Who Is the Representative in the Us House of Representatives

Congress' meeting place, the US Capitol.

" "If 'con' is the contrary of 'pro,' then what is the opposite of progress?

—Joe Swanson[1]

" "I am non in Washington equally a statesman. I am there equally a very well paid messenger boy doing your errands. My chief occupation is going around with a forked stick picking up little fragments of patronage for my constituents.

—Attributed to Arizona Senator Henry Fountain Ashurst.[2]

The U.s. Congress, oft simply referred to as Congress, is the federal legislature of the Usa. The body is bicameral, meaning that it is split into ii houses which are: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Various powers are divided between them, theoretically to ensure their power to check the powers of the other. Congress has 535 voting members: 435 Representatives and 100 Senators. It meets in Washington D.C.

Both Senators and Representatives are direct elected by their constituents, which has been truthful since the ratification of the Seventeenth Subpoena to the US Constitution in 1913.^[3] Earlier that, Senators were appointed past land legislatures.

Members of the United states of america House of Representatives are elected to serve two-yr terms, although at that place is currently no limit on the number of terms an individual can serve. Representatives are elected from a single commune, the borders of which can be legally subject to partisan gerrymandering. The number of districts in a country, and thus its representation in the House, is adamant past its Census population.

The Senate is the upper firm of Congress, and its members are elected to serve six-year terms. Every state, no affair its size or population, is entitled to two senators co-ordinate to the Constitution. That has led some smaller states to be dramatically overrepresented based on their population, which was actually the very point of the torso's creation.^[iv] Senate elections and terms are staggered then that every two years one-tertiary of the torso's seats go upward for election, non counting special elections that occur when a sitting member dies or steps downwardly.

Along with creating legislation, Congress also exercises other powers intended to safeguard democracy. The Senate must approve presidential nominees for various positions, while the House must initiate upkeep bills. Both chambers also accept the correct to investigate the executive branch.

Contents

• 1 The House of Representatives
  • i.1 Membership and elections
  • one.2 Powers
    • 1.two.one General
    • 1.2.2 Power of the purse
    • 1.2.3 Investigations and oversight
    • 1.2.four Impeachment
  • 1.3 Electoral Higher tiebreaker
  • i.four Officials
    • 1.four.i Speaker of the Firm
    • one.iv.2 Bulk Leader
    • 1.iv.3 Minority Leader
    • 1.four.iv Party Whips
    • 1.iv.5 Non-member officials
      • ane.4.5.1 Sergeant at Artillery
      • ane.4.5.2 Business firm Chaplain
• 2 The Senate
  • 2.1 Membership and elections
  • 2.2 Powers and procedures
    • ii.2.i Full general
    • 2.2.2 Field of study of Senators
    • 2.2.3 Delay and cloture
    • 2.ii.4 Approving of nominations
    • two.ii.5 Blessing of treaties
    • 2.2.6 Impeachment trials
  • 2.3 Officials
    • 2.3.1 Vice President
    • 2.3.2 President pro tempore
    • 2.3.3 Bulk Leader
• 3 Current partisan makeup
• four External links
• v References

The Business firm of Representatives [edit]

The squiggly-line clusterfuck that is the current district map.

The Firm of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States legislature.

Membership and elections [edit]

" "In 1812, Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a law that established an odd-shaped Congressional district. It was redrawn by political cartoonists into a salamander-type beast and thus the term gerrymander was born.

—Matthew T. Rosenberg, The Handy Geography Answer Volume.[5]

The House has 435 voting members who are elected from districts inside all of the states. Since representatives only serve two-year terms, all 435 seats go up for election in every cycle.^[6] As a result, the Business firm can often exist more dynamic than the Senate due to the possibility of a greater amount of its members being tossed out. In roughly i-third of all elections since 1856, the House has changed party majorities.^[7] Almost all of these changes in partisan majority happen during midterm (meaning non-presidential) elections as people end upwardly having buyer'due south remorse upon finding out that they don't like the electric current president and then much.

Representatives are elected from congressional districts, the verbal number of which are decided for every land based upon the results of the near recent US Census. Every time the Census is held, congressional districts are redrawn by country legislatures to compensate for changes in population across the nation.^[eight]

Travis County, Texas, split up into many pieces by Republican gerrymandering.

Since the landmark Us Supreme Courtroom decision Wesberry v. Sanders from 1964, all districts must have the same population.^[9] However, in that location are notwithstanding partistan tricks that country legislatures can and practise use to sway elections. Gerrymandering means drawing districts in a way that tin can unfairly influence elections by dividing up a majority into certain districts in a fashion that they are always underrepresented each fourth dimension.^{[10] [11]} Both major US parties do it, and it'southward why US congressional districts always look and so fucked up.

