House/Senate
How is the Speaker of the House chosen?
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers.
What is an ex-post-facto law?
A law that makes illegal an act that was legal when committed, increases the penalties for an infraction after it has been committed, or changes the rules of evidence to make conviction easier.
How many Senators are elected by each state?
2
The minimum age requirement for Senators.
30
When can the President of the Senate vote?
During a tie.
How are senators currently elected?
They changed it to a direct election for those seats specifically.
What is a Bill of Attainder?
A legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial.
How is the President of the Senate chosen?
The President of the Senate is the Vice President of the United States, or the President pro tempore if the Vice President is absent.
Are direct taxes constitutional?
No, no they are not, “unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.”
What prevents a Member of Congress from serving as a Cabinet official?
1.6.2, no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
What vote is required to override a presidential veto?
Two thirds of both houses.
What is a letter of marque and reprisal?
A warrant that allows an agent to go beyond the borders of the nation to search, seize, or destroy assets or people of the hostile foreign party.
What is the Elastic Clause and where is it found?
1.8.18, and it’s the “to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers.”
A Senator is elected for a term of how many years?
6 years.
Where must bills of revenue originate?
In the House of Representatives.
Besides age, what are the other qualifications for a U.S. Senator?
Has been a citizen of the US for 9 years, and an active inhabitant of the state that their a senator for.
Name five powers of Congress.
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the US. To borrow money on the credit of the US. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the States. To coin money, and regulate the value thereof. To provide for the punishment of counterfeit. To establish post offices and post roads. To declare war, grant letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water. To provide and maintain a Navy. To raise and support armies.
How were senators elected under the original U.S. Constitution?
Senators of the United States Congress were originally chosen by state legislatures. Citizens would vote for their state legislators, and those legislators would vote a man into the U.S. Senate.
Which house has the power to try impeachment?
“The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.”
How many seats are there in the current House of Representatives?
435, and we're at the max.
Which section limits the powers of Congress?
Section 9.
What is the “Writ of Habeas Corpus”?
A recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, to bring the prisoner to court, to determine whether the detention is lawful.
List 4 things that Congress can’t do.
Cannot pass a Bill of Attainder or ex post facto law. Cannot place a tax or duty on things exported from any State.
Which Section enumerates Congress’s Powers?
Section 8
Where in the constitution does it prevent the Federal government from making your mentor a duke or an Earl?
1.9.8, where it says “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States.”