The United States Congress consists of a bicameral legislature. Although both houses are considered the “Legislative Branch,” set up as part of the separation of federal powers or “checks and balances,” each house has different responsibilities. While the House of Representatives is associated with the “power of the purse,” it is the US Senate that is charged with advice and consent, a key provision found in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution. This responsibility has become one of the most important functions within the last sixty years.
Overall Role of the US Senate
The Senate is, as George Washington once explained to Thomas Jefferson, the saucer that cools the coffee. Unlike members of the House of Representatives that only serve two year terms, Senators serve for six years. Although originally appointed by individual state legislatures, the Seventeenth Amendment, adopted in 1913, allowed the direct, popular election of senators.
Proponents of term limits often miss the historically tested benefits of a Senate made up of men and women that have amassed years of experience and cultivated alliances within the “most exclusive club” as well as without. NC Senator Sam Ervin, for example, served as Senator from 1954 to 1974. His parliamentary knowledge was beyond equal and history will remember him as the driving force behind the Congressional Watergate probe. Senator Ted Kennedy’s long time crusade for health care reform would never have led to the current debates had there been term limits.
Unlike the lower House, where fleeting and often emotionally charged issues could lead to the passage of unconstitutional laws, it is the role of the Senate to slow the process of inquiry and foster longer and more analytical debate on important issues. Toward that end, long term experience becomes a vital asset. American history is full of examples of pivotal Senate debates, such as the Compromise of 1850, the League of Nations, and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
Specific Senate Responsibilities
“Advice and Consent” refers to the confirmation process of federal court judges, including the Supreme Court, Cabinet posts, and ambassadors. It is the Senate that must ratify treaties negotiated by the executive branch by a two-thirds majority. Impeachments are also facilitated by the Senate. In American history, two sitting presidents have undergone this process: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. In the event of a tie vote in the Senate, the Vice President of the United States must cast the deciding vote.
One of the most colorful examples of this occurred during the administration of Andrew Jackson who had appointed Martin Van Buren to be the next ambassador to Britain. Van Buren had already left for London before the Senate vote took place. On the day of the vote, the Senate tied and it was left to the Vice President to cast the deciding vote. John C. Calhoun was the Vice President. Calhoun had recently had a serious rift with Jackson and voted against confirming Van Buren who was subsequently forced to return to America.
Continued Importance of the US Senate
In many ways, the Senate may be the most powerful governmental body in the world. President Obama was elected President coming out of the Senate, something rarely done in the last 100 years. It is to the Senate that presidents have looked to initiate controversial legislation, such as FDR’s plan to change the make-up of the Supreme Court. The first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency by a major party was a Senator, Margaret Chase Smith of Maine.
At times in American history, the Senate was the most powerful branch of government, such as during the Gilded Age. The future of the Senate seems secure and will continue the tradition of advice and consent and the careful debate of controversial constitutional issues.
Compare the role of the Senate to the role of the Supreme Court in American government.
Sources:
- Lewis Gould, The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate (Basic Books, 2006)
- John J. Patrick and others, The Oxford Guide to the United States Government (Oxford University Press, 2001)
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