Every bit for requirements to exist a representative, these are spelled out in the The states Constitution. Commodity I, Department 2 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for representatives. Each representative must: (1) be at least twenty-five years one-time; (2) have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years; and (3) be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the land they represent.^[12]

At that place are also currently vi non-voting members of the House of Representatives. Non-voting members are permitted to introduce legislation and speak on the floor, but they are not permitted to participate in bodily votes.^[13] All six non-voting seats currently belong to the Us colonies plus Washington DC, although proposals exist for adding some Native American nations besides.

Powers [edit]

The House in Dec 2022 during the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Full general [edit]

As a chamber of the US legislature, the House has the right to introduce and vote on bills. However, this inherent power is limited past the fact that the Firm must become the Senate'due south understanding to actually send any bills to the president's desk. Political parties were not predictable by the US Constitution, and instances in which Congress gets clogged because opposing parties control the ii chambers were and are common.^[xiv]

Another blueprint feature to ensure equality betwixt the two chambers of Congress was the Constitution's investment of sure exclusive powers into the House of Representatives.

Power of the bag [edit]

" "This power over the purse, may in fact be regarded as the most compleat and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the firsthand representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure.

—James Madison, Federalist No. 58.[15]

The House has what is colloquially referred to every bit the "power of the bag", which ways the House lonely has the ability to introduce legislation on taxation and government spending.^[16] The Senate may not introduce bills; they must instead negotiate over the Firm version.

This was direct inspired by the UK's parliament, where the Firm of Commons had the power of the purse in order to check royal authority.^[sixteen] The reasons for the system in the US are basically the aforementioned: if the president does not get money from Congress for the policies he wants then he's basically shit out of luck. Theoretically. In ane infamous scandal, Ronald Reagan tried to sidestep the ability of the pocketbook past raising his own money through illegal and secretive arms sales to Iran in what is now called the Iran-Contra scandal.

Investigations and oversight [edit]

Firm Judiciary Committee during the 1974 Watergate investigation.

Although not explicitly stated in the Constitution, longstanding judicial tradition holds that the House has broad powers to investigate the conduct of executive and judicial officials.^[17] This is considered a central part of the checks and balances the House has on the other parts of the federal government. It's based on both precedent and the fact that information technology's pretty much causeless that Congress has the right to seek information when creating legislation.

Congress flexed its investigative muscles pretty early when Robert Morris of Pennsylvania asked them to look into the state's finances to clear his proper name from corruption allegations.^[17] During that investigation, George Washington and James Madison explicitly confirmed that the House had the power to practise this. During the Northwest Indian War, the House also investigated the Washington administration's burdensome military defeat during the St. Clair's campaign.^[xviii] Since then, the House has investigated numerous instances of executive misconduct including Teapot Dome, Watergate, and Islamic republic of iran-Contra.

In accordance with its investigative authority, the Firm also wields some coercive tools in ensuring compliance. Congress has wielded subpoena ability since its 1795 investigation into bribery, when it had real estate speculator Robert Randall arrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms and remanded to a nearby jail for a week.^[17] Subpoena and contempt powers were finally formalized in 1857 when Congress successfully passed a law stating that the failure of a witness to answer "any question pertinent" to a congressional investigation would prompt an investigation by the Section of Justice, as well equally potential fines and jail time.^[17]

Impeachment [edit]

Firm Judiciary Committee during the 1999 impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton.

Meet the main article on this topic: Impeachment

" "Weather condition may, and are non unlikely to arise, some day, when the exercise of the power to impeach and remove the President may be quite every bit essential to the preservation of our political system as it threatened to become in this instance subversive of that system. Should that day always come up, information technology is to be hoped that the remedy of impeachment, as established by the Constitution, may be as patriotically, every bit fearlessly, and as unselfishly applied every bit it was on this occasion rejected.

