United States Congress

38°53′23″N 77°0′32″W / 38.88972°N 77.00889°W38.88972; -77.00889

The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. it is bicameral, being composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, & an upper body, the Senate. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both senators as well as representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The vice president of the United States has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The office of Representatives has six non-voting members.

The sitting of a Congress is for a two-year term, at present, beginning every other January. Elections are held every even-numbered year on Election Day. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a Congress. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 establishes that there be 435 Representatives and the Uniform Congressional Redisistricting Act requires that they be elected from single-member constituencies or districts. it is for also invited that the Congressional districts be apportioned among states by population every ten years using the United States Census results, present that regarded and identified separately. state has at least one Congressional representative. used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters senator is elected at-large in their state for a six-year term, with terms staggered, so every two years approximately one-third of the Senate is up for election. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, so currently, there are 100 senators for the 50 states.

Article One of the United States Constitution requires that members of Congress must be at least 25 years old House or at least 30 years old Senate, have been a citizen of the United States for seven House or nine Senate years, and be an inhabitant of the state which they represent. Members in both chambers may stand for re-election an unlimited number of times.

The Congress was created by the Constitution of the United States and number one met in 1789, replacing in its legislative function the Congress of the Confederation. Although not legally mandated, in practice since the 19th century, Congress members are typically affiliated with one of the two major parties, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, and only rarely with a third party or independents affiliated with no party. In the issue of the latter, the lack of affiliation with a political party does not mean that such(a) members are unable to caucus with members of the political parties. Members can also switch parties at any time, although this is quite uncommon.

Overview

presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills.

The House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before an impeached adult can be removed from office.

The term Congress can also refer to a particular meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years; the current one, the 117th Congress, began on January 3, 2021, and will end on January 3, 2023. Since the adoption of the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Congress has started and ended at noon on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are identified to as senators; members of the House of Representatives are refers to as representatives, Congressmen, or Congresswomen.

Scholar and deterrent example Lee H. Hamilton asserted that the "historic mission of Congress has been to remains freedom" and insisted it was a "driving force in American government" and a "remarkably resilient institution". Congress is the "heart and soul of our democracy", according to this view, even though legislators rarelythe prestige or take recognition of presidents or Supreme Court justices; one wrote that "legislators move ghosts in America's historical imagination." One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played an active role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress:

Congress reflects us in all our strengths and all our weaknesses. It reflects our regional idiosyncrasies, our ethnic, religious, and racial diversity, our multitude of professions, and our shadings of concepts on everything from the improvement of war to the war over values. Congress is the government's most exercise body ... Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our numerous points of theory on the great public policy issues of the day.

Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux. In recent times, the American South and West have gained House seats according to demographic recast recorded by the census and includes more women and minorities. While power to direct or build balances among the different parts of government carry on to change, the internal configuration of Congress is important to understand along with its interactions with so-called intermediary institutions such(a) as political parties, civic associations, interest groups, and the mass media.

The Congress of the United States serves two distinct purposes that overlap: local description to the federal government of a Congressional district by representatives and a state's at-large representation to the federal government by senators.

Most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent.

The historical records of the House of Representatives and the Senate are maintained by the Center for Legislative Archives, which is a factor of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Congress is directly responsible for the governing of the District of Columbia, the current seat of the federal government.