United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress. The Senate and the United States House of Representatives (which is the lower chamber of Congress) comprise the federal bicameral legislature of the United States. Together, the Senate and the House have the authority under Article One of the U.S. Constitution to pass or defeat federal legislation. The Senate has exclusive power to confirm U.S. presidential appointments to high offices, approve or reject treaties, and try cases of impeachment brought by the House. The Senate and the House provide a check and balance on the powers of the executive and judicial branches of government.

The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. Each of the 50 states is represented by two senators who serve staggered six-year terms. In total, the Senate consists of 100 members. From its inception in 1789 until 1913, senators were appointed by the state legislature of their respective states. However, since 1913, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, senators have been elected through a statewide popular vote.

As the upper chamber of Congress, the Senate has several powers of advice and consent. These include the approval of treaties, as well as the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries, federal judges (including justices of the Supreme Court), flag officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, other federal executive officials, and federal uniformed officers. If no candidate receives a majority of electors for vice president, the duty falls to the Senate to elect one of the top two recipients of electors for that office. The Senate conducts trials of officials who have been impeached by the House. The Senate has typically been considered both a more deliberative and prestigious body than the House of Representatives due to its longer terms, smaller size, and statewide constituencies, which historically led to a more collegial and less partisan atmosphere.

The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. Despite not being a senator, the vice president of the United States serves as presiding officer and president of the Senate by virtue of that office; the vice president may vote only if the Senate is equally divided. In the vice president's absence, the president pro tempore, who is traditionally the most senior member of the Senate's majority party, presides over the Senate, and more often by rule allows a junior senator to take the chair, guided by the parliamentarian. In the early 1920s, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began. The Senate's legislative and executive business is managed and scheduled by the Senate's majority leader, who on occasion negotiates some matters with the Senate's minority leader. A prominent practice in the Senate is the filibuster on some matters and its remedy the vote on cloture.

History

Main article: History of the United States Senate

The drafters of the Constitution debated more about how to award representation in the Senate than about any other part of the Constitution. While bicameralism and the idea of a proportional "people's house" were widely popular, discussions about Senate representation proved contentious. In the end, some small states—unwilling to give up their equal power with larger states under the Articles of Confederation—threatened to secede in 1787, and won the day by a vote of 5–4 in what became known as the Connecticut Compromise. The Connecticut Compromise provided, among other things, that each state—regardless of population—would be represented by two senators.

First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate. The name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders, derived from senex, meaning old man in Latin. Article Five of the Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that state's consent. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959.

Before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were elected by the individual state legislatures. Problems with repeated vacant seats due to the inability of a legislature to elect senators, intrastate political struggles, bribery and intimidation gradually led to a growing movement to amend the Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators.

In contrast to the House of Representatives, the Senate has historically had stronger norms of conduct for its members.

Functions

Senate approval is required to pass any federal legislation. The Constitution provides several unique functions for the Senate that form its ability to "checks and balances" the powers of other elements of the federal government. These include the requirement that the Senate may advise and must consent to some of the president's government appointments; also the Senate must consent to all treaties with foreign governments; it tries all impeachments, and it elects the vice president in the event no person gets a majority of the electoral votes.

Legislation

Further information: Act of Congress

Bills may be introduced in either chamber of Congress. However, the Constitution's Origination Clause provides that "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives". As a result, the Senate does not have the power to initiate bills imposing taxes. Furthermore, the House of Representatives holds that the Senate does not have the power to originate appropriation bills, or bills authorizing the expenditure of federal funds. Historically, the Senate has disputed the interpretation advocated by the House. However, when the Senate originates an appropriations bill, the House simply refuses to consider it, thereby settling the dispute in practice. The constitutional provision barring the Senate from introducing revenue bills is based on the practice of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in which money bills approved by Parliament have originated in the House of Commons per constitutional convention.

Although the Constitution gave the House the power to initiate revenue bills, in practice the Senate is equal to the House in the respect of spending. As Woodrow Wilson wrote:

The Senate's right to amend general appropriation bills has been allowed the widest possible scope. The upper house may add to them what it pleases; may go altogether outside of their original provisions and tack to them entirely new features of legislation, altering not only the amounts but even the objects of expenditure, and making out of the materials sent them by the popular chamber measures of an almost totally new character.

The approval of both houses is required for any bill, including a revenue bill, to become law. Both Houses must pass the same version of the bill; if there are differences, they may be resolved by sending amendments back and forth or by a conference committee, which includes members of both bodies.

Appointment confirmations

The president can make certain appointments only with the advice and consent of the Senate. Officials whose appointments require the Senate's approval include members of the Cabinet, heads of most federal executive agencies, ambassadors, justices of the Supreme Court, and other federal judges. Under Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, a large number of government appointments are subject to potential confirmation; however, Congress has passed legislation to authorize the appointment of many officials without the Senate's consent (usually, confirmation requirements are reserved for those officials with the most significant final decision-making authority). Typically, a nominee is the first subject to a hearing before a Senate committee. Thereafter, the nomination is considered by the full Senate. The majority of nominees are confirmed; however, in a small number of cases each year, Senate committees purposely fail to act on a nomination to block it. In addition, the president sometimes withdraws nominations when they appear unlikely to be confirmed. Because of this, outright rejections of nominees on the Senate floor are infrequent (there have been only nine Cabinet nominees rejected outright in United States history).

The powers of the Senate concerning nominations are, however, subject to some constraints. For instance, the Constitution provides that the president may make an appointment during a congressional recess without the Senate's advice and consent. The recess appointment remains valid only temporarily; the office becomes vacant again at the end of the next congressional session. Nevertheless, presidents have frequently used recess appointments to circumvent the possibility that the Senate may reject the nominee. Furthermore, as the Supreme Court held in Myers v. United States, although the Senate's advice and consent are required for the appointment of certain executive branch officials, it is not necessary for their removal. Recess appointments have faced a significant amount of resistance and in 1960, the U.S. Senate passed a legally non-binding resolution against recess appointments to the Supreme Court.

Treaty ratification

The Senate also has a role in ratifying treaties. The Constitution provides that the president may only "make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur" in order to benefit from the Senate's advice and consent and give each state an equal vote in the process. However, not all international agreements are considered treaties under U.S. domestic law, even if they are considered treaties under international law. Congress has passed laws authorizing the president to conclude executive agreements without action by the Senate. Similarly, the president may make congressional-executive agreements with the approval of a simple majority in each House of Congress, rather than a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Neither executive agreements nor congressional-executive agreements are mentioned in the Constitution, leading some scholars such as Laurence Tribe and John Yoo to suggest that they unconstitutionally circumvent the treaty-ratification process. However, courts have upheld the validity of such agreements.

Impeachment trials

The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal officials for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments. If the sitting president of the United States is being tried, the chief justice of the United States presides over the trial. During an impeachment trial, senators are constitutionally required to sit on oath or affirmation. Conviction requires a two-thirds majority of the senators present. A convicted official is automatically removed from office; in addition, the Senate may stipulate that the defendant be banned from holding office. No further punishment is permitted during the impeachment proceedings; however, the party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of law.

The House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted (one resigned before the Senate could complete the trial). Only three presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021. The trials of Johnson, Clinton and both Trump trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

Election of the vice president

Under the Twelfth Amendment, the Senate has the power to elect the vice president if no vice-presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College. The Twelfth Amendment requires the Senate to choose from the two candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. Electoral College deadlocks are rare. The Senate has only broken a deadlock once; in 1837, it elected Richard Mentor Johnson. The House elects the president if the Electoral College deadlocks on that choice.

Membership and Structure of the U.S. Senate

Qualifications

The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 3) outlines three qualifications for serving as a senator:

1. Must be at least 30 years old.
2. Must have been a U.S. citizen for at least nine years.
3. Must be an inhabitant of the state they represent at the time of election.

The Senate serves as the sole judge of its members' qualifications. Historical instances of underage senators being seated occurred in the early 19th century, but such occurrences have not been repeated since.

Elections and Term

Senators serve six-year terms, staggered so approximately one-third of the Senate is elected every two years. Originally, senators were selected by state legislatures, but the Seventeenth Amendment (ratified in 1913) established direct popular election. Elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November during even-numbered years.

Vacancies

The Seventeenth Amendment requires vacancies in the Senate to be filled by special elections. Many states allow governors to make temporary appointments until such elections occur, often with provisions requiring appointees to belong to the same political party as the previous incumbent.

Senate Leadership

• Vice President: Serves as President of the Senate, casting tie-breaking votes.
• President Pro Tempore: A senior member of the majority party who presides in the Vice President’s absence.
• Majority and Minority Leaders: Elected by their respective parties to coordinate legislative agendas and strategies.

Committees

The Senate relies on committees to manage legislative and oversight responsibilities. Key standing committees include Finance, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary. Committee chairs, typically members of the majority party, hold significant influence over legislative priorities within their jurisdiction.

Debate and Filibuster

The Senate allows unlimited debate, but filibusters may be used to delay legislation. Cloture, requiring a three-fifths majority (60 votes), can end a filibuster. Budget-related bills may bypass filibuster through reconciliation procedures, limiting debate to 20 hours.

Voting

Most votes are conducted by voice or roll call. Simple majorities are sufficient for most legislative actions, though certain measures, like overcoming filibusters or approving constitutional amendments, require supermajorities.

Salaries and Benefits

As of 2009, senators earn an annual salary of $174,000, with leadership roles receiving higher compensation. Senators also receive health and retirement benefits under federal employee systems.

Traditions and Customs

Seniority influences committee assignments and office selection. By tradition, desks on the Senate floor are arranged by party, with the majority on the presiding officer’s right. Each desk has been inscribed by its occupants over time.

Legislative Process

The Senate operates under its own standing rules, often supplemented by unanimous consent agreements. While presiding officers oversee proceedings, day-to-day operations are largely driven by party leaders and committees.