—Edmund Ross, History of the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson.[19]

The House also has the sole power to impeach executive and judicial officials based upon Article I, Section ii of the US Constitution. The Impeachment Clause is quite broadly written with the inclusion of "other high crimes and misdemeanors".^[xx] The Business firm has never had much of a problem using a broader interpretation, either. For instance, Congress impeached President Andrew Johnson for violating a targeted and dubiously constitutional (later found unconstitutional) law,^[21] while Beak Clinton was impeached for getting his dick sucked by non-his-wife and so lying about it.^{[22] [23]} Probably the virtually valid impeachment proceeding(s) were against Donald Trump, when the Firm impeached him later uncovering noun show that he tried to coerce Ukraine into giving Joe Biden bad press and thus swaying the 2022 U.Due south. presidential ballot.^[24] Then House and then impeached him for an unprecedented second time in January 2022 after Trump incited the 2022 U.Due south. Capitol anarchism and short no remorse for doing so.^[25] Both infractions are slightly worse than violating a "fuck you" law or lying about cumming on a wearing apparel.

Ultimately, though, impeachment is a political process. As US president Gerald Ford said,^[26]

" "The just honest answer is that an impeachable criminal offence is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers [information technology] to exist at a given moment in history.

Although the Firm's impeachment powers are largely unchecked and often capricious, their ability to really remove an official is very harshly express. This is because removal requires a trial earlier the Senate in which 2-thirds of the body votes to convict. That last function has never happened to a sitting United states president.

Electoral Higher tiebreaker [edit]

House Speaker Henry Clay.

One of the idiotic things about the Electoral Higher, and we mean one of, is that information technology tin potentially result in a 269-269 tie. This can happen if the votes piece of work out that way or if in that location happen to be faithless electors, since many states don't accept laws to preclude electors from defying the will of the voters.^[27] If, for some reason, a necktie does occur, the House of Representatives has to serve as the tiebreaker. This is codified into US federal law past the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[28]

When this happens, each country'south delegation has i collective vote, and a bulk of states is needed to declare a candidate's victory.^[29] The hilarious role is that you'll have noticed that the U.s. has 50 states, and so information technology'south possible for a 25-25 tie in the Business firm of Representatives. If that happens, so the House falls into Headless Chicken Manner and starts doing shady backroom deals until somebody hits the magic number.

This has happened before, and the outcome pissed anybody off. In the 1824 election, Andrew Jackson won both a plurality of the popular vote and a plurality of the Electoral College, but he failed to win an outright majority due to at that place being more than ii candidates.^[30] The Speaker of the Business firm, Henry Clay, had run in the presidential election but hadn't done very well. He was, however, quite powerful in the Business firm. Despite Jackson'due south plurality, Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams to see him every bit the runner-upward elected president.^[31] To show his gratitude, Adams appointed Clay equally Secretary of Land, raising suspicions that the two men had actually secretly planned that effect. Jackson, who was rightfully pissed off, denounced it every bit the "corrupt bargain."^[32] Also note that the smart thing would have been to simply concur a runoff ballot; unfortunately the U.s. Constitution doesn't provide for such an activity. Not such a perfect document after all.

• 

  Electoral College vote in 1824.

• 

  The House vote in 1825. Notice any differences?

Officials [edit]

Speaker Pelosi presides over the showtime Trump impeachment proceedings.

Speaker of the Firm [edit]

Established past the Constitution, the holder of the role of Speaker essentially serves as more-or-less the leader of the House. The Speaker is second-in-line for the presidency in the event that both the president and vice president are somehow incapacitated, and the Speaker also presides over House assemblies and directs most of the body's authoritative functions.^[33] Since the Speaker is elected by the members of the House, the bulk political party typically controls the function. Party members who vote for the other party'south Speaker candidate typically face up harsh penalization, such as when Democrat James A. Traficant Jr. had his seniority and committee assignments stripped in retaliation for his determination to vote for the Republican candidate.^[34]

Newt Gingrich dramatically expanded the powers and partisan nature of the Speaker'south office during his tenure, reforming the Firm to aggrandize his own power and harshly using his prominence to turn politics into a name-calling blood sport.^[35]

The Speaker now wields many powers in their quest to ensure that their bulk party can become their agenda passed. These include appointing committees, setting the calendar to determine when bills are debated and voted on, and leveraging those previous authorities into coercing members of their party into voting in the desired way.^[36] Generally speaking, if the House is doing or not doing something, it'south because that's what the Speaker wants.

The current Speaker of the House is Nancy Pelosi.^[37]

Majority Leader [edit]

The Majority Leader is, under the Speaker, the ranking member of the majority party in the Firm. It is their job to arm-twist legislators of their party into voting the desired style, and they also help the Speaker in administrative tasks.^[38] The mail service began informally but gradually evolved into its current grade as the House's increasing size and ability made partisanship more of import. The position is today elected, merely it was originally appointed by the Speaker.

