U.S. Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the United States Congress. It consists of two Senators from each state in the United States. The Senate is created and defined in Article 2 of the United States Constitution.

Definition

The Senate is defined in the Constitution as consisting of exactly two members per state. This equal representation was the result of compromises reached during the Constitutional Convention and hearkens to the Congress created by the Articles of Confederation. Under the Articles, each state was represented by two to seven representatives, but during voting, representatives voted en banc. This gave unequal representation to smaller states, an advantage the smaller states were loathe to relinquish.

One of the key compromises of the Convention was to split the legislature into two halves: seats in the House of Representatives would be apportioned among the states according to their population, and the Senate would have equal representation.

Equal representation for each state is specifically protected by the Constitution - Article 5, prohibits any constitutional amendment that deprives any state of "equal suffrage", without its consent.

The Constitution dictates only a few qualifications for Senators. Specifically, Senators must be thirty years old before taking their seat; must have been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years; and must be a resident of the state they represent.

Selection

In the original Constitution, Senators were chosen by state legislatures, reflecting the divisions the Framers saw in the country: the House would represent the interests of the people; the Senate the interests of the states, and the executive the interests of the nation as a whole.

During the populist movement of the early 20th century, the Seventeenth Amendment was proposed and ratified. This amendment gave the people the power to select Senators.

Senatorial Classes

The Constitution requires that Senators be placed in one of three classes. The Senatorial term is six years, with one class being elected every two years. Though the Constitution does not dictate such, no two Senators from one state are ever in the same class.

Officers

There are two constitutional officers of the Senate. The first is the President of the Senate, who is also the Vice President of the United States. The President of the Senate does not vote unless there is a tie.

The second office is that of President Pro Tempore (or President Pro Tem). This officer sits in for the President of the Senate in the President's absence. The office is typically given to the senior member of the majority party, though the President Pro Tem is fourth in line to the presidency via succession. In practice, the President of the Senate does not attend Senate sessions and the President Pro Tem often delegates the duties of the office to junior members of the Senate.

Meeting place

The Senate originally met in Federal Hall in New York City, then in Congress Hall in Philadelphia, finally moving to the newly established national capital in 1800. In 1859, a new wing of the Capitol Building was constructed to house the Senate, where it has met ever since.

Powers

The Senate shares most of the legislative powers with the House. Specifically, all bills passed by the House must be approved by the Senate, and vice versa, before the bill can be sent to the President for signature.

Any bill, except spending bills, can start in either house of Congress.

The Senate has the additional constitutional responsibility of confirming most appointments made by the President. The Constitution allows the Congress to denote some offices as not requiring confirmation. Ambassadors, federal judges, and Supreme Court justices are specifically mentioned as requiring Senatorial "advice and consent."

The Senate also must approve, by two-thirds majority, any treaty negotiated by the President.

The Senate sits as the jury in any impeachment case brought by the House. In any case there the President is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court sits as the presiding officer. Conviction requires a two-thirds majority vote of the Senators present.

Unlimited Debate

The Senate, unlike the House of Representatives, does not impose a pre-set limit on the amount of time any particular matter can be debated. Until 1917, there was no way to end a debate on an issue even if only one Senator wanted to keep speaking on it. Today, it requires a supermajority of 60% to end a debate (or "invoke cloture") and move to a vote. This rule enables a minority of Senators to speak at great length (or "filibuster") in order to delay or defeat a bill that has narrow majority support. Opponents of civil rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s (at which time a 75% majority was required for cloture) used filibusters to scuttle many of those proposals.

References

U.S. Constitution:

• Article 1, Section 3
• Article 2, Section 2
• Article 5
• 17th Amendment

Government Web sites:

• United States Senate