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Quiz: Congress Structure and Processes

Test your understanding of how Congress is organized, how it makes laws, and how it exercises oversight of the executive branch with these review questions.

1. How many voting members does the U.S. House of Representatives have?

  1. 435
  2. 50
  3. 100
  4. 538
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, a number fixed by the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929. Each state receives at least one representative; the remaining seats are distributed proportionally based on census population data. Seats are reapportioned every ten years following the census. The Senate has 100 members (two per state). The Electoral College has 538 members. States have 50 governors, but that is not a congressional figure.

Concept Tested: House of Representatives

  1. Initiate all revenue bills before the House may consider them
  2. Override a presidential veto with a simple majority
  3. Confirm presidential appointments and ratify treaties
  4. Conduct investigations of executive branch agencies without a warrant
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Under Article II, the Senate must confirm major presidential appointments (judges, cabinet secretaries, ambassadors) by majority vote and must ratify treaties by a two-thirds vote. The House—not the Senate—must originate revenue bills (Article I, Section 7). Veto overrides require two-thirds of each chamber. Congressional investigations are an oversight tool available to both chambers and do not require warrants.

Concept Tested: Senate Structure

3. A conference committee in Congress is convened for what purpose?

  1. To investigate allegations of misconduct against executive branch officials
  2. To hold public hearings on proposed legislation before it reaches the floor
  3. To remove a member of Congress who has violated House or Senate rules
  4. To negotiate a single unified version of a bill that passed the House and Senate in different forms
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. When the House and Senate pass different versions of the same bill, a conference committee—composed of members from both chambers—meets to reconcile the differences and produce a single compromise bill. Both chambers must then pass the conference report without amendment before sending it to the president. Investigative hearings are typically conducted by standing committees. Discipline of members is handled by the House or Senate Ethics Committees, not conference committees.

Concept Tested: Conference Committees

4. The Senate's filibuster allows senators to do what?

  1. Veto individual line items within an appropriations bill
  2. Delay or block a vote on legislation by engaging in extended debate
  3. Attach unrelated amendments to any bill under consideration
  4. Force an immediate floor vote without committee approval
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The Senate's filibuster tradition allows any senator—or group of senators—to engage in extended debate, effectively blocking a final vote on a bill or nomination. Because the Senate operates on unanimous consent for most procedures, a filibuster can be defeated only through cloture—a procedural vote requiring 60 senators to end debate. Attaching unrelated amendments is a "rider." Forcing immediate votes is a "discharge petition" in the House. Line-item vetoes were ruled unconstitutional.

Concept Tested: Filibuster

5. Cloture is a Senate procedure that does what?

  1. Allows the majority leader to table any amendment without a vote
  2. Requires all senators to be present on the floor during debate on major legislation
  3. Permits the House to demand an immediate conference with the Senate
  4. Ends a filibuster and forces a final vote on the pending measure when 60 senators agree
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. Cloture (Rule XXII) is the Senate's only formal mechanism for ending a filibuster. Invoking cloture requires signatures from 16 senators and a subsequent vote of 60 senators (three-fifths of the full Senate). After cloture is invoked, debate is limited to 30 additional hours. The 60-vote threshold effectively means that controversial legislation usually requires bipartisan support to advance. Most judicial nominations now require only a simple majority after the "nuclear option" changes in 2013 and 2017.

Concept Tested: Cloture

6. Gerrymandering refers to the practice of doing what?

  1. Requiring that members of Congress live within the districts they represent
  2. Reducing the number of House seats after a state loses population in the census
  3. Drawing congressional district boundaries in ways designed to give one party or group an electoral advantage
  4. Prohibiting incumbents from running for the same seat more than three consecutive times
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Gerrymandering involves manipulating the shape of legislative districts to favor a particular party, racial group, or incumbent. It takes two main forms: "packing" (concentrating opposition voters into a few districts) and "cracking" (splitting opposition voters across many districts). Named after Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, whose 1812 district looked like a salamander, the practice is common after each census when state legislatures redraw district lines.

Concept Tested: Gerrymandering

7. Congressional oversight of the executive branch is primarily carried out through what mechanisms?

  1. Presidential veto messages and signing statements
  2. Committee hearings, investigations, and the power of the purse
  3. Supreme Court injunctions against agency rulemaking
  4. Direct orders from the Speaker of the House to cabinet secretaries
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Congress exercises oversight through standing committee hearings that call agency officials to testify, through formal investigations (including subpoenas), and most powerfully through control of appropriations—Congress can defund or reduce funding for programs it wishes to constrain. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) also conducts audits at congressional request. Presidential vetoes and signing statements are executive tools. Courts conduct judicial review, not legislative oversight.

Concept Tested: Congressional Oversight

8. The Speaker of the House holds significant power for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

  1. The Speaker controls which bills are scheduled for floor debate
  2. The Speaker appoints members to the most powerful House committees
  3. The Speaker can veto legislation passed by the full House before it goes to the Senate
  4. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House and second in the presidential line of succession
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The Speaker of the House has no veto power over legislation passed by the full House. Once the House passes a bill, it goes directly to the Senate (or to conference if the Senate passed a different version). The Speaker does control the legislative calendar, makes key committee assignments, and stands second in the presidential line of succession (after the vice president). The veto power belongs exclusively to the president under Article I, Section 7.

Concept Tested: Speaker of the House

9. After a census, reapportionment determines what?

  1. How Senate seats are divided among the political parties after each election
  2. How federal grant money is distributed to states proportionally by population
  3. Which party controls committee chairmanships in both chambers of Congress
  4. The allocation of the 435 House seats among the 50 states based on population changes
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. Reapportionment is the process of redistributing the 435 House seats among the states after each decennial census reflects population shifts. States that have gained population receive additional seats; states that have lost population lose seats. Reapportionment applies only to the House—each state always retains its two Senate seats regardless of population change. Following reapportionment, states typically redraw their district lines through redistricting.

Concept Tested: Reapportionment

10. A bill approved by the Senate then goes to the House, which passes a different version. What must happen next for the bill to become law?

  1. Both chambers must pass an identical text—typically negotiated by a conference committee—before sending it to the president
  2. The House version automatically prevails because the House is the larger, more representative chamber
  3. The president can sign either version into law as long as both chambers have passed something
  4. The Senate version automatically prevails because it originated first
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. When the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, neither version automatically prevails. Both chambers must pass the identical text before it can go to the president. A conference committee, made up of designated members from both chambers, negotiates a single compromise version. Both chambers then vote on the conference report without amendment—they must accept or reject it as written. Only if both pass it can it be sent to the president for signature or veto.

Concept Tested: Legislative Process