The current Bulk Leader is Steny Hoyer.^[39]

Minority Leader [edit]

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy holds a press conference.

The Minority Leader fills basically the aforementioned role as the Majority Leader but in service to the opposition party. This role is probably more hard than being in the majority, though, because the Minority Leader must also focus on defending the opposition's rights and ensuring that they accept equally much influence as possible over the House proceedings.^[forty]

On top of that, the Minority Leader'due south main objective is to go the Majority Leader. Of course! That involves getting publicity for the opposition, helping party members with their campaigns, and ensuring party unity.^[41]

The current House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthy.^[42]

Party Whips [edit]

Party Whips are the attack dogs of the leaders. They keep rails of House legislation and ensure that the party'south members are all on the same page in voting, and they also ensure that every party member is really in the House when votes go down^[43] (this tin can be more of a problem than you might think). The term comes from the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland tradition of foxhunting, every bit the "whipper" was in accuse of keeping the pack of hounds together.^[44]

Non-fellow member officials [edit]

Sergeant at Arms with the Mace, 1939.

Sergeant at Arms [edit]

The Sergeant at Arms is the Firm's chief cop, in charge of providing security for the Firm, keeping order in the Firm, and absorbing those people the House decides to hold in antipathy. His duties are by and large formalism, such as escorting the president and foreign dignitaries for their speeches, carrying Manufactures of Impeachment from the Firm to the Senate, and supervising funeral arrangements.^[45]

The Sergeant also wields the so-called Mace of the Republic, because even not-monarchies need ceremonial heraldry junk. The Mace serves a disciplinary role, equally when Business firm members become unruly or violent, the Sergeant waves the Mace around; anyone who fails to at-home the fuck downwardly is and so arrested.^[46] The Mace has been used a few times, once to prevent a pocketknife fight and book throwing incident in the 1890s, and once during World State of war I when a fistfight almost broke out amid allegations that anti-state of war representatives were unpatriotic.^[47]

The Sergeant can also be ordered by the Speaker to compel absent members to attend flooring votes in the Business firm and to proceed representatives from leaving the chamber during this process.^[48]

House Chaplain [edit]

" "O Lord our Heavenly Father... expect down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent just on Thee. To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee practice they now look up for that countenance and support, which G solitary canst give.

—Reverend Jacob Duché, first prayer of the Continental Congress, September 7, 1774.[49]

Despite the officially secular nature of the House of Representatives, one of its oldest institutions is the House Chaplain. The Chaplain begins every House proceeding with a prayer, a tradition which dates back to the American Revolution and the Continental Congress in 1774.^[50] The House cites the first half of Article 1, Department 2, Clause v ("The House of Representatives shall cull their speaker and other officers") in the United states Constitution as giving information technology the authority to elect a Clergyman.^[51] Technically, the post isn't decided according to religion, but it's obvious that every one so far has been a Christian. Every at present and then, though, the Firm Chaplain volition invite guest chaplains, a few of which have represented a number of different religions including Islam and Judaism.

Even this office hasn't escaped partisan squabbling. Electric current Chaplain Patrick Conroy was almost forced out by the old Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, as the Republicans didn't like that ane of his prayers acknowledged wealth gaps in the Us during a tax bill argue.^[52] The resulting uproar convinced Conroy to stick around, and he remains in service to this date.

The Senate [edit]

Partisan makeup of the Senate by land. The independents both caucus with the Democrats.

" "I, practise solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear truthful faith and allegiance to the same; that I accept this obligation freely, without whatever mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I volition well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So aid me God.

—The Senate Oath of Office, every bit defined by federal statute.[53] Many Senators take failed to fulfill the spirit of this oath.[54] [55]

The United States Senate is the upper house of Congress, significant that it has a much smaller number of members and those members serve much longer terms. It tends to exist viewed every bit more prestigious. Many senators are high-profile, to the bespeak where xvi United states presidents were previously senators and three of them (Harding, JFK, Obama) were elected while actually serving in the Senate. They too tend to get more money and attention from lobbyists.

Membership and elections [edit]

Senators are elected by eligible voters of their abode state for a term of six years. In that location are 2 Senators elected from each state, regardless of population, which means that ane voter in Wyoming has as much Senate representation as 68 voters in California.^{[56] [57]} Poor Washington DC and the territories, meanwhile, are shit out of luck. They don't get senators, and they as well don't go non-voting representation in the Senate either.^[58] No taxation without representation? Similar Firm elections, Senate elections are showtime-past-the-post. There is no limit on the number of terms a Senator may service.

