United States Senate

United States Senate
United States Senate
118th United States Congress
	Seal of the U.S. Senate
	Flag of the U.S. Senate
Type
Type	Upper house of the United States Congress
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 3, 2021
Leadership
President of the Senate	Kamala Harris (D) ; since January 20, 2021
President pro tempore	Patty Murray (D) ; since January 3, 2023
Majority Leader	Chuck Schumer (D) ; since January 20, 2021
Minority Leader	Mitch McConnell (R) ; since January 20, 2021
Majority Whip	Dick Durbin (D) ; since January 20, 2021
Minority Whip	John Thune (R) ; since January 20, 2021
Structure
Seats	100; 51 (or 50 plus the president of the Senate) for a majority
Political groups	Majority (51) Democratic (48); Independent (3); Minority (49) Republican (49);
Length of term	6 years
Elections
Voting system	Plurality voting in 46 states; Varies in 4 states GA and MS: Two-round system ; AK (general elections only) and ME: Instant-runoff ;
Last election	November 3, 2020 (35 seats)
Next election	November 8, 2022 (34 seats)
Meeting place
	Senate Chamber; United States Capitol; Washington, D.C.; United States
Website
	senate.gov
Constitution
	United States Constitution

The United States Senate is the upper house of the United States Congress, which is a small group of elected people who decide the laws of the country.^[2] Every U.S. state elects two people to represent them in the US Senate.^[3] These people are called senators. Since there are 50 US states, there are 100 senators.^[3] Senators serve six years at a time, and one-third of them are picked every two years.^[3] Originally the legislature of each state decided who their senators would be. After 1913, all the people of the state chose their senators by vote. The Vice President of the United States is in charge of the Senate, but only does anything when there is a tie vote or a special event.

In order to be a senator, a person has to be 30 years old or older, and has to be a citizen of the United States for 9 years or more. They must also live in the state they represent at election time.

↑ "Maine Independent Angus King To Caucus With Senate Democrats". Politico. November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2020. Angus King of Maine, who cruised to victory last week running as an independent, said Wednesday that he will caucus with Senate Democrats. [...] The Senate's other independent, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, also caucuses with the Democrats.
↑ "Members of Congress". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 The United States Senate for Know-It-Alls (Minneapolis: Filiquarian Publishing, LLC, 2008), p. 3

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[1] "Maine Independent Angus King To Caucus With Senate Democrats". Politico. November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2020. Angus King of Maine, who cruised to victory last week running as an independent, said Wednesday that he will caucus with Senate Democrats. [...] The Senate's other independent, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, also caucuses with the Democrats.

[5] "Members of Congress". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved 23 February 2016.

[Filiq3-6] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 The United States Senate for Know-It-Alls (Minneapolis: Filiquarian Publishing, LLC, 2008), p. 3

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