Organization of the Senate
* Organization of the Senate
• The United States Senate operates very similarly to the House of Representatives,
but there are a few notable exceptions.
• The Senate, according to the Constitution is chaired by the Vice President of the
United States, but American tradition has left the Vice President with little power
in regards to how the Senate operates, so most of the time the Vice President
does not appear in the chambers except to cast a tie breaking vote.
• This means that the Senate basically runs itself through its own membership.
* Organization of the Senate
• It is the Speaker of the House that controls the agenda and rules for the House,
but in the Senate it is the Majority Leader. The current Majority Leader is Nevada
Democrat Harry Reid.
* Organization of the Senate
• Just as in the House, however, there is also a floor leader for the minority party in
the Senate. The current Minority Leader is Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell
* Organization of the Senate
• There are also assistant floor leaders, or whips, just as in the House.
• The current Majority Whip is Illinois Democrat Richard Durbin
• The current Minority Whip is Texas Republican John Cornyn
* Organization of the Senate
• The Constitution provides for that when the Vice President is not available to
chair the Senate, the Senate be chaired by a Senate President Pro Tempore
(pronounced pro tem).
• The Senate President Pro Tempore is currently the third in line to the President of
the United States, behind the Vice President and the Speaker of the House
• The Senate President Pro Tempore has very little power beyond chairing Senate
proceedings, though that in itself is a rather powerful job.
• The Senate President Pro Tempore is usually the longest serving Senator from the
majority party. The current President Pro Tempore is Vermont Democrat Patrick
Leahy
* Organization of the Senate
• Like the House, the Senate has its own committees. Its standing committees
include the following:
• Agriculture
• Appropriations
• Armed Services
• Banking
• Housing and Urban Affairs
• Commerce
• Science
• Transportation
• Energy and Natural Resources
• Environment and Public Works
• Finance
• Foreign Relations
• Governmental Affairs
• Judiciary
• Labor and Human Resources
• Budget
• Rules and Administration
• Small Business
• Veterans' Affairs
* Organization of the Senate
• The rules of parliamentary procedure of the Senate are similar in context to that
of the House, with the notable exception of the filibuster.
• A filibuster is usually a delay tactic which, under the rules permit a senator, or a
series of senators, to speak for as long as they wish and on any topic they choose,
unless "three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn” (usually 60 out of 100
senators) brings debate to a close by invoking cloture
• One of the most famous filibusters was in 1935 when Louisiana Democrat Senator
Huey Long filibustered for 15 hours and 35 minutes, reading Shakespeare, a copy
of the phone book, and recipes for shrimp and oyster dishes, as well as pot
likkers. His filibustering only ended when he could not hold it any longer, and had
to yield the floor to use the restroom.
• The longest filibuster in Senate history was done by Strom Thurmond, a Democrat
from South Carolina who later became a Republican, when in 1957 he spoke for
24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Thurmond began
speaking at 8:54 p.m. on Aug. 28 and continued until 9:12 p.m. the following
evening, reciting the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, President
George Washington's farewell address and other historical documents along the
way. Thurmond was not the only lawmaker to filibuster on the issue, however.
According to Senate records, teams of senators consumed 57 days filibustering
between March 26 and June 19, the day the Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed.