U.S. Constitution Vests the Legislative

¶ … U.S. Constitution vests the legislative powers of the nation "in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and the House of Representatives" (U.S. Constitution.net). Cumulatively the House and Senate are delegated specific and broad powers in Section Eight of Article One including: regulation of commerce, declaration of war, borrowing money, lay and collect taxes, and "to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing powers" (U.S. Constitution.net). The legislative functions of both chambers of Congress do not diminish the individual roles which each body is delegated. The Senate's composition and activities are specifically set out in Article One and, Article Two, Section Three.

One of the shining moments during the 1787 Constitutional Convention was the resolution of representation for the proposed Congress. The "Great Compromise" "established equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives" (United States Senate.gov). The Senate chamber would be comprised of "two senators from each state" (U.S. Constitution.net) who would have the authority to vote on Senate measures as representatives of the citizens of their respective states.

The Senate from its inception has evolved considerably into the complex institution which exists in Washington D.C today. The Senate has long been considered as the "world's greatest deliberative body" (Economist.com); a point which many political scientists along with many citizens would contest is not necessarily a positive aspect in its legislative role. If the role of the Senate though is, as was designed by the framers, "a check on the passions of the lower chamber" (Kramer, L.), then the deliