24 Facts About United States Senate

United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber.

The Senate is composed of senators, each of whom represents a single state in its entirety.

The vice president of the United States serves as presiding officer and president of the Senate by virtue of that office, and has a vote only if the senators are equally divided.

United States Senate is widely considered both a more deliberative and more prestigious body than the House of Representatives due to its longer terms, smaller size, and statewide constituencies, which historically led to a more collegial and less partisan atmosphere.

United States Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

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The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959.

The United States Senate has censured and condemned senators; censure requires only a simple majority and does not remove a senator from office.

At one end of the chamber of the United States Senate is a dais from which the presiding officer presides.

Forty-eight of the desks date back to 1819, when the United States Senate chamber was reconstructed after the original contents were destroyed in the 1812 Burning of Washington.

For much of the nation's history the task of presiding over Senate sessions was one of the vice president's principal duties.

The powers of the presiding officer of the United States Senate are far less extensive than those of the speaker of the House.

Sessions of the United States Senate are opened with a special prayer or invocation and typically convene on weekdays.

Sessions of the United States Senate are generally open to the public and are broadcast live on television, usually by C-SPAN 2.

United States Senate procedure depends not only on the rules, but on a variety of customs and traditions.

The United States Senate commonly waives some of its stricter rules by unanimous consent.

United States Senate uses committees for a variety of purposes, including the review of bills and the oversight of the executive branch.

United States Senate has several committees that are not considered standing committees.

Historically, the United States Senate has disputed the interpretation advocated by the House.

Powers of the United States Senate concerning nominations are subject to some constraints.

Recess appointments have faced a significant amount of resistance and in 1960, the US United States Senate passed a legally non-binding resolution against recess appointments.

The trials of Johnson, Clinton and both Trump trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the United States Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

Under the Twelfth Amendment, the United States Senate has the power to elect the vice president if no vice-presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College.

The Twelfth Amendment requires the United States Senate to choose from the two candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes.

The United States Senate has only broken a deadlock once; in 1837, it elected Richard Mentor Johnson.