US CONGRESS

Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government (dvodomni sistem zakonodavne
vlasti?) of the United States and consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the
Senate. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both senators and
representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a
governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives,
the latter defined by the Reapportionment Act of 1929. In addition, the House of Representatives
has six non-voting members, bringing the total membership of the US Congress to 541] or fewer in
the case of vacancies.
The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted
without the consent of both chambers. However, the Constitution grants each chamber some
unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House
initiates revenue-raising bills. The House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides
impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before an impeached person can be
removed from office.
POWERS OF THE CONGRESS

Article I of the Constitution sets forth most of the powers of Congress, which include numerous
explicit powers enumerated in Section 8. Additional powers are granted by other articles and by
Constitutional amendments.

Article I

Among the powers specifically given to Congress in Article I Section 8, are the following:

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common
defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform
throughout the United States;

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Native
American tribes;

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies
throughout the United States;

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and
measures;

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United
States;

7. To establish post offices and post roads;

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the
law of nations;
11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land
and water;

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term
than two years;

13. To provide and maintain a navy;

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections
and repel invasions;

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of
them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively,
the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress;

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten
miles (16 km) square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress,
become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all
places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings.

Article I grants several other powers outside of Section 8. Sections 2 and 3 give Congress the
exclusive impeachment power, allowing impeachment, trial, and removal of the President, federal
judges and other federal officers.[4] Section 4 allows Congress to "at any time by Law make or alter
such Regulations [on the times, places, and manner of holding elections to Congress], except as to
the Places of chusing Senators" and to appoint by law their own day to assemble. Section 9 allows
Congress to withhold consent to any officer of the United States accepting any foreign present,
emolument, office, or title. Section 10 allows Congress to control all state laws that lay duties on
imports or exports and to withhold consent to any state keeping troops or ships of war in time of
peace, engaging in war, or entering into any agreement with another state or foreign power.

Other articles

Additional powers are granted to Congress by the other articles. Article II Section 1 allows Congress
to "determine the Time of chusing the Electors [of the Electoral College], and the Day on which they
shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States". It also says, "the
Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the
President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer
shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected." Section 2 gives
the Senate the power of advice and consent to federal appointments made by the president and
allows Congress to "vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the
President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments". Section 3 gives Congress the
right to receive information on the state of the union from the president.

Article III Section 2 allows Congress to create exceptions and regulations to the appellate jurisdiction
of the Supreme Court and to make laws directing the place of trials of crimes committed outside of a
state. Section 3 grants Congress the power "to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder
of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person
attainted.”
Article Four Section 3 gives Congress the power to admit new states into the Union. It also grants
Congress the power "to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the
Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be
so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.”

Article V allows Congress to propose amendments to the Constitution and to specify ratification by
state legislature or by conventions.

Amendments

Constitutional amendments have also granted, or confirmed, other congressional powers. The
Twelfth Amendment gives Congress the power to choose the president or the vice president if no
one receives a majority of Electoral College votes. The Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868), and
Fifteenth Amendments (1870) gave Congress authority to enact legislation to enforce rights of all
citizens regardless of race, including voting rights, due process, and equal protection under the law.
[5] The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, extended power of taxation to include income taxes.
[6] The Nineteenth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-sixth amendments gave Congress the power to
enforce the right of citizens, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote regardless of sex, age,
and whether they have paid taxes. The Twenty-third Amendment gives Congress the power to direct
the manner in which the District of Columbia appoints electors. The Twenty-fifth Amendment gave
Congress the power to determine what body can declare the president unable to discharge the
powers and duties of the office and the power to decide whether the president shall resume the
powers and duties of the office whenever the president and the body are in conflict.

Implied powers

Congress has implied powers derived from clauses such as the General Welfare Clause, the
Necessary and Proper Clause, and the Commerce Clause and from its legislative powers.

Congress has exclusive authority over financial and budgetary matters, through the enumerated
power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the
common defense and general welfare of the United States. This power of the purse is one of
Congress' primary checks on the executive branch.[6] In Helvering v. Davis, the Supreme Court
affirmed Social Security as an exercise of the power of Congress to spend for the general welfare.
Generally, both Senate and House have equal legislative authority although only the House may
originate revenue bills and, by tradition, appropriation bills.

The Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution permits Congress "To make all laws which shall
be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers
vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer
thereof."[8] Broad interpretations of this clause have effectively widened the scope of Congress'
legislative authority, such as in McCulloch v Maryland, which held that Congress has the power to
establish a central bank.[9]

The Supreme Court has held that Congress has implied powers through the Commerce Clause. For
example, in Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States and United States v. Darby Lumber Co., it
was held that Congress could divide monopolies, prohibit child labor, and establish a minimum wage
under the Commerce Clause. Also, in Wickard v Filburn it was held that the Section 8 power “To
regulate commerce…among the several states” gave Congress the authority to limit the amount of
wheat that a farmer could grow in order to feed animals on his own farm, even though this activity
was not commerce and was not interstate, because such activities by private individuals had a
substantial economic effect on interstate commerce in wheat, even though only indirectly.

One of the foremost legislative functions of the Congress is the power to investigate and to oversee
the executive branch. Congressional oversight is usually delegated to committees and is facilitated
by Congress' subpoena power.[10] The Supreme Court affirmed in Watkins v. United States that
"[the] power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process" and that
"[it] is unquestionably the duty of all citizens to cooperate with the Congress in its efforts to obtain
the facts needed for intelligent legislative action. It is their unremitting obligation to respond to
subpoenas, to respect the dignity of the Congress and its committees and to testify fully with respect
to matters within the province of proper investigation." Some critics have charged that Congress has
in some instances failed to do an adequate job of overseeing the other branches of government. In
the Valerie Plame Wilson episode sometimes known as the Plame affair, some critics, including
Representative Henry A. Waxman, charged that Congress was not doing an adequate job of
oversight in this case. Other critics charge Congress was lax in its oversight duties regarding
presidential actions such as warrantless wiretapping, although others respond that Congress did
investigate the legality of decisions by President George W. Bush involving such matters.

STRUCTURE OF THE CONGRESS

The structure of the United States Congress with a separate House and Senate is complex with
numerous committees handling a disparate array of topics presided over by elected officers. Some
committees manage other committees. Congresspersons have various privileges to help the
presidents serve the national interest and are paid a salary and have pensions.