Senate Basics
The U.S. Senate is one of two chambers of Congress. Name the other chamber.
What is the House of Representatives?
Along with the House of Representatives, one of the Senate’s main roles is writing, debating, and passing these.
What are laws (or bills)?
To run for the U.S. Senate, a candidate must be at least this age.
What is 30 years old?
Each U.S. state gets this exact number of senators in Congress.
What is two (2)?
According to the U.S. Constitution, this official serves as the official President of the Senate.
What is the Vice President of the United States?
The U.S. Capitol building houses the Senate in this U.S. city
What is Washington, D.C.?
The Senate holds the sole power to conduct a trial if this official or another federal official is impeached by the House.
What is the President?
A person must have been a citizen of the United States for at least this many years to become a senator
What is 9 years?
The total number of senators in the entire U.S. Senate today?
What is 100?
The President of the Senate can only cast a vote under this specific circumstance.
What is to break a tie?
Because the Senate has two houses/chambers in Congress, the U.S. legislature is described by this word meaning "two houses."
What is bicameral?
Under the Constitution, the Senate must give "advice and consent" to approve these international agreements made by the President.
What are treaties?
At the time of their election, a senator must live in this geographic area that they represent.
What is the state they represent?
California has over 38 million people and Wyoming has under 600,000 people. How many senators does California have compared to Wyoming?
What is the same amount (2 each)?
When the Vice President is absent, this senator—usually the longest-serving member of the majority party—presides over the Senate.
What is the President Pro Tempore?
Senators are elected to serve terms that last this many years.
What is 6 years?
The Senate must approve presidential appointments for members of this highest court in the United States.
The Senate must approve presidential appointments for members of this highest court in the United States.
Originally, senators were chosen by state legislatures. This Constitutional Amendment, ratified in 1913, changed the rule so citizens vote for them directly.
What is the 17th Amendment?
True or False: Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico each have two voting senators in Congress.
What is False? (Only U.S. states have voting senators.)
This leader, chosen by the majority party in the Senate, sets the legislative agenda and controls which bills come to the floor for a vote.
Who is the Senate Majority Leader?
Unlike the House of Representatives, Senate elections are staggered so that only about this fraction of the Senate is up for re-election every two years
What is one-third (1/3)?
A prolonged speech or debate used by a senator to delay or prevent a vote on a bill is called this.
What is a filibuster?
True or False: A person running for the Senate must have been born in the United States.
What is False? (They only need to have been a U.S. citizen for at least 9 years.)
During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, this compromise established equal representation in the Senate and population-based representation in the House
What is the Great Compromise (or the Connecticut Compromise)?
To end a filibuster and force a vote on a bill, the Senate must pass a motion called "cloture," which requires this supermajority number of votes
What is 60 votes (or 3/5 of the Senate)?