What is the Legislative Branch?

(Overview)
The legislative branch of U.S. government, comprised of the Senate and House of Representatives, was envisioned by the Framers of the U.S. Constitution as the branch that would be closest, and most responsive, to the people. Members of Congress would be elected to represent the interests of the people and the states in the new federal government. The United States' first legislature When the American colonists revolted against Great Britain, they rejected the idea of parliamentary sovereignty. This was the concept that parliament, as a representative of the people, had the power to legislate anything that was not naturally impossible. The colonists especially resisted parliamentary taxation because of the principle of "no taxation without representation," which they traced back to the Magna Carta of 1215. The colonists argued that only their own elected legislatures, where they were represented, could propose taxes on their behalf. Since the colonists sent no representatives to London, the British Parliament couldn't tax them. Still, the colonists generally accepted the view that the legislative branch was closest to the people. When the Second Continental Congress proposed, and the states ratified, the Articles of Confederation that preceded the current U.S. Constitution, they established a unicameral (onehouse) Congress in which each state was equally represented. This Congress was not very effective, largely because the government under the Articles lodged primary power within the states. Congress lacked power to regulate interstate commerce, and it took nine or more of the states to adopt key legislation. State delegations were paid by the states and were often absent. Creating the legislative branch When delegates met in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, they decided both to increase the powers of Congress and to balance this branch against coordinate executive and judicial branches of government with somewhat overlapping powers, which they hoped would provide checks and balances that would help preserve liberty. Congress would have primary responsibility to adopt laws, with special responsibility over fiscal matters like taxing, borrowing, and spending and shared powers over foreign affairs: Congress has the power to declare war but the president is commander and chief of the armed forces. The president would have primary responsibility to enforce the laws, and courts would have primary responsibility for interpreting them. As to the composition of Congress, the first plan that delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 considered was the Virginia Plan (favored by the most populous states) which proposed replacing the unicameral Congress under the Articles of Confederation with a bicameral (two-house) body with increased powers. The lower house would resemble the lower house of the British Parliament, known as the House of Commons, whereas the upper house would come closer to the House of Lords (without, however, being hereditary). Advocates of the Virginia Plan initially proposed that both houses of the new Congress would be represented according to population, but less populous states (representatives from which proposed the New Jersey Plan at the Convention) eventually prevailed in seeing that they would have equal representation within the Senate. Under the original scheme subsequently

abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) and Fourteenth Amendment (1868), the House of Representatives counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for purposes of representation. Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution further specified that there would be no more than one representative for each 30,000 people; today the average district has about 650,000 people. In defending the new government, James Madison argued in The Federalist, No. 10 that it would be superior to pure democracies in two respects. First, as a representative, or republican, democracy, it would make better decisions than the people assembled together on their own behalf for this purpose. Second, because representation would allow for a much larger nation, it would include many more factions, or interest groups, making it more difficult for such interests to become majorities. Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution provides that members of Congress shall be paid out of the national treasury. This undoubtedly gives members greater independence than they would have were they paid by the states. Roles of the Senate and House of Representatives The House of Representatives was designed as the larger and more democratic house of the most democratic branch of government. Thus, its members had the shortest terms (two years). Every two years, there are elections for all 435 voting seats in the House (a ceiling imposed in 1911) as well as for the nonvoting seats held by the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Representatives serve individual districts within states, except within the smallest states where the districts are coextensive with state boundaries. Meanwhile senators serve the states as a whole. Senators serve terms of six years, meaning that only one third of the Senate faces election every two years. As the larger and more unwieldy body, the House has stricter rules than the Senate, which is a more collegial body and where members have more opportunities to speak. A minority of Senators can filibuster, or "talk a bill to death," unless 60 members invoke cloture to cut off debate. Partisanship has increased in both houses of Congress in recent decades. Article I, Section 8 enumerates, or lists, the major powers of Congress including the power to tax, spend, and borrow (powers collectively known as "the power of the purse"), the power to raise military forces and declare war, the power to regulate interstate commerce, etc. The last clause of Article I, Section 8, known as the necessary and proper clause, or elastic, provides a basis for implied powers, which the Supreme Court recognized when it upheld the constitutionality of the national bank in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819). Only legislators can introduce laws, but member may submit laws that the president favors. For legislation to become law, it has to be adopted in identical language by both houses of Congress and be either approved by the president or adopted by two-thirds majorities of both houses over the president's veto. In addition to its role in law-making, the House can impeach judges and executive officials for "high crimes and misdemeanors." In such cases, the Senate acts as a trial court and requires a two-thirds margin to convict. Only the Senate has the power to ratify treaties or confirm presidential appointments. Two-thirds majorities of both houses of Congress can propose constitutional amendments, which become law when ratified by three-fourths of the states. In the unlikely event that no candidate for president achieves a majority of votes, the House of Representatives chooses among the top three candidates for president, a function it has

not had to perform since 1824. The Senate chooses the vice president in the unlikely event that no candidate receives a majority for that office. Both the speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate are in the line of succession to the presidency behind the vice president and before cabinet officers.
Further Reading Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, 1961; Ritchie, Donald A. The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010; Vile, John R.A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments, 5th ed. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010.

Vile, John R. "What is the Legislative Branch? (Overview)." In American Government. ABCCLIO, 2000-. Accessed November 17, 2013. http://americangovernment.abc-clio.com/.