President to report to Congress any introduction of U.S. forces into hostilities or imminent hostilities. When such a report is submitted or is required to be submitted, Section 5(b) requires that the use of forces must be terminated within 60 to 90 days unless Congress authorizes such use or extends the time period. Section 3 requires that the “President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing” U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities or imminent hostilities.

From 1975 through March 2017, Presidents have submitted 168 reports as the result of the War Powers Resolution, but only one, the 1975 Mayaguez seizure, cited Section 4(a)(1), which triggers the 60-day withdrawal requirement, and in this case the military action completed and U.S. armed forces had disengaged from the area of conflict when the report was made.

Reading the report 

Iraq vote in the Senate

Foreign Policy and National Security I

Topics for Thursday?

Please remember  your last write-ups this week.

Course evaluations at the end of next class.  Bring your devices.

On January 12, 1991, House Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA) spoke about the impending Gulf War. Click for video of their remarks, so you can see what grownups look like:

• Tom Foley (Start at 5:40)
  

Foreign Affairs Generally

Treaties and International Agreements (Davidson 427-428)

• Curtiss-Wright
• The Treaty Clause
• Treaties (US Senate)
• CRS on Reservations:   "After the Senate has begun considering this resolution, amendments proposing to change the text of the treaty itself are no longer in order. Senators may amend the resolution of ratification, however, by attaching to it reservations, declarations, statements, or understandings that can affect the interpretation or implementation of the treaty."
• Executive agreements
• The original Iran deal was neither a treaty nor an executive agreement (and note the addressee)
• Trade Agreements (Davidson 422-425).
• Congress has delegated tariff powers to POTUS -- with consequences
• Power over Information

War and Intelligence

Defense as     %Outlays    %GDP

(FY)

1962.................49.0%..........8.9%

1972.................34.3%..........6.5%

1982.................24.8%..........5.6%

1992.................21.6.............4.6%

2002.................17.3%..........3.2%

2012.................19.2%..........4.2%

2022.................12.2%..........3.1%

2023.................13.4%..........3.0%

2024.................13.1%..........3.2%

Prologue:  Steps in launching a nuclear war

Hamilton in Federalist 8: "It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority."

Tocqueville, p. 126: "If the Union’s existence were constantly menaced, and if its great interests were continually interwoven with those of other powerful nations, one would see the prestige of the executive growing, because of what was expected from it and of what it did."

The Constitution and War:

Article I, section 8:

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

 To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

Article II, section 2:

The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States;

CRS explains that a declaration of war has enormous legal consequences

[A] declaration of war automatically brings into effect a number of statutes that confer special powers on the President and the Executive Branch, especially concerning measures that have domestic effect. A declaration, for instance, activates statutes that empower the President to interdict all trade with the enemy, order manufacturing plants to produce armaments and seize them if they refuse, control transportation systems in order to give the military priority use, and command communications systems to give priority to the military. A declaration triggers the Alien Enemy Act, which gives the President substantial discretionary authority over nationals of an enemy state who are in the United States. It activates special authorities to use electronic surveillance for purposes of gathering foreign intelligence information without a court order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It automatically extends enlistments in the armed forces until the end of the war, can make the Coast Guard part of the Navy, gives the President substantial discretion over the appointment and reappointment of commanders, and allows the military priority use of the natural resources on the public lands and the continental shelf. 

There have been 11 declarations of war.

Use of military force abroad (usually without a declaration of war)

The War Powers Resolution -- From CRS:

The War Powers Resolution (P.L. 93-148) was enacted over the veto of President Nixon on November 7, 1973, to provide procedures for Congress and the President to participate in decisions to send U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities. Section 4(a)(1) requires the President to report to Congress any introduction of U.S. forces into hostilities or imminent hostilities. When such a report is submitted or is required to be submitted, Section 5(b) requires that the use of forces must be terminated within 60 to 90 days unless Congress authorizes such use or extends the time period. Section 3 requires that the “President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing” U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities or imminent hostilities.

From 1975 through March 2017, Presidents have submitted 168 reports as the result of the War Powers Resolution, but only one, the 1975 Mayaguez seizure, cited Section 4(a)(1), which triggers the 60-day withdrawal requirement, and in this case the military action completed and U.S. armed forces had disengaged from the area of conflict when the report was made.

Domestic Policy

For Tuesday, Davidson, ch. 15.

Guidance on papers.

Path Dependence: past events or decisions constrain later events or decisions. Many current programs and policies are descendants of past programs and policies

Agricultural price supports

• Background (Ag Dept founded 1862)
• 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act
• Agribusiness replaces the Joads
• How it operates today

Prescription Drug Costs

• Social Security Act (1935) births Medicare and Medicaid
• Did NOT include prescription drugs, which became more important in later decades

Other examples:  tax policy, education policy

Templates

• Legislative langauge
• Protest

Interaction of policy and politics.  Politics makes policy, which makes politics.

