This comprehensive guide to Congress is ideal for anyone who wants to know how Congress really works, including federal executives, attorneys, lobbyists, media and public affairs staff, government affairs, policy and budget analysts, congressional office staff and students. - Clear explanation of the legislative process, budget process, and House and Senate business - Flowcharts for legislative and budget processes - Explanation of the electoral college and votes by states - Glossary of legislative terms - Relationship between budget resolutions and appropriation and authorization bills - Amendment tree and amendment procedures - How members are assigned to committees - Agenda for early organization meetings (after election, before adjournment) - Sample legislative documents with explanatory annotations - Bibliographic references throughout.

The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook offers practical advice and insight for those engaged in legislative drafting, those more interested in policy than drafting itself, or those interested in reading and interpreting the law. The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook helps anyone understand why laws are drafted the way they are. This book explains why laws are drafted the way they are. Legislative drafting is - to the extent it is writing at all - the form of writing used for legislative measures, a category that covers original bills and resolutions as well as amendments. Ultimately, legislative drafting is the form of writing used for enacted law. The focus of this book is on legislative drafting for the Congress of the United States, but many, if not most, of the principles described here apply just as well to drafting for other legislatures. As forms of writing go, drafting is not freewheeling like poetry, nor showy like rhetoric, nor personal like a novel. Drafting is disciplined, rigorous, and analytical. Done well, drafting can also be creative, elegant, and clever. (Unfortunately, drafting is not always done well.) The purpose of this book is to provide practical advice on drafting to anyone who does, or may, engage in drafting, and indirectly to provide insight into the drafting process to other interested people. For example, this book is for people who are more interested in policy than in drafting, but want to understand why drafters operate the way they do. It is also for people who are more interested in reading and interpreting the law than in drafting, but want to understand why laws are drafted the way they are. It is hoped that this book will be accessible to beginners while remaining valuable to veterans. The traditional method of training drafters is to train them on the job; the consensus is that drafting is best learned holistically, on a case-by-case basis. For that reason this book is best used as a resource, not a course. It is a supplement to, not a substitute for, the learning that comes from experience. The author designed this book to answer the variety of questions about drafting that arise daily in the work of individuals with a professional interest in how bills, resolutions, and laws are drafted. The approach used here is pragmatic: You will find no linguistic theories or esoteric conundrums discussed here. What you will find is solid advice for everyday drafting projects. "A masterful work. It is comprehensive and exceptionally well written. It is an essential tool for anyone who drafts legislation or interprets the law." -- William K. Suter, Clerk of the United States Supreme Court "An essential and indispensable book, both as a reference work and as a thorough introduction to Federal legislative drafting." -- Frank Burk, Legislative Counsel of the United States Senate 1991-1998 "The succinct and thorough assessment of good legislative drafting techniques provides a set of 'best practices' for drafters at all levels of government." -- Elizabeth Garrett, Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, University of Southern California "State legislative drafters will also greatly appreciate this work." -- Bruce Feustel, Senior Fellow, NCSL Summary of Contents 1. Being a Drafter 2. Understanding How Laws Are Made 3. Considering the Courts: Statutory Interpretation 4. Thinking Through the Policy 5. Choosing the Right Measure 6. Writing Effectively 7. Organizing and Arranging 8. Using the Right Style 9. Affecting and Amending Other Laws 10. Working in, and Working with, the Executive Branch Appendices Back of the Book Table of Cases Table of Constitutional Provisions Table of Statutes at Large Table of Public Laws Table of U.S. Code Sections Index Complete Table of Contents online at www.LegislativeDraftersDeskbook.com

"A clear explanation of the workings of the United States government that should be required reading for politically engaged Americans." -- KIRKUS Congressional Procedure explains the legislative and congressional budget processes along with all aspects of Congress. This comprehensive guide to Congress is ideal for anyone who wants to know how Congress really works, including federal executives, attorneys, lobbyists, media and public affairs staff, government affairs, policy and budget analysts, congressional office staff and students. Clear explanation of the legislative process, budget process, and House and Senate business - Legislative process flowchart - Explanation of the electoral college and votes by states - Relationship between budget resolutions and appropriation and authorization bills - Amendment tree and amendment procedures - How members are assigned to committees - Glossary of legislative terms Each chapter concludes with Review Questions. Chapter 1 examines the relationship between the U.S. Constitution and the House and Senate. It discusses Constitutional provisions that directly affect Congress. The makeup, roles and leadership of the House and Senate are compared and contrasted. Congressional committees and their place and power in the House and Senate are explored. Chapter 2 begins with a discussion of why members submit legislation, explains the forms of legislation, and lays out the steps involved in drafting legislation. Bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions and simple House and Senate resolutions and their purposes are separately described. Ends with a flowchart of the legislative process. In Chapter 3, the work of Congressional committees is examined in greater detail: types of committees and their structures; subcommittees; power of the chairs of committees; hearings, markups and amendment procedure in committee; and the reporting of legislation to the House and Senate floor. Chapters 4 and 5 follow the course of legislation through the respective chambers and some of the more arcane elements of House and Senate floor action. Chapter 4 addresses some of the unique characteristics of the House including the central and crucial role played by the Rules Committee and the special rules it reports. Scheduling, consideration, amending, and passage of legislation through the House is described in detail. Chapter 5 discusses the handling of legislation on the Senate floor, including unique Senate characteristics like the filibuster, the nuclear option, holds, and the filling of the amendment tree. Chapter 6 explains the various procedures for resolving differences in legislation between the Senate and the House. The budget process is addressed in Chapter 7, including appropriations and authorization procedures, the 1974 Budget and Impoundment Control Act and the key role it has played since its adoption, the use of the optional budget reconciliation process, and the somewhat complex but crucial Byrd Rule. Chapter 8 concludes the detail and analysis of Congressional procedure with a number of processes that are not strictly legislative, including a number of Constitutional responsibilities given to Congress such as oversight and investigation and advice and consent, counting of Electoral College ballots, and impeachment. The conclusion, Chapter 9, describes the way in which many of the procedures explained in this book are increasingly being used, and some would say abused, in both the House and the Senate. Glossary Index Also see related CRS Reports and links on TCNCPAM.com For detailed Table of Contents, see CongressionalProcedure.com

In presenting the ideal skills, abilities, and qualities of a successful politico, The Capitol Hill Playbook speaks to today’s generation of staffers like no other book before it. Weaving together Renaissance-era political philosophies and contemporary illustrations, Nicholas Balthazar enlists the help of Niccolò Machiavelli, author of the venerable political treatise The Prince, and Baldassare Castiglione, author of The Book of the Courtier—the authoritative account of Renaissance court life—to demonstrate two models of political life and their applicability today. Balthazar offers readers a path between these two methods, exploring the mechanics of working for elected officials but also discussing the philosophies behind contemporary political work. The Capitol Hill Playbook answers all the questions a newly hired staffer might want to ask: • Why do politicians run for office? • Why is devotion so important in politics? • Why must a staffer be a good communicator? • Why are friendships such an essential and elusive part of political life? • How do you win a political knife fight? • Why should a political staffer never wear a bow tie to the office? • And more! A provocative and informative read, The Capitol Hill Playbook will be indispensible to any political aspirant and, with an intriguing look back to the Renaissance, reveals how politics today has both changed and remained the same through the centuries.

Gibson presents a comprehensive look at the reasons that Congress does not work well and real solutions that can make Congress work better. He has worked in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government, including serving as chief antitrust counsel and chief minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.