United States Senate

The United States Senate is one chamber of the US Congress within the two-chamber legislative branch of the US federal government. The Senate works alongside the House of Representatives, the other chamber, to craft new legislation for the country. It also holds essential powers to check and balance the other branches of government (the executive and judicial branches). Senators hold the power to oversee treaties, confirm or reject presidential nominees, and impeach federal officers. The Senate is located in the Capitol Building, located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

After lengthy debates and significant compromises, the Constitutional Convention set out the structure and powers of the Senate in the Constitution, which went into effect in 1788. Article I of the Constitution called for a Senate of elected representatives, chosen at an equal rate of two per state. An additional participant is the vice president of the United States, who serves as presiding officer of the Senate but only votes when necessary to break tie votes. Senators must be thirty years old and meet citizenship and residency requirements. Elected senators serve staggered six-year terms, with Senate elections taking place every two years.

Background

The US Constitution set out the design for that country’s federal government. One of the most important goals for the creators of the Constitution was to establish a separation of power, meaning that the strength of the government would be divided among many individuals and groups. Separation of power was a crucial component of the American democratic political system because it would help safeguard the country against being taken over by an all-powerful dictator or faction. The drafters of the Constitution did not want to see the new country fall back into the system of monarchy that it struggled to escape during the American Revolutionary War (1775–83).

The division of the federal government into three branches—the legislative, executive, and judicial—demonstrated one level of separation of power. Each branch would be responsible for one distinct and separate body of rights and responsibilities. The Constitution empowered the legislative branch to make laws (also known as legislation). The executive branch, which includes the president, vice president, Cabinet, and various federal agencies, would carry out laws created by the legislative branch. Meanwhile, the judicial branch, encompassing the Supreme Court and other federal courts, would evaluate and interpret these laws. With their powers clearly defined, no branch could legally grow to dominate the others.

Another level of separation of power may be seen in the complex relationship between these three branches. Even the most successful piece of legislation would require agreement and cooperation between the branches to reach its full potential. This protects against arbitrary or unjust laws that might have a harmful effect on the country. Moreover, each branch of government has certain overlapping powers that may affect the functions of other branches. This system is called checks and balances and provides another measure of precaution against any one branch becoming too strong.

The functioning of the checksandbalances system creates an intricate network of interplay between the branches. For example, the president (head of the executive branch) has the power to veto or reject legislation created by the legislative branch. The president may also nominate Supreme Court justices (top officials in the judicial branch) who will also have the power to overturn legislation. In turn, the legislative branch has the power to override vetoes, confirm or reject presidential nominations, and even impeach and remove presidents who have been convicted of wrongdoing.

Yet another level of separation of power exists within the legislative branch. The powers vested in the legislative branch by the Constitution are split between different, smaller legislative groups. The primary groups are known as the bicameral (or two-chamber) Congress, which consists of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate and House of Representatives contain officials elected by voting citizens to promote and protect their interests. Other power within the legislative branch falls among a wide variety of smaller offices and agencies. A few of these include the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, the Library of Congress, and the Office of Compliance. These smaller groups serve to help senators and representatives to perform their important tasks in government.

Overview

The daunting task of creating the Constitution and the blueprint for the new American government fell to a group of leaders who convened at the Constitutional Convention. By the spring of 1787, the Convention was deadlocked over a crucial question. The former British colonies that became the states of the new United States varied greatly in size and population. How could the democratic government ensure that these states and their citizens would be fairly represented on the federal level?

Delegates put forth recommendations as to how the legislative branch should be filled. However, many of these recommendations were tailored to serve the interests of the delegates’ own states. Delegates from large states argued that representation should be based on size so that larger states would wield more power in the legislative branch. Under proposals such as the Virginia Plan, the number of legislators would be based proportionately on the number of people in the state. Supporters claimed this was fair because larger states would contribute more to the economics and defense of the new country and, therefore, deserved more representation in its government. Meanwhile, leaders of smaller states gravitated toward recommendations such as the New Jersey Plan, which would grant every state—regardless of its size or population—an equal number of Congressional representatives. This plan would give small states equal footing against larger ones and protect them from majority domination.

