THE UNITED STATES SENATE The Senate is the smaller (often spoken of as the upper) of the two chambers of the United States Congress. It is com posed of 96 members, two from each of the 48 States. The Con stitution decrees that no State, whatever its size or population, may be deprived of such equal representation without its own consent. This is in contrast to the House of Representatives where States are represented in proportion to population and the larger States have a much greater voting power than the smaller States. The Senate represents regions rather than numbers. It is a concession to the theory of the equal sovereignty of States and was necessary as a part of the compromise which made a Federal Government possible (see UNITED STATES, Constitution and Government for details of the Federal system). A Senator must be at least 3o years old, an inhabitant of the State for which he is elected and a United States citizen of not less than nine years standing. He is elected directly by the people of his State for a six-year term. One-third of the Senate body is elected every two years so that the change in membership and organization of the Senate is gradual. No State elects both its Senators in the same year unless an emergency vacancy should make it necessary.
Powers.—( I) Legislative. The Constitution provides that the legislative powers of the Senate are co-equal with those of the House except for the single provision that measures for raising revenue must originate in the House. With regard to revenue legislation, however, the Senate "may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills" and in practice this privilege enables it to change the character of such legislation as radically as it wishes. At various times one chamber or the other may have the greatest amount of legislative influence because of its better organization or better hold upon public opinion. In case of dis agreement between the two houses a conference Committee repre senting both chambers attempts to reach a compromise.
(2) Executive. The two chief fields in which the Senate enters the executive domain are in its powers to reject presidential ap pointments and in its treaty-making power. The more important
appointments of the President, according to the Constitution, must be made with the "advice and consent of the Senate." The vast majority of appointments are accepted by the Senate with little hesitation, yet rejections are by no means uncommon, and at times have been a fruitful cause of discord between the Senate and the President. Theoretically the Senate takes no initiative in the selection of appointees, but in practice the President, if he hopes for harmony with that body, will consider the wishes of members, particularly in making appointments to Federal offices within their own States. By passing the Tenure of Office Act of 1867 the Senate also claimed a share in the President's power of removal. But in the case of Frank S. Meyers vs. United States, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1926, such pretensions were definitely declared unconstitutional.
The Constitution also declares that before any treaty with a foreign power can be made two-thirds of the Senators must con cur. Here also the Senate theoretically takes no initiative, but the President is likely to sound the opinion of Senate leaders before proceeding with negotiations, and may wisely keep in touch with them. The Senate also has the power to amend treaties in which case it becomes necessary to reopen negotiations with the treaty nation. This power of the Senate compels a president to enter treaty negotiations under a handicap and also prevents rapid action, but on the whole it has probably done much to keep the nation free from secret treaties and entanglements and is therefore in accord with the American temper. The Senate has always shown itself very jealous of this power, and a treaty must be favorable to win the necessary two-thirds vote. Before Pres. Wilson's defeat on the League of Nations covenant the Senate had rejected important treaties submitted by Presidents Pierce, Grant, Cleveland, Roosevelt and Taft.