Constitutional Law (US)

KINNAIRD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN UNIVERSITY

NADIRA HASSAN LAW DEPARTMENT

POST-MID ASSIGNMENT

COURSE TITLE: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (US)

SUBMITTED BY: AMEERA KHURSHID
ROLL NUMBER: W19BLAW006
SEMESTER: IV
SUBMITTED TO: MA’AM MAIRA BOKHARI
SUBMISSION DATE: 06-05-2021

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Contents
Introduction:................................................................................................................................................3
Composition of Senate:...........................................................................................................................3
Eligibility Criteria:...................................................................................................................................3
Method of Election and Tenure:..............................................................................................................3
Privileges of Senators:.............................................................................................................................3
Presiding Officer:....................................................................................................................................4
Sessions:..................................................................................................................................................4
Powers and Functions of US Senate:...........................................................................................................4
Legislative powers and functions of the United States Senate:................................................................4
Executive powers and functions of the United States Senate:..................................................................4
Judicial powers and functions of the United States Senate:.....................................................................5
Congress as the most powerful second chamber of the world.....................................................................5
The Structure of the US Senate:..............................................................................................................5
Direct Executive Powers:........................................................................................................................5
Small Membership:.................................................................................................................................5
The Power of the US Senate with Other Countries’ Senate:....................................................................6
Long Tenure of Senators:........................................................................................................................6
Absence of Parliamentary form of Government:.....................................................................................6
Members of US Senate consists of Senior Politicians:............................................................................6
Direct Election of Senators:.....................................................................................................................7
Equal Legislative and Financial Powers..................................................................................................7
Greater Freedom of Speech:....................................................................................................................7
Solidarity of the Senate:..........................................................................................................................7
The Senators Represents the State and people:........................................................................................8
Special Powers of the Senate:..................................................................................................................8
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction:
The Senate is the American Congress's upper chamber which was established in 1789
under the Constitution. In the American political system, it is a very concrete and living force.
The Senate was built on the principle of equal representation for all states. Every state, no matter
how large or small, sends two representatives to Congress. According to the US Constitution, no
state can be denied equal Senate representation without its approval.

Composition of Senate:
The Senate is composed of only 100 members. Each State sends two representatives to the
Senate irrespective of population or territory of state.

Eligibility Criteria:
A person must possess certain qualifications to become of Senate according to Article 1
Section 3 of US constitution1.

 He must be thirty years of age.

 He must be inhabitant of the State from where he intends to contest the election.
 He should be resident of America for at least 9 years.

Method of Election and Tenure:

The Senators were chosen by the State legislatures before 1913 but in that year the
constitution was revised. The 17th amendment 2 established that the senators shall be chosen by
the voters of the State directly. As a result, Senators are elected directly by the people using
universal suffrage.

The Senate is a permanent body and it is not subject to dissolution. Every Senator is elected
for a term of six years and one-third of the total number of Senator retires every two years.

Privileges of Senators:
Senators have the same privileges and immunities as members of the House of
Representatives. Senators, on the other hand, have certain extra benefits in addition to the usual
ones.

 Members of the Senate cannot be removed by impeachment.

 They cannot be arrested during the sessions, save on the charge of gross misconduct,
treason or threatening public peace.
 The Senators enjoy unrestricted freedom of speech in the House. Any Senator can speak
on any issue or any bill for any length of time. He may talk, even, on a bill over to death.
This technique is termed as Filibustering.

1
Article 1, Section 3, Clause 3 of US constitution
2
17th Amendment in US Constitution (Election of Senators by Voters)

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Presiding Officer:
The Vice President of the United States is legally the Presiding officer to the Senate. In the
absence of the Vice-President the Senate is presided over by ‘President Pro-tempore’ 3, who is a
member of the majority party. The President Pro-tempore is elected by the Senators from among
themselves.

Sessions:
The constitution requires that both Houses of the Congress must meet at least once a year.
The President, however, can summon special or extra-ordinary sessions. The sessions of both the
House began and end simultaneously.

Powers and Functions of US Senate:

Article 1 of the US constitution states that the Senate proceeds the House of Representative. This
shows that the Senate holds much more powers than the Lower House. Being the upper chamber,
the powers and functions of the United States Senate are the Legislative, Executive, Judicial as
well as various other powers.

Legislative powers and functions of the United States Senate:

The Senate and the House of Representatives have fair and coordinated legislative power.
Its amending power is so broad that it can introduce new ideas into a Money Bill by striking out
anything. As a result, this is nearly identical to the creation of a new banknote. Furthermore, the
Senate has no deadline for passing the money bill.

As regards the ordinary legislation, the legislative history of the congress shows that the
Senate has originated more important legislations than the house of representatives. A bill
becomes law only when agreed by the President after having passed in both the houses.

In case there is a difference between the two houses, a conference committee which
consists of 3 to 9 members from each house is constituted to resolve the deadlock. Even in this
compromised committee, the Senate has every prospect of out-witting the members of the other
house by sheer advantage of greater political skill and superior bargaining capacity.

