The Legislative Branch

What does the Legislative Branch do?

Make the laws for the United States.

Legislative Branch Structure

The Congress is divided into two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The House of Representatives

AKA - the Lower House.

There are currently 435 members of the House.

Representation for each state is based on their population. The more population, the more representatives they have, but each state has at least 1 (one Representative for every ~600,000 people)

Term of office for the House of Representatives is 2 years.

A Representative may serve an unlimited number of terms.

The qualifications to be a Representative are:

1) 25 years of age.

2) 7 years a citizen of the U.S.A.

3) Must live in the state that they represent

Legislative Branch Leadership

The Speaker of the House is the leader in the House of Representatives.

The Speaker is elected by the members of the House.

Usually, the Speaker is a member of the majority party.

The Senate

AKA- the Upper House.

Each state has the same number of Senators…. 2.

There are currently 100 Senators.

Term of office for the Senate is 6 years.

A Senator may serve an unlimited number of terms.

The qualifications to be a Senator are:

1) 30 years of age.

2) A citizen of the U.S.A. for 9 years

3) Must live in the state that they represent.

Legislative Branch Leadership

The Vice-President of the U.S. is the President of the Senate. If he/she is unavailable, then the President pro tempore (temporary president) is in charge.

The President Pro Tem is elected by the Senate and is usually a member of the majority party

the President of the Senate and President Pro-Tempore run the sessions and can only vote to break a tie.

Legislative Branch Leadership

Floor Leaders and Party Whips

They tell the House and Senate members the priorities of their party…the kinds of laws and policies the party wants to pass. They work to get members to vote for legislation important to their party.

Committees

Congress divides itself into committees focused on specific subject areas.

The committees have three main roles:

Research

Write legislation

Decide whether to send legislation to the chamber for a vote

Legislative Branch Power

“enumerated” (or “expressed”) powers – those listed specifically in Article I

“implied” – not written in the Constitution, but necessary to carry out intended action…these were created through the “necessary and proper” clause, also known as the “elastic” clause…

(This clause gives the flexibility to deal with the changing needs of the country…)

*example – Congress has the power to tax, but it doesn’t say how much, so they decide the amount… also so they had to create a system that does the collecting, the IRS.

Legislative Branch Power

Enumerated powers given to Congress by the Constitution include…

To make and borrow money for the U.S.A. Spend money to pay our debts To regulate trade. Establish a post office and build roads. Declare war. To establish lower courts (those below the Supreme

Court).