Members are elected by their constituents for two year terms, all terms running for the same period. Both the senators and the representatives must be residents of the state from which they are chosen.
In addition a senator must be at least 30 years of age and must have been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years. A representative must be at least 25 years of age and must have been a citizen for at least seven years. These leaders are elected at the beginning of each new Congress by a majority vote of the senators in their political party.
In cooperation with their party organizations, leaders are responsible for the design and achievement of a legislative program. This involves managing the flow of legislation, expediting non-controversial measures, and keeping members informed regarding proposed action on pending business. Skip to main navigation Skip to main content.
Print Materials Brochures International Translations. Timeline of Congress and the Capitol Prologue - - - - - - Present Epilogue. Breadcrumb U. Timeline of Congress and the Capitol Prologue - - - - - - Present Epilogue. Breadcrumb U. Two Bodies, One Branch. Capitol Map Map of the Capitol campus. During floor debate, amendments may be offered that change or add to the bill.
After debate on a bill is concluded, and voting has taken place on all amendments offered, the bill is up for final passage. In the House, voting on amendments and final passage may occur by a voice vote, although a roll-call vote is the normal procedure on major bills.
House members vote during roll calls by using the electronic voting system in the House chamber. Forty-four voting stations are located throughout the chamber.
Members cast their votes by inserting special identification cards in a slot on the voting device and pushing the yea or nay buttons. With this system, House members can cast votes in a short time. The Senate has no similar system; senators respond to roll calls by answering yea or nay when the clerk calls their names in alphabetical order. Bills passed by a majority vote of the members of the House and Senate are sent to the president for approval.
If the president vetoes a bill, the disapproval may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses. If the House and the Senate pass bills in different forms, a joint conference committee consisting of representatives and senators is appointed to work out the differences.
Agreements of a conference committee must, in turn, be approved by both houses. Congress and the Executive The legislative and executive branches of government are separate and independent, but Congress and the executive do not work in isolation from each other. Only members of Congress may introduce legislation, but the president provides leadership to Congress by recommending a legislative program.
He thus influences both Congress's agenda and the substantive content of its day-to-day policy decisions. Congress, however, scrutinizes presidential proposals and often changes them substantially.
Moreover, Congress itself initiates much important legislation. The most important leverage the Congress has over the executive stems from its fiscal powers. Executive agencies may not spend money unless the expenditure has been authorized and appropriated by Congress. Congress greatly strengthened its budgetary powers by the Budget and Impoundment Control Act of , which provided for a congressional budget, created new committees to consider overall budget outlays, and established the Congressional Budget Office.
The law also limited the president's power to rescind or impound the spending of money appropriated by Congress. Initiatives in foreign policy usually are taken by the president, but Congress is also involved in the making of foreign policy through its power to tax and spend, to finance foreign policies, to declare war, and to ratify treaties which require the approval of two-thirds of the Senate.
Congress placed unusual limitations on the conduct of foreign relations in when it passed the War Powers Act, restricting the president's authority to commit U. In various other ways, Congress influences the work of the executive branch. Senate confirmation is required for presidential nominations of cabinet officials, ambassadors, federal judges, and certain other officials.
Congressional committees investigate executive agencies and officials and regularly review the administrative implementation of congressionally enacted programs.
Ultimately, Congress has the power to remove the president from office through impeachment, a process in which the House investigates alleged wrongdoing and votes on the charges, and the Senate tries the president on these charges.
In , Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House and tried by the Senate, narrowly escaping conviction. Richard M. Nixon resigned in after the House Judiciary Committee recommended impeachment charges. Bill Clinton was impeached December on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice but won acquittal in the Senate by a comfortable margin.
From time to time Congress sets up special committees to investigate subjects that do not fall directly in the jurisdiction of its standing committees.
Its power of investigation is considered one of the essential functions of Congress. Special committees have been created to investigate criminal charges against members, to study social and economic problems, to probe into unethical political activities, and to publicize controversial issues.
Famous special committees were the House Committee on Un-American Activities, set up in to investigate fascist, Communist, and other extremist political organizations, the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities commonly known as the Watergate committee , set up in , and the House and Senate select committees investigating the Iran-contra affair in In the s, Congress accelerated its use of the legislative veto, a device originated in the s by which provisions were written into a law requiring the executive to seek congressional approval before taking actions authorized under that law.
By the s, legislative veto provisions had been included in more than laws, including the War Powers Act. This practice came under mounting attack from presidents and other executive branch officials, and eventually it was challenged in the federal courts.
In the U.
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