Hamilton asserted that the 'historic mission of Congress has been to maintain freedom' and insisted it was a 'driving force in American government' and a 'remarkably resilient institution'.

Members of the Senate are referred to as senators members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, Congressmen, or Congresswomen. 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. A Congress covers two years the current one, the 117th Congress, began on January 3, 2021, and will end on January 3, 2023. The term Congress can also refer to a particular meeting of the legislature. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before an impeached person can be removed from office. The House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. In 1868, this committee of representatives prosecuted President Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trial, but the Senate did not convict him. 7.1.3 Television and negative advertising.Members can also switch parties at any time, although this is quite uncommon. In the case of the latter, the lack of affiliation with a political party does not mean that such members are unable to caucus with members of the political parties. 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. The Congress was created by the Constitution of the United States and first met in 1789, replacing in its legislative function the Congress of the Confederation. Members in both chambers may stand for re-election an unlimited number of times. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, so currently, there are 100 senators for the 50 states.Īrticle 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. Each 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. It is also required that the Congressional districts be apportioned among states by population every ten years using the United States Census results, provided that each state has at least one Congressional representative. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 establishes that there be 435 Representatives and the Uniform Congressional Redistricting Act requires that they be elected from single-member constituencies or districts. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a Congress. Elections are held every even-numbered year on Election Day. The sitting of a Congress is for a two-year term, at present, beginning every other January. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members. The vice president of the United States has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. It meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States.

The house the silent age