Section 5.3:
The Senate
The Senate at Work
• Senators are elected in at-large elections, and
must be able to handle a vast range of issues.
• Set up:
– Smaller than House chamber
• 100 desk
• Informal
– Rules are more flexible than House rules
• Purpose: to provide maximum freedom to express
ideas.
Vice President
• V.P. is president of the Senate (Art. 1 Sec. 3)
– Votes only in case of a tie
• Contrast w/ Speaker
– (+) recognizes members
– (+) put questions to a vote
– (+) tries to influence votes
– (-) Doesn’t take part in debates
– (-) Votes only when there is a
tie.
Joe Biden
Senate Leaders
• President pro tempore
– Pro tempore means “for the time being”
– Elected by Senate
• From majority party
– 4th in presidential succession line
• Majority Floor Leaders
– Most important officers
• elected by their party.
– Main job- steer party’s bills
Daniel Inouye
Senate Leaders
– Makes certain party members attend important
sessions.
• Minority Leaders
– Develops criticisms of majority party’s bills
– Keeps minority party working together
• Whips
– assist majority & minority leaders
– Makes sure legislators are present for key votes
Senate Leaders
• Harry Reid
Senate.gov
• Mitch McConnell
Scheduling Bills
• Any member can introduce bills
• Senate leaders control the flow of bills
• 2 Calendars
– Calendar of General Orders
• All bills to view
– Executive Calendar
• Treaties and nominations
• Senate brings bills to floor by unanimous
consent
Filibuster
• Senate rules allow for unlimited debate on any bill
under consideration
• Filibuster- to stall the legislative process and prevent
a vote.
– Stall tactics include:
• Continuous talking
• Delay committee issues
• Strom Thurmond
– 1957, 24 hours and 18 minutes
– Longest filibuster
Filibuster
Cloture/ Party Affiliations
• Filibuster can be stopped when three-fifths of
Senate (60 members) vote for cloture.
• Cloture- a procedure allowing senators to
speak only 1 hour on a bill under debate.
• Party Affiliations
– Procedures organized around members’ party
Veto
• After both houses of Congress have passed a
bill the President can :
– Sign a bill into law
– Veto: reject the bill
– Pocket veto: when a president kills a bill passed
during the last 10 days Congress is in session by
simply refusing to act on it.