Majority (50)
Republican (50)
Minority (49)
Democratic (47)
Independents (2)
caucusing with the Democrats
Vacant (1)
Vacant (1)
Length of term
6 years
Elections
Voting system
First-past-the-post; nonpartisan blanket primary with a majoritarian
second round in 3 states.
Last election
November 8, 2016 (34 seats)
Next election
November 6, 2018 (33 seats)
Meeting place
Senate chamber
United States
United States Capitol
Washington, D.C., United States
Website
senate.gov
Constitution
United States
United States Constitution
The
United States
United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States
Congress, which along with the
United States
United States House of
Representatives—the lower chamber—comprise the legislature of the
United States.
The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article
One of the
United States
United States Constitution.[1] The Senate is composed of
senators, each of whom represents a single state in its entirety, with
each state being equally represented by two senators, regardless of
its population, serving staggered terms of six years; with 50 states
currently in the Union, there are 100 U.S. Senators. From 1789 until
1913, Senators were appointed by legislatures of the states they
represented; following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment
in 1913, they are now popularly elected. The Senate chamber is located
in the north wing of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C.
As the upper house, the Senate has several powers of advice and
consent which are unique to it; these include the ratification of
treaties and the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court
justices, federal judges, other federal executive officials, flag
officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, and other federal
uniformed officers. In addition to these, in cases wherein no
candidate receives a majority of electors for Vice President, the duty
befalls upon the Senate to elect one of the top two recipients of
electors for that office. It further has the responsibility of
conducting trials of those impeached by the House. The Senate is
widely considered both a more deliberative[2] and more
prestigious[3][4][5] 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.[6]
The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice President of the
United States, who is President of the Senate. In the Vice President's
absence, the President Pro Tempore, who is customarily the senior
member of the party holding a majority of seats, presides over the
Senate. In the early 20th century, the practice of majority and
minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are
not constitutional officers.
Contents
1 History
2 Membership
2.1 Qualifications
2.2 Elections and term
2.2.1 Term
2.2.2 Elections
2.2.3 Mid-term vacancies
2.3 Oath
2.4 Salary and benefits
2.5 Seniority
2.6 Expulsion and other disciplinary actions
3 Majority and minority parties
3.1 Seating
4 Officers
4.1 Presiding over the Senate
4.2 Party leaders
4.3 Non-member officers
5 Procedure
5.1 Daily sessions
5.1.1 Debate
5.1.2
Filibuster and cloture
5.1.3 Voting
5.1.4 Closed session
5.2 Calendars
5.3 Committees
6 Functions
6.1 Legislation
6.2 Checks and balances
7 Current composition and election results
7.1 Current party standings
7.2 115th Congress
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 Bibliography
11.1 Official Senate histories
12 External links
History[edit]
Main article: History of the
United States
United States Senate
The writers of the Constitution created a bicameral Congress primarily
as a compromise between those who felt that each state, since it was
sovereign, should be equally represented, and those who felt the
Legislature
Legislature must directly represent the people, as the House of
Commons did in the United Kingdom. This idea of having one chamber
represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation
to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut
Compromise. There was also a desire to have two Houses that could act
as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a "People's
House" directly elected by the people, and with short terms obliging
the representatives to remain close to their constituents. The other
was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained
their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the
national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the
people of the
United States
United States equally. The Constitution provides that
the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of
legislation.[7]
First convened in 1789, the Senate of the
United States
United States was formed on
the example of the ancient Roman Senate. The name is derived from the
senatus,
Latin
Latin for council of elders (from senex meaning old man in
Latin).[8]
James Madison
James Madison made the following comment about the Senate:
In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of
people, the property of landed proprietors would be insecure. An
agrarian law would soon take place. If these observations be just, our
government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country
against innovation. Landholders ought to have a share in the
government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and
check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the
minority of the opulent against the majority. The senate, therefore,
ought to be this body; and to answer these purposes, the people ought
to have permanency and stability.[9]
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 District of Columbia and all other
territories are not entitled to representation allowed to vote in
either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two
"shadow U.S. Senators", but they are officials of the D.C. City
Government and not members of the U.S. Senate.[10] The United States
has had 50 states since 1959,[11] thus the Senate has had 100 senators
since 1959.[7]
Historical graph of party control of the U.S. Senate and House as well
as the presidency[12]
The disparity between the most and least populous states has grown
since the Connecticut Compromise, which granted each state two members
of the Senate and at least one member of the House of Representatives,
for a total minimum of three presidential Electors, regardless of
population. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of
Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the
population of Wyoming, based on the 1790 and 2000 censuses. This means
some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better
represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the
House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the
population of each state, reducing the disparity of representation.
Before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators
were elected by the individual state legislatures.[13] Problems with
repeated vacant seats due to the inability of a legislature to elect
senators, intrastate political struggles, and even bribery and
intimidation had gradually led to a growing movement to amend the
Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators.[14]
Membership[edit]
Qualifications[edit]
This article is part of a series on the
United States
United States Senate
History of the
United States
United States Senate
Members
Current members
(by seniority
by class)
Former members
Hill committees
(DSCC
NRSC)
United States
United States Vice President (list)
President pro tempore (list)
Presiding officer
Party leaders
Party leadership of
the
United States
United States Senate
Democratic Caucus
Republican Conference
Politics and procedure
Advice and consent
Blue slip
Closed session (list)
Cloture
Committees (list)
Executive session
Morning business
Filibuster
Nuclear option
Recess appointment
Quorum
Quorum
Quorum call
Salaries
Saxbe fix
Seal
Holds
Senatorial courtesy
Standing Rules
Traditions
Unanimous consent
Vice Presidents' tie-breaking votes
Places
United States
United States Capitol
Senate chamber
Senate Reception Room
Senate office buildings
(Dirksen
Hart
Russell)
v
t
e
Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for
senators: (1) they must be at least 30 years old; (2) they must have
been citizens of the
United States
United States for the past 9 years or longer; and
(3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at
the time of their election. The age and citizenship qualifications for
senators are more stringent than those for representatives. In
Federalist No. 62,
James Madison
James Madison justified this arrangement by arguing
that the "senatorial trust" called for a "greater extent of
information and stability of character."
The Senate (not the judiciary) is the sole judge of a senator's
qualifications. During its early years, however, the Senate did not
closely scrutinize the qualifications of its members. As a result,
three senators who failed to meet the age requirement were
nevertheless admitted to the Senate:
Henry Clay
Henry Clay (aged 29 in 1806),
Armistead Thomson Mason (aged 28 in 1816), and John Eaton (aged 28 in
1818). Such an occurrence, however, has not been repeated since.[15]
In 1934,
Rush D. Holt Sr. was elected to the Senate at the age of 29;
he waited until he turned 30 (on the next June 19) to take the oath of
office. In November 1972,
Joe Biden
Joe Biden was elected to the Senate at the
age of 29, but he reached his 30th birthday before the swearing-in
ceremony for incoming senators in January 1973.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the
United States
United States Constitution
disqualifies from the Senate any federal or state officers who had
taken the requisite oath to support the Constitution, but later
engaged in rebellion or aided the enemies of the United States. This
provision, which came into force soon after the end of the Civil War,
was intended to prevent those who had sided with the Confederacy from
serving. That Amendment, however, also provides a method to remove
that disqualification: a two-thirds vote of both chambers of Congress.
Elections and term[edit]
Originally, senators were selected by the state legislatures, not by
popular elections. By the early years of the 20th century, the
legislatures of as many as 29 states had provided for popular election
of senators by referendums.[16] Popular election to the Senate was
standardized nationally in 1913 by the ratification of the Seventeenth
Amendment.