Co-ordinate to Governor Blagojevich of Illinois, a former mob bookmaker,^[59] a Senate seat is worth about a million dollars. Blagojevich considered it a personal insult that he was expected to appoint a replacement for a former Senator turned President-elect without considerable financial remuneration.

Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution, sets three qualifications for senators: (1) they must be at least 30 years quondam; (ii) they must have been citizens of the U.s.a. for the past nine years or longer; and (3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to stand for at the time of their election.

Powers and procedures [edit]

Regime shutdown: an all-too-frequent consequence of the ii Congressional chambers' inability to concur on spending.

General [edit]

Like the House, the Senate has the power and obligation to introduce, debate, and laissez passer legislation. The Senate, does not, yet, have the ability to introduce whatever bills on taxation or spending, as the Constitution's Origination Clause reserves that for the Firm alone.^[60] However, the Senate does have the power to amend and pass up the Firm's spending bills. That serves as a check on the Business firm'south power, as it tin do whatever it wants to a revenue bill but can't ensure that information technology actually gets passed. This, of course, naturally means that Congress can and often does grind to a halt during periods when the ii chambers are controlled by different parties. With partisan polarization increasing, failure of the two chambers of Congress to agree on spending bills has become more mutual. With increasing frequency, this results in authorities shutdowns equally the 1982 Antideficiency Act requires that a failure to secure spending legislation means that non-essential government functions cease.^[61] The longest shutdown in history occurred when Donald Trump used his Senate cronies to effort to arm-twist the House into agreeing to fund the president's idiotic "Peachy Wall of America".^[62]

Bailiwick of Senators [edit]

Since partisan bickering tin can get and so heated and Senators oftentimes misuse the powers of their offices, it's obvious that the Senate should have broad dominance to punish its own members for stepping over the line. Although seemingly not too severe, the Senate can "censure" someone, past which we mean that the Senate as a whole basically tells that person to close the fuck up.^[63] Probably the about infamous case of a Senate censure was levied against Joseph McCarthy in 1954 after his paranoid garbage trials resulted in him going after the Army and then devolving into a mess of insults and unsubstantiated allegations.^[64] The affair ended upward being supremely humiliating, every bit you tin expect from the fact that McCarthy was basically told by nigh of his colleagues in a national forum to put a sock in information technology. McCarthy turned to drugs and booze after this downfall, and he died a few years later.^[65]

By a 2-thirds vote, the Senate tin can really expel members. This happened for the first time in 1797, when Senator William Blount conspired with the British Empire in an try to set on Espana to seize Florida and Louisiana on behalf of the British.^[66] He did this in substitution for shitloads of cash, since his land speculation had landed him into debt. Since that would have cut off US west expansion, the Senate considered this treasonous and voted 25 to 1 to expel his ass.^[66] Also, in 1861 and 1862, the Senate mass-expelled xiv of its members for supporting the Confederacy during the American Civil State of war.^[67]

Filibuster and cloture [edit]

Unique in the government, the Senate has a dominion called the "filibuster", allowing members to extend argue and delay a final vote on bills for every bit long as they want.^[68] It'due south typically used by the minority party, every bit it's their most effective tool to block the passage of bills they don't like. It was used frequently in the decades preceding the Civil War as debates over slavery got more furious. The House does not accept a filibuster rule, every bit it has a much larger membership, and the filibuster in that location would exist unmanagable. 1 of the Senate's nigh infamous filibusters came from Strom Thurmond, who in 1957 spoke on the floor for 24 hours and 18 minutes to cake Eisenhower-supported civil rights legislation.^[69] He luckily failed to prevent the passage of the law.

Nether Woodrow Wilson's communication, the Senate introduced the "cloture" rule, which allows the Senate to terminate filibusters with a ii-thirds vote.^[68] It was used simply a few years later on when the Senate filibustered against the Treaty of Versailles. The cloture dominion has been key to halting filibusters e'er since, and it also played a pivotal role in in the Senate's passage of Obamacare during the brief catamenia in which Barack Obama's party enjoyed a 60-vote bulk.^[70] Senator Ted Cruz in 2013 tried to shut downwardly the government over Obamacare funding by filibustering for 21 hours 19 minutes, a speech in which he even opened a children's book to read to his daughters on the Television.^[71] This speech helped cause the 2013 government shutdown.

