How The United States Congress Came to Be

Initial Structure

The initial structure of the United States Congress was defined by only two positions in the Constitution: the president pro tempore in the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Gary Arndt explains that beyond these roles, each house had significant leeway in managing its affairs, leading to the creation of standing committees like the Ways and Means Committee and the Rules Committee 1. These committees, established during the first Congress in 1789, have become permanent fixtures in the legislative process.

Over time, the committee structure of Congress became unwieldy, and it was overhauled after the Second World War by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946.

--- Gary Arndt

The act streamlined the committee system, setting clear boundaries for each committee's responsibilities and merging many standing committees to reduce their number 1.

   

Representation

Representation in Congress has evolved significantly since its inception. The Constitution originally set a maximum ratio of one representative for every 30,000 people, but this changed over time, with the number of House members fixed at 435 in 1911 1. Gary Arndt discusses the cube root rule, a proposed method to adjust the number of representatives based on population growth, which would currently result in 691 members 2.

Using this rule, the current size of the house would be 691 members or one representative for every 478,000 people.

--- Gary Arndt

The process of apportionment and district creation, determined by the census every ten years, often leads to significant differences in district sizes and the practice of gerrymandering 2.