When one first joins Virtual Congress (VC), it can seem quite overwhelming. What do you have to do? How do the roles and positions work? What is going on? These and many more questions will be answered in this Guide!
The Start: Welcome to Congress!
Upon joining Virtual Congress and picking your name and party affiliation, you are now a member of Congress. Congratulations! In Virtual Congress, the position of Congressperson is given to you immediately and you retain this position until you leave Virtual Congress, get elected to certain offices or are otherwise removed from the server.
If you want to get a clear understanding of the events that have happened before your arrival, check out either https://sites.google.com/view/vc-congress/home or go to the Virtual Congress Wikipedia and Information tabs on Discord itself. If you have more detailed questions, a member of the Server Staff, aka a Moderator or Admin, will be sure to help you in any way possible.
Writing and Passing Legislation: How a Bill becomes a Law in VC
Now that you have arrived, you may want to start engaging in the legislative process.
1. Write your Bill
PasteBin and GoogleDocs are the preferred places a bill is written in, although any other such service should suffice.
If need be, you can post your bill directly as a Discord message, although longer bills are not possible since there is a 2000 character limit. If your bill is longer than that and you would need to post multiple comments, it is strongly suggested to use one of the above mentioned services.
2. Co-sponsorships and Rewrites
Although neither is mandatory, it is extremely advantageous to find co-sponsors who will help improve your bill (as needed) and shore up support in advance, so your bill has a better chance of passing.
Post your bill in draft-and-collaborate-legislation, the VC Policy Convention or in a Caucus that you are a member of and that matches the topic of your bill.
3. Voting and Beyond
Once you feel your bill is ready, put it in legislation-docket and the Speaker will put your bill up for a vote as soon as possible.
Warning: If your bill is in the docket, you are not allowed to edit it in any way!
Your bill needs a simple majority of votes cast to pass, if it is a constitutional amendment, it needs to be 3/4s of votes.
If your bill fails, you are free to rework it and put it up for a vote again. If your bill passes, the President has to sign it, although they can veto it as well. A veto needs 2/3s of votes to be overturned.
Roles and Positions: Appointments, Nominations and Elections
There are many different ways to atain a new role or position in Virtual Congress:
Appointments
Appointments are positions to which you do not need to be nominated to or elected as.
Caucus Membership
If you wish to become a member of one or more of the Caucuses, just write a member of the Server Staff and they will add you to them. These are the current Caucuses:
- House Democrats Progressive Caucus
- Libertarian Caucus
- Socialist Caucus
- Problem Solvers Caucus
- Constitutional Caucus
- LibRight Caucus
- Healthcare Reform Caucus
- Climate Solutions
- Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Caucus
- New Democrat Coalition
- Moderate Democrats Caucus
- Women’s Caucus
- Pro-Life Caucus
Non-confirmed Cabinet and Staff Positions
Some of the President’s cabinet and staff do not require congressional approval, so they are filled by appointment. These positions are:
- Policy Advisor
- Chief of Staff
- Deputy Chief of Staff
Non-elected Congressional Leadership Roles
Although most of the leadership roles in Congress are elected, there are a few that only need appointment:
- Vice Speaker
- Majority Whip
- Minority Whip
- Deputy Whip
- Chief Whip
- Assistant Party Leader
Administrative Positions
Through joining the Server Staff, you gain responsibility for the server itself. It is not a political position and appointment relies mostly on trust, so you will need to be a committed member for some time before you have a good chance at becoming one of the following positions:
- Server Advertiser
- Moderator
- Admin
- Top Admin
Nominations and Elections
Certain positions are only achievable through being nominated or winning an election.
Confirmed Cabinet positions
The majority of the President’s cabinet as well as the Supreme Court needs to be confirmed by Congress, so you need to go through a nomination process followed by a vote to attain these positions:
- Secretary of State
- Secretary of Economic Affairs
- Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Attorney General
- Secretary of Security
- Solicitor General
- Secretary of the Environment
- Supreme Court Justice
- UN Ambassador
- Secretary of Commerce
- Secretary of the Interior
Elected Positions in Leadership
If you wish to become one of the highest-ranking officials on Virtual Congress, you will need to win an election, sometimes a primary as well. These Positions are:
- President
- Vice President
- Speaker of the House
- Party Leader
Play the Game!
Now that you know the basics, you can fully enjoy the VC experience! Work on legislation, get to know your fellow Congressmembers and try out for any position you wish to attain. The possibilities are endless!
Bonus: Become a Part of TCR
If you want to experience being a part of a small team committed to bringing journalism to Virtual Congress, consider applying to The Congressional Report! Become a Reporter or an Editor, get your own opinion column or bring in something entirely new! Message Gabe McKenna and you might be our newest addition to TCR.
The Congressional Report 