Executive powers and functions of the United States Senate:

The constitution also gives many executive powers to the Senate. The Senate may act as a
check on the monarchical ambitions of the President. It checks and balances the appointments.
The Senate provides aid and advise to the president in the discharge of his executive function.
The constitution requires that all appointments made by the President are subject to ratification
by the Senate according to Article 24.

3
Article 1, Section 3, Clause 4 of US Constitution
4
Article 2, section 2, clause 2 of the US constitution

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Judicial powers and functions of the United States Senate:

As per the constitution, the Senate has the sole power to try all impeachment 5. The House
of Representatives and the Senate can impeach the President, the Vice President, and other high-
ranking officials. When the Senate acts as the court of impeachment, it is considered the highest
court preside over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. With the consent and advice of the
Senate, the President can appoint judges of the Supreme Court.

Congress as the most powerful second chamber of the world

The Senate's powers and roles are demonstrated without any doubt that it is not only
more powerful than the Lower House, but also the world's most powerful second chamber. In the
original Constitution, the Fathers of the United States mentioned the Senate first, followed by the
House of Representatives. The Senate has gradually eclipsed the famous House of Congress in
terms of reputation and authority, and has become unique among the world's second chambers.
Senate has legislative, executive, judicial, supervisory and some really special powers which
makes the United State Senate the most powerful second chamber of the world. No other second
chamber has more powers than the US senate.

The following points demonstrate the strength of US Senate which contributed to make it the
most powerful second chamber of the world.

The Structure of the US Senate:

The US Senate, unlike other world second chambers such as the British House of Lords,
Indian Rajya Sabha, Swiss Council of States, and French Senate, is democratically established
and directly elected. The US Senate's power, integrity, and vitality are due to its common
election system and fair representation of the states in it.

Direct Executive Powers:

The Senate is the world's only legislative body which has any direct executive authority.
It shares with the President the right to nominate high-ranking officials, and it benefits from this
privilege. It controls the internal administration of the federal governments. Then no treaty or
agreement with a foreign state concluded by the President is valid without the prior ratification
of the Senate. Through this power, the Senate controls the external policy of the President. It is to
he noted that these powers are exclusively exercised by the Senate. The House of
Representatives has nothing to do with them

Small Membership:
The membership of the US Senate is small. On the other hand, the membership of the
House of Representatives is large. The Senate consists of only 100 members. This small size
makes it really a more deliberative body, makes it more compact, productive and efficient. The

5
Article 1, section 3, clause 6 of the Us constitution

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House of Representatives is a large body consisting of 438 members. The large size of the House
makes its deliberations less effective.

The Power of the US Senate with Other Countries’ Senate:

The other second chambers in the world are inferior to the lower houses in their
respective countries. Thus, the US Senate is clearly more powerful than the House of
Representatives. For example, As, a legislative body, the House of Lords in the United Kingdom
can delay a non-money bill only for a year but cannot veto it. In India, though the Rajya Sabha
has equal law-making power with the Lok Sabha, but the joined session method of conflict
resolution between the two houses favors the Lok Sabha. However, the joined conference
committee method of conflict resolution between the Senate and the House of Representatives in
the USA almost always favors the former. The US Senate enjoys a superior position even in
matters of controlling the finances of the country. Except for the limitation that money is not
introduced in it.

US Senate has every power to modify and change the contents of a money bill. There is
also no time limit for it to pass the money bill. However, the House of Lords in the United
Kingdom has one month and the Rajya Sabha in India has 14 days, within which they have to
pass the money bill.

Long Tenure of Senators:

The tenure of Senate is long on the other hand, the tenure of House of Representatives
short. Then the Senators are elected for a term of 6 years whereas members of the House are
elected only for a short term of 2 years. The Senators are, therefore, not worried about their
elections after every two years and as a result they get experience and do their tasks well.
Moreover, during a brief span of two years, no party can do full justice to its program and policy.

Absence of Parliamentary form of Government:

The absence of Parliamentary form of government has also indirectly helped the Senate
to acquire a domineering position over the House. In countries with parliamentary form of
government the Lower House attains a higher status than the other one on account of the fact that
it has control over the executive as in England and Pakistan. In USA the position is rather
reverse. It is the Upper House which has some control over the executive and the Lower House is
devoid of any such power.

Members of US Senate consists of Senior Politicians:

Senior politicians and men with legislative experience and wider knowledge of public
affairs, usually aspire to the membership of the Senate because of its longer term and greater
prestige than the Lower House. The result is that the Senate becomes superior to the Lower
House in intellectual quality, legal talents and political wisdom. The newspapers give great
coverage to the speeches made in the Senate. Public attention is more focused on what happens
in the Senate than in the House.

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Direct Election of Senators:

Unlike the members of the Second Chambers in England, Pakistan, India or Canada, U.S.
Senators are directly elected by the people. It is a matter of common experience that an indirectly
elected Upper Chamber finds it difficult to resist the will of the Lower House, which is elected
by the direct vote of the people in these countries. But in U.S.A. the Senate can claim equally
representative character with the House. The latter is therefore not in a position to dominate the
former.

