Structure of Congress
Political Studies: Edexcel A Level, topic 13.1.1
Structure of Congress
Congress is the name for the bicameral legislature of the USA. It consists of 2 equal legislative chambers – the Senate and the House of Representatives (or ‘House’).
The Senate
- The Senate has 100 members called Senators
- There are 2 Senators per state, totalling 100.
- There is a term length of 6 years with 1/3 of Senators up for election every 2 years.
- Senior figures are the President of the Senate who is the Vice President, the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader.
- Before the 2024 elections, there were 49 Republicans, 47 Democrats and 4 Independents who caucused with the Democrats.
The House of Representatives
- The House has 435 members called Representatives (or Congressmen/Congresswomen).
- A Representative represents districts based on population size. The smallest number of Representatives per state is 1 (for example Alaska), the largest is currently California with 52.
- Members are elected every 2 years - in Presidential election years, and two years after those (known as midterms).
- Senior figures are the Speaker, the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader.
Membership of the House
- Members of the House must be at least 25 years old and have been citizens for at least the past 7 years.
- There are 435 voting members and 6 non-voting members.
- The non-voting members are representatives for Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands and Guam.
- These members can sit in committees and introduce legislation.
Membership of the Senate
- Members of the Senate must be at least 30 years old and have been citizens for at least the last nine years.
- There are 100 members of the Senate.
- Members of both houses must live in the state that they wish to represent at the time of the election.
Test yourself on Structure of Congress
Which of these is true about members of the House of Representatives?
How many non-voting members sit in the House of Representatives?
Which regions do the non-voting members of the House represent?