Term[edit]
Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so
that approximately one-third of the seats are up for election every
two years. This was achieved by dividing the senators of the 1st
Congress into thirds (called classes), where the terms of one-third
expired after two years, the terms of another third expired after
four, and the terms of the last third expired after six years. This
arrangement was also followed after the admission of new states into
the union. The staggering of terms has been arranged such that both
seats from a given state are not contested in the same general
election, except when a mid-term vacancy is being filled. Current
senators whose six-year terms are set to expire on January 3, 2019,
belong to Class I. There is no constitutional limit to the number of
terms a senator may serve.
The Constitution set the date for Congress to convene—Article 1,
Section 4, Clause 2 originally set that date for the third day of
December. The Twentieth Amendment, however, changed the opening date
for sessions to noon on the third day of January, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day. The Twentieth Amendment also states that
Congress shall assemble at least once in every year and allows
Congress to determine its convening and adjournment dates and other
dates and schedules as it desires. Article 1, Section 3 provides that
the President has the power to convene Congress on extraordinary
occasions at his discretion.
A member who has been elected, but not yet seated, is called a
"senator-elect"; a member who has been appointed to a seat, but not
yet seated, is called a "senator-designate".
Elections[edit]
Further information: List of
United States
United States Senate elections
Elections to the Senate are held on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November in even-numbered years, Election Day, and coincide
with elections for the House of Representatives.[17] Senators are
elected by their state as a whole. In most states (since 1970), a
primary election is held first for the Republican and Democratic
parties, with the general election following a few months later.
Ballot access
Ballot access rules for independent and minor party candidates vary
from state to state. The winner is often the candidate who receives a
plurality of the popular vote. In some states, runoffs are held if no
candidate wins a majority.
Mid-term vacancies[edit]
The Seventeenth Amendment requires that mid-term vacancies in the
Senate be filled by special election. Whenever a Senator must be
appointed or elected, the
Secretary of the Senate mails one of three
forms to the state's governor to inform them of the proper wording to
certify the appointment of a new senator.[18] If a special election
for one seat happens to coincide with a general election for the
state's other seat, each seat is contested separately. A senator
elected in a special election takes office as soon as possible after
the election and serves until the original six-year term expires (i.e.
not for a full term).
The Seventeenth Amendment also allows state legislatures to give their
governors the power "to make temporary appointments until the people
fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct". The
temporary appointee may run in the special election in their own
right.
This article or section appears to contradict itself on First
forty-five states are mentioned. Then, "thirty-seven of these states"
plus "the other nine states" are mentioned, which makes a total of
forty-six states, not forty-five. Please see the talk page for more
information. (February 2017)
As of 2015, forty-five states permit their governors to make such
appointments. In thirty-seven of these states, the special election to
permanently fill the U.S. Senate seat is customarily held at the next
biennial congressional election. The other nine states require that
special elections be held outside of the normal two-year election
cycle in some or all circumstances. In four states (Arizona, Hawaii,
Utah, and Wyoming) the governor must appoint someone of the same
political party as the previous incumbent.
Oregon,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin and
Oklahoma
Oklahoma require special elections for vacancies
with no interim appointment.[19] In September 2009, Massachusetts
changed its law to enable the governor to appoint a temporary
replacement for the late Senator Edward Kennedy until the special
election in January 2010.[20][21]
In 2004,
Alaska
Alaska enacted legislation and a separate ballot referendum
that took effect on the same day, but that conflicted with each other.
The effect of the ballot-approved law is to withhold from the governor
authority to appoint a senator.[22] Because the 17th Amendment vests
the power to grant that authority to the legislature – not the
people or the state generally – it is unclear whether the
ballot measure supplants the legislature's statute granting that
authority.[22] As a result, it is uncertain whether an
Alaska
Alaska governor
may appoint an interim senator to serve until a special election is
held to fill the vacancy.
Oath[edit]
This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the
United States
United States of America
Federal Government
Constitution of the United States
Law
Taxation
Legislature
United States
United States Congress
House of Representatives
Speaker
Paul Ryan
.jpg/440px-Speaker_Paul_Ryan_official_photo_(cropped_2).jpg)
Paul Ryan (R)
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R)
Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi (D)
Congressional districts
United States
United States Senate
President
Mike Pence
Mike Pence (R)
President Pro Tempore
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Hatch (R)
President Pro Tempore Emeritus
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy (D)
Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell (R)
Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer
Chuck Schumer (D)
Executive
President of the United States
Donald Trump
Donald Trump (R)
Vice President of the United States
Mike Pence
Mike Pence (R)
Cabinet
Federal agencies
Executive Office
Judiciary
Supreme Court of the United States
Chief Justice John Roberts
Kennedy
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
Alito
Sotomayor
Kagan
Gorsuch
Courts of Appeals
District Courts (list)
Other tribunals
Elections
Presidential elections
Midterm elections
Off-year elections
Political parties
Democratic
Republican
Third parties
Federalism
State Government
Governors
Legislatures (List)
State courts
Local government
Other countries
Atlas
v
t
e
The Constitution requires that senators take an oath or affirmation to
support the Constitution.[23] Congress has prescribed the following
oath for all federal officials (except the President), including
senators:
I, ___ ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and
defend the Constitution of the
United States
United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to
the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So
help me God.[24]
Salary and benefits[edit]
The annual salary of each senator, since 2009, is $174,000;[25] the
president pro tempore and party leaders receive $193,400.[25][26] In
June 2003, at least 40 of the then-senators were millionaires.[27]
Along with earning salaries, senators receive retirement and health
benefits that are identical to other federal employees, and are fully
vested after five years of service.[26] Senators are covered by the
Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement
System (CSRS). As it is for federal employees, congressional
retirement is funded through taxes and the participants'
contributions. Under FERS, senators contribute 1.3% of their salary
into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2% of their salary in Social
Security taxes. The amount of a senator's pension depends on the years
of service and the average of the highest 3 years of their salary. The
starting amount of a senator's retirement annuity may not exceed 80%
of their final salary. In 2006, the average annual pension for retired
senators and representatives under CSRS was $60,972, while those who
retired under FERS, or in combination with CSRS, was $35,952.[26]
Senators are regarded as more prominent political figures than members
of the House of Representatives because there are fewer of them, and
because they serve for longer terms, usually represent larger
constituencies (the exception being House at-large districts, which
similarly cover entire states), sit on more committees, and have more
staffers. Far more senators have been nominees for the presidency than
representatives. Furthermore, three senators (Warren Harding, John F.
Kennedy, and Barack Obama) have been elected president while serving
in the Senate, while only one Representative (James Garfield) has been
elected president while serving in the House, though Garfield was also
a Senator-designate at the time of his election to the Presidency,
having been chosen by the Ohio
Legislature
Legislature to fill a Senate vacancy.
Seniority[edit]
Main article: Seniority in the
United States
United States Senate
According to the convention of Senate seniority, the senator with the
longer tenure in each state is known as the "senior senator"; the
other is the "junior senator". This convention does not have official
significance, though seniority generally is a factor in the selection
of physical offices.[28] In the 115th Congress, the most-senior
"junior senator" is
Maria Cantwell
Maria Cantwell of Washington, who was sworn in on
January 3, 2001 and is currently 21st in seniority, behind Patty
Murray who was sworn in on January 3, 1993 and is currently 9th in
seniority. The most-junior "senior senator" is
Bill Cassidy
Bill Cassidy of
Louisiana, who was sworn in January 3, 2015, and is currently 81st in
seniority, ahead of senator
John Neely Kennedy
John Neely Kennedy who was sworn in
January 3, 2017 and is currently 98th in seniority.
