The Legislative Branch
Review: The Three Branches
United States Government
Executive
Branch
Legislative
Branch
Enforces the law
Makes the law
Judicial
Branch
Interprets the law
The Legislative Branch
The legislative branch is made up of Congress,
which is a bicameral legislature of two houses
House of Representatives:
435
The Senate:
100
Stop & Why do you think there are two houses
Think: instead of just one?
The House of Representatives
• The Lower House (less prestigious)
• Number of representatives each state can elect is based
on that state’s population
Each state gets at least one
The limit is set at 435
The Census every 10 years helps decide how many
representatives each state gets
The House of Representatives
 Each representative is responsible for a section of the
state, called districts
 Each representative is elected by the people in their
district – directly elected by the people
 Representatives serve 2 year terms – no
Our Colorado Representatives
Write down the name of one Republican and one Democrat
Diana
DeGette
Jared
Polis
Mike
Coffman
Doug
Lamborn
Ken
Buck
Scott
Tipton
D
D
R
R
R
R
Ed
Perlmutter
D
1. Which state has the most representatives?
Stop &
2. Which states only have 1 representative?
Write:
3. Why did some states gain or lose representatives?
The Senate
• The Upper House (more prestigious)
• Each state gets 2 senators, no matter what (100 total)
Senators serve 6 year terms – no term limit
Each representative is elected by the people in their
district – directly elected by the people
Michael Bennet - D
Cory Gardner - R
Write down the
names of our
Senators
How Congress is Organized
• On the first day of each term, the Republican members
and Democratic members of Congress have private
meetings to choose leaders of their political party
Political party with the most members in Congress is
called the Majority Party
Political party with fewer members is called the
Minority Party
Why might it be a good thing for Congress to have a Majority
Stop &
Party that is the same as the President’s party? Why might it
Talk:
be a bad thing?
How Congress is Organized
Senate
House of Representatives
President Pro Tempore
Speaker of the House
Floor Leaders
Floor Leaders
Majority Leader Minority Leader
Majority Whip
Minority Whip
Party Leaders
Majority Leader
Majority Whip
Minority Leader
Minority Whip
Party Leaders
Chairman of Democrats
Chairman of Republicans
Chairman of Democrats
Chairman of Republicans
Committees
Committees
Subcommittees
Subcommittees
A whip is an assistant to the party leader
Powers of Congress
1. Financing the Government
Paying for government programs and national
defense
How? By collecting taxes, borrowing money, and
printing money
Powers of Congress
2. Regulating Trade and Industry
Regulating trade with foreign countries and
between states
How? By passing laws that protect the rights of
investors
Powers of Congress
3. Defending the Country
Protecting the country from foreign and domestic
enemies
How? By maintaining the armed forces and
declaring war
Powers of Congress
4. Allowing for Growth
Deciding who is and isn’t part of the nation
How? By passing laws to regulate immigration,
and by allowing the admission of new states
Powers of Congress
5. Impeaching Federal Officials
Bringing federal officials to trial
How? By impeaching them = to accuse of
misconduct and bring to trial
Nixon
resigned
before he
could be
impeached
Clinton was
impeached
Legislative Branch Matching
Match the items to the category they belong to
435 members
House of Representatives
Creating lower courts
Upper House
Bicameral legislature
6 year terms
Enforces the law
Impeaching federal officials
Speaker of the House
1._________________
2._________________
3._________________
4._________________
5._________________
Senate
1._________________
2._________________
3._________________
4._________________
5._________________
Congress
1.__________________
2.__________________
3.__________________
4.__________________
5.__________________
Regulating trade
100 members
Lower House
2 per state
Taxes citizens
President Pro Tempore
2 year terms
Census helps decide