THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Establishing a Congress

Article I, Section I: All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives

Question: What kind of legislature is the U.S. Congress?

U.S. House of Representatives

435 members of the House who serve 2 year terms

Each member represents a congressional district of about 650,000 people

U.S. Senate

100 members of the Senate who serve 6 year terms

2 senators from each state

Wisdom and Virtue

The Senate The House

Only 1/3 of the Senate can be reelected every two years It would take three

elections over six years to fire the entire Senate!

The Senate is designed to be a check on the passions of the House…where the wisdom of the nation lies

All 435 members of the House must be reelected every two years If you don’t like your

Congress throw these bums out!

Because the House is closer to the people, they are subject to their passions and whims

The Two Houses

The Senate The House

Must be 30 to serve in the Senate and have lived in your state for 9 years

Senators are seen as more prestigious and are more likely candidates to eventually run for president

Must be 25 to serve in the House and have lived in your district for 7 years

House districts must be redrawn every 10 years, based on the Census The practice of redrawing a

district to help a political party is called Gerrymandering

The Officers of the Congress

The Senate The House

The Vice-President of the United States serves as the President of the Senate The VP can only vote if

the Senate is tied

The House is led by the Speaker of the House Generally the senior

member of the party with the most seats

Political Terminology

The political party with the most members in either the House or the Senate is called the majority party

The other political party is called the minority party

In the Senate, the day to day work is led by the Majority Leader

The Speaker of the House sets the agenda in the House

The Officers of the Congress

The Senate The House

The Vice-President President Pro Tempore

(usually the oldest member of the majority party) fills in when the VP isn’t there

The Majority Leader The Majority Whip

(focuses on keeping members of the party in line)

The Minority Leader The Minority Whip

The Speaker of the House

The Majority Leader (Usually works the floor)

The Majority Whip The Minority Leader The Minority Whip

Getting Elected

The Senate The House

Can cost millions of dollars! Maryland (6-10 Million) New York (15 Million) California (20-30

Million)

Can be very competitive races…but raising money is easier, because people know who you are

Can be relatively cheap in non-competitive districts Because of gerrymandering,

few quality candidates challenge incumbents

Fundraising is way harder! From the moment you are

sworn in, you have to raise $6500 EVERY DAY for the next 2 years to protect your seat!

Thoughts on Life

Please respond to the following question in your Civics notebook:

Based on what you now know, would you prefer to serve in the House or the Senate? Use evidence from your notes to support your answer.