Expulsion and other disciplinary actions[edit]
The Senate may expel a senator by a two-thirds vote. Fifteen senators
have been expelled in the Senate's history: William Blount, for
treason, in 1797, and fourteen in 1861 and 1862 for supporting the
Confederate secession. Although no senator has been expelled since
1862, many senators have chosen to resign when faced with expulsion
proceedings – for example,
Bob Packwood
Bob Packwood in 1995. The Senate has
also censured and condemned senators; censure requires only a simple
majority and does not remove a senator from office. Some senators have
opted to withdraw from their re-election races rather than face
certain censure or expulsion, such as
Robert Torricelli
Robert Torricelli in 2002.
Majority and minority parties[edit]
The "Majority party" is the political party that either has a majority
of seats or can form a coalition or caucus with a majority of seats;
if two or more parties are tied, the vice president's affiliation
determines which party is the majority party. The next-largest party
is known as the minority party. The president pro tempore, committee
chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority
party; they have counterparts (for instance, the "ranking members" of
committees) in the minority party. Independents and members of third
parties (so long as they do not caucus with or support either of the
larger parties) are not considered in determining which is the
majority party.
Seating[edit]
A typical Senate desk
At one end of the chamber of the Senate is a dais from which the
presiding officer presides. The lower tier of the dais is used by
clerks and other officials. One hundred desks are arranged in the
chamber in a semicircular pattern and are divided by a wide central
aisle. The Democratic Party traditionally sits to the presiding
officer's right, and the Republican Party traditionally sits to the
presiding officer's left, regardless of which party has a majority of
seats.[29] In this respect, the Senate differs from the House of
Commons of the United Kingdom and other parliamentary bodies in the
Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations and elsewhere.
Each senator chooses a desk based on seniority within the party. By
custom, the leader of each party sits in the front row along the
center aisle. Forty-eight of the desks date back to 1819, when the
Senate chamber was reconstructed after the original contents were
destroyed in the 1812 Burning of Washington. Further desks of similar
design were added as new states entered the Union.[30] It is a
tradition that each senator who uses a desk inscribes their name on
the inside of the desk's drawer.[31]
Officers[edit]
The Senate side of the
United States Capitol
United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Except for the President of the Senate, the Senate elects its own
officers,[1] who maintain order and decorum, manage and schedule the
legislative and executive business of the Senate, and interpret the
Senate's rules, practices and precedents. Many non-member officers are
also hired to run various day-to-day functions of the Senate.
Presiding over the Senate[edit]
Under the Constitution, the Vice President serves as President of the
Senate. He or she may vote in the Senate (ex officio, for he or she is
not an elected member of the Senate) in the case of a tie, but is not
required to.[32] For much of the nation's history the task of
presiding over Senate sessions was one of the Vice President's
principal duties (the other being to receive from the states the tally
of electoral ballots cast for President and Vice President and to open
the certificates "in the Presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives," so that the total votes could be counted). Since the
1950s, Vice Presidents have presided over few Senate debates. Instead,
they have usually presided only on ceremonial occasions, such as
swearing in new senators, joint sessions, or at times to announce the
result of significant legislation or nomination, or when a tie vote on
an important issue is anticipated.
The Constitution authorizes the Senate to elect a president pro
tempore (
Latin
Latin for "president for a time") who presides over the
chamber in the vice president's absence, and is, by custom, the
senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous
service.[33] Like the vice president, the president pro tempore does
not normally preside over the Senate, but typically delegates the
responsibility of presiding to a majority-party senator who presides
over the Senate, usually in blocks of one hour on a rotating basis.
Frequently, freshmen senators (newly elected members) are asked to
preside so that they may become accustomed to the rules and procedures
of the body. It is said that, "in practice they are usually mere
mouthpieces for the Senate’s parliamentarian, who whispers what they
should do".[34]
The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the Senate
chamber. The powers of the presiding officer of the Senate are far
less extensive than those of the Speaker of the House. The presiding
officer calls on senators to speak (by the rules of the Senate, the
first senator who rises is recognized); ruling on points of order
(objections by senators that a rule has been breached, subject to
appeal to the whole chamber); and announcing the results of votes.
Party leaders[edit]
Each party elects Senate party leaders. Floor leaders act as the party
chief spokesmen. The Senate Majority Leader is responsible for
controlling the agenda of the chamber by scheduling debates and votes.
Each party elects an assistant leader (whip) who works to ensure that
his party's senators vote as the party leadership desires.
Non-member officers[edit]
In addition to the Vice President, the Senate has several officers who
are not members. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the
Secretary of the Senate, who maintains public records, disburses
salaries, monitors the acquisition of stationery and supplies, and
oversees clerks. The Assistant
Secretary of the Senate aids the
secretary's work. Another official is the Sergeant at Arms who, as the
Senate's chief law enforcement officer, maintains order and security
on the Senate premises. The Capitol Police handle routine police work,
with the sergeant at arms primarily responsible for general oversight.
Other employees include the Chaplain, who is elected by the Senate,
and Pages, who are appointed.
Procedure[edit]
Daily sessions[edit]
The Senate uses Standing Rules for operation. Like the House of
Representatives, the Senate meets in the
United States Capitol
United States Capitol in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. At one end of the chamber of the Senate is a dais
from which the presiding officer presides. The lower tier of the dais
is used by clerks and other officials. Sessions of the Senate are
opened with a special prayer or invocation and typically convene on
weekdays. Sessions of the Senate are generally open to the public and
are broadcast live on television, usually by
C-SPAN
C-SPAN 2.
Senate procedure depends not only on the rules, but also on a variety
of customs and traditions. The Senate commonly waives some of its
stricter rules by unanimous consent.
Unanimous consent agreements are
typically negotiated beforehand by party leaders. A senator may block
such an agreement, but in practice, objections are rare. The presiding
officer enforces the rules of the Senate, and may warn members who
deviate from them. The presiding officer sometimes uses the gavel of
the Senate to maintain order.
A "hold" is placed when the leader's office is notified that a senator
intends to object to a request for unanimous consent from the Senate
to consider or pass a measure. A hold may be placed for any reason and
can be lifted by a senator at any time. A senator may place a hold
simply to review a bill, to negotiate changes to the bill, or to kill
the bill. A bill can be held for as long as the senator who objects to
the bill wishes to block its consideration.
Holds can be overcome, but require time-consuming procedures such as
filing cloture. Holds are considered private communications between a
senator and the Leader, and are sometimes referred to as "secret
holds". A senator may disclose that he or she has placed a hold.
The Constitution provides that a majority of the Senate constitutes a
quorum to do business. Under the rules and customs of the Senate, a
quorum is always assumed present unless a quorum call explicitly
demonstrates otherwise. A senator may request a quorum call by
"suggesting the absence of a quorum"; a clerk then calls the roll of
the Senate and notes which members are present. In practice, senators
rarely request quorum calls to establish the presence of a quorum.
Instead, quorum calls are generally used to temporarily delay
proceedings; usually such delays are used while waiting for a senator
to reach the floor to speak or to give leaders time to negotiate. Once
the need for a delay has ended, a senator may request unanimous
consent to rescind the quorum call.
Debate[edit]
Debate, like most other matters governing the internal functioning of
the Senate, is governed by internal rules adopted by the Senate.
