Describe the timeline for the congressional budgeting process. ...

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Describe the timeline for the congressional budgeting process. What happens if Congress is not able to pass a budget by the start of the fiscal year?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Political parties have a significant impact on the functioning of Congress. How does being in the majority benefit a party?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

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Answer to Question 1

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Explain that the president crafts a budget proposal in early February.
2. Explain the role of the Congressional Budget Office, which produces economic projections based on the president's budget.
3. Explain how Congress first creates a budget resolution with overall spending guidelines and follows that up with specific appropriations. All of this is supposed to be completed by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.
4. Explain how Congress is not always able to pass the budget by this deadline. This leads to temporary extensions or, occasionally, to a government shutdown.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Describe features of political partisanship within Congress and their effects, such as party conferences or caucuses at the start of sessions giving unified purpose to a party agenda as well acting to enforce party discipline.
2. Discuss the advantages of majority membership such as selection of the Speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader. The majority party also approves committee chairs, influences the House Committee on Rules, etc.
3. Explain how being in the majority means that your legislation has a chance of being passed; this rarely happens for legislation favored by the minority party.