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imately 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 so both seats from a given state are not contested in the same general election except when a vacancy is being filled class ii comprises senators whose six year terms are set to expire on january 3 2027 there is no constitutional limit to the number of terms a senator may serve citation needed 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 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 the congress shall assemble at least once every year and allows the 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 57 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 citation needed oath the constitution requires that senators take an oath or affirmation to support the constitution 58 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 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 59 salary and benefits main article united states congress privileges u s senate salaries 1992 2022 the annual salary of each senator since 2009 is 174 000 60 the president pro tempore and party leaders receive 193 400 60 61 in 2003 at least 40 senators were millionaires 62 by 2018 over 50 senators were millionaires partly due to inflation 63 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 senators are covered by the federal employees retirement system fers or civil service retirement system csrs fers has been the senate s retirement system since january 1 1987 while csrs applies only for those senators who were in the senate from december 31 1986 and prior as it is for federal employees congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants contributions 61 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 three 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 61 seniority main article seniority in the united states senate by tradition seniority is a factor in the selection of physical offices and in party caucuses assignment of committees when senators have been in office for the same length of time a number of tiebreakers are used including comparing their former government service and then their respective state population 64 the senator in each state with the longer time in office is known as the senior senator while the other is the junior senator for example minority leader chuck schumer is the senior senator from new york having served in the senate since 1999 while kirsten gillibrand is new york s junior senator having served since 2009 citation needed titles like members of the house of representatives senators use the prefix the honorable before their names 65 66 senators are usually identified in the media and other sources by party and state for example democratic majority leader chuck schumer who represents new york may be identified as d new york or d ny and sometimes they are identified as to whether they are the junior or senior senator in their state see above unless in the context of elections they are rarely identified by which one of the three classes of senators they are in citation needed expulsion and other disciplinary actions 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 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 in 2002 citation needed majority and minority parties 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 support either of the larger parties are not considered in determining which is the majority party seating a typical senate desk on the floor of the united states senate 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 67 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 68 it is a tradition that each senator who uses a desk inscribes their name on the inside of the desk s drawer with a pen 69 officers the senate side of the united states capitol in washington d c except for the president of the senate who is the vice president the senate elects its own officers 2 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 officer main article presiding officer of the united states senate under the constitution the vice president serves as president of the senate they may vote in the senate ex officio for they are not an elected member of the senate in the case of a tie but are not required to 70 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 citation needed the constitution authorizes the senate to elect a president pro tempore 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 71 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 72 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 citation needed party leaders main article party leaders of the united states senate 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 citation needed non member officers 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 citation needed procedure daily sessions the senate uses standing rules for operation like the house of representatives the senate meets in the united states capitol in 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 2 citation needed senate procedure depends on the rules and 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 citation needed 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 the senator who placed it 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 citation needed 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 the placement of a hold citation needed 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 as 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 and notes which members are present in practice senators rarely request quorum calls to establish the quorum as present 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 citation needed journalist george packer has argued that the senate s arcane rules have rendered it obsolete and ineffective 73 debate debate like most other matters governing the internal functioning of the senate is governed by internal rules adopted by the senate during a 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 the debate customarily the majority leader and minority leader are accorded priority during debates even if another senator rises first 74 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 of the judiciary committee senators address the senate standing next to their desks 75 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 citation needed the rules of the senate provide that no senator may make more than two speeches on a motion or 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