page_title: History of the United States Congress
section_title: The rise of right wing conservatism
hierarchical_section_title: History of the United States Congress / The contemporary era (1970s–today) / The rise of right wing conservatism
caption_attribution_description: English: Congressman Jim Greenwood joins (left to right) Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold and Representatives Time Roemer and Ellen Tauscher to endorse the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation.
context_page_description: The history of the United States Congress refers to the chronological record of the United States Congress including legislative sessions from 1789 to the present day. It also includes a brief history of the Continental Congress from 1774 through 1781 and the Congress of the Confederation from 1781-1789.
  The Unites States Congress first organized in 1789, is an elected bicameral democratic legislative body established by Article I of the United states Constitution, ratified in 1788. It consists of an upper chamber, the senate with 2 members per state, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives, with a variable number of members per state based on population. The bicameral structure of the Congress was modeled on the bicameral legislatures of the Thirteen Colonies, which in turn were modeled on the bicameral structure of the English Parliament.
  The politics of Congress have been defined by members' affiliation with political parties. From the earliest days, politicians and the public have adopted a de facto 2-party political system. Membership in parties has at
  different times been defined by ideology, economics, rural/urban and geographic divides, religion, and populism.
context_section_description: For the most part between 1995 and 2007, the Republicans controlled both houses. In the wake of the unpopularity of President Clinton's impeachment trial, the 107th Congress (2001–2003) saw the Democrats and Republicans split control of the US Senate 50–50, ending effectively tied; Despite this gain in the Senate for the Democrats, Republican George W Bush would go on to gain the presidency due to the Supreme Court of the United States preventing a full recount in the Florida electoral count  As a result of Bush's victory, Republican Vice-President Dick Cheney did have the tie-breaking vote in the Senate during the first four months of 2001 as well. In May 2001, a Republican US Senator from the state of Vermont, Jim Jeffords, ended his affiliation with the Republican Party, following a dispute with Bush's tax cut proposals, and became an Independent. After departing from the Republican Party, Jeffords also agreed to caucus with the Democrats and control of the Senate switched back to the Democrats once again.
  These years were marked by growth of lobbying, although there were efforts at reform. One analyst suggested the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law failed to rein in excessive campaign money. There have been concerns that PACs exert excessive influence over Congress and distort the democratic process. In 2009, there were 4,600 business, labor and special-interest PACs. Big PACs include the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the National Association of Realtors. From 2007 to 2008, 175 members of Congress received "half or more of their campaign cash from political action committees in 2007–08." Both Republicans and Democrats get PAC money; for example, in 2007–2008, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky got $3,754,331 from PACs while Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana got $3,257,396. There were reports that some of the federal bailout money in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) for distressed banks during the economic downturn of 2007–2008 was being doled out as campaign contributions to lawmakers who oversee TARP. In 1988, Joseph A. Califano, Jr. wrote "government regulation is more pervasive than ever" since the US economy is large and varied; and this encourages government officials to get "more and more involved in every aspect of our lives," which spurs special interests to use money to influence legislation. Some PAC members feel resentful of members of Congress yet "go along with their demands for contributions for fear of losing vital access in Congress." Critics of PACs say it allows special interests to wield too much influence in Congress; proponents dispute the assertion that PACs represent narrow constituencies. Bipartisan groups have tried to reduce the influence of PACs, generally unsuccessfully. But reform efforts have been stymied because of perceptions that changes may benefit one political party or the other. There is speculation that this money undermines the power of political parties since candidates could get resources directly from PACs rather than from the party. K Street Lobbyists (named because of the large number of lobbying firms located on K Street) are reported to have actually written portions of bills for both houses of Congress that later passed into law. A further complication is that lobbying groups have become skilled in "camouflaging their true identity" by forming coalitions with pleasant-sounding innocuous names.
caption: Congressman Jim Greenwood joins (left to right) Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold and Representatives Time Roemer and Ellen Tauscher to endorse the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation.
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