For the current Congress see 112th United States Congress. United States Senate 112th United States Congress Type Type Upper house Leadership President Joe Biden (D) since January 20 2009 President pro tempore Daniel Inouye (D) since June 28 2010 Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) since January 4 2007 Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) since January 4 2007 Members 100 Political groups Democratic Caucus (53 members) Republican Conference (47 members) Elections Last election November 2 2010 Meeting place Senate Chamber United States Capitol Washington D.C. United States Website http://www.senate.gov

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution.1 Each U.S. state is represented by two senators regardless of population. Senators serve staggered six-year terms. The chamber of the United States Senate is located in the north wing of the Capitol in Washington D.C. the national capital. The House of Representatives convenes in the south wing of the same building.

The Senate has several exclusive powers not granted to the House including consenting to treaties as a precondition to their ratification and consenting or confirmation of appointments of Cabinet secretaries federal judges other federal executive officials military officers regulatory officials ambassadors and other federal uniformed officers23 as well as trial of federal officials impeached by the House. The Senate is both a more deliberative4 and more prestigious5 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.6 The Senate has been described by some members of the American media as the "world's greatest deliberative body."78910 Contents 1 History 2 Membership 2.1 Qualifications 2.2 Elections and term 2.2.1 Term 2.2.2 Elections 2.2.3 Mid-term vacancies 2.3 Oath 2.4 Salary and benefits 2.5 Political prominence 2.6 Seniority 2.7 Expulsion and other disciplinary actions 3 Majority and minority parties 3.1 Seating 4 Officers 4.1 Presiding over the Senate 4.2 Party leaders 4.3 Non-member officers 5 Procedure 5.1 Daily sessions 5.1.1 Debate 5.1.2 Filibuster and cloture 5.1.3 Voting 5.1.4 Closed session 5.2 Calendars 5.3 Committees 6 Functions of the Senate 6.1 Legislative functions 6.2 Checks and balances 7 Current composition and election results 7.1 Current party standings 8 See also 9 References 10 Bibliography 10.1 Official Senate histories 10.2 Miscellaneous 11 External links History Main article: History of the United States Senate

The framers of the Constitution created a bicameral Congress primarily as a compromise between those who felt that each state since it was sovereign should be equally represented and those who felt the Legislature must directly represent the People as did the House of Commons in Britain. There was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a "People's House" directly elected by the People and with short terms obliging the representatives to remain close to their constituents. The other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not intended to represent the people of the United States equally. The Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation.

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 (from senex meaning old man in Latin).11

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 District of Columbia and all other territories (including territories protectorates etc.) are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress.12 The United States has had 50 states since 1959 thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959.

The disparity between the most and least populous states has grown since the Great Compromise which granted each state two members of the Senate and at least one member of the House of Representatives for a total minimum of three presidential Electors regardless of population. In 1787 Virginia had roughly 10 times the population of Rhode Island whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming based on the 1790 and 2000 censuses. This means some citizens are effectively an order of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state reducing the disparity of representation.

Before the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment senators were elected by the individual state legislatures.13 However problems with repeated vacant seats due to the inability of a legislature to elect senators intrastate political struggles and even bribery and intimidation gradually led to a growing movement to amend the Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators.14 Membership Qualifications This article is part of the series: United States Senate Members Current (by seniority  by age  by class) Former Hill committees (DSCC NRSC) U.S. Vice President President pro tempore (list) Presiding officer Party leaders and Assistants

Party leadership of the United States Senate

Democratic Caucus Republican Conference Politics and procedure Advice and consent Closed session (list) Cloture  Committees (list) Executive session  Morning business Filibuster  History  Quorum Quorum call Recess appointment  Salaries Seal  Secret hold Senatorial courtesy Standing Rules  Traditions Unanimous consent VPs' tie-breaking votes Places United States Capitol Senate office buildings (Dirksen  Hart  Russell) Article I Section 3 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for senators: 1) each senator must be at least 30 years old 2) must have been a citizen of the United States for at least the past nine years and 3) must be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state he or she seeks to represent. 