United States Senate
United States Senate
115th United States Congress
Coat of arms or logo
Flag of the United States Senate
Flag of the U.S. Senate
Term limits
New session started
January 3, 2017 (2017-01-03)
Mike Pence (R)
Since January 20, 2017
Orrin Hatch (R)
Since January 6, 2015
Mitch McConnell (R)
Since January 3, 2015
Chuck Schumer (D)
Since January 3, 2017
John Cornyn (R)
Since January 3, 2015
Dick Durbin (D)
Since January 3, 2015
Seats 100
115th United States Senate.svg
Political groups

Majority (51)

Minority (49)

Length of term
6 years
First-past-the-post; nonpartisan blanket primary with a majoritarian second round in 3 states.
Last election
November 8, 2016 (34 seats)
Next election
November 6, 2018 (33 seats)
Meeting place
Senate chamber
United States Capitol
Washington, D.C., United States
United States Constitution

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which along with the United States House of Representatives--the lower chamber--comprise the legislature of the United States.

The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution.[1] The Senate is composed of senators, each of whom represents a single state in its entirety, with each state being equally represented by two senators, regardless of its population, serving staggered terms of six years; with 50 states currently in the Union, there are 100 U.S. Senators. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by legislatures of the states they represented; following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, they are now popularly elected. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C.

As the upper house, the Senate has several powers of advice and consent which are unique to it; these include the ratification of treaties and the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices, federal judges, other federal executive officials, flag officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, and other federal uniformed officers. In addition to these, in cases wherein no candidate receives a majority of electors for Vice President, the duty befalls upon the Senate to elect one of the top two recipients of electors for that office. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House. The Senate is widely considered both a more deliberative[2] and more prestigious[3][4][5] body than the House of Representatives due to its longer terms, smaller size, and statewide constituencies, which historically led to a more collegial and less partisan atmosphere.[6]

The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice President of the United States, who is President of the Senate. In the Vice President's absence, the President Pro Tempore, who is customarily the senior member of the party holding a majority of seats, presides over the Senate. In the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers.



First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate. The name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders (from senex meaning old man in Latin).[8]

James Madison made the following comment about the Senate:


The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that state's consent. The District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation allowed to vote in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two "shadow U.S. Senators", but they are officials of the D.C. City Government and not members of the U.S. Senate.[10] The United States has had 50 states since 1959,[11] thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959.[7]

Historical graph of party control of the U.S. Senate and House as well as the presidency[12]


Before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures.[13] Problems with repeated vacant seats due to the inability of a legislature to elect senators, intrastate political struggles, and even bribery and intimidation had gradually led to a growing movement to amend the Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators.[14]



Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for senators: (1) they must be at least 30 years old; (2) they must have been citizens of the United States for the past 9 years or longer; and (3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election. The age and citizenship qualifications for senators are more stringent than those for representatives. In Federalist No. 62, James Madison justified this arrangement by arguing that the "senatorial trust" called for a "greater extent of information and stability of character."

The Senate (not the judiciary) is the sole judge of a senator's qualifications. During its early years, however, the Senate did not closely scrutinize the qualifications of its members. As a result, three senators who failed to meet the age requirement were nevertheless admitted to the Senate: Henry Clay (aged 29 in 1806), Armistead Thomson Mason (aged 28 in 1816), and John Eaton (aged 28 in 1818). Such an occurrence, however, has not been repeated since.[15] In 1934, Rush D. Holt Sr. was elected to the Senate at the age of 29; he waited until he turned 30 (on the next June 19) to take the oath of office. In November 1972, Joe Biden was elected to the Senate at the age of 29, but he reached his 30th birthday before the swearing-in ceremony for incoming senators in January 1973.


Elections and term

Originally, senators were selected by the state legislatures, not by popular elections. By the early years of the 20th century, the legislatures of as many as 29 states had provided for popular election of senators by referendums.[16] Popular election to the Senate was standardized nationally in 1913 by the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment.