Equal Legislative and Financial Powers

The Senate enjoys equal powers in the legislative and financial spheres with the House
both in theory and practice. In England, Pakistan and India, the Upper House is given a lesser
authority than the Lower House in the sphere of legislation. Since in USA, both, the House of
Representatives and the Senate have equal and co-ordinate powers regarding ordinary and
financial legislation, the deadlocks are frequent. In order to resolve such deadlocks, a Conference
Committee consisting of equal members from both the Houses is constituted. The legislative
History of Congress. shows that the Senate’s viewpoint, which ultimately prevails. It is natural
because the Senate consists of seasoned statesmen and stalwart politicians and men who really
matter in the public life of the country.

Greater Freedom of Speech:

The Senators enjoy greater freedom of speech than the members of the Lower House. A
Senator can, go on speaking for any length of time. This enables a full-length debate; on every
matter and every measure is discussed from all viewpoints and angles. Speech and debate
clause6, which is the clause 1 of Article 1 section 6 of US Constitution allows freedom of speech
to senators. The rules of procedure arc simple and flexible enabling the Senators to carry on full-
length discussion.

Case laws:

In United States v. Brewster7, the Court distinguished between purely legislative

activities, which the Speech and Debate Clause protected, and merely political activities, which it
did not.

In Gravel v. United States8, the Supreme Court extended the speech and debate clause to
protect congressional aides, described as “alter egos,” for work in connection with such
speeches, but limited the privilege to “legislative activity.”

6
Article 1, section 6 clause 1
7
United States v. Brewster, 408 U.S. 502 (1972)
8
Gravel v. United States, 408 U.S. 606 (1972),

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Solidarity of the Senate:

The Senate is the one legislative organ in the world the members of which have solidarity
and unity irrespective of their political affiliation. As for instance, when President Roosevelt
tried to bypass Senatorial Courtesy in 1938. It stood solidly against it. Even Senators of his own
party did not support him. The entire Senate stands as one unit wherever any attack on its
authority is made.

The Senators Represents the State and people:

The members of the Senate are elected by the entire population of a state whereas the
members of the House are elected by a fraction of population in constituency the Senators thus
have the proud privilege of having great representative character and greater popular support as
against the members of the House of Representatives. The Senators represent the States as
political units. The Old State loyalties having diminished and the narrow outlook disappeared the
Senators now regard themselves as representatives of the Nation as a whole.

Special Powers of the Senate:

The Senate has special powers which strength its value and making it the strongest
second chamber of the world. The Constitution gives each house of Congress certain special
powers. For example, the House of Representatives must start all bills for raising revenue. The
House also has the sole power to impeach public officials, and the House chooses the president if
no presidential candidate receives enough electoral votes to be elected. The Senate has four
special powers.

i. Impeachment: The Senate tries all cases in which the House of Representatives has
impeached an official of the Federal Government for the purpose of removing that
official from office. Only Senate has the power to try impeachment against the
President, Vice president and other civil officers on the account of treason, bribery or
any such reason of this kind. To convict an impeached official requires the vote of
2/3rd of the Senators present and voting. When the President has been impeached, the
Chiefs Justice of the United States presides over the trial in the Senate. 12
impeachments have been done so far by US Senate. Andrew Johnson, John Tyler and
Willian J. Clinton are examples of it. Impeachment is a very cumbersome process and
no upper chamber has this authority except US upper chamber Senate.
Case law:
 Nixon v. United States9, this case involved the removal of a Federal judge
ii. Nominations: The Senate also has the exclusive legislative authority to approve the
nominations of people appointed by the President to high executive and judicial
positions, such as cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, and federal judges, by a simple
majority vote. The confirmation of nominees does not require the House of

9
Nixon v. United States, 506 U.S. 224 (1993)

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Representatives. If no vice -presidential candidate receives enough electoral votes to

be elected, the Senate chooses the vice president.
iii. International treaties: The Senate has the exclusive constitutional power, by a two-
thirds majority of the Senators present and voting, to authorize the President to ratify
a treaty that has been negotiated on behalf of the United States. If legislation is
required to implement a treaty that the President has ratified after receiving the advice
and consent of the Senate, both houses of Congress must approve that legislation
iv. Investigating power of US senate: The Senate, like the House of Representatives,
may establish special investigative committees. In addition, the standing committees
of the Senate are authorized to conduct investigations of matters within their
respective jurisdictions. Standing and special investigative committees have the
authority to issue subpoenas that require a person to appear before the committee and,
if necessary, to produce documents.

Conclusion:
To conclude, we can establish that the U.S. Senate is considered to be the most powerful
second chamber in the World for the above following reasons. It is the only legislative body with
direct executive authority. It shares with the President the authority to nominate top-level
officials and, as a result, it has authority over the federal government's internal administration. It
performs all three state functions: executive, legislative, and judicial. It is clear that, while other
upper chambers across the world are losing power and influence, the Senate is growing stronger
and more influential. All of these findings demonstrate that no other second chamber in the
world has the same level of power, influence and authority as the US Senate.

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