During debate, senators may only speak if called upon by the presiding
officer, but the presiding officer is required to recognize the first
senator who rises to speak. Thus, the presiding officer has little
control over the course of debate. Customarily, the Majority Leader
and Minority Leader are accorded priority during debates even if
another senator rises first. All speeches must be addressed to the
presiding officer, who is addressed as "Mr. President" or "Madam
President", and not to another member; other Members must be referred
to in the third person. In most cases, senators do not refer to each
other by name, but by state or position, using forms such as "the
senior senator from Virginia", "the gentleman from California", or "my
distinguished friend the
Chairman
Chairman of the Judiciary Committee".
Senators address the Senate standing next to their desk.[35]
Apart from rules governing civility, there are few restrictions on the
content of speeches; there is no requirement that speeches pertain to
the matter before the Senate.
The rules of the Senate provide that no senator may make more than two
speeches on a motion or bill on the same legislative day. A
legislative day begins when the Senate convenes and ends with
adjournment; hence, it does not necessarily coincide with the calendar
day. The length of these speeches is not limited by the rules; thus,
in most cases, senators may speak for as long as they please. Often,
the Senate adopts unanimous consent agreements imposing time limits.
In other cases (for example, for the budget process), limits are
imposed by statute. However, the right to unlimited debate is
generally preserved.
Within the United States, the Senate is sometimes referred to as
"world's greatest deliberative body".[36][37][38]
Filibuster and cloture[edit]
Main articles:
Filibuster in the
United States
United States Senate and
Reconciliation (
United States
United States Congress)
The filibuster is a tactic used to defeat bills and motions by
prolonging debate indefinitely. A filibuster may entail long speeches,
dilatory motions, and an extensive series of proposed amendments. The
Senate may end a filibuster by invoking cloture. In most cases,
cloture requires the support of three-fifths of the Senate; however,
if the matter before the Senate involves changing the rules of the
body – this includes amending provisions regarding the
filibuster – a two-thirds majority is required. In current
practice, the threat of filibuster is more important than its use;
almost any motion that does not have the support of three-fifths of
the Senate effectively fails. This means that 41 senators can make a
filibuster happen. Historically, cloture has rarely been invoked
because bipartisan support is usually necessary to obtain the required
supermajority, so a bill that already has bipartisan support is rarely
subject to threats of filibuster. However, motions for cloture have
increased significantly in recent years.
If the Senate invokes cloture, debate does not end immediately;
instead, it is limited to 2 additional hours unless increased by
another three-fifths vote. The longest filibuster speech in the
Senate's history was delivered by Strom Thurmond, who spoke for over
24 hours in an unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of the Civil
Rights Act of 1957.[39]
Under certain circumstances, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
provides for a process called "reconciliation" by which Congress can
pass bills related to the budget without those bills being subject to
a filibuster. This is accomplished by limiting all Senate floor debate
to 20 hours.[40]
Voting[edit]
When debate concludes, the motion in question is put to a vote. The
Senate often votes by voice vote. The presiding officer puts the
question, and Members respond either "Yea/Aye" (in favor of the
motion) or "Nay" (against the motion). The presiding officer then
announces the result of the voice vote. A senator, however, may
challenge the presiding officer's assessment and request a recorded
vote. The request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth
of the senators present. In practice, however, senators second
requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy. When a recorded
vote is held, the clerk calls the roll of the Senate in alphabetical
order; senators respond when their name is called. Senators who were
not in the chamber when their name was called may still cast a vote so
long as the voting remains open. The vote is closed at the discretion
of the presiding officer, but must remain open for a minimum of 15
minutes. A majority of those voting determines whether the motion
carries.[41] If the vote is tied, the vice president, if present, is
entitled to cast a tie-breaking vote. If the vice president is not
present, the motion fails.[42]
Filibustered bills require a three-fifths majority to overcome the
cloture vote (which usually means 60 votes) and get to the normal vote
where a simple majority (usually 51 votes) approves the bill. This has
caused some news media to confuse the 60 votes needed to overcome a
filibuster with the 51 votes needed to approve a bill, with for
example USA Today erroneously stating "The vote was 58-39 in favor of
the provision establishing concealed carry permit reciprocity in the
48 states that have concealed weapons laws. That fell two votes short
of the 60 needed to approve the measure".[41]
Closed session[edit]
Main article: Closed sessions of the
United States
United States Senate
On occasion, the Senate may go into what is called a secret or closed
session. During a closed session, the chamber doors are closed,
cameras are turned off, and the galleries are completely cleared of
anyone not sworn to secrecy, not instructed in the rules of the closed
session, or not essential to the session. Closed sessions are rare and
usually held only when the Senate is discussing sensitive subject
matter such as information critical to national security, private
communications from the president, or deliberations during impeachment
trials. A senator may call for and force a closed session if the
motion is seconded by at least one other member, but an agreement
usually occurs beforehand.[43][44] If the Senate does not approve
release of a secret transcript, the transcript is stored in the Office
of Senate Security and ultimately sent to the national archives. The
proceedings remain sealed indefinitely until the Senate votes to
remove the injunction of secrecy.[45] In 1973 the House adopted a rule
that all committee sessions should be open unless a majority on the
committee voted for a closed session.
Calendars[edit]
The Senate maintains a Senate Calendar and an Executive Calendar.[46]
The former identifies bills and resolutions awaiting Senate floor
actions. The latter identifies executive resolutions, treaties, and
nominations reported out by Senate committee(s) and awaiting Senate
floor action. Both are updated each day the Senate is in session.
Committees[edit]
Main article:
United States
United States congressional committee
Committee Room 226 in the
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Dirksen Senate Office Building is used for
hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate uses committees (and their subcommittees) for a variety of
purposes, including the review of bills and the oversight of the
executive branch. Formally, the whole Senate appoints committee
members. In practice, however, the choice of members is made by the
political parties. Generally, each party honors the preferences of
individual senators, giving priority based on seniority. Each party is
allocated seats on committees in proportion to its overall strength.
Most committee work is performed by 16 standing committees, each of
which has jurisdiction over a field such as finance or foreign
relations. Each standing committee may consider, amend, and report
bills that fall under its jurisdiction. Furthermore, each standing
committee considers presidential nominations to offices related to its
jurisdiction. (For instance, the Judiciary Committee considers
nominees for judgeships, and the Foreign Relations Committee considers
nominees for positions in the Department of State.) Committees may
block nominees and impede bills from reaching the floor of the Senate.
Standing committees also oversee the departments and agencies of the
executive branch. In discharging their duties, standing committees
have the power to hold hearings and to subpoena witnesses and
evidence.
The Senate also has several committees that are not considered
standing committees. Such bodies are generally known as select or
special committees; examples include the Select Committee on Ethics
and the
Special
Special Committee on Aging. Legislation is referred to some of
these committees, although the bulk of legislative work is performed
by the standing committees. Committees may be established on an ad hoc
basis for specific purposes; for instance, the Senate Watergate
Committee was a special committee created to investigate the Watergate
scandal. Such temporary committees cease to exist after fulfilling
their tasks.
The Congress includes joint committees, which include members from
both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Some joint
committees oversee independent government bodies; for instance, the
Joint Committee on the Library oversees the Library of Congress. Other
joint committees serve to make advisory reports; for example, there
exists a Joint Committee on Taxation. Bills and nominees are not
referred to joint committees. Hence, the power of joint committees is
considerably lower than those of standing committees.
