Congress: how it is built and what it can do

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D on Congress and agency rules (the excerpts are exact; card D is made up). Card A, "Article I, Sections 1 and 7". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to set how Congress makes law. Excerpt 1 (Section 1): "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." Excerpt 2 (Section 7): "Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill." Card B, "INS v. Chadha (1983), the Court". Who made it: Chief Justice Warren Burger, for a 7 to 2 Supreme Court. When: 1983. For whom: the parties, Congress and the public. Why: to decide whether one house, by its vote alone, could overturn a decision under a 1952 law to let Jagdish Chadha remain in the country. Excerpt 1: "…the House took action that had the purpose and effect of altering the legal rights, duties and relations of persons, including the Attorney General, Executive Branch officials and Chadha, all outside the legislative branch." Excerpt 2: "It emerges clearly that the prescription for legislative action in Art. I, §§ 1, 7 represents the Framers' decision that the legislative power of the Federal government be exercised in accord with a single, finely wrought and exhaustively considered, procedure." Excerpt 3: "The President's unilateral veto power, in turn, was limited by the power of two thirds of both Houses of Congress to overrule a veto thereby precluding final arbitrary action of one person." Excerpt 4: "Finally, we see that when the Framers intended to authorize either House of Congress to act alone and outside of its prescribed bicameral legislative role, they narrowly and precisely defined the procedure for such action." Excerpt 5: "By the same token, the fact that a given law or procedure is efficient, convenient, and useful in facilitating functions of government, standing alone, will not save it if it is contrary to the Constitution." Card C, "INS v. Chadha (1983), Justice White dissenting". Who made it: Justice Byron White. Same date and readers as card B. Why: to defend the legislative veto. Excerpt 1: "Today the Court not only invalidates § 244(c)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, but also sounds the death knell for nearly 200 other statutory provisions in which Congress has reserved a 'legislative veto.'" Excerpt 2: "Without the legislative veto, Congress is faced with a Hobson's choice: either to refrain from delegating the necessary authority, leaving itself with a hopeless task of writing laws with the requisite specificity to cover endless special circumstances across the entire policy landscape, or in the alternative, to abdicate its law-making function to the executive branch and independent agencies. To choose the former leaves major national problems unresolved; to opt for the latter risks unaccountable policymaking by those not elected to fill that role." Excerpt 3: "Perhaps there are other means of accommodation and accountability, but the increasing reliance of Congress upon the legislative veto suggests that the alternatives to which Congress must now turn are not entirely satisfactory." Card D, "The Clear Rivers Act (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The act lets an agency set limits on what factories may release into rivers. Case 1: either house, by its own vote, may cancel a new limit within 90 days. Case 2: instead, a new limit is canceled if, within 90 days, both houses pass a joint resolution disapproving it and it is presented to the President. Case 3: the chair of a House committee writes to the agency asking it to delay a new limit, and the agency delays it.

2. 1.

   Bo combines card A's second excerpt with card B to judge Case 1 on card D. Which outcome and reason fit best?

   • Valid: a house may act alone here, as the House does when it impeaches an officer
   • Invalid: canceling a limit alters factories' legal duties, so it needs both houses and the President
   • Invalid: Chadha bars Congress from handing rule-making power to an agency in the first place
   • Valid: the house is reviewing work that Congress itself handed to the agency, and it is not making new law
3. 2.

   A student claims that after Chadha, Congress lost its check on agency rules. Zee tests the claim against Case 2 and card A. What is the verdict?

   • Supported: Case 2 is also a legislative veto, since Congress still votes on a rule after the agency makes it
   • Refuted: Case 2 gives Congress more power, since a joint resolution binds the agency at once
   • Too strong: Case 2 keeps a check, but the President can veto it, so blocking a rule may take two thirds
   • Supported: Chadha moved the check on agencies to the courts, which now review each new rule
4. 3.

   Congress swaps Case 1 for Case 2. Kira asks which branch gains leverage over a new limit. Which claim do cards A and D best support?

   • The President: a limit stands unless both houses disapprove and then win a signature or a two-thirds override
   • Congress: Case 2 needs both houses to act together, so its check on the agency grows stronger than before
   • The courts: once Congress cannot cancel limits alone, judges become the main check on each new limit
   • Each house: either house can refuse to pass the resolution, so each keeps its own veto over limits
5. 4.

   In Case 3, a committee chair's letter leads the agency to delay a limit. Ren applies cards A and B. What legal force does the letter have?

