The ConstitutionThe ConstitutionArticle 1Article 1

The Legislative BranchThe Legislative Branch

This article is about Congress, which is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate

The House of Representatives consists of 435 elected members divided among the 50 states, based on population.

The Senate is composed of 100 senators, two for each state

The Vice President of the United States serves as president of the Senate and may cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie.

What is it?

Federal Power

The House can initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officers, and can vote in the president in the event of a tie.

The Senate has the power to confirm the President’s appointments that require consent from the Senate.

In order to pass a bill, both the House and the Senate must pass the same bill by majority vote.

If the President vetoes the bill, they may override his veto by passing the bill again with at least two-thirds of the voters.

The Legislative Process

First, the bill is introduced to Congress Anyone can write the bill, but Congress

must introduce the bill. During the legislative process, however,

the original bill can undergo drastic changes.

After being introduced a bill is given to the appropriate committee for review.

The Legislative Process

A bill is first approved by a subcommittee where it could be passed, amended, or rejected

If the subcommittee approves the bill, it is brought to the full committee where it goes through the same process.

Throughout this process, the committee and subcommittee call hearings to search for mistakes.

The Legislative Process

If the committee approves the bill, it is reported to the House or the Senate.

The leaders of the party decide whether the bill is important enough to be heard.

If the bill sounds good, it is heard immediately, however, others may wait for months or never be scheduled at all.

The Legislative Process

If the bill is considered, the House has a very organized debate system.

Each person who has something to say, can only speak for a few minutes

On most bills, the time for debating them is unlimited

A senator can “filibuster”, or delay the vote, on a bill, if 60 other senators agree

A bill must pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate in order to get presented before the President

The Legislative Process

The Constitution says that the bills that the two houses of Congress vote on must have the same wording, but that rarely occurs

However, both houses send representatives to a Conference Committee, where they decide on a final bill with the same wording

Once the President receives the bill, he may either sign the bill, making it a law in the Statures at Large, or veto (disapprove) the bill

Congress can, however, override the veto if 2/3 of each chamber votes it into law

Powers of Congress Congress is the only part of our government that can

make or change laws No other branch, not even the President, has more

power than them when it comes to the law Congress can “borrow” money if they are spending it

on specific items, which are called earmarks. If you do not cooperate with congress, you can face

charges or go to prison Congress holds the power to declare war and support

army States must have approval of Congress before

exporting or importing items They can lay and collect taxes To coin money To establish post offices

Works Cited

“The Legislative Branch.” White House. The White House, Washington, n.d. Web. 2 Dec 2010. http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/legislative-branch.

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