Legislative Branch
Congress - House of Representatives & Senate
Congress
House of Representatives
Differences
- 435 members
- 2 year term
- At least one representative per state
- Representation is based off of population
- Larger than senate
- Can only introduce spending bills
Qualifications
- At least 25 years old
- U.S. citizen for at least 7 years
- Live in state representingImportant People
Represents Me - Niki Tsongas
Speaker of the House - Paul Ryan - Elected by the whole of the House of Representatives, the Speaker acts as leader of the House and combines several roles: the institutional role of presiding officer and administrative head of the House, the role of leader of the majority party in the House, and the representative role of an elected member of the House. The Speaker of the House is second in line to succeed the President, after the Vice President.
Majority Leader - Kevin McCarthy - Represents Republicans on the House floor.
Minority Leader - Nancy Pelosi - Represents Democrats on the House floor.
Senate
Differences
- 2 per state regardless of population
- Equal representation from both senates
- Elected every 6 years
- Can approve or reject treaties and presidential nominations for government offices
Qualifications
- At least 30 years old
- U.S. citizen for at least 9 years
- Live in the state they representImportant People
Senators of Massachusetts - Edward Markey & Elizabeth Warren
Vice President - Joe Biden - Runs the Senate Meetings - Votes on Tie-Breaker
President Pro Tempore - Orrin Hatch - Runs Senate when Vice President isn’t there - Practically Leader of Senators
Majority Leader - Mitch McConnell - Political Party Leader of the Republicans
Minority Leader - Harry Reid - Political Party Leader of the Democrats
Bills
- Bill is used when making a law
- Any member in Congress can introduce a bill
- Only ones who can introduce bill about taxes or spending
- Before bill can become a law it has to be passed by both houses of congress
- Bill is sent to the entire house to debate
- If the house passes it the bill is sent to the other house for debate
- When both houses agree on a bill it’s sent to the Speaker of the House and the Vice President to sign
- The bill must be signed before sent to the President
- A bill becomes a law if the President signs it
Veto
- After President veto the bill is sent back to Congress
- If two-thirds of Congress's members vote "yes" the bill can still be a law
- The bill is removed if there's not enough to override the President
Delegated Powers
- Borrow Money
- Commerce with Foreign Nation
- Establish Naturalization
- Coin Money
- Provide Punishment for Counterfeiting
- Establish Post Offices
- Promote the Progress of Science and Useful Arts
- Provide Privacy
- Declare War
- Support Army
- Maintain Navy
- Make Rules for Military
- Call Forth the Militia
- Organize, Arm, Discipline the Militia
- Control the Nation's Capital
- Make Laws
Credits
"U.S. Senate." U.S. Senate. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
"Watch HouseLive." The United States House of Representatives · House.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.