Each Senate committee and subcommittee is led by a chair (usually a
member of the majority party). Formerly, committee chairs were
determined purely by seniority; as a result, several elderly senators
continued to serve as chair despite severe physical infirmity or even
senility.[47] Committee chairs are elected, but, in practice,
seniority is rarely bypassed. The chairs hold extensive powers: they
control the committee's agenda, and so decide how much, if any, time
to devote to the consideration of a bill; they act with the power of
the committee in disapproving or delaying a bill or a nomination by
the president; they manage on the floor of the full Senate the
consideration of those bills the committee reports. This last role was
particularly important in mid-century, when floor amendments were
thought not to be collegial. They also have considerable influence:
senators who cooperate with their committee chairs are likely to
accomplish more good for their states than those who do not. The
Senate rules and customs were reformed in the twentieth century,
largely in the 1970s. Committee chairmen have less power and are
generally more moderate and collegial in exercising it, than they were
before reform.[48] The second-highest member, the spokesperson on the
committee for the minority party, is known in most cases as the
ranking member.[49] In the Select Committee on Intelligence and the
Select Committee on Ethics, however, the senior minority member is
known as the vice chair.
Recent criticisms of the Senate's operations object to what the
critics argue is obsolescence as a result of partisan paralysis and a
preponderance of arcane rules.[50][51]
Functions[edit]
Legislation[edit]
Further information: Act of Congress
Bills may be introduced in either chamber of Congress. However, the
Constitution's
Origination Clause
Origination Clause provides that "All bills for raising
Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives".[52] 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.[53][54][55]
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 British
Parliament, in which only the House of Commons may originate such
measures.[56]
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
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.[57]
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.
Checks and balances[edit]
The Constitution provides several unique functions for the Senate that
form its ability to "check and balance" 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.
The Senate has the power to try impeachments; shown above is Theodore
R. Davis's drawing of the impeachment trial of President Andrew
Johnson, 1868
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 first subject to a hearing before a Senate
committee. Thereafter, the nomination is considered by the full
Senate. The majority of nominees are confirmed, but 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
United States history).[citation needed]
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 is required for the appointment of certain executive branch
officials, it is not necessary for their removal.[58] 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.
U.S. Senate chamber
U.S. Senate chamber c. 1873: two or three spittoons are visible by
desks
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 US 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[59] to suggest that they unconstitutionally
circumvent the treaty-ratification process. However, courts have
upheld the validity of such agreements.[60]
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
United States is being tried, the Chief
Justice of the
United States
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.)[61] Only two presidents of the
United States
United States have ever
been impeached:
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson in 1868 and
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton in 1998. Both
trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote
short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
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.
Current composition and election results[edit]
Party membership by state for the 115th Congress
2 Democrats
2 Republicans
1 Democrat and 1 Republican
1 Independent and 1 Democrat
1 Independent and 1 Republican
Current party standings[edit]
Main article: Current members of the
United States
United States Senate
The party composition of the Senate during the 115th Congress:
Affiliation
Members
Republican Party
50[Note 1]
Democratic Party
47
Independent
2[Note 2]
Total
100
115th Congress[edit]
The
115th United States Congress
.jpg/440px-U.S._Capitol_-_March_28,_2016_(25666928564).jpg)
115th United States Congress runs from January 3, 2017 to January
3, 2019.
List of bills in the 115th
United States
United States Congress
See also[edit]
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the
United States
United States Senate
Elections in the United States
List of African-American
United States
United States Senators
United States
United States Presidents and control of Congress
Women in the
United States
United States Senate
Classes of
United States
United States Senators
Notes[edit]
^
Mississippi
Mississippi Republican Senator
Thad Cochran
.jpg/440px-CochranThad(R-MS).jpg)
Thad Cochran retired effective April
1st, 2018.
^ The two independent senators,
Angus King
Angus King and Bernie Sanders, caucus
with the Democrats.
References[edit]
^ a b "Constitution of the United States". Senate.gov. March 26, 2009.
Retrieved October 4, 2010.
^ Amar, Vik D. (1988-01-01). "The Senate and the Constitution". The
Yale Law Journal. 97 (6): 1111–1130. doi:10.2307/796343.
JSTOR 796343.
^ Stewart, Charles; Reynolds, Mark (1990-01-01). "Television Markets
and U. S. Senate Elections". Legislative Studies Quarterly. 15 (4):
495–523. doi:10.2307/439894. JSTOR 439894.
^ Richard L. Berke (September 12, 1999). "In Fight for Control of
Congress, Tough Skirmishes Within Parties". The New York Times.
^ Joseph S. Friedman (March 30, 2009). "The Rapid Sequence of Events
Forcing the Senate's Hand: A Reappraisal of the Seventeenth Amendment,
1890–1913". University of Pennsylvania.
^ "Agreeing to Disagree: Agenda Content and Senate Partisanship, 198".
Ingentaconnect.com. June 16, 2006. doi:10.3162/036298008784311000.
Retrieved October 4, 2010.
^ a b "U.S. Constitution: Article 1, Section 1". Retrieved March 22,
2012.
^ "Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: senate". Retrieved March 22,
2012.
^ Robert Yates. Notes of the Secret Debates of the Federal Convention
of 1787. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
^ "Non-voting members of Congress". Archived from the original on
November 23, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
^ "
Hawaii
Hawaii becomes 50th state". History.com. Retrieved March 22,
2011.
^ "Party In Power - Congress and Presidency - A Visual Guide To The
Balance of Power In Congress, 1945-2008". Uspolitics.about.com.
Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved September
17, 2012.
^ Article I, Section 3: "The Senate of the
United States
United States shall be
composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature
thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote."
^ "U.S. Senate: Art & History Home > Origins & Development
> Institutional Development > Direct Election of Senators".
Senate.gov. March 26, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
^ 1801–1850, November 16, 1818: Youngest Senator. United States
Senate. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
^ "Direct Election of Senators". U.S. Senate official website.
^ 2 U.S.C. § 1
^ "The Term of A Senator - When Does It Begin and End? - Senate 98-29"
(PDF).
United States
United States Senate.
United States
United States Printing Office.
pp. 14–15. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
^ Neale, Thomas H. (January 12, 2018). U.S. Senate Vacancies:
Contemporary Developments and Perspectives (PDF). Washington, DC:
Congressional Research Service. p. 3. Retrieved 2 February
2018.
^ DeLeo, Robert A. (September 17, 2009). "Temporary Appointment of US
Senator".
Massachusetts
.svg/600px-Massachusetts_in_United_States_(zoom).svg.png)
Massachusetts Great and General Court.
^ DeLeo, Robert A. (September 17, 2009). "Temporary Appointment of US
Senator Shall not be a candidate in special election". Massachusetts
Great and General Court.
^ a b "Stevens could keep seat in Senate". Anchorage Daily News.
October 28, 2009. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009.
^
United States
United States Constitution, Article VI
^ See: 5 U.S.C. § 3331; see also: U.S. Senate Oath of
Office
^ a b Salaries.
United States
United States Senate. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
^ a b c "US Congress Salaries and Benefits". Usgovinfo.about.com.
Retrieved October 2, 2013.
^ Sean Loughlin and Robert Yoon (June 13, 2003). "Millionaires
populate U.S. Senate". CNN. Retrieved June 19, 2006.
^ Baker, Richard A. "Traditions of the
United States
United States Senate" (PDF).
Page 4.
^ "Seating Arrangement". Senate Chamber Desks. Retrieved July 11,
2012.
^ "Senate Chamber Desks - Overview".
United States
United States Senate.
^ "Senate Chamber Desks - Names Listed inside the Desk Drawer". United
States Senate.
^ "Glossary Term: vice president". senate.gov.
United States
United States Senate.
Retrieved November 10, 2016.
^ "Glossary Term: president pro tempore". senate.gov. United States
Senate. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
^ "Presiding Loses Its Prestige in Senate". rollcall.com. Retrieved
February 8, 2017.