Elections to the Senate are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, Election Day, and coincide with elections for the House of Representatives.[17] Senators are elected by their state as a whole. In most states (since 1970), a primary election is held first for the Republican and Democratic parties, with the general election following a few months later. Ballot access rules for independent and minor party candidates vary from state to state. The winner is often the candidate who receives a plurality of the popular vote. In some states, runoffs are held if no candidate wins a majority.

Mid-term vacancies


The Seventeenth Amendment also allows state legislatures to give their governors the power "to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct". The temporary appointee may run in the special election in their own right.

As of 2015, forty-five states permit their governors to make such appointments. In thirty-seven of these states, the special election to permanently fill the U.S. Senate seat is customarily held at the next general election. The other ten states require that seat remain vacant until an election can be held, often a special elections be held outside of the normal two-year election cycle. In six states, the governor must appoint someone of the same political party as the previous incumbent.[19] In September 2009, Massachusetts changed its law to enable the governor to appoint a temporary replacement for the late Senator Edward Kennedy until the special election in January 2010.[20][21]

In 2004, Alaska enacted legislation and a separate ballot referendum that took effect on the same day, but that conflicted with each other. The effect of the ballot-approved law is to withhold from the governor authority to appoint a senator.[22] Because the 17th Amendment vests the power to grant that authority to the legislature - not the people or the state generally - it is unclear whether the ballot measure supplants the legislature's statute granting that authority.[22] As a result, it is uncertain whether an Alaska governor may appoint an interim senator to serve until a special election is held to fill the vacancy.


The Constitution requires that senators take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution.[23] Congress has prescribed the following oath for all federal officials (except the President), including senators:


Salary and benefits

The annual salary of each senator, since 2009, is $174,000;[25] the president pro tempore and party leaders receive $193,400.[25][26] In June 2003, at least 40 of the then-senators were millionaires.[27]




According to the convention of Senate seniority, the senator with the longer tenure in each state is known as the "senior senator"; the other is the "junior senator". This convention does not have official significance, though seniority generally is a factor in the selection of physical offices.[28] In the 115th Congress, the most-senior "junior senator" is Maria Cantwell of Washington, who was sworn in on January 3, 2001 and is currently 21st in seniority, behind Patty Murray who was sworn in on January 3, 1993 and is currently 9th in seniority. The most-junior "senior senator" is Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who was sworn in January 3, 2015, and is currently 81st in seniority, ahead of senator John Neely Kennedy who was sworn in January 3, 2017 and is currently 98th in seniority.

Expulsion and other disciplinary actions


Majority and minority parties



A typical Senate desk

At one end of the chamber of the Senate is a dais from which the presiding officer presides. The lower tier of the dais is used by clerks and other officials. One hundred desks are arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern and are divided by a wide central aisle. The Democratic Party traditionally sits to the presiding officer's right, and the Republican Party traditionally sits to the presiding officer's left, regardless of which party has a majority of seats.[29] In this respect, the Senate differs from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and other parliamentary bodies in the Commonwealth of Nations and elsewhere.

Each senator chooses a desk based on seniority within the party. By custom, the leader of each party sits in the front row along the center aisle. Forty-eight of the desks date back to 1819, when the Senate chamber was reconstructed after the original contents were destroyed in the 1812 Burning of Washington. Further desks of similar design were added as new states entered the Union.[30] It is a tradition that each senator who uses a desk inscribes their name on the inside of the desk's drawer.[31]



Except for the President of the Senate, the Senate elects its own officers,[1] who maintain order and decorum, manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate, and interpret the Senate's rules, practices and precedents. Many non-member officers are also hired to run various day-to-day functions of the Senate.

