October 18-19

Article I The Legislative Branch
*Article I of the US Constitution creates and defines the legislative branch of government. Article I is broken into 10 sections.

Section 1: This section establishes the creation of a bicameral legislature called Congress. The upper house of Congress is called the Senate, and the lower house is called the House of Representatives. Section 1 gives Congress the power to make laws.

Section 2: The House of Representatives.

-Representatives are elected directly by the people every 2 years.

-Members of the House must be at least 25 years old and must be a citizen of the US for no less than 7 years.

-Each House member must be a resident of the state he or she represents.

-Representation in the House is proportional to the population of the state.

-Each State must have at least 1 Representative.

-Congress decides the size of the House; currently there are 435 members of the House of Representatives.

-If a vacancy occurs in the House, the governor of the state calls a special election to fill the open seat.


-The House makes its own rules, elects its own officers, and has the power to remove members from office through impeachment proceedings.

-The House has the sole power to impeach members of Congress, the executive branch, the legislative branch, and all people who are appointed to federal offices.

Section 3: The Senate

-Each state is guaranteed to have 2 Senators represent it in Congress. Currently there are 100 Senators. Each Senator has 1 vote in the Senate.

-Senators were originally chosen by state legislatures until the 17th Amendment was passed. Now, Senators are elected directly by the people.

-Members of the Senate are elected to serve a term that lasts 6 years.

-One must be at least 30 years old to be a Senator, be a US citizen for no less than 9 years, and must be a citizen of the State that he or she represents.

-The presiding officer of the US Senate is the Vice-President of the United States. The Vice-President is only allowed a vote in the Senate when there is a tie.

-In the absence of the Vice President, a member of the Senate, who is elected by the other Senators, serves as the presiding officer. The title of this Senator is president pro tempore of the Senate.

-The Senate makes its own rules, and elects its own officers.

-The Senate has the power to try all impeachment cases; in the event that person being impeached is the President of the United States, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial.