The Senate of the USA is the upper chamber in the bicameral legislature.

The Senate consists of 100 members, each of which represents a state and serves for a six-year term (one third of the Senate stands for election every two years).

Each state has two Senators, regardless of population, and, since there are 50 states, then there are 100 senators. This equality of Senate seats between states has the effect of producing huge variations in constituency population (the two senators from Wyoming represent less than half a million electors, while the two senators from California represent 34 million people) with gross over-representation of the smaller states and serious under-representation of racial and ethnic minorities.

Members of the Senate are elected by first-past-the-post voting in every state except Louisiana and Washington, which have run-offs. Elections are always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even numbered years.

In the event that a member of the Senate dies or resigns before the end of the six-year term, no special election is held to fill the vacancy. Instead the Governor of the state that the Senator represented nominates someone to serve until the next set of Congressional elections when a normal election is held to fill the vacancy.

The Vice President of the United States is the ex officio President of the Senate, with authority to preside over the Senate's sessions, although he can vote only to break a tie. For decades the task of presiding over Senate sessions was one of the vice president's principal duties. Since the 1950s, vice presidents have presided over few Senate debates. The Constitution authorizes the Senate to elect a president pro tempore (Latin for "president for a time") to preside in the vice president's absence. Like the vice president, the president pro tempore does not normally preside over the Senate, but typically delegates the responsibility of presiding to junior senators of the majority party, usually in blocks of one hour on a rotating basis.

Legislative functions of the US Congress. Congress creates, abolishes and changes federal laws, which govern the nation. It plays an important role in establishing public policy – what the government does or does not say in response to political issues. Congress investigates the actions of the executive as well.

Though the main function of the House of Representatives and the Senate are alike there are some independent duties. Thus, the Senate approves or rejects the people that the president appoints to certain high-level federal positions. It also approves or rejects treaties that the President makes. The House’s unique right is to deal with taxes and spending: the Constitution provides that “All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives”.

Date: 2014-12-29; view: 1003