If Democrats expand their Senate majority in 2022, it's quite possible that the filibuster will go away or be weakened, as aroused Democrats don't want to be "held hostage" by Trump-enablers who will try to stall progressive legislation.^[72]

Approval of nominations [edit]

Lindsey Graham goes apeshit during the Judiciary Committee hearings on Brett Kavanaugh.^[73]

Ane of the most important Constitutional powers granted to the Senate is the requirement that they corroborate of all presidential nominations to executive and judicial offices. The president usually nominates candidates after confiding in Senators of their party, and these nominees are sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee to be interviewed during a public hearing.^[74]

In one dramatic incident in 2016, the Republican-controlled Senate refused to fulfill its obligation to consider a presidential nominee. Citing the justification that Barack Obama was in his concluding twelvemonth of his final term and main elections had already starting, Mitch McConnell refused to fifty-fifty consider the president'due south Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.^[75] The seat was later filled past President Donald Trump. The Republicans then proved their moral rigidity in 2022 by expediting the approving of Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett less than two weeks earlier a presidential election.^[76]

Approval of treaties [edit]

The Senate must also, by a ii-thirds vote, corroborate of whatever treaties signed by the president for those documents to accept whatever legal effect under federal law.^[77] This is a Ramble requirement. Trade agreements typically don't go through that procedure, since the trade pact members typically have the right to unilaterally withdraw.

Over its long history, the Senate has rejected very few treaties, instead choosing to trust the judgement of the president.^[78] Many treaties, exercise, however, die in commission without having the chance to be rejected without the body. The most famous rejection of a treaty came in 1919, when the Senate refused to consent to the Treaty of Versailles due to the document containing membership to the League of Nations.^[79]

The most recent rejected treaty was in 2012, when 38 Republicans bizarrely refused to vote for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities despite overwhelming bipartisan back up.^[fourscore]

Impeachment trials [edit]

Primary Justice John Roberts presides over the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

" "I solemnly swear (or affirm,) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of [proper name], at present pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so aid me God.

—Impartiality Oath taken by Senators during impeachment trials.[81] It was brazenly violated past Mitch McConnell and many other Republicans during the Trump proceedings.[82] [83]

Although the House can impeach anyone information technology wants by a simple bulk vote, the impeached official is not really removed until and unless the Senate holds a trial and convicts the official with a two-thirds majority vote. During impeachment trials, especially during those involving sitting US presidents, debates are carefully controlled and proceedings are overseen by the Master Justice of the US Supreme Courtroom.^[84]

Despite the Senate'due south firm rules and traditions, the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump saw some major irregularities inflicted upon the proceedings by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who had even outright stated that he would coordinate with the president to ensure his acquittal.^[82] Well-nigh disgustingly, McConnell pushed ahead in the trial without assuasive witnesses or the admission of whatsoever new show, turning the trial and the Senate as a whole into a hollow farce.^[85]

The Senate has held multiple trials against sitting presidents. The first, against Andrew Johnson in 1868, saw the president acquitted by a unmarried vote.^[86] Bill Clinton too had to undergo an impeachment trial, where several Republicans joined the Democrats in voting to deport him.^[87]

Officials [edit]

President pro tempore Chuck Grassley administers the oath of part to Primary Justice John Roberts during the Trump impeachment trial.

Vice President [edit]

Apart from waiting in the wings for the president to kick it, the vice president has the Constitutional power to preside over the Senate. Although the VP is nominally the leader of the body, the so-called "President of the Senate", the VP doesn't get a vote unless at that place is a rare tie.^[88] Originally, the VP had more than powers related to Senate leadership, but the Senate gradually stripped these powers as it sought to be more independent of the executive branch. Today, the VP doesn't even get to speak unless Senate leadership permits it.

The electric current Vice President is Kamala Harris.

President pro tempore [edit]

As the VP evolved into a more than important position to the executive branch, they've typically had better things to do than sit down effectually in the Senate doing basically nothing. In his absence, the Senate has come to rely on a ramble provision assuasive them to elect a temporary president of the torso from their own membership. The president pro tempore'southward term is unrelated to the VP's term; they serve until the Senate feels fit to appoint a new 1. As an bodily member of the Senate, the president pro tempore basically does most of the stuff the VP used to do, like making committee and committee assignments and appointing people to preside over the Senate.^[89] The president tends to brand political decisions based on the advice of the Majority Leader. The office has, in fact, become well-nigh entirely ceremonial with most bodily power in the hands of the Bulk Leader.^[90]

The current President pro tempore is Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy.^[91]

Majority Leader [edit]

Majority Leader McConnell with Kavanaugh and Pence.

