The Legislative Branch

What does the Legislative Branch do?

Makes the laws for the United States.

Legislative Branch Structure

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

The House of Representatives is known as 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 ~700,000 people)

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.

Term of office for the House of Representatives is 2 years

A Representative may serve an unlimited number of terms.

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 is also known as the upper house.

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

There are currently 100 Senators.

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.

Term of office for the Senate is 6 years.

A Senator may serve an unlimited number of terms.

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 the majority senator with the longest continuous service.

the President Pro-Tempore (and the VP) run the sessions and can only vote to break a tie.

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 then 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

Powers “enumerated” (or “expressed”) powers – those listed

specifically in Article I

“implied” – not specified, 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

All together the Constitution gave the Congress 18 enumerated powers. These are some of them.

To make and borrow money for the U.S.A. To regulate trade. Establish a post office and build roads. Declare war. To establish inferior (lower) courts to the Supreme Court. Raise and maintain an army and navy To define and punish crimes on the high seas (piracy, etc.)

Powers Denied to Congress

1) can’t suspend Habeas Corpus (every person has the right to be accused of a crime before being thrown into jail) – except in times of invasion or rebellion

2) no ex post facto (can’t punish someone for a crime that isn’t illegal yet)

3) can’t tax individuals at different rates

4) can’t create an export tax

5) can’t create laws that favor particular states

6) Government can’t spend money without Congress appropriating it (passing a law)

7) can’t give titles of nobility