American Legislative Branch
The American Legislative branch, or Congress, is one of the most, if not the most, key provisions established in the Constitution of the United States. The organization, powers, and limitations of the Congress can be found throughout the first Article of the United States Constitution. Congress is made up of two bodies, the House of Representatives, composed of 435 members, and the Senate, composed of 100 members. This bicameral legislature is established under Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution (U.S. Const. art. I, § 1). Unlike the presidency, members of Congress are not limited in the number of terms in which they can serve. In contemporary politics, the two major parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, generally fight for control
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Each state gets a different number of representatives in proportion to its population. Unlike the Senate, representatives only serve two-year terms, with all 435 seats being up for reelection every two years (House of Representatives vs Senate, n.d.). This indicates that representatives will have to constantly keep in mind the needs of the people, as they are always campaigning for reelection. Representatives of the House typically gather separately in regards to political affiliation, with the Democrats’ gathering known as a caucus and the Republicans’ gathering known as a conference. Leadership of the House is divided among the majority leader, that being the political party who has a majority of seats in the House, and the minority leader. Each leader is chosen through a vote within each party’s gathering. The House is also led by a chief presiding officer known as the Speaker of the House elected by the Congress, with the majority party’s leader almost exclusively being elected to serve the role (TEXT; U.S. Const. art. I, § 2). Each of house of Congress reserves an exclusive set of powers. The power of impeachment is solely reserved to the House of Representatives (U.S. Const. art. I, § 2). The House also holds the power to introduce bills intended to generate revenue, as stated in Article I, Section 3, and to elect the President in the event of a tie in the electoral college (U.S. Const. art. I, § 3; U.S. Const. art. II, § 1). To serve in the House of Representatives, one must be at least twenty-five years old, been a citizen for at least seven years, and to be an inhabitant of the state in which they are seeking to
Each state gets a different number of representatives in proportion to its population. Unlike the Senate, representatives only serve two-year terms, with all 435 seats being up for reelection every two years (House of Representatives vs Senate, n.d.). This indicates that representatives will have to constantly keep in mind the needs of the people, as they are always campaigning for reelection. Representatives of the House typically gather separately in regards to political affiliation, with the Democrats’ gathering known as a caucus and the Republicans’ gathering known as a conference. Leadership of the House is divided among the majority leader, that being the political party who has a majority of seats in the House, and the minority leader. Each leader is chosen through a vote within each party’s gathering. The House is also led by a chief presiding officer known as the Speaker of the House elected by the Congress, with the majority party’s leader almost exclusively being elected to serve the role (TEXT; U.S. Const. art. I, § 2). Each of house of Congress reserves an exclusive set of powers. The power of impeachment is solely reserved to the House of Representatives (U.S. Const. art. I, § 2). The House also holds the power to introduce bills intended to generate revenue, as stated in Article I, Section 3, and to elect the President in the event of a tie in the electoral college (U.S. Const. art. I, § 3; U.S. Const. art. II, § 1). To serve in the House of Representatives, one must be at least twenty-five years old, been a citizen for at least seven years, and to be an inhabitant of the state in which they are seeking to