   • Binding if the full committee votes, since card B objects only to final arbitrary action by one person
   • Unconstitutional: card B bars members of Congress from contacting an agency about its rules
   • Binding: card A vests legislative power in Congress, and the chair speaks for Congress on rivers
   • None: Congress binds the agency only by a measure passed by both houses and presented; the delay was its choice

6. Use this

   Cards A to D on agenda control and representation in the House (the excerpts are exact; card A is a summary; card D is made up). Card A, "The House discharge rule". Who made it: written for this sheet from Congressional Research Service reports (2026). Summary in our words, not a quotation: Under House Rule XV, a bill that has sat in committee for at least 30 legislative days can be brought to the floor by a discharge petition signed by 218 members, a majority of the full House. Members may add or remove their names until the petition reaches 218. It then waits at least 7 legislative days and can be called up on the second or fourth Monday of a month. Card B, "Edmund Burke to the voters of Bristol". Who made it: Edmund Burke, just elected to the British Parliament. When: November 3, 1774. For whom: the voters of Bristol. Why: to answer a colleague who said members should follow voters' instructions. Excerpt: "Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion." Card C, "The House debates instructions (1789)". Who made it: members of the first House of Representatives, as printed in the Annals of Congress. When: August 15, 1789. For whom: the House and the public. Why: Thomas Tucker moved to add a right "to instruct their Representatives" to the amendment that became the First Amendment; the House voted the motion down. Excerpt 1 (John Page, for the motion): "Instruction and representation in a republic appear to me to be inseparably connected;" Excerpt 2 (Roger Sherman, against the motion): "If they were to be guided by instructions, there would be no use in deliberation; all that a man would have to do, would be to produce his instructions, and lay them on the table, and let them speak for him." Excerpt 3 (Jeremiah Wadsworth, against the motion, speaking of instructions): "I have known, myself, that they have been disobeyed, and yet the representative was not brought to account for it; on the contrary, he was caressed and reelected, while those who have obeyed them, contrary to their private sentiments, have ever after been despised for it." Card D, "Bill Q (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The House has 222 majority-party members and 213 in the minority. Bill Q has sat in committee for 40 legislative days, and the majority-party chair will not hold a hearing. The 213 minority members and 9 majority members say they back Bill Q. Polls show 60 percent of voters in each of those 9 districts favor it. Representative Avery, one of the 9, will not sign a petition, calling the bill unwise. Proposal R would raise the signature count to 290.

7. 5.

   Noah reads cards A and D on Bill Q. Which claim about who controls Bill Q's path to the floor do the cards best support?

   • The majority party controls the outcome, since its 222 seats outnumber the minority's 213
   • The minority can force a floor vote by itself once its 213 members sign a discharge petition
   • The chair's block cannot last, since 222 members back Bill Q and 218 signatures are enough to discharge it
   • Any 5 of the 9 majority backers, joined by the 213 minority members, can force a vote; until then the block holds
8. 6.

   Representative Avery on card D refuses to sign. Ari combines cards B and C. Which pairing gives the strongest case for and against Avery?

   • For: Burke, who says a member owes voters judgment; against: Page, who ties representation to instruction
   • For: Page, who links representation to instruction; against: Burke, who warns against sacrificing judgment
   • For: card A, which lets members withhold names; against: Wadsworth, who says obedient members were despised
   • For: Sherman, who says instructions should bind a member; against: Burke, who puts judgment first
9. 7.

   Proposal R on card D would raise the discharge count to 290. Luz applies it to Bill Q. Who gains leverage, and why?

   • The committee chair: even all 222 backers would fall 68 short of 290, so the block on Bill Q holds
   • No one: the House could not adopt Proposal R, since card A sets the count at 218 for good
   • The minority: a higher count means a discharged bill arrives with broad support, which favors Bill Q
   • The 9 majority backers: with 290 needed, each of their signatures becomes harder to replace
10. 8.

    A writer argues the discharge rule rarely matters, since few petitions ever reach 218. Tala looks for the missing evidence. What would most challenge the writer?

    • How many petitions reached 218 in recent Congresses, compared with how many were filed
    • Whether leaders brought bills to the floor themselves to head off petitions nearing 218
    • Whether the Constitution requires the House to let a majority bring bills to the floor
    • How many signatures a petition needs, and how many legislative days a bill must first wait
11. 9.

    A member argues that Proposal R protects deliberation, as Sherman wanted. Jun looks for the strongest objection the cards allow. Which is it?

    • Under Proposal R a single chair, not the House deliberating, decides whether Bill Q is debated
    • Sherman opposed any rule that slows a bill, since delay keeps members from acting for the whole
    • Most voters in the 9 districts favor Bill Q, so blocking it ignores what those voters want
    • Proposal R is unconstitutional, since card A shows the House must act by a simple majority
12. 10.

    A student claims Wadsworth's words show that voters reward members who follow their own judgment. Pia tests the claim. What is the best verdict?

    • Weakly supported: one member's memory of unnamed cases, offered while arguing against instructions
    • Refuted: Wadsworth says the members who obeyed instructions were reelected, not the members who disobeyed
    • Supported, since Burke too says a member owes voters judgment, and Burke won in Bristol
    • Shown: Wadsworth saw members who disobeyed reelected, so voters reward independent judgment