Presiding over the Senate

Under the Constitution, the Vice President serves as President of the Senate. He or she may vote in the Senate (ex officio, for he or she is not an elected member of the Senate) in the case of a tie, but is not required to.[32] For much of the nation's history the task of presiding over Senate sessions was one of the Vice President's principal duties (the other being to receive from the states the tally of electoral ballots cast for President and Vice President and to open the certificates "in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives," so that the total votes could be counted). Since the 1950s, Vice Presidents have presided over few Senate debates. Instead, they have usually presided only on ceremonial occasions, such as swearing in new senators, joint sessions, or at times to announce the result of significant legislation or nomination, or when a tie vote on an important issue is anticipated.

The Constitution authorizes the Senate to elect a president pro tempore (Latin for "president for a time") who presides over the chamber in the vice president's absence, and is, by custom, the senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.[33] Like the vice president, the president pro tempore does not normally preside over the Senate, but typically delegates the responsibility of presiding to a majority-party senator who presides over the Senate, usually in blocks of one hour on a rotating basis. Frequently, freshmen senators (newly elected members) are asked to preside so that they may become accustomed to the rules and procedures of the body. It is said that, "in practice they are usually mere mouthpieces for the Senate's parliamentarian, who whispers what they should do".[34]


Party leaders


Non-member officers

In addition to the Vice President, the Senate has several officers who are not members. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the Secretary of the Senate, who maintains public records, disburses salaries, monitors the acquisition of stationery and supplies, and oversees clerks. The Assistant Secretary of the Senate aids the secretary's work. Another official is the Sergeant at Arms who, as the Senate's chief law enforcement officer, maintains order and security on the Senate premises. The Capitol Police handle routine police work, with the sergeant at arms primarily responsible for general oversight. Other employees include the Chaplain, who is elected by the Senate, and Pages, who are appointed.


Daily sessions








Apart from rules governing civility, there are few restrictions on the content of speeches; there is no requirement that speeches pertain to the matter before the Senate.


Within the United States, the Senate is sometimes referred to as "world's greatest deliberative body".[36][37][38]

Filibuster and cloture


If the Senate invokes cloture, debate does not end immediately; instead, it is limited to 2 additional hours unless increased by another three-fifths vote. The longest filibuster speech in the Senate's history was delivered by Strom Thurmond, who spoke for over 24 hours in an unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[39]





Closed session

On occasion, the Senate may go into what is called a secret or closed session. During a closed session, the chamber doors are closed, cameras are turned off, and the galleries are completely cleared of anyone not sworn to secrecy, not instructed in the rules of the closed session, or not essential to the session. Closed sessions are rare and usually held only when the Senate is discussing sensitive subject matter such as information critical to national security, private communications from the president, or deliberations during impeachment trials. A senator may call for and force a closed session if the motion is seconded by at least one other member, but an agreement usually occurs beforehand.[43][44] If the Senate does not approve release of a secret transcript, the transcript is stored in the Office of Senate Security and ultimately sent to the national archives. The proceedings remain sealed indefinitely until the Senate votes to remove the injunction of secrecy.[45] In 1973 the House adopted a rule that all committee sessions should be open unless a majority on the committee voted for a closed session.


The Senate maintains a Senate Calendar and an Executive Calendar.[46] The former identifies bills and resolutions awaiting Senate floor actions. The latter identifies executive resolutions, treaties, and nominations reported out by Senate committee(s) and awaiting Senate floor action. Both are updated each day the Senate is in session.


Committee Room 226 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building is used for hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee.






Recent criticisms of the Senate's operations object to what the critics argue is obsolescence as a result of partisan paralysis and a preponderance of arcane rules.[50][51]







Checks and balances




The powers of the Senate concerning nominations are, however, subject to some constraints. For instance, the Constitution provides that the president may make an appointment during a congressional recess without the Senate's advice and consent. The recess appointment remains valid only temporarily; the office becomes vacant again at the end of the next congressional session. Nevertheless, presidents have frequently used recess appointments to circumvent the possibility that the Senate may reject the nominee. Furthermore, as the Supreme Court held in Myers v. United States, although the Senate's advice and consent is required for the appointment of certain executive branch officials, it is not necessary for their removal.[58]Recess appointments have faced a significant amount of resistance and in 1960, the U.S. Senate passed a legally non-binding resolution against recess appointments.