Elected by the Senate's majority political party, the Majority Leader is the true power in the Senate leadership. The Majority Leader controls the Senate agenda, sets debate rules, and has the start opportunity to introduce amendments and procedural motions.^[92] This dandy power over the affairs of the Senate allows the Majority Leader to marshal party members' support for the party's legislative agenda.^[93]

Perhaps the most abusive Majority Leader in recent history was and is Mitch McConnell. One of his worst moments came during the Obama nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, as McConnell used his powers equally Majority Leader to reject to even hold a hearing on the nominee.^[94] He successfully stalled the process until the inauguration of President Trump. Then McConnell made a sham of the impeachment trial past using his powers to gut the proceedings, foreclose the admission of witnesses and prove, and publicly deride the House's constitutional ability of impeachment while proclaiming his loyalty to the president.^[95] Then, during the COVID crunch, McConnell chose not to consider help for those impacted by the pandemic, instead ramming through a bunch of wingnut judicial nominees and sending the Senate for long weekends whenever there was a contend he didn't like.^[96] McConnell besides refused to have anything to do with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's funeral, meaning that her body had to lie in country in the Statuary Hall rather than the Capitol Rotunda.^[97] At every plough, McConnell did everything he could to plow the Bulk Leadership into a unrestrained and unprincipled sham used to override and corrupt the other two federal government branches.

Mitch McConnell is, give thanks goodness, no longer Majority Leader after the Democratic Party won both seats up for grabs in the Georgia runoffs in 2021. The current Bulk Leader is Chuck Schumer.^[98]

Electric current partisan makeup [edit]

• 

  117^th Senate.

   Autonomous-held seats (48)

   Republican-held seats (50)

   Contained (Caucus-D) (2)

• 

  117^th Firm.

   Democratic-held seats (220)

   Republican-held seats (212)

   Vacant (three)

External links [edit]

• Library of Congress
• Official Website of the Firm of Representatives
• Official Website of the Senate
• Ideology and party unity in the Business firm, 1857-2011
• Wikipedia Now Blocking US Congress From Making Edits, Daily Tech (But some all the same manage to seep through.)
• Everybody is going to be fine. Seriously.

References [edit]