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." The Senate (not the judiciary) is the sole judge of a senator's qualifications. During its early years however the Senate did not closely scrutinize the qualifications of members. As a result three senators who failed to meet the age qualification were nevertheless admitted to the Senate: Henry Clay (aged 29 in 1806) and Armistead Thomson Mason (aged 28 in 1816) and John Eaton (aged 28 in 1818). Such an occurrence however has not been repeated since.15 In 1934 Rush D. Holt Sr. was elected to the Senate at the age of 29; he waited until he turned 30 to take the oath of office. Likewise Joe Biden was elected to the Senate shortly before his 30th birthday in 1972; he had passed his 30th birthday by the time the Senate conducted its swearing-in ceremony for that year's incoming senators in January 1973. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution disqualifies from the Senate any federal or state officers who had taken the requisite oath to support the Constitution but 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 sided with the Confederacy from serving. That Amendment however also provides a method to remove that disqualification: a two-thirds vote of both chambers of Congress. Elections and term See also: Members of the 111th United States Congress and Elections in the United States 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.16 Popular election to the Senate was standardized nationally in 1913 by the ratification of the 17th Amendment. 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 except when a mid-term vacancy is being filled. Current senators whose six-year terms expired on January 3 2011 belong to Class III. 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". Also out of the two senators a state has the one who has been serving longer is referred to as the "senior senator" while the latter "junior senator". Elections Elections to the Senate are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years Election Day and coincide with elections for the House of Representatives.17 Senators are elected by their state as a whole. In most states (since 1970) a primary election is held first for the Republican and Democratic parties with the general election following a few months later. Ballot access rules for independent and minor party candidates vary from state to state. The winner is the candidate who receives a plurality of the popular vote. In some states runoffs are held if no candidate wins a majority. Mid-term vacancies The Seventeenth Amendment allows governors with the approval of their legislature to appoint temporary senators until either a special or regular election takes place. The official wording provides that "the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct." Some states as stated above provide for a special election to fill a Senate vacancy. A special election need not be held immediately after the vacancy arises; often it may wait until the next biennial congressional election. If a special election for one seat happens to coincide with a general election for the state's other seat then the two elections are not combined but are instead contested separately. A senator elected in a special election serves until the original six-year term expires not for a full term. Forty-six states permit governors to make Senate appointments of varying lengths as of 2009. Oregon and Wisconsin require special elections for vacancies and Oklahoma permits the governor to appoint only the winner of a special election.18 In September 2009 Massachusetts changed its law to enable the governor to appoint a temporary replacement for the late Senator Kennedy until the special election in January 2010.1920 In 2004 Alaska enacted legislation and a separate ballot referendum that took effect on the same day but that conflicted with each other. The effect of the ballot-approved law is to withhold from the governor authority to appoint a senator.21 Because the 17th Amendment vests the power to grant that authority to the legislature  not the people or the state generally  it is unclear whether the ballot measure supplants the legislature's statute granting that authority.21 As a result it is uncertain whether an Alaska governor may appoint an interim senator to serve until a special election is held to fill the vacancy. In 2009 Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold announced he would introduce a bill proposing a constitutional amendment to require Senate vacancies be filled by special elections as the Constitution already requires for vacancies in the House of Representatives.222324 Oath United States This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the United States Federal government Constitution Taxation Legislature Congress House Speaker Party leaders Congressional districts Senate President pro tempore Party leaders Presidency President Vice President Cabinet Federal agencies Judiciary Federal courts Supreme Court Courts of Appeals District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Off-year elections Political parties Democratic Republican Third parties Federalism State government Governors Legislatures (List) State courts Local government Other countries  Atlas  U.S. Government Portal view talk The Constitution requires that senators take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution.25 Congress has prescribed the following oath for new 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.26 Salary and benefits The annual salary of each senator as of 2009 is $174000;27 the president pro tempore and party leaders receive $193400.28 In June 2003 at least 40 of the then-senators were millionaires.29 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.28 Senators are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). As it is for federal employees congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. 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 3 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 $60972 while those who retired under FERS or in combination with CSRS was $35952.28 Political prominence Senators are regarded as more prominent political figures than members of the House of Representatives because there are fewer of them and because they serve for longer terms usually represent larger constituencies (the exception being House at-large districts which similarly comprise entire states) sit on more committees and have more staffers. Far more senators have been nominees for the presidency than representatives. Furthermore three senators (Warren Harding John Kennedy and Barack Obama) have been elected president while serving in the Senate while only one Representative (James Garfield) has been elected president while serving in the House though Garfield was also a Senator-elect at the time of his election to the Presidency having been chosen by the Ohio Legislature to fill a Senate vacancy. Seniority Main article: Seniority in the United States Senate According to the convention of Senate seniority the senator with the longer tenure in each state is known as the "senior senator"; the other is the "junior senator". This convention however does not have official significance though it is a factor in the selection of physical offices.citation needed In the 111th Congress the most-senior "junior senator" is Tom Harkin of Iowa who was sworn in on January 3 1985 and is currently 11th in seniority. The most-junior "senior senator" is Mark Udall of Colorado who was sworn in on January 3 2009just two weeks before the state's junior senator Michael Bennet and is currently 85th in seniority. Expulsion and other disciplinary actions The Senate may expel a senator by a two-thirds vote. Fifteen senators have been expelled in the history of the Senate: 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 proceedingsfor 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. 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 with or support either of the larger parties) are not considered in determining which is the majority party. Seating The Democratic Party always sits to the presiding officer's right and the Republican Party always sits to the presiding officer's left regardless which party has a majority of seats.citation needed In this respect the Senate differs from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and other parliamentary bodies in the Commonwealth of Nations and elsewhere. Officers This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2011) The Senate side of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. The Vice President of the United States presides over the Senate but the party leaders have the real power and they control procedure. Many non-member officers are also hired to run the day-to-day functions of the Senate. Presiding over the Senate The Vice President of the United States is the ex officio President of the Senate with authority to preside over the Senate's sessions although he can vote only to break a tie. For decades the task of presiding over Senate sessions was one of the vice president's principal duties. Since the 1950s vice presidents have presided over few Senate debates. Instead they have usually presided only on ceremonial occasions such as joint sessions or at times when a tie vote on an important issue is anticipated. The Constitution authorizes the Senate to elect a president pro tempore (Latin for "president for a time") to preside in the vice president's absence; the most senior senator of the majority party is customarily chosen to serve in this position. Like the vice president the president pro tempore does not normally preside over the Senate but typically delegates the responsibility of presiding to junior senators of the majority party 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. 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. Party leaders Each party elects Senate party leaders. Floor leaders act as the party chief spokespeople. The Senate Majority Leader is responsible for controlling the agenda of the chamber by scheduling debates and votes. Each party elects a whip who works to ensure that their party's senators vote as the party leadership desires. Non-member officers The Senate is served by several officials 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 in his or her 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. Procedure Daily sessions A typical Senate desk The Senate uses Standing Rules of the Senate 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. One hundred desks are arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern and are divided by a wide central aisle. By tradition Republicans sit to the right of the center aisle and Democrats to the left facing the presiding officer.30 Each senator chooses a desk based on seniority within and party. By custom the leader of each party sits in the front row along the center aisle. 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. Senate procedure depends not only on the rules but also on 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. 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 a senator 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. 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 that he or she has placed a hold. 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 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 of the Senate and notes which members are present. In practice senators rarely request quorum calls to establish the presence of a quorum. 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. Debate Debate like most other matters governing the internal functioning of the Senate is governed by internal rules adopted by the Senate. During 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 debate. Customarily the Majority Leader and Minority Leader are accorded priority during debates even if another senator rises first. 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 gentlewoman from California" or "my distinguished friend the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee". Senators address the Senate standing next to their desk.31 Apart from rules governing civility there are few restrictions on the content of speeches; there is no requirement that speeches be germane to the matter before the Senate. The rules of the Senate provide that no senator may make more than two speeches on a motion or bill on the same legislative day. A legislative day begins when the Senate convenes and ends with adjournment; hence it does not necessarily coincide with the calendar day. The length of these speeches is not limited by the rules; thus in most cases senators may speak for as long as they please. Often the Senate adopts unanimous consent agreements imposing time limits. In other cases (for example for the budget process) limits are imposed by statute. However the right to unlimited debate is generally preserved. Filibuster and cloture Main articles: Filibuster (United States Senate) and Reconciliation (United States Congress) The filibuster is a tactic used to defeat bills and motions by prolonging debate indefinitely. A filibuster may entail long speeches dilatory motions and an extensive series of proposed amendments. The Senate may end a filibuster by invoking cloture. In most cases cloture requires the support of three-fifths of the Senate; however if the matter before the Senate involves changing the rules of the bodythis includes amending provisions regarding the filibustera two-thirds majority is required. In current practice the threat of filibuster is more important than its use; almost any motion that does not have the support of three-fifths of the Senate effectively fails. This means that 41 senators which could represent as little as 12.3% of the U.S. population can make a filibuster happen. Historically cloture has rarely been invoked because bipartisan support is usually necessary to obtain the required supermajority so a bill that already has bipartisan support is rarely subject to threats of filibuster. However motions for cloture have increased significantly in recent years. If the Senate invokes cloture debate does not end immediately; instead it is limited to 30 additional hours unless increased by another three-fifths vote. The longest filibuster speech in the history of the Senate was delivered by Strom Thurmond who spoke for over 24 hours in an unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.32 Under certain circumstances the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 provides for a process called "reconciliation" by which Congress can pass bills related to the budget without those bills being subject to a filibuster. This is accomplished by limiting all Senate floor debate to 20 hours.33 Voting When debate concludes the motion in question is put to a vote. The Senate often votes by voice vote. The presiding officer puts the question and Members respond either "Yea" (in favor of the motion) or "Nay" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote. A senator however may challenge the presiding officer's assessment and request a recorded vote. The request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth of the senators present. In practice however senators second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy. When a recorded vote is held the clerk calls the roll of the Senate in alphabetical order; senators respond when their name is called. Senators who were not in the chamber when their name was called may still cast a vote so long as the voting remains open. The vote is closed at the discretion of the presiding officer but must remain open for a minimum of 15 minutes. If the vote is tied the vice president if present is entitled to a casting vote. If the vice president is not present the motion fails.34 Closed session Main article: Closed session of the United States Congress On occasion the Senate may go into what is called a secret or closed session. During a closed session the chamber doors are closed cameras are turned off and the galleries are completely cleared of anyone not sworn to secrecy not instructed in the rules of the closed session or not essential to the session. Closed sessions are rare and usually held only when the Senate is discussing sensitive subject matter such as information critical to national security private communications from the president or deliberations during impeachment trials. A senator may call for and force a closed session if the motion is seconded by at least one other member but an agreement usually occurs beforehand.35 If the Senate does not approve release of a secret transcript the transcript is stored in the Office of Senate Security and ultimately sent to the national archives. The proceedings remain sealed indefinitely until the Senate votes to remove the injunction of secrecy.36 Calendars The Senate maintains a Senate Calendar and an Executive Calendar.37 The former identifies bills and resolutions awaiting Senate floor actions. The latter identifies executive resolutions treaties and nominations reported out by Senate committee(s) and awaiting Senate floor action. Both are updated each day the Senate is in session. Committees Dirksen Senate Office Building Committee Room 226 is used for hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Main article: U.S. Congressional committee See List of United States Senate committees for the full list. The Senate uses committees (and their subcommittees) for a variety of purposes including the review of bills and the oversight of the executive branch. Formally the whole Senate appoints committee members. In practice however the choice of members is made by the political parties. Generally each party honors the preferences of individual senators giving priority based on seniority. Each party is allocated seats on committees in proportion to its overall strength. Most committee work is performed by 16 standing committees each of which has jurisdiction over a field such as finance or foreign relations. Each standing committee may consider amend and report bills that fall under its jurisdiction. Furthermore each standing committee considers presidential nominations to offices related to its jurisdiction. (For instance the Judiciary Committee considers nominees for judgeships and the Foreign Relations Committee considers nominees for positions in the Department of State.) Committees may block nominees and impede bills from reaching the floor of the Senate. Standing committees also oversee the departments and agencies of the executive branch. In discharging their duties standing committees have the power to hold hearings and to subpoena witnesses and evidence. The Senate also has several committees that are not considered standing committees. Such bodies are generally known as select or special committees; examples include the Select Committee on Ethics and the Special Committee on Aging. Legislation is referred to some of these committees although the bulk of legislative work is performed by the standing committees. Committees may be established on an ad hoc basis for specific purposes; for instance the Senate Watergate Committee was a special committee created to investigate the Watergate scandal. Such temporary committees cease to exist after fulfilling their tasks. The Congress includes joint committees which include members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Some joint committees oversee independent government bodies; for instance the Joint Committee on the Library oversees the Library of Congress. Other joint committees serve to make advisory reports; for example there exists a Joint Committee on Taxation. Bills and nominees are not referred to joint committees. Hence the power of joint committees is considerably lower than those of standing committees. Each Senate committee and subcommittee is led by a chair (usually a member of the majority party). Formerly committee chairs were determined purely by seniority; as a result several elderly senators continued to serve as chair despite severe physical infirmity or even senility.38 committee chairs are elected but in practice seniority is rarely bypassed. The chairs hold extensive powers: they control the committee's agenda and so decide how much if any time to devote to the consideration of a bill; they act with the power of the committee in disapproving or delaying a bill or a nomination by the president; they manage on the floor of the full Senate the consideration of those bills the committee reports. This last role was particularly important in mid-century when floor amendments were thought not to be collegial. They also have considerable influence: senators who cooperate with their committee chairs are likely to accomplish more good for their states than those who do not. The Senate rules and customs were reformed in the twentieth century largely in the 1970s. Committee chairmen have less power and are generally more moderate and collegial in exercising it than they were before reform.39 The second-highest member the spokesperson on the committee for the minority party is known in most cases as the ranking member.40 In the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Select Committee on Ethics however the senior minority member is known as the vice chair. Recent criticisms of the Senate's operations object to what the critics argue is obsolescence as a result of partisan paralysis and a preponderance of arcane rules.414243 Functions of the Senate Legislative functions Further information: Act of Congress Bills may be introduced in either House of Congress. However the Constitution provides that "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." 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. 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 British Parliament in which only the House of Commons may originate such measures. Although the Constitution gave the House the power to initiate revenue bills in practice the Senate is equal to the House in the respects of taxation and spending. As Woodrow Wilson wrote:44 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. 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. Checks and balances The Constitution provides several unique functions for the Senate that form its ability to "check and balance" 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 ratify 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. The Senate has the power to try impeachments; shown above is Theodore R. Davis' drawing of the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson 1867. 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). Typically a nominee is first subject to a hearing before a Senate committee. Thereafter the nomination is considered by the full Senate. The majority of nominees are confirmed but in a small number of cases each year Senate Committees will 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 the history of the United States).citation needed The powers of the Senate concerning nominations are however 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 is required for the appointment of certain executive branch officials it is not necessary for their removal.45 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." However not all international agreements are considered treaties under US 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 Yoo46 to suggest that they unconstitutionally circumvent the treaty-ratification process. However courts have upheld the validity of such agreements.47 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. 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. In the history of the United States the House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials of whom seven were convicted. (One resigned before the Senate could complete the trial.)48 Only two presidents of the United States have ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. 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. In the history of the United States the Senate has only broken a deadlock once. In 1837 it elected Richard Mentor Johnson. The House elects the president if the Electoral College deadlocks on that choice. Current composition and election results Current party membership by state   2 Democrats   1 Democrat and 1 Republican   2 Republicans    1 Independent 1 Democrat Current party standings Main article: List of current United States Senators The party composition of the Senate after January 3 2011: Affiliation Members Note   Democratic Party 51   Republican Party 47   Independent 2 Both caucus with the Democrats Total 100 See also Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate List of current United States Senators by age List of current United States Senators United States presidents and control of congress Women in the United States Senate References "Constitution of the United States". Senate.gov. 2009-03-26. http://www.senate.gov/civics/constitutionitem/constitution.htm#a1sec3. Retrieved 2010-10-04.  "Constitution of the United States". Senate.gov. 2009-03-26. http://www.senate.gov/civics/constitutionitem/constitution.htm#a2sec2. Retrieved 2010-10-04.  Lugar.senate.gov Jstor.org Jstor.org "Agreeing to Disagree: Agenda Content and Senate Partisanship 198". Ingentaconnect.com. 2006-06-16. doi:10.3162/036298008784311000. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/uoi/lsq/2008/00000033/00000002/art00003. Retrieved 2010-10-04.  "The World's Greatest Deliberative Body". Time. July 5 1993. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0917197882300.html.  Jstor.org "World's greatest deliberative body watch". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/11/worldsgreatestdeliberativeb.html.  "Senate reform: Lazing on a Senate afternoon". The Economist. http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/08/senatereform. Retrieved 2010-10-04.  "Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: senate". http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/senate. Retrieved 2008-06-01.  The District of Columbia elects two shadow senators but they are officials of the D.C. city government and not members of the U.S. Senate. Article I Section 3: "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state chosen by the legislature thereof for six years; and each senator shall have one vote." "U.S. Senate: Art & History Home > Origins & Development > Institutional Development > Direct Election of Senators". Senate.gov. 2009-03-26. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/DirectElectionSenators.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-04.  1801-1850 November 16 1818: Youngest Senator. United States Senate. Retrieved on 2007-11-17. "Direct Election of Senators". U.S. Senate official website. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/DirectElectionSenators.htm.  2 U.S.C.  1 Neale Thomas H. (March 10 2009). "Filling U.S. Senate Vacancies: Perspectives and Contemporary Developments". Congressional Research Service. p. 8. http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R4042120090310.pdf.  DeLeo Robert A. (September 17 2009). "Temporary Appointment of US Senator". Massachusetts Great and General Court. http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/54-140.htm.  DeLeo Robert A. (September 17 2009). "Temporary Appointment of US Senator Shall not be a candidate in special election". Massachusetts Great and General Court. http://www.mass.gov/legis/ht04248.pdf.  a b "Stevens could keep seat in Senate". Anchorage Daily News. 2009-10-28. http://www.adn.com/politics/story/569836.html.  Halperin Mark (January 26 2009). "Feingold Statement on Amendment Proposal". Time. http://thepage.time.com/feingold-statement-on-amendment-proposal/.  Thrush Glenn (January 25 2009). "Feingold wants Constitutional amendment to ban gov appointments". Politico. http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0109/FeingoldwantsConstitutionalamendmenttobangovappointments.htmlshowall.  Newmark Betsy (2009-01-26). "Change I Can Believe In  Russ Feingolds Very Good Idea". The Washington Times. http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/01/26/newmarkkennedyblago/.  United States Constitution Article VI See: 5 U.S.C.  3331; see also: Standing Rules of the Senate: Rule IIIdead link Salaries. United States Senate. Retrieved on April 17 2009. a b c USGovInfo.com . Retrieved April 17 2009. Sean Loughlin and Robert Yoon (2003-06-13). "Millionaires populate U.S. Senate". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/06/13/senators.finances. Retrieved 2006-06-19.  CRS Report for Congress "Guide to Individuals Seated on the Senate Dais" (updated May 6 2008). Retrieved 2009-01-06. Martin B. Gold Senate Procedure and Practice p.39: Every member when he speaks shall address the chair standing in his place and when he has finished shall sit down. Quinton Jeff. "Thurmond's Filibuster". Backcountry Conservative. 27 July 2003. Retrieved on 19 June 2006. Reconciliation 2 U.S.C.  641(e) (Procedure in the Senate). "Yea or Nay Voting in the Senate". Senate.gov. http://www.senate.gov/general/Features/votes.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-11.  Senate.gov Senate.gov "Calendars & Schedules" via Senate.gov See for examples American Dictionary of National Biography on John Sherman and Carter Glass; in general Ritchie Congress p. 209 Ritchie Congress p. 44. Zelizer On Capitol Hill describes this process; one of the reforms is that seniority within the majority party can now be bypassed so that chairs do run the risk of being deposed by their colleagues. See in particular p. 17 for the unreformed Congress and pp.1889 for the Stevenson reforms of 1977. Ritchie Congress pp .44 175 209 Mark Murray (2010-08-02). "The inefficient Senate". Firstread.msnbc.msn.com. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/news/2010/08/02/4801404-the-inefficient-senate. Retrieved 2010-10-04.  Packer George (2009-01-07). "Filibusters and arcane obstructions in the Senate". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/09/100809fafactpackercurrentPageall#ixzz0vY0UxHu9. Retrieved 2010-10-04.  1dead link Wilson Congressional Government Chapter III: "Revenue and Supply". Text common to all printings or "editions"; in Papers of Woodrow Wilson it is Vol.4 (1968) p.91; for unchanged text see p. 13 ibid. Recess Appointments FAQ (PDF). US Senate Congressional Research Service. Retrieved on November 20 2007; Ritchie Congress p. 178. Bolton John R. (January 5 2009). "Restore the Senate's Treaty Power". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/opinion/05bolton.html.  For an example and a discussion of the literature see Laurence Tribe "Taking Text and Structure Seriously: Reflections on Free-Form Method in Constitutional Interpretation" Harvard Law Review Vol. 108 No. 6. (Apr. 1995) pp. 12211303. Complete list of impeachment trials. United States Senate. Retrieved on November 20 2007 Bibliography Official Senate histories The following are published by the Senate Historical Office. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 17741989 Robert Byrd. The Senate 17891989. Four volumes. Vol. I a chronological series of addresses on the history of the Senate Vol. II a topical series of addresses on various aspects of the Senate's operation and powers Vol. III Classic Speeches 18301993 Vol. IV Historical Statistics 17891992 Dole Bob. Historical Almanac of the United States Senate Hatfield Mark O. with the Senate Historical Office. Vice Presidents of the United States 17891993 (essays reprinted online) Frumin Alan S. Riddick's Senate Procedure. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office 1992. Miscellaneous Baker Richard A. The Senate of the United States: A Bicentennial History Krieger 1988. Baker Richard A. ed. First Among Equals: Outstanding Senate Leaders of the Twentieth Century Congressional Quarterly 1991. Barone Michael and Grant Ujifusa The Almanac of American Politics 1976: The Senators the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results Their States and Districts (1975); new edition every 2 years David W. Brady and Mathew D. McCubbins. Party Process and Political Change in Congress: New Perspectives on the History of Congress (2002) Caro Robert A. The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Vol. 3: Master of the Senate. Knopf 2002. Comiskey Michael. Seeking Justices: The Judging of Supreme Court Nominees U. Press of Kansas 2004. Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 20012004: A Review of Government and Politics: 107th and 108th Congresses (2005); massive highly detailed summary of Congressional activity as well as major executive and judicial decisions; based on Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report and the annual CQ almanac. Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19972001 (2002) Congressional Quarterly. Congress and the Nation: 19931996 (1998) Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19891992 (1993) Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19851988 (1989) Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19811984 (1985) Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19771980 (1981) Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19731976 (1977) Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19691972 (1973) Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19651968 (1969) Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 19451964 (1965) the first of the series Cooper John Milton Jr. Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations. Cambridge U. Press 2001. Davidson Roger H. and Walter J. Oleszek eds. (1998). Congress and Its Members 6th ed. Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly. (Legislative procedure informal practices and member information) Gould Lewis L. The Most Exclusive Club: A History Of The Modern United States Senate (2005) Hernon Joseph Martin. Profiles in Character: Hubris and Heroism in the U.S. Senate 17891990 Sharpe 1997. Hoebeke C. H. The Road to Mass Democracy: Original Intent and the Seventeenth Amendment. Transaction Books 1995. (Popular elections of senators) Lee Frances E. and Oppenheimer Bruce I. Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation. U. of Chicago Press 1999. 304 pp. McFarland Ernest W. The Ernest W. McFarland Papers: The United States Senate Years 19401952. Prescott Ariz.: Sharlot Hall Museum 1995 (Democratic majority leader 195052) Malsberger John W. From Obstruction to Moderation: The Transformation of Senate Conservatism 19381952. Susquehanna U. Press 2000 Mann Robert. The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson Hubert Humphrey Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights. Harcourt Brace 1996 Ritchie Donald A. Press Gallery: Congress and the Washington Correspondents. Harvard University Press 1991. Ritchie Donald A. The Congress of the United States: A Student Companion Oxford University Press 2001 (2nd edition). Ritchie Donald A. The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction Oxford University Press 2010. Rothman David. Politics and Power the United States Senate 18691901 (1966) Swift Elaine K. The Making of an American Senate: Reconstitutive Change in Congress 17871841. U. of Michigan Press 1996 Valeo Frank. Mike Mansfield Majority Leader: A Different Kind of Senate 19611976 Sharpe 1999 (Senate Democratic leader) VanBeek Stephen D. Post-Passage Politics: Bicameral Resolution in Congress. U. of Pittsburgh Press 1995 Weller Cecil Edward Jr. Joe T. Robinson: Always a Loyal Democrat. U. of Arkansas Press 1998. (Arkansas Democrat who was Majority leader in 1930s) Wilson Woodrow. Congressional Government. New York: Houghton Mifflin 1885; also 15th ed. 1900 repr. by photoreprint Transaction books 2002. Wirls Daniel and Wirls Stephen. The Invention of the United States Senate Johns Hopkins U. Press 2004. (Early history) Zelizer Julian E. On Capitol Hill : The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences 19482000 (2006) Zelizer Julian E. ed. The American Congress: The Building of Democracy (2004) (overview) External links Listen to this article (info/dl) This audio file was created from a revision of United States Senate dated 2006-08-04 and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. 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