Search Penny Hill Press

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview


Kevin R. Kosar
Analyst in American National Government

The veto power vested in the President by Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution has proven to be an effective tool for the chief executive in his dealings with Congress. Since the founding of the federal government in 1789, 37 of 44 Presidents have exercised their veto authority a total of 2,564 times. Congress has overridden these vetoes on 110 occasions (4.3%). Presidents have vetoed 83 appropriations bills, and Congress has overridden 12 (14.5%) of these vetoes.

During the 111
th Congress, President Barack H. Obama has vetoed two bills, H.J.Res. 64, an FY2010 appropriations measure, and H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010.


Date of Report: October 18, 2010
Number of Pages: 9
Order Number: RS22188
Price: $19.95

Follow us on TWITTER at
http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports

Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail
Penny Hill Press  or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

House Committees: Categories and Rules for Committee Assignments


Judy Schneider
Specialist on the Congress

Both House and party rules detail procedures for committee assignments. House rules address the election and membership of committees, especially limitations on membership. The Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference rules designate categories of committees (shown below) and specify service limitations in addition to those in the House rules.


Date of Report: October 19, 2010
Number of Pages: 6
Order Number: 98-151
Price: $19.95

Follow us on TWITTER at
http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports

Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail
Penny Hill Press  or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile

Jennifer E. Manning
Information Research Specialist

This report presents a profile of the membership of the 111th Congress. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age and length of service, occupation, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births, and military service.

Currently, in the House of Representatives, there are 261 Democrats (including five Delegates and the Resident Commissioner), 178 Republicans, and two vacant seats. The Senate has 57 Democrats; 2 Independents, who caucus with the Democrats, and 41 Republicans.

The average age of Members of both houses of Congress at the beginning of the 111
th Congress was 58.2 years; of Members of the House, 57.2 years; and of Senators, 63.1 years. The overwhelming majority of Members have a college education. The dominant professions of Members are public service/politics, business, and law. Protestants collectively constitute the majority religious affiliation of Members. Roman Catholics account for the largest single religious denomination, and numerous other affiliations are represented.

The average length of service for Representatives at the beginning of the 111
th Congress was 11.0 years (5.5 terms); for Senators 12.9 years ( 2.2 terms).

A record number of 93 women serve in the 111
th Congress: 76 in the House, 17 in the Senate. There are 41 African American Members of the House and one in the Senate. This number includes two Delegates. There are 29 Hispanic or Latino Members serving: 28 in the House, including the Resident Commissioner, and one in the Senate. Thirteen Members (nine Representatives, two Delegates, and two Senators) are Asian or Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander. The only American Indian (Native American) serves in the House.


Date of Report: October 14, 2010
Number of Pages: 10
Order Number: R40086
Price: $29.95

Follow us on TWITTER at
http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports

Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail
Penny Hill Press  or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Federal Civil Service Annuities


Katelin P. Isaacs
Analyst in Income Security

Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) are based on the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). COLAs for both CSRS and FERS are determined by the average monthly CPI-W during the third quarter (July to September) of the current calendar year and the third quarter of the base year, which is the last previous year in which a COLA was applied. Because the price level fell between the third quarter of 2008 and the third quarter of 2009, the average monthly CPI for the third quarter of 2008 remains the base year for determining the next COLA. The “effective date” for COLAs is December, but they first appear in the benefit checks issued during the following January.

All CSRS retirees and survivors receive COLAs. Under FERS, however, non-disabled retirees under the age of 62 do not receive COLAs. Survivors and disabled retirees are eligible for COLAs under FERS regardless of age. CSRS pays a COLA that is equal to the percentage change in the CPI-W during the measurement period, but COLAs under FERS are limited if the rate of inflation is greater than 2.0%. If the rate of inflation during the measurement period is between 2.0% and 3.0%, the COLA under FERS is 2.0%. If inflation is greater than 3.0%, then the COLA for FERS benefits is equal to the CPI-W minus one percentage point.

Congress passed the first law requiring automatic COLAs for federal civil service retirement benefits in 1962, and it has adjusted either the formula by which they are calculated or the date on which they take effect more than a dozen times since then.

If consumer prices as measured by the CPI-W do not increase from the third quarter of the base year to the third quarter of the current calendar year, there is no COLA for annuities paid under CSRS or FERS. From the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2010, the CPI-W fell by 0.6%. Therefore, there will be no COLA under either CSRS or FERS in January 2011.



Date of Report: October 15, 2010
Number of Pages: 7
Order Number: 98-834
Price: $19.95

Follow us on TWITTER at
http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports

Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail
Penny Hill Press  or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

House Committee Chairs: Considerations, Decisions, and Actions as One Congress Ends and a New Congress Begins

Judy Schneider
Specialist on the Congress

Michael L. Koempel
Senior Specialist in American National Government


A committee chair serves as the leader of a committee, with responsibility for setting the course and direction of the panel for committee members and the House and for managing a large professional and paraprofessional staff. The senior committee staff should ensure the chair’s goals are carried out effectively.

Once a committee chair is selected during the post-election transition period, he or she, often in consultation with others, makes a series of decisions and takes a series of actions. Some actions complete a committee’s duties in the Congress just ending, while other actions are taken in anticipation of the new Congress and then in the new Congress. Some decisions are related to the committee’s policy calendar; others to the committee’s administrative functions; others to the chair’s responsibilities during committee sessions; others to the role of committee members; others to the relationship with the committee’s ranking minority member, other chairs, and party leaders; and still others related to subcommittee leaders. Many decisions are made with a deadline imposed by House rules.

Specifically, a committee chair controls the selection of committee staff, authorizes expenditures from the committee budget, establishes operational and ethics policies, determines committee travel allocations, decides the content of the committee website, and is responsible for administration of the committee’s rooms, paperwork, and other operations. Most committees entrust the drafting of the budget to the committee chair, although a committee’s minority party members seek to ensure that they receive an appropriate allocation of resources. Before the chair introduces a funding resolution, the committee approves the chair’s draft budget.

The House requires its committees to adopt committee rules and to publish those rules in the Congressional Record not later than 30 days after the committee is elected. A committee chair normally prepares any changes to the rules under which the committee operated in the previous Congress, and proposes the number of subcommittees for the committee. Under House rules, a committee must approve its proposed rules.

A committee chair establishes the committee agenda, calls hearings, selects witnesses and determines the order of their testimony, presides over hearings and markups, chooses the markup vehicle and pursues an amendment strategy, prepares the committee report accompanying legislation, and discusses, or might negotiate, any of these matters with the ranking minority member. The chair maintains order and decorum during committee meetings, and takes various steps to protect the committee’s jurisdiction in the referral of legislation and other matters. When a measure is reported by a committee, it is the responsibility of the committee chair to consult the party leadership to determine floor scheduling for the measure.

This report covers the period from the House’s early organization meetings through the spring district work period, which normally occurs in March or April. The report will be updated in the 112
th Congress if House rules or practices affecting chair decisions and actions discussed here change substantively.


Date of Report: October 5, 2010
Number of Pages: 25
Order Number: RL34679
Price: $29.95

Follow us on TWITTER at
http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports

Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail
Penny Hill Press  or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.