• Ag Outreach and Farm Bureau
• Lobbies

Another example:  student loans

Loss Aversion.  Controversial programs and decisions become the status quo.

• Affordable Care Act and the McCain thumbs down

The Impact of War

• World War II and Disability Rights
• Cold War and Civil Rights

Last Paper Spring 2025

  Answer one of the following:

• The authors of Congress and Its Members finished writing the 19th edition in mid-2023. Pick any chapter in Part IV of the book (ch. 10-15) and write a three-page update. What events of the past year should materially change their analysis when they write the 20th edition? (Make sure to re-read the chapter carefully before answering.)
• Pick any law that Congress has passed since (and including) 1975.  Explain how that law has directly affected you or someone you know.  Did the drafters of the law anticipate such an impact?  If so, how? If not, why not?
• You may also write on a relevant topic of your choice, subject to my approval.

• Essays should be typed, double-spaced, and no more than three pages long. I will not read past the third page. 
• Submit papers as Word documents, not pdfs or Google docs.
• Cite your sources with endnotes in standard Turabian format. Endnote pages do not count against the page limit.
• Misrepresenting AI-generated content as your own work is plagiarism and will result in severe consequences.
• Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you  -- especially errors that I have noted on previous papers.
• Return essays (again, as Word documents, not pdfs) to Canvas  by 11:59 PM, Wednesday, May 7. (If you have trouble uploading, simply email it to me as an attached Word document.)  I reserve the right to dock papers will one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.

Congress and Fiscal Policy

Last paper assignment 

Very short readings for Thursday:

• Peter G. Peterson Foundation, What Is the Farm Bill, and Why Does It Matter for the Federal Budget?
• Britannica, Prescription Drug Costs  (stop with "Con Quotes")

A few questions

• Suppose your income places you in the 22% bracket.  How much of your income do you think is taxed at a rate of 22%?
• Agree or disagree: large tax refunds are a good thing.
• What tax rate applies to the top US federal income tax bracket?
• How much do you think the top 1% of taxpayers by income account for in terms of share of total federal income taxes paid?

Constitutional Provisions

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 7, clause 1

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

-- U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8, clause 12

“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 9, clause 7

What follows would baffle a Martian.

Authorization (Davidson 398)

• Reauthorization as a form of oversight
• Lapsed authorizations:

Appropriation

• Also a form of oversight 

• Budget Authority
• Outlay
• Continuing resolutions

"The Budget Process" and key documents:

• The president's budget
• CBO reports

Revenue Bills and RECONCILIATION (Davidson 408-409)

Revenues -- Where the money comes from:

The federal tax system is more progressive than most people realize:   SEE PAGES 18-23.

Outlays -- Where the money goes:

Percentage of GDP

CBPP

Budget tables:  function, subfunction, agency

Debt as share of GDP

THE DEBT LIMIT

  What happens if the US government defaults on the federal debt?

CBS poll founds that people oppose raising the debt limit -- until they find out what it means.

Judiciary , Impeachment, Scandal

 For Tuesday, Davidson, ch. 14

For a week from today, which domestic issues do you want to discuss?

Don 't forget your weekly writeups.

Supreme Court Nominations (355-356)

Fortas roll call

In hearings, senators try to get judicial nominees on the record.  NOTE WHAT ALITO SAYS (START AT 18:45) ABOUT STARE DECISIS.

Feinstein stepped in it when ACB was up for Court of Appeals

Merrick Garland and "the Biden Rule" 

Gorsuch and the nuclear option 

KBJ

Blue Slips and Senatorial Courtesy (Davidson, 357)

Applies to US Attorneys:  a case in progress right now.

The Trump record on the courts (Davidson 357)

Scandal

House:  Schiff

Senate censure and expulsion

Watch Santos expulsion and Menendez resignation

Read Menendez indictment

The Grounds

• Treason
• Bribery
• High Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Precedent from England?
• Gerald R. Ford 1970: "An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.” 

 There is no appeal.

Andrew Johnson Impeachment -- see esp. Article Ten

Impeachment v. Bill of Attainder

Persons subject to impeachment 

(A separate process for disciplining members of Congress.)

The list

The House

• "Due process" does not apply.  
• The Fifth Amendment says no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Impeachment merely removes a person from office.
  

The Senate

• The rules
• The role of the Chief Justice

The Special Case of the President

• The "take care" clause
• At Harvard Law Review, Andrew Kent.Ethan J. Leib, and Jed Handelsman Shugerman have an article titled "Faithful Execution and Article II." From the abstract:
  Article II of the U.S. Constitution twice imposes a duty of “faithful execution” on the President, who must “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” and take an oath or affirmation to “faithfully execute the Office of President.

Nixon

• Yes, there was a partisan dimension.
• A key staffer remembers...

Clinton

Other accusations:  how would they play out in the #MeToo era?

Trump Impeachment I

Trump Impeachment II -- The 7

Biden impeachment effort falls apart.

Mayorkas impeachment -- McClintock comments