there are three branches of government
in the US legislative executive and
judicial the legislative branch is
comprised at the United States Congress
the bicameral legislature responsible
for writing and passing all federal laws
among various other functions back when
the founding fathers drafted the
Constitution debate stirred over the
type of legislature they'd have one with
equal representation ie the same number
of Representatives for each state or a
proportional representation in which the
number of Representatives reflected the
size of each state's population unable
to choose they sell on both a
legislative branch with two houses the
House of Representatives and the Senate
which together form the Congress this
was all outlined in article 1 of the
Constitution which also notes the
functions powers and parameters of the
Congress and its individual
representatives a congressman's primary
responsibilities include representing
the interests of their constituents
working together to write laws
overseeing other government agencies and
passing bills but of course that's all
way easier said than done to understand
how it all works we have to take a
closer look at the makeup of the two
distinct houses the first in lower house
is the House of Representatives made up
of 435 elected officials each state is
allotted a number of congressmen
determined by their total population to
become a member of the house one must be
at least 25 have lived in the US for
seven years live in the state they will
represent and be elected by the people
congressmen serve two-year terms and
they're up for re-election every even
year the house is led by the Speaker of
the House who's elected by the House of
Representatives the house is a few
exclusive powers not shared by the
Senate only the house can initiate tax
laws and spending bills only the house
can initiate impeachment of the
President or other government officials
and in the event that there's no
majority in the electoral college for
one of the presidential candidates it's
the house who casts the deciding vote
the Senate or the upper house is made up
of only 100 elected members with two
senators from each state here a state
like Wyoming has a stronger voice as
California even though California has a
much larger population
to run for Senate one must be at least
30 years old have lived in the US for
nine years and live in the state that
they will represent senators serve
six-year terms every even year a third
of the Senate is up for re-election
before the 17th amendment was ratified
in 1912 senators were elected by the
state legislatures but now they're
elected by us the people the vice
president of the United States serves as
the head of the Senate but he or she may
only cast a vote in the event of a tie
the Senate exclusively has the power to
approve presidential appointments and
treaties and when the house moves to
impeach a government official
it's the Senate that tries them together
both houses have the power to tax coin
money declare war and regulate foreign
and interstate commerce but Congress's
bread and butter is writing and passing
bills getting the bill passed is no easy
task a bill can originate in either the
house of the Senate but before it gets
voted upon it goes through a series of
committees and amendments and floor
debates after a vote it moves to the
other chamber and the process continues
if the one chamber makes any edits to a
bill passed by the other it has to go
back for another vote the House and
Senate must vote to approve the exact
same bill before it can move on if it
fails to get a majority vote it has to
be reintroduced if it passes it goes to
the President's desk for approval if the
president chooses to veto a bill which
essentially avoids it Congress can push
back the veto override but to do this
they needed two-thirds majority vote in
both houses failing to pass legislation
is an inevitable part of congressional
routine Congress is the only branch of
government whose members are elected
directly by the people and the only part
of government that tries to balance the
relationship between the power of the
nation and the individual states to see
how the Supreme Court checks the
president check out our video on the
judicial branch