^ Martin B. Gold, Senate Procedure and Practice, p.39: Every member,
when he speaks, shall address the chair, standing in his place, and
when he has finished, shall sit down.
^ "The World's Greatest Deliberative Body". Time. July 5, 1993.
^ "World's greatest deliberative body watch". The Washington
Post.
^ "Senate reform: Lazing on a Senate afternoon". The Economist.
Retrieved October 4, 2010.
^ Quinton, Jeff. "Thurmond's Filibuster". Backcountry Conservative.
July 27, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2006.
^ Reconciliation, 2 U.S.C. § 641(e) (Procedure in the
Senate).
^ a b "How majority rule works in the U.S. Senate". Nieman Watchdog.
July 31, 2009.
^ "Yea or Nay? Voting in the Senate". Senate.gov. Retrieved April 11,
2011.
^ https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS20145.pdf
^ Amer, Mildred. "Secret Sessions of Congress: A Brief Historical
Overview" (PDF).
^ https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/98-718.pdf
^ "Calendars & Schedules" via Senate.gov
^ See, for examples, American Dictionary of National Biography on John
Sherman and Carter Glass; in general, Ritchie, Congress, p. 209
^ Ritchie, Congress, p. 44. Zelizer, On Capitol Hill describes this
process; one of the reforms is that seniority within the majority
party can now be bypassed, so that chairs do run the risk of being
deposed by their colleagues. See in particular p. 17, for the
unreformed Congress, and pp.188–9, for the Stevenson reforms of
1977.
^ Ritchie, Congress, pp .44, 175, 209
^ Mark Murray (August 2, 2010). "The inefficient Senate".
Firstread.msnbc.msn.com. Archived from the original on August 10,
2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
^ Packer, George (January 7, 2009). "Filibusters and arcane
obstructions in the Senate". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 4,
2010.
^ "Constitution of the United States". Senate.gov. Retrieved January
1, 2012.
^ Saturno, James. "The
Origination Clause
Origination Clause of the U.S. Constitution:
Interpretation and Enforcement", CRS Report for Congress
(Mar-15-2011).
^ Wirls, Daniel and Wirls, Stephen. The Invention of the United States
Senate, p. 188 (Taylor & Francis 2004).
^
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson wrote that the Senate has extremely broad amendment
authority with regard to appropriations bills, as distinguished from
bills that levy taxes. See Wilson, Woodrow. Congressional Government:
A Study in American Politics, pp. 155-156 (Transaction Publishers
2002). According to the Library of Congress, the Constitution provides
the origination requirement for revenue bills, whereas tradition
provides the origination requirement for appropriation bills. See
Sullivan, John. "How Our Laws Are Made",
Library of Congress
Library of Congress (accessed
August 26, 2013).
^ Sargent, Noel. "Bills for Raising Revenue Under the Federal and
State Constitutions", Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 4, p. 330 (1919).
^ Wilson Congressional Government, Chapter III: "Revenue and Supply".
Text common to all printings or "editions"; in Papers of Woodrow
Wilson it is Vol.4 (1968), p.91; for unchanged text, see p. 13, ibid.
^ Recess Appointments FAQ (PDF). US Senate, Congressional Research
Service. Retrieved November 20, 2007; Ritchie, Congress p. 178.
^ Bolton, John R. (January 5, 2009). "Restore the Senate's Treaty
Power". The New York Times.
^ For an example, and a discussion of the literature, see Laurence
Tribe, "Taking Text and Structure Seriously: Reflections on Free-Form
Method in Constitutional Interpretation", Harvard Law Review, Vol.
108, No. 6. (Apr. 1995), pp. 1221–1303.
^ Complete list of impeachment trials. Archived December 8, 2010, at
WebCite
United States
United States Senate. Retrieved November 20, 2007
Bibliography[edit]
Further information: U.S. senator bibliography (congressional memoirs)
Baker, Richard A. The Senate of the United States: A Bicentennial
History Krieger, 1988.
Baker, Richard A., ed., First Among Equals: Outstanding Senate Leaders
of the Twentieth Century Congressional Quarterly, 1991.
Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, The Almanac of American Politics
1976: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their
Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts (1975); new
edition every 2 years
David W. Brady and Mathew D. McCubbins. Party, Process, and Political
Change in Congress: New Perspectives on the History of Congress (2002)
Caro, Robert A. The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Vol. 3: Master of the
Senate. Knopf, 2002.
Comiskey, Michael. Seeking Justices: The Judging of Supreme Court
Nominees U. Press of Kansas, 2004.
Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation XII: 2005-2008:
Politics and Policy in the 109th and 110th Congresses (2010); massive,
highly detailed summary of Congressional activity, as well as major
executive and judicial decisions; based on Congressional Quarterly
Weekly Report and the annual CQ almanac. The Congress and the Nation
2009-2012 vol XIII has been announced for September 2014 publication.
Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 2001–2004 (2005);
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1997–2001 (2002)
Congressional Quarterly. Congress and the Nation: 1993–1996 (1998)
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1989–1992 (1993)
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1985–1988 (1989)
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1981–1984 (1985)
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1977–1980 (1981)
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1973–1976 (1977)
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1969–1972 (1973)
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1965–1968 (1969)
Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1945–1964 (1965),
the first of the series
Cooper, John Milton, Jr. Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow
Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations. Cambridge U. Press,
2001.
Davidson, Roger H., and Walter J. Oleszek, eds. (1998). Congress and
Its Members, 6th ed. Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly.
(Legislative procedure, informal practices, and member information)
Gould, Lewis L. The Most Exclusive Club: A History Of The Modern
United States
United States Senate (2005)
Hernon, Joseph Martin. Profiles in Character: Hubris and Heroism in
the U.S. Senate, 1789–1990 Sharpe, 1997.
Hoebeke, C. H. The Road to Mass Democracy: Original Intent and the
Seventeenth Amendment. Transaction Books, 1995. (Popular elections of
senators)
Lee, Frances E. and Oppenheimer, Bruce I. Sizing Up the Senate: The
Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation. U. of Chicago Press
1999. 304 pp.
MacNeil, Neil and Richard A. Baker. The American Senate: An Insider's
History. Oxford University Press, 2013. 455 pp.
McFarland, Ernest W. The Ernest W. McFarland Papers: The United States
Senate Years, 1940–1952. Prescott, Ariz.: Sharlot Hall Museum, 1995
(Democratic majority leader 1950–52)
Malsberger, John W. From Obstruction to Moderation: The Transformation
of Senate Conservatism, 1938–1952. Susquehanna U. Press 2000
Mann, Robert. The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey,
Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights. Harcourt Brace,
1996
Ritchie, Donald A. (1991). Press Gallery: Congress and the Washington
Correspondents. Harvard University Press.
Ritchie, Donald A. (2001). The Congress of the United States: A
Student Companion (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Ritchie, Donald A. (2010). The U.S. Congress: A Very Short
Introduction. Oxford University Press.
Rothman, David. Politics and Power the
United States
United States Senate
1869–1901 (1966)
Swift, Elaine K. The Making of an American Senate: Reconstitutive
Change in Congress, 1787–1841. U. of Michigan Press, 1996
Valeo, Frank. Mike Mansfield, Majority Leader: A Different Kind of
Senate, 1961–1976 Sharpe, 1999 (Senate Democratic leader)
VanBeek, Stephen D. Post-Passage Politics: Bicameral Resolution in
Congress. U. of Pittsburgh Press 1995
Weller, Cecil Edward, Jr. Joe T. Robinson: Always a Loyal Democrat. U.
of Arkansas Press, 1998. (Arkansas Democrat who was Majority leader in
1930s)
Wilson, Woodrow. Congressional Government. New York: Houghton Mifflin,
1885; also 15th ed. 1900, repr. by photoreprint, Transaction books,
2002.
