Senate

## Meeting Place

Meeting Place:Senate Chamber, United States Capitol, Washington D.C., United States

The **United States Senate** is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which, along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—constitutes the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C.

The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. The Senate is composed of senators, each of whom represents a single state in its entirety. Each state, regardless of its population size, is equally represented by two senators who serve staggered terms of six years. There being at present 50 states in the Union, there are currently 100 senators. From 1789 to 1913, senators were appointed by legislatures of the states they represented; they are now elected by popular vote, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913.

As the upper chamber of Congress, the Senate has several powers of advice and consent that are unique to it. These include the approval of treaties, and the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices, federal judges, flag officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, federal executive officials, and other federal uniformed officers. In addition to these, in cases wherein no candidate receives a majority of electors for vice president, the duty falls to the Senate to elect one of the top two recipients of electors for that office. Furthermore, the Senate has the responsibility of conducting the trials of those impeached by the House.

The Senate is widely considered both a more deliberative and more prestigious 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. The presiding officer of the Senate is the vice president of the United States, who is president of the Senate. In the vice president's absence, the president pro tempore, who is customarily the senior member of the party holding a majority of seats, presides over the Senate. In the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers.

## Members

### Qualifications

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 the past nine years or longer; and (3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election. 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".

### Elections

Between Week 1 and Week 8 of a U.S. Senate election year in your state, there will be a post on the Jobs tab, that will allow you to run for U.S. Senator. At times, you may be challenged by other members of your party, which will lead to a primary election on Week 19. All elections, however, will be processed on Week 45. Unlike Representative elections, Senate elections give you an accompanying map of the state with its counties that fill in over the course of the election.

### Term

Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately 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 such that both seats from a given state are not contested in the same general election. For an analysis of each of the 3 Senate classes and their ramifications on particular election years, see Vote Counting in the Senate.

## Committees

A **congressional committee** is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction. Committees are broken down into four sections:

* Super-A Committee
* Class A Committees
* Class B Committees
* Class C Committees

In these committees, there are sub-committees focused on a more specific issue in that range of topics; such as the *Economic Policy* sub-committee in Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. The list of sub-committees for a specific committee can be found by clicking on the committee article for committees that are available. There are certain committees in the simulator that you are unable to join, such as the Budget Committee; as well as sub-committees that you are unable to join such as the *National Security and International Trade and Finance* sub-committee in Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Senate committee structure ranges between 20-23 members; but no less than 20 members.

### Super-A Committees

Super-A Committees are the most 'prestigious' committees and are usually reserved for senators with the most seniority. A senator may not serve on more than one Super-A Committee.

### Class A Committees

A senator may not serve on more than two committees in Class A, one of which may be a Super-A Committee.

### Class B Committees

A senator may not serve on more than one Class B committee.

### Class C Committees

There are no restrictions on serving on Class C committees; you are able to serve any numbers of committees for Class C.