My delightful padlet by Litch Vayne Versoza

Legislative Branch

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:11:10 UTC

Made up of the House and Senate, known collectively as the Congress. Makes all laws, declares war, regulates interstate and foreign commerce and controls taxing and spending policies.

Congress

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:24:52 UTC

a national legislative body, especially that of the US. The US Congress, which meets at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., was established by the Constitution of 1787 and is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

House of Representatives

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:26:40 UTC

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress.

President Pro Tempore

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:29:14 UTC

The Constitution instructs the Senate to choose a President Pro Tempore to preside over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President.

Speaker of the House

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:31:24 UTC

The speaker presides over the House's debates, determining which members may speak and which amendments are selected for consideration. The speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the rules of the House.

Census

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:32:46 UTC

An official count or survey of a population, typically recording various details of individuals.

Reapportionment

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:38:13 UTC

Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation.

Redistricting

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:40:06 UTC

Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census.

Gerrymandering

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:42:23 UTC

The political manipulation of electoral district boundaries to advantage a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency.

Legislation(legislator/legislature)

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:45:54 UTC

Laws, considered collectively.

Reserved Powers

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 18:49:47 UTC

Those that are not specifically granted to the national government in the Constitution and are therefore reserved to the states.

Delegated/Enumerated/ Expressed Powers

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 21:06:40 UTC

The powers granted to the Federal government, and specifically Congress, which are mostly listed in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.

Implied Powers

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 21:11:25 UTC

Political powers granted to the United States government that aren't explicitly stated in the Constitution.

Bill

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 21:13:51 UTC

A draft of a proposed law presented to parliament for discussion.

Veto

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 21:19:31 UTC

A constitutional right to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body.

Pocket Veto

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 21:26:37 UTC

If Congress approves a bill and sends it to the President, then adjourns before the ten days elapse, the President cannot return the bill to the originating Chamber after adjournment. In those circumstances, the President can prevent the bill from becoming law simply by declining to sign it, sometimes called a "pocket veto".

Filibuster

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 21:37:23 UTC

The Senate tradition of unlimited debate has allowed for the use of the filibuster, a loosely defined term for action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question.

Cloture

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 21:48:10 UTC

The procedural step of ending debate on a proposal and holding a vote to determine if it will pass.

Veto Override

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 21:55:55 UTC

Congress can override a veto by passing the act by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. (Usually an act is passed with a simple majority.) This check prevents the President from blocking an act when significant support for it exists.

Standing Committees

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 22:04:01 UTC

Standing committees are permanent bodies with specific responsibilities and jurisdictions that are defined in the Senate's rules.

Select Committees

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 22:06:39 UTC

Select committees are usually created by a resolution to conduct investigations or consider measures, usually on a specific topic, and are not renewed on a permanent basis with the notable exception of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Joint Committees

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 22:08:04 UTC

A committee made up of members of the two chambers of a bicameral legislature

Pigeonholing

4219885668 — 2025-03-03 22:13:12 UTC

For a work item like a bill in Congress, “pigeonhole” means to put it aside, as if it were literally put into such a little box for storage. The intent might be simply to save it for later, but the idiom often means to put it away to be ignored or forgotten.

Separation of Powers

4219885668 — 2025-03-04 18:13:07 UTC

The division of government power into separate branches to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful

Checks and Balances

4219885668 — 2025-03-04 18:16:44 UTC

Principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power

Elastic Clause/Necessary and Proper Clause

4219885668 — 2025-03-06 18:05:37 UTC

A provision in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8) that allows Congress to pass laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated powers