United States Senate
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The United States Senate is part of the U.S. United States Congress, which is a group of chosen people who decide the laws of the country.
Every U.S. state chooses two people from the state to work on the Senate. These people are called senators. Since there are 50 U.S. states, there are 100 senators. Senators are picked every two years, and they stay on the senate for six years at a time. Originally the legislature of each state decided who their senators would be. After 1913, all the people of the state chose their senators by vote. The Vice President of the United States is in charge of the Senate, but he only does anything when there is a tie vote or a special event.
The Senate, along with the United States House of Representatives, votes on which laws the United States should have. In most cases, both of these groups have to agree on the suggested law before it becomes a law.
The Senate is the side of Congress where every state has the same number of votes (two). This is different from the House of Representatives, where states with more people have more votes than states with fewer people. This was decided during the time the United States Constitution was written, because small states like Rhode Island and Delaware did not want the larger states to be able to decide everything. Also, only part of the Senate runs for election during elections. Every two years, 33 or 34 senators are elected. For each state, this means that after two elections to the Senate, during one election no one will be elected to the Senate.
The Senate is also in charge of declaring war with other countries and signing treaties. The President has to ask the Senate to agree with his choices of candidates for certain jobs in his office or in the government. If the Senate and President do not agree, the President has to pick someone else the Senate will agree to.
In order to be a senator, a person has to be 30 years old or older, and has to be a citizen of the United States for 9 years or more.
Right now, the Senate is made up of 49 Republicans, 49 Democrats, 1 Independent and 1 Independent Democrat
| United States Congress House of Representatives, Senate — 110th Congress |
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|---|---|
| Members | House: Current, Former, Districts (by area) | Senate: Current (by seniority, by age), Former (expelled/censured), Classes |
| Leaders | House: Speaker, Party leaders, Party whips, Dem. caucus, Rep. conference, Dean | Senate: President pro tempore (list), Party leaders, Assistant party leaders, Dem. Caucus (Chair, Secretary, Policy comm. chair), Rep. Conference (Chair, Vice-Chair, Policy comm. chair), Dean |
| Groups | African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Hispanic Americans, Caucuses, Committees, Demographics, Senate Women |
| Agencies, Employees & Offices | Architect of the Capitol, Capitol guide service (board), Capitol police (board), Chiefs of Staff, GAO, Government Printing Office, Law Revision Counsel, Librarian of Congress, Poet laureate | House: Chaplain, Chief Administrative Officer, Clerk, Doorkeeper, Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations, Historian, Page (board), Parliamentarian, Postmaster, Reading clerk, Recording Studio, Sergeant at Arms | Senate: Chaplain, Curator, Historian, Librarian, Page, Parliamentarian, Secretary, Sergeant at Arms |
| Politics & Procedure | Act of Congress (list), Caucuses, Committees, Hearings, Joint session, Oversight, Party Divisions, Rider | House: Committees, History, Jefferson's Manual, Procedures | Senate: Committees, Filibuster, History, Traditions, VPs' tie-breaking votes |
| Buildings | Capitol Complex, Capitol, Botanic Garden | Office buildings– House: Cannon, Ford, Longworth, O'Neill, Rayburn, Senate: Dirksen, Hart, Russell |
| Research | Biographical directory, Congressional Quarterly, Congressional Record, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, The Hill, Roll Call, THOMAS |
| Misc | Mace of the House, Power of enforcement, Scandals, Softball League |
