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house the senate has been considered both a more deliberative 5 and prestigious 6 7 8 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 9 the senate chamber is located in the north wing of the capitol building in washington d c the nation s capital not themselves a senator vice president of the united states serves as ex officio presiding officer and president of the senate they vote only if and when the senate is equally divided in the vice president s absence the president pro tempore who is traditionally the most senior member of the senate majority party presides over the senate and more often by rule allows a junior senator to take the chair guided by the parliamentarian in the early 1920s the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began the senate s legislative and executive business is managed and scheduled by the senate majority leader who on occasion negotiates some matters with the senate minority leader a characteristic practice in the senate is the filibuster on some matters and its remedy the vote on cloture history main article history of the united states senate the drafters of the constitution debated more about how to award representation in the senate than about any other part of the constitution 10 while bicameralism and the idea of a proportional c people s house were widely popular discussions about senate representation proved contentious in the end some small states unwilling to give up their equal power with larger states under the articles of confederation threatened to secede 11 in 1787 and won the day by a vote of 5 4 in what became known as the connecticut compromise the connecticut compromise provided among other things that each state regardless of population would be represented by two senators 12 first convened in 1789 the senate of the united states was formed on the example of the ancient roman senate the name is derived from the senatus latin for council of elders derived from senex meaning old man in latin 13 article five of 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 united states has had 50 states since 1959 14 thus the senate has had 100 senators since 1959 15 a graph of party control of the u s senate u s house of representatives and the presidency since 1855 before the adoption of the seventeenth amendment in 1913 senators were elected by the individual state legislatures 16 problems with repeated vacant seats due to the inability of a legislature to elect senators intrastate political struggles bribery and intimidation gradually led to a growing movement to amend the constitution to allow for the direct election of senators 17 in contrast to the house of representatives the senate has historically had stronger norms of conduct for its members 18 functions the u s senate chamber c 1873 two or three spittoons are visible by desks senate approval is required to pass any federal legislation the constitution provides several unique functions for the senate that form its ability to checks and balances 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 legislation further information act of congress bills may be introduced in either chamber of congress however the constitution s origination clause provides that all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house of representatives 19 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 20 21 22 23 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 parliament of the united kingdom in which money bills approved by parliament have originated in the house of commons per constitutional convention 24 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 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 25 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 appointment confirmations 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 26 typically a nominee is the first subject to a hearing before a senate committee thereafter the nomination is considered by the full senate the majority of nominees are confirmed however 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 history 27 the powers of the senate concerning nominations are 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 are required for the appointment of certain executive branch officials it is not necessary for their removal 28 29 recess appointments have faced a significant amount of resistance in 1960 the u s senate passed a legally non binding resolution against recess appointments to the supreme court 30 31 treaty ratification 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 u s 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 32 to suggest that they unconstitutionally circumvent the treaty ratification process however courts have upheld the validity of such agreements 33 impeachment trials 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 is being tried the chief justice of the united states presides over the trial during an impeachment trial senators are constitutionally required to sit on oath or affirmation 34 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 35 the house of representatives has impeached sixteen officials of whom seven were convicted one resigned before the senate could complete the trial 36 only three presidents have been impeached andrew johnson in 1868 bill clinton in 1998 and donald trump in 2019 and 2021 the trials of johnson clinton and both trump trials ended in acquittal 37 38 39 in johnson s case the senate fell one vote short of the two thirds majority required for conviction 40 election of the vice president 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 41 membership see also list of current united states senators members of the united states senate by class from the staggered term system for the 119th united states congress qualifications this article is part of a series on the united states senate great seal of the united states senate history of the united states senate members current members by seniority by class former members hill committees dscc nrsc women in the senate president of the senate list president pro tempore list presiding officer party leaders party leadership of the 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 journal nuclear option recess appointment quorum quorum call salaries saxbe fix seal holds senatorial courtesy standing rules traditions unanimous consent vice presidential tie breaking votes places united states capitol senate chamber old 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 for at least nine years and 3 they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election 3 the age and citizenship qualifications for senators are more stringent than those for representatives in federalist no 62 james madison justified this arrangement by arguing that the senatorial trust called for a greater extent of information and stability of character a senator must be thirty years of age at least as a representative must be twenty five and the former must have been a citizen nine years as seven years are required for the latter the propriety of these distinctions is explained by the nature of the senatorial trust which requiring greater extent of information and stability of character requires at the same time that the senator should have reached a period of life most likely to supply these advantages and which participating immediately in transactions with foreign nations ought to be exercised by none who are not thoroughly weaned from the prepossessions and habits incident to foreign birth and education the term of nine years appears to be a prudent mediocrity between a total exclusion of adopted citizens whose merits and talents may claim a share in the public confidence and an indiscriminate and hasty admission of them which might create a channel for foreign influence on the national councils 42 the senate not the judiciary is the sole judge of a senator s qualifications during its early years the senate did not closely scrutinize the qualifications of its members as a result four senators who failed to meet the age requirement were admitted to the senate henry clay aged 29 in 1806 john jordan crittenden aged 29 in 1817 armistead thomson mason aged 28 in 1816 and john eaton aged 28 in 1818 such an occurrence has not been repeated since 43 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 on november 7 1972 joe biden was elected to the senate at the age of 29 which was only 13 days prior to his 30th birthday on november 20 1972 therefore he reached his 30th birthday before the swearing in ceremony for incoming senators in january 1973 44 the fourteenth amendment to the united states constitution disqualifies as senators any federal or state officers who had taken the requisite oath to support the constitution but who 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 also provides a method to remove that disqualification a two thirds vote of both chambers of congress 45 elections and term 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 17 in 1913 popular election to the senate was standardized nationally by the ratification of the seventeenth amendment 46 elections further information list of 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 occur simultaneously with elections for the house of...
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