1. ↑ Wikiquote on U.s. Congress
2. ↑ Henry Fountain Ashurst. Wikiquote.
3. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
4. ↑ American democracy'due south Senate trouble, explained. Vocalism.
5. ↑ Elbridge Gerry. Wikiquote.
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7. ↑ Bulk Changes in the House of Representatives, 1856 to Nowadays. Usa House of Representatives.
8. ↑ Redistricting. National Briefing of Country Legislatures.
9. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Wesberry 5. Sanders.
10. ↑ This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will e'er see. Washington Postal service.
11. ↑ Gerrymandering. Off-white Vote.
12. ↑ Article I. Cornell Legal Information Plant.
13. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Not-voting members of the United States House of Representatives.
14. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Party divisions of United states Congresses.
15. ↑ Text of Federalist No. 58. Library of Congress.
16. ↑ ^{sixteen.0 16.1} Power of the Purse. The states Business firm of Representatives.
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1 17.two 17.3} Investigations & Oversight. Us House of Representatives.
18. ↑ Meet the Wikipedia article on St. Clair'southward defeat.
19. ↑ Chapter Thirteen. The Constitutional Ability Of Impeachment. Retrieved from Yale Constabulary School Lillian Goldman Police Library.
20. ↑ SHOULD THE IMPEACHMENT CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION STAY BROADLY WRITTEN AND Practical? Think the Vote.
21. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Tenure of Role Human activity (1867).
22. ↑ Here are all the Us presidents who have been impeached. Business organization Insider.
23. ↑ The Stained Blue Wearing apparel that Near Lost a Presidency. Famous Trials.
24. ↑ Trump impeachment testify overwhelming - House report. BBC News.
25. ↑ Impeachment prosecutor says Trump committed 'the almost unsafe crime' ever past a president. Marketplace Sentinel.
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27. ↑ Electoral Higher: Near the electors. National Archives.
28. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Twelfth Amendment to the United states of america Constitution.
29. ↑ Electoral Higher Ties. 270 to Win.
30. ↑ Come across the Wikipedia article on 1824 United states presidential election.
31. ↑ The Ballot of 1824 Was Decided in the Business firm of Representatives. ThoughtCo.
32. ↑ Run into the Wikipedia commodity on Corrupt deal.
33. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Speaker of the U.s. House of Representatives.
34. ↑ James A. Traficant Jr., colorful Ohio congressman expelled by House, dies at 73. Washington Post. Archived.
35. ↑ The Human being Who Broke Politics. The Atlantic.
36. ↑ About the Speaker of the House of Representatives. ThoughtCo.
37. ↑ Nancy Pelosi is the well-nigh effective speaker ever, CNN Politics, November 8, 2021
38. ↑ Majority Leaders of the House (1899 to present). House of Representatives.
39. ↑ Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), American for the Arts
40. ↑ Minority Leaders. U.s. Business firm of Representatives.
41. ↑ The Role of the Firm Minority Leader: An Overview. Congressional Enquiry Service.
42. ↑ Fact-checking faux claims from Minority leader Kevin McCarthy'southward marathon House voice communication, CNN Politics, November 20, 2021
43. ↑ Meet the Wikipedia article on Party leaders of the United states House of Representatives § Party whips and assistant party leaders.
44. ↑ Whips (1897 to present). US Business firm of Representatives.
45. ↑ Run across the Wikipedia article on Sergeant at Artillery of the United states House of Representatives.
46. ↑ Run into the Wikipedia article on Mace of the U.s.a. Business firm of Representatives.
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48. ↑ House Sergeant at Arms: Legislative and Administrative Duties. EveryCRSReport.com
49. ↑ First Prayer of the Continental Congress, 1774. Function of the Chaplain.
50. ↑ Chaplains of the House. US House of Representatives.
51. ↑ Firm Function of the Chaplain. Library of Congress.
52. ↑ House chaplain forced out by Ryan. The Hill.
53. ↑ v U.S. Code § 3331.Oath of part.
54. ↑ Violation of Adjuration of Office by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Public Citizen.
55. ↑ Opinion: Donald Trump has violated his oath. Mitch McConnell is nearly to violate two. Courier Journal.
56. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July one, 2017" (XLSX). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
57. ↑ Clarke, Seán; Kommenda, Niko; Jacobs, Ben; Morris, Sam (17 September 2018). "Everything you need to know about the Midterms". The Guardian . Retrieved Dec 5, 2018.
58. ↑ Frequently Asked Questions about Statehood for the People of DC, Statehood DC
59. ↑ FBI informant: Blagojevich was mob-connected bookie, The Raw Story
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61. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Government shutdowns in the United states of america.
62. ↑ All 21 Government Shutdowns in U.S. History. ThoughtCo.
63. ↑ Censure. U.s. Senate.
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65. ↑ Oshinsky, David 1000. (2005) [1983]. A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy. New York: Free Press. pp. 503–504. ISBN 0-19-515424-10.
66. ↑ ^{66.0 66.1} Blount Expulsion. US Senate.
67. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on List of U.s.a. senators expelled or censured.
68. ↑ ^{68.0 68.1} Filibuster and Cloture. US Senate.
69. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Strom Thurmond filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
70. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Delay in the U.s.a. Senate § Barack Obama.
71. ↑ Ted Cruz pulls all-nighter equally marathon anti-Obamacare speech communication churns on. The Guardian.
72. ↑ The End of the Filibuster—No, Really. The Atlantic.
73. ↑ Sen. Lindsey Graham got really, really mad at the Kavanaugh hearing. NBC News.
74. ↑ Nomination & Confirmation Process. Georgetown Constabulary Library.
75. ↑ What Happened With Merrick Garland In 2022 And Why It Matters Now. NPR.
76. ↑ Subsequently Boycotting Vote, Senate Democrats Continue to Protest 'Illegitimate' Amy Coney Barrett Confirmation. Forbes.
77. ↑ Meet the Wikipedia article on Treaty Clause.
78. ↑ Treaties: A Historical Overview. U.s. Senate.
79. ↑ Senate rejects League of Nations, November. xix, 1919. Politico.
80. ↑ U.S. Failure to Ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Clan for Women'southward Rights in Evolution.
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84. ↑ The Impeachment Procedure in the Senate. Congressional Research Service.
85. ↑ McConnell Says He Will Go on on Impeachment Trial Without Witness Deal. New York Times.
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93. ↑ Responsibilities of Majority and Minority Leaders. United states Senate.
94. ↑ McConnell now says he'd hold SCOTUS hearings in an election year — in a reversal of 2016. Vocalism.
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96. ↑ How Mitch McConnell Became Trump'south Enabler-in-Main. The New Yorker.
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98. ↑ Chuck Schumer is at present majority leader as 3 new Democratic senators are sworn in, Axios, January twenty, 2021

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