With all of the US election coverage we’ve been watching, there has been consistant mention of the Senate and the House of Representatives, among other things, but who are these groups and what exactly is their relation to the President? These two bodies themselves actually make up one of the three bodies (the legislative branch), of power that make up the government: the executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch. And to add a little colour, photos of each branch’s HQ are included, care of me and my recent tour of Washington, D.C.
The most commonly discussed is the Executive branch; the President.
While it is the role of the legislative bodies to enact laws, it is the role of the President to enforce the laws. Of course, the President has people to help him/her do this, including his Vice President and Cabinet. The Cabinet does include the VP, and is made up of the heads of 15 executive departments like the Secretaries of State, Commerce, Defence, Labor, Treasury, and many more. See them all, as well as who fills each post, here. For interest’s sake, former Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is currently the Secretary of State, the role that Hillary Clinton filled during Obama’s first term as President.
Photo above: I recently did a road trip through New England that finished in Washington, D.C. Our first stop on our tour of the historic city was the White House. Unfortunately there was gardening and other stuff going on so there was this enormous fence obstructing our views. But nonetheless, there it is in real life. Smaller than I imagined.
The next is the Legislative Branch; the United States Congress, which is comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Senate is made up 100 senators, 2 coming from each state. The Senate effectively looks over the President, confirms appointments of Cabinet secretaries, federal judges, other federal executive officials, enacts laws and more.
Interestingly, the 100 senators are divided into three groups, or classes, for the purpose of reelection so that not all senators go through an election at the same time. Senators serve 6 year terms, with a class being up for election every two years. For example, “the 33 Senate seats of Class 1 were elected in 2012, the 33 seats of Class 2 were up for election in 2014, and the 34 seats of Class 3 are scheduled for re-election in 2016.” (via Wikipedia) When you hear the phrases, “junior” or “senior senator,” it just means that that person has more experience in the Senate than their fellow state senator.
The House of Representatives is proportionate to the population of each state: each district within a state is given its own representative, totalling 435 in the House.
“The major power of the House is to pass federal legislation that affects the entire country, although its bills must also be passed by the Senate and further agreed to by the U.S. President before becoming law…” (via Wikipedia)
Photo above: The United States Capitol, also referred to as the Capitol building or Capitol Hill. Here is where Congress lives, meaning both the Senate and the House of Representatives reside here.
The final government branch is that of the Judicial branch; the Supreme Court.
It is the role of the Supreme Court to interpret the laws set by Congress. Below the Supreme Court sit the Federal and State Courts. The final interpreter of federal constitutional law, the Supreme Court also has jurisdiction over federal courts when decisions are sought to be reversed.
There are nine Justices, with one appointed as the Chief Justice. Each is nominated by the President, and then appointed by the Senate. Once appointed, a Justice may serve for life unless they retire, resign or are removed via impeachment (though this has never happened). You’ve also heard them referred to as Scotus, in analogy to POTUS (which I just realized – at the risk of sounding completely ridiculous – is an acronym for President of the United States… Which also makes FLOTUS make a lot more sense *insert face palm here*).
Photo above: Supreme Court HQ! Oh hi, RBG! The United States Supreme Court Building sits immediately east of the Capitol building and really is a grand sight. We found D.C. to be quite a quiet city, notice only a security guard in the background here, and we visited on a weekday (I posted many more pics from our east coast trip on instagram).
And it is The Constitution of the United States (and its 27 amendments), that governs the government.
Neat stuff.
Feature image via soapcampaign.org