U.S. Senate chamber c. 1873: two or three spittoons are visible by desks

The Senate also has a role in ratifying treaties. The Constitution provides that the president may only "make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur" in order to benefit from the Senate's advice and consent and give each state an equal vote in the process. However, not all international agreements are considered treaties under US domestic law, even if they are considered treaties under international law. Congress has passed laws authorizing the president to conclude executive agreements without action by the Senate. Similarly, the president may make congressional-executive agreements with the approval of a simple majority in each House of Congress, rather than a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Neither executive agreements nor congressional-executive agreements are mentioned in the Constitution, leading some scholars such as Laurence Tribe and John Yoo[59] to suggest that they unconstitutionally circumvent the treaty-ratification process. However, courts have upheld the validity of such agreements.[60]


The House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted. (One resigned before the Senate could complete the trial.)[61] Only two presidents of the United States have ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

Under the Twelfth Amendment, the Senate has the power to elect the vice president if no vice presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College. The Twelfth Amendment requires the Senate to choose from the two candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. Electoral College deadlocks are rare. The Senate has only broken a deadlock once; in 1837, it elected Richard Mentor Johnson. The House elects the president if the Electoral College deadlocks on that choice.

Current composition and election results

Party membership by state for the 115th Congress
  2 Democrats
  2 Republicans
  1 Democrat and 1 Republican
  1 Independent and 1 Democrat
  1 Independent and 1 Republican

Current party standings

The party composition of the Senate during the 115th Congress:

Affiliation Members
Republican Party 51
Independent 2[Note 2]
Total 100

115th Congress

The 115th United States Congress runs from January 3, 2017 to January 3, 2019.

See also


  1. ^ Caucusing with the Democrats
  2. ^ The two independent senators, Angus King and Bernie Sanders, caucus with the Democrats.