Wirls, Daniel and Wirls, Stephen. The Invention of the United States
Senate Johns Hopkins U. Press, 2004. (Early history)
Zelizer, Julian E. On Capitol Hill : The Struggle to Reform
Congress and its Consequences, 1948–2000 (2006)
Zelizer, Julian E., ed. The American Congress: The Building of
Democracy (2004) (overview)
Official Senate histories[edit]
Biographical Directory of the
United States
United States Congress, 1774–1989
The following are published by the Senate Historical Office.
Robert Byrd. The Senate, 1789–1989. Four volumes.
Vol. I, a chronological series of addresses on the history of the
Senate
Vol. II, a topical series of addresses on various aspects of the
Senate's operation and powers
Vol. III, Classic Speeches, 1830–1993
Vol. IV, Historical Statistics, 1789–1992
Dole, Bob. Historical Almanac of the
United States
United States Senate
Hatfield, Mark O., with the Senate Historical Office. Vice Presidents
of the United States, 1789–1993 (essays reprinted online)
Frumin, Alan S. Riddick's Senate Procedure. Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1992.
External links[edit]
Listen to this article (info/dl)
This audio file was created from a revision of the article "United
States Senate" dated August 4, 2006, and does not reflect subsequent
edits to the article. (Audio help)
More spoken articles
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
United States
United States Senate.
The
United States
United States Senate Official Website
Sortable contact data
Senate Chamber Map
Standing Rules of the Senate
Biographical Directory of the
United States
United States Congress, 1774 to Present
List of Senators who died in office, via PoliticalGraveyard.com
Chart of all U.S. Senate seat-holders, by state, 1978–present, via
Texas Tech University
A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825, via Tufts
University
Bill Hammons' American Politics Guide – Members of Congress by
Committee and State with Partisan Voting Index
Works by or about
United States
United States Senate at Internet Archive
First U.S. Senate session aired by
C-SPAN
C-SPAN via C-SPAN
Senate Manual via govinfo.gov (U.S. Government Publishing Office)
United States
United States Senate Calendars and Schedules
v
t
e
United States
United States Congress
House of Representatives
Senate
(114th←115th→116th)
Lists of congressional lists
Members and leaders
Members
Current
By length of service
Freshmen
Youngest members
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
Delegates
Senate
Current
by seniority
Dean of the Senate
Former U.S. Senators
living
Earliest serving
Earliest living
Expelled or censured
Classes
Born outside the U.S.
House
Current
by seniority
Dean of the House
Former U.S. Representatives
living
Oldest living
Earliest serving
Expelled, censured, and reprimanded
Leaders
Senate
President (list)
President pro tempore (list)
Majority and minority leaders
Assistant party leaders
Democratic Caucus (Chair
Secretary
Policy Committee Chair)
Republican Conference (Chair
Vice-Chair
Policy Committee Chair)
House
Speaker
Leaders
Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group
Democratic Caucus
Republican Conference
Districts
List
Apportionment
Caucuses,
women and
minorities
Congressional caucus
African
Americans
Americans in the House
Congressional Black Caucus
African
Americans
Americans in the Senate
Arab and Middle-Eastern members
Asian Pacific American members
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Hispanic and Latino members
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Congressional Hispanic Conference
Jewish members
LGBT members
LGBT Equality Caucus
Native American members
Women in the House
Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues
Women in the Senate
Related
By length of service historically
Powers, privileges, procedure, committees, history, and media
Powers
Article I
Copyright
Commerce (Dormant)
Contempt of Congress
Declaration of war
Impeachment
Naturalization
"Necessary and Proper"
Power of enforcement
Taxing/spending
Privileges and
benefits
Salaries
Franking
Immunity
Procedure
Act of Congress
Act of Congress (list)
Appropriation bill
Blue slip
Budget resolution
Censure
Closed sessions
House
Senate
Cloture
Concurrent resolution
Continuing resolution
Dear colleague letter
Discharge petition
Engrossed bill
Enrolled bill
Expulsion
Joint resolution
Joint session (list)
Lame-duck session
Majority of the majority (Hastert Rule)
Multiple referral
Procedures (House)
Quorum
Quorum call
Reconciliation
Rider
Saxbe fix
Sponsorship
Suspension of the rules
Unanimous consent
Veto
Line-item veto
Pocket veto
Veto override
Senate-specific
Advice and consent
Classes
Executive communication
Executive session
Filibuster
Jefferson's Manual
Senate Journal
Morning business
Nuclear option
Presiding Officer
Recess appointment
Reconciliation
Riddick's Senate Procedure
Senate hold
Senatorial courtesy
Seniority
Standing Rules
Tie-breaking votes
Traditions
Treaty
Treaty Clause
Committees
Chairman
Chairman and ranking member
Of the Whole
Conference
Discharge petition
Hearings
Markup
Oversight
List (Joint)
List (House)
List (Senate)
Select and special
Standing
Subcommittees
Items
Gavels
Mace of the House
Seal of the Senate
History
Biographical Directory
Congressional apportionment
Divided government
House
Gerrymandering
Party control
Senate
Senate election disputes
Senatorial memoirs
Representative memoirs
Media
C-SPAN
Congressional Quarterly
The Hill
Politico
Roll Call
Offices, employees, services, and the Capitol Complex
Legislative
offices
Congressional staff
Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office (Comptroller General)
Architect of the Capitol
Capitol Police (Capitol Police Board)
Capitol Guide Service (Capitol Guide Board)
Congressional Budget Office
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Compliance
Library of Congress
Government Publishing Office (GPO)
Technology Assessment
Offices
Senate
Curator
Historical
Library
House
Congressional Ethics
Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations
Interparliamentary Affairs
Legislative Counsel
Law Revision Counsel
Library
Employees
Senate
Secretary
Chaplain
Curator
Inspector General
Historian
Librarian
Pages
Parliamentarian
Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper
House
Chaplain
Chief Administrative Officer
Clerk
Doorkeeper
Floor Operations
Floor Services Chief
Historian
Pages (Page Board)
Parliamentarian
Postmaster
Reading Clerk
Sergeant at Arms
Library of
Congress
Congressional Research Service
Congressional Research Service (reports)
Copyright Office (Register of Copyrights)
Law Library
Poet Laureate
THOMAS
Adams Building
Jefferson Building
Madison Building
Government
Publishing Office
Public Printer
Congressional Pictorial Directory
Congressional Record
Official Congressional Directory
United States
United States Government Manual
Serial Set
Statutes at Large
United States
United States Code
Capitol
Brumidi Corridors
Congressional Prayer Room
Crypt
Dome
Statue of Freedom
Rotunda
Hall of Columns
Statuary Hall
Visitor Center
The Apotheosis of Washington
Statue of Freedom
Declaration of Independence painting
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States
Apotheosis of Democracy
First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln
Surrender of General Burgoyne
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis
Revolutionary War Door
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way
Vice President's Room
Vice Presidential Bust Collection
Office
buildings
Senate
Dirksen
Hart
Mountains and Clouds
Russell
House
Building Commission
Cannon
Ford
Longworth
O'Neill
Rayburn
Other