This debate resisted several attempts to reconcile and threatened to tear apart the Convention and the federal union. Leaders, including Roger Sherman and Benjamin Franklin, began to propose and revise compromises that might satisfy both large and small states. In the summer of 1787, the Convention at last settled on the so-called Connecticut Compromise, or Great Compromise, which set out a mixed plan for representation. Under this plan, each state would have an equal number of senators, while the number of representatives would be calculated in proportion to the state’s population.

The next step in the design of the Senate was deciding how many senators would represent each state. Most Convention members felt that one senator per state would be insufficient. If one senator became ill or died, the state would go unrepresented. Moreover, a single senator would have no colleague with whom to confer. However, Convention delegates warned against having too large a Senate because that might confuse the purpose of the body, reduce the distinction and importance of its members, and simply cost too much. Ultimately, leaders agreed upon two senators per state. The Constitution cements this agreement in Article I, Section 3, Clause 1. (Under this system, the United States of the early twenty-first century, with fifty states, has one hundred senators.)

Convention members then had to establish a term length for the senators. This debate would help to form the character of the Senate itself as well as its interactions with the House of Representatives. Having too short a term might weaken the Senate by making its members seem disposable and unable to assert their beliefs and pursue their legislative goals over a longer period. However, having a very long term—or even a life term, such as that of the British House of Lords—might give individual senators too much power and tempt them to stop paying attention to the needs of the voters who first put them into office. After much debate, many proposals, and extensive consultation of state constitutions and other precedents, Convention members agreed to six-year terms for senators. Supporters of this term limit, such as James Madison, believed that it would reduce the turnover of senators and allow them to fully develop into their roles without posing the danger of too much power or isolation from the electorate.

Convention members were concerned that the election process, while necessary, might destabilize the Senate. If elections took place for all senators at the end of a six-year term, voters might choose to replace many, most, or even all the legislators. If such a rapid change were to occur, it might cause confusion during periods of turnover, during which time the Senate might not be able to function at its full capacity. If that occurred during a time of war or even during a change of presidents, chaos might follow. Furthermore, a large turnover every six years might interrupt important ongoing political processes or lead to dangerously sudden ideological shifts.

For those reasons, the Convention created a system of three “classes” within the Senate to which the senators would be assigned and determined that Senate elections would take place every two years. At each of these elections, voters would choose to retain or replace the members of one class. In other words, every two years, voters would determine the fate of one-third of the members of the Senate. This process would allow smaller and more gradual turnovers and the promise of a more harmonious system. Moreover, senators are allowed to run for office indefinitely, so may retain their office as long as they earn the approval of their constituents.

Although senators are meant to rise from and represent regular citizens, not everyone is qualified to become a senator. Convention members agreed on three main criteria for prospective senators. The first criterion is a minimum age of thirty, which is meant to ensure that senators have reached a level of learning and maturity needed to handle the nation’s top legislation. The second criterion required that senators be citizens of the United States for at least nine years, a stipulation intended to ensure knowledge of and loyalty to the country without completely banning foreign-born leaders. Finally, the third criterion set out that senators must be inhabitants of the state from which they are selected. That way, senators may gain a strong background in the beliefs, desires, and ideals of the people they represent. When elected, senators recite an oath in which they vow to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” and to “bear true faith and allegiance” to that founding document.

Most senators are of officially equal status, but at times a leader becomes necessary. The Vice President of the United States, the second-most-powerful official in the executive branch and advisor to the president, serves as president of the Senate. This official is not a regular daily participant in Senate affairs, however, and is only asked to oversee Senate affairs when the other senators have reached a tie vote. In those cases, the president of the Senate has the power to cast the deciding vote, a power the Convention members felt would ensure decisiveness in government decision-making. At times when the executive official is not present, the Senate is traditionally overseen by the president pro tempore, generally the longest-serving member of the majority party.

Senators have several other important roles in the balance of governmental power beyond proposing, debating, and creating new laws. One of these additional powers is reviewing nominations of officials made by the president, a safeguard meant to ensure that presidential appointees are acceptable to a significant amount of the wider government. Disapproval by the Senate may lead to the rejection of that candidate. In a similar way, the Senate also oversees and advises in matters of treaties made by the president and must agree upon a treaty before it is validated. The Senate may also impeach officials, including the president, which means it can try them for allegations of misconduct. In serious cases, senators may vote to remove officials from office in light of their harmful behaviors.

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