  1. ^ a b "Constitution of the United States". Senate.gov. March 26, 2009. Retrieved 2010. 
  2. ^ Amar, Vik D. (1988-01-01). "The Senate and the Constitution". The Yale Law Journal. 97 (6): 1111-1130. doi:10.2307/796343. JSTOR 796343. 
  3. ^ Stewart, Charles; Reynolds, Mark (1990-01-01). "Television Markets and U. S. Senate Elections". Legislative Studies Quarterly. 15 (4): 495-523. doi:10.2307/439894. JSTOR 439894. 
  5. ^ Joseph S. Friedman (March 30, 2009). "The Rapid Sequence of Events Forcing the Senate's Hand: A Reappraisal of the Seventeenth Amendment, 1890-1913". University of Pennsylvania. 
  7. ^ a b "U.S. Constitution: Article 1, Section 1". Retrieved 2012. 
  8. ^ "Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: senate". Retrieved 2012. 
  9. ^ Robert Yates. Notes of the Secret Debates of the Federal Convention of 1787. Retrieved . 
  10. ^ "Non-voting members of Congress". Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved 2011. 
  11. ^ "Hawaii becomes 50th state". History.com. Retrieved 2011. 
  12. ^ "Party In Power - Congress and Presidency - A Visual Guide To The Balance of Power In Congress, 1945-2008". Uspolitics.about.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012. 
  15. ^ 1801-1850, November 16, 1818: Youngest Senator. United States Senate. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  16. ^ "Direct Election of Senators". U.S. Senate official website. 
  17. ^ 2 U.S.C. § 1
  18. ^ "The Term of A Senator - When Does It Begin and End? - Senate 98-29" (PDF). United States Senate. United States Printing Office. pp. 14-15. Retrieved 2015. 
  19. ^ Neale, Thomas H. (April 12, 2018). U.S. Senate Vacancies: Contemporary Developments and Perspectives (PDF). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. p. 2-3. Retrieved 2018. 
  22. ^ a b "Stevens could keep seat in Senate". Anchorage Daily News. October 28, 2009. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. 
  23. ^ United States Constitution, Article VI
  25. ^ a b Salaries. United States Senate. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  26. ^ a b c "US Congress Salaries and Benefits". Usgovinfo.about.com. Retrieved 2013. 
  29. ^ "Seating Arrangement". Senate Chamber Desks. Retrieved 2012. 
  30. ^ "Senate Chamber Desks - Overview". United States Senate. 
  31. ^ "Senate Chamber Desks - Names Listed inside the Desk Drawer". United States Senate. 
  32. ^ "Glossary Term: vice president". senate.gov. United States Senate. Retrieved 2016. 
  33. ^ "Glossary Term: president pro tempore". senate.gov. United States Senate. Retrieved 2016. 
  34. ^ "Presiding Loses Its Prestige in Senate". rollcall.com. Retrieved 2017. 
  37. ^ "World's greatest deliberative body watch". The Washington Post. 
  38. ^ "Senate reform: Lazing on a Senate afternoon". The Economist. Retrieved 2010. 
  41. ^ a b "How majority rule works in the U.S. Senate". Nieman Watchdog. July 31, 2009. 
  42. ^ "Yea or Nay? Voting in the Senate". Senate.gov. Retrieved 2011. 
  43. ^ https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS20145.pdf
  44. ^ Amer, Mildred. "Secret Sessions of Congress: A Brief Historical Overview" (PDF). 
  45. ^ https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/98-718.pdf
  46. ^ "Calendars & Schedules" via Senate.gov
  49. ^ Ritchie, Congress, pp .44, 175, 209
  50. ^ Mark Murray (August 2, 2010). "The inefficient Senate". Firstread.msnbc.msn.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010. 
  52. ^ "Constitution of the United States". Senate.gov. Retrieved 2012. 
  61. ^ Complete list of impeachment trials. Archived December 8, 2010, at WebCite United States Senate. Retrieved November 20, 2007


    • Congressional Quarterly Congress and the Nation: 2001-2004 (2005);
    • Congressional Quarterly. Congress and the Nation: 1993-1996 (1998)
    • Congressional Quarterly, Congress and the Nation: 1945-1964 (1965), the first of the series
  • Hernon, Joseph Martin. Profiles in Character: Hubris and Heroism in the U.S. Senate, 1789-1990 Sharpe, 1997.
  • McFarland, Ernest W. The Ernest W. McFarland Papers: The United States Senate Years, 1940-1952. Prescott, Ariz.: Sharlot Hall Museum, 1995 (Democratic majority leader 1950-52)
  • Malsberger, John W. From Obstruction to Moderation: The Transformation of Senate Conservatism, 1938-1952. Susquehanna U. Press 2000
  • Rothman, David. Politics and Power the United States Senate 1869-1901 (1966)
  • Swift, Elaine K. The Making of an American Senate: Reconstitutive Change in Congress, 1787-1841. U. of Michigan Press, 1996
  • Valeo, Frank. Mike Mansfield, Majority Leader: A Different Kind of Senate, 1961-1976 Sharpe, 1999 (Senate Democratic leader)

Official Senate histories

The following are published by the Senate Historical Office.

  • Robert Byrd. The Senate, 1789-1989. Four volumes.
    • Vol. III, Classic Speeches, 1830-1993
    • Vol. IV, Historical Statistics, 1789-1992
  • Dole, Bob. Historical Almanac of the United States Senate
  • Hatfield, Mark O., with the Senate Historical Office. Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789-1993 (essays reprinted online)

External links

Coordinates: 38°53?26?N 77°0?32?W / 38.89056°N 77.00889°W / 38.89056; -77.00889




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