facilities
Botanic Garden
Health and Fitness Facility
House Recording Studio
Senate chamber
Old Senate Chamber
Old Supreme Court Chamber
Power Plant
Webster Page Residence
Subway
`
v
t
e
Legislatures of the United States
United States
United States Congress
United States
United States House of Representatives
United States
United States Senate
State legislatures
Alabama (H, S)
Alaska
Alaska (H, S)
Arizona
Arizona (H, S)
Arkansas (H, S)
California (A, S)
Colorado (H, S)
Connecticut (H, S)
Delaware (H, S)
Florida (H, S)
Georgia (H, S)
Hawaii
Hawaii (H, S)
Idaho (H, S)
Illinois (H, S)
Indiana (H, S)
Iowa (H, S)
Kansas (H, S)
Kentucky (H, S)
Louisiana
Louisiana (H, S)
Maine (H, S)
Maryland (H, S)
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (H, S)
Michigan (H, S)
Minnesota (H, S)
Mississippi
Mississippi (H, S)
Missouri (H, S)
Montana (H, S)
Nebraska
Nevada (A, S)
New Hampshire (H, S)
New Jersey (GA, S)
New Mexico (H, S)
New York (A, S)
North Carolina (H, S)
North Dakota (H, S)
Ohio (H, S)
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (H, S)
Oregon
Oregon (H, S)
Pennsylvania (H, S)
Rhode Island (H, S)
South Carolina (H, S)
South Dakota (H, S)
Tennessee (H, S)
Texas (H, S)
Utah
Utah (H, S)
Vermont (H, S)
Virginia (H, S)
Washington (H, S)
West Virginia (H, S)
Wisconsin
Wisconsin (A, S)
Wyoming
Wyoming (H, S)
Other legislatures
District of Columbia
American Samoa (H, S)
Guam
Northern Mariana Islands (H, S)
Puerto Rico (H, S)
U.S. Virgin Islands
List of current
U.S. state
U.S. state legislators
v
t
e
United States articles
History
By event
Timeline of U.S. history
Pre-Columbian era
Colonial era
Thirteen Colonies
military history
Continental Congress
American Revolution
War
American frontier
Confederation Period
Drafting and ratification of Constitution
Federalist Era
War of 1812
Territorial acquisitions
Territorial evolution
Mexican–American War
Civil War
Reconstruction Era
Indian Wars
Gilded Age
Progressive Era
African-American civil rights movement 1865–1896 /
1896–1954 / 1954–1968
Spanish–American War
Imperialism
World War I
Roaring Twenties
Great Depression
World War II
home front
Nazism in the United States
American Century
Cold War
Korean War
Space Race
Feminist Movement
Vietnam War
Post-
Cold War
Cold War (1991–2008)
War on Terror
War in Afghanistan
Iraq War
Recent events (2008–present)
By topic
Outline of U.S. history
Demographic
Discoveries
Economic
debt ceiling
Inventions
before 1890
1890–1945
1946–91
after 1991
Military
Postal
Technological and industrial
Geography
Territory
counties
federal district
federal enclaves
Indian reservations
insular zones
minor outlying islands
populated places
states
Earthquakes
Extreme points
Islands
Mountains
peaks
ranges
Appalachian
Rocky
National Park Service
National Parks
Regions
East Coast
West Coast
Great Plains
Gulf
Mid-Atlantic
Midwestern
New England
Pacific
Central
Eastern
Northern
Northeastern
Northwestern
Southern
Southeastern
Southwestern
Western
Rivers
Colorado
Columbia
Mississippi
Missouri
Ohio
Rio Grande
Yukon
Time
Water supply and sanitation
Politics
Federal
Executive
Cabinet
Civil service
Executive departments
Executive Office
Independent agencies
Law enforcement
President of the United States
Public policy
Legislative
House of Representatives
current members
Speaker
Senate
current members
President pro tempore
Vice President
Judicial
Courts of appeals
District courts
Supreme Court
Law
Bill of Rights
civil liberties
Code of Federal Regulations
Constitution
federalism
preemption
separation of powers
Federal Reporter
United States
United States Code
United States
United States Reports
Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
Federal Bureau of Investigation
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
National Reconnaissance Office
National Security Agency
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Uniformed
Armed Forces
Army
Marine Corps
Navy
Air Force
Coast Guard
National Guard
NOAA Corps
Public Health Service Corps
51st state
political status of Puerto Rico
District of Columbia statehood movement
Elections
Electoral College
Foreign relations
Foreign policy
Hawaiian sovereignty movement
Ideologies
anti-Americanism
exceptionalism
nationalism
Local government
Parties
Democratic
Republican
Third parties
Red states and blue states
Purple America
Scandals
State government
governor
state legislature
state court
Uncle Sam
Economy
By sector
Agriculture
Banking
Communications
Energy
Insurance
Manufacturing
Mining
Tourism
Trade
Transportation
Companies
by state
Currency
Exports
Federal budget
Federal Reserve System
Financial position
Labor unions
Public debt
Social welfare programs
Taxation
Unemployment
Wall Street
Society
Culture
Americana
Architecture
Cinema
Cuisine
Dance
Demography
Education
Family structure
Fashion
Flag
Folklore
Languages
American English
Indigenous languages
ASL
Black American Sign Language
HSL
Plains Sign Talk
Arabic
Chinese
French
German
Italian
Russian
Spanish
Literature
Media
Journalism
Internet
Newspapers
Radio
Television
Music
Names
People
Philosophy
Public holidays
Religion
Sexuality
Sports
Theater
Visual art
Social class
Affluence
American Dream
Educational attainment
Homelessness
Home-ownership
Household income
Income inequality
Middle class
Personal income
Poverty
Professional and working class conflict
Standard of living
Wealth
Issues
Ages of consent
Capital punishment
Crime
incarceration
Criticism of government
Discrimination
affirmative action
antisemitism
intersex rights
islamophobia
LGBT rights
racism
same-sex marriage
Drug policy
Energy policy
Environmental movement
Gun politics
Health care
abortion
health insurance
hunger
obesity
smoking
Human rights
Immigration
illegal
International rankings
National security
Mass surveillance
Terrorism
Separation of church and state
Outline
Index
Book
Category
Portal
v
t
e
Upper houses of national legislatures
Federal
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Canada
Ethiopia
Germany
India
Malaysia
Mexico
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Russia
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Switzerland
United States
Unitary
Afghanistan
Algeria
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Bahrain
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Bhutan
Bolivia
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Chile
Colombia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Czech Republic
Dominican Republic
Equatorial Guinea
France
Gabon
Grenada
Haiti
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Morocco
Myanmar
Namibia
Netherlands
Oman
Palau
Paraguay
Philippines
Poland
Romania
Rwanda
Saint Lucia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Swaziland
Tajikistan
Trinidad and Tobago
United Kingdom
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Zimbabwe
Dependent and
other territories
American Samoa
Bermuda
Isle of Man
Northern Mariana Islands
Puerto Rico
Non-UN states
Somaliland
Defunct
Austria
British Raj
Burma
Ceylon
Dominican Republic
East Germany
Fiji
Greece
Iran
Irish Free State
Japan
Kingdom of Serbia
Malta
Mauritania
Nepal
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
Portugal
Prussia
Russian Empire
Senegal
South Africa
South Korea
Soviet Union
Sweden
Thailand
Turkey
Venezuela
Weimar Germany
Related
Bicameralism
Unicameralism
List of abolished upper houses
List of legislatures by country
National lower houses
National bicameral legislatures
National unicameral legislatures
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 129637095
LCCN: n79022161
ISNI: 0000 0001 2323 8060
GND: 1020979-7
SUDOC: 027483762
BNF: cb12001698w (data)
Coordinates: 38°53′26″N 77°0′32″W / 38.89056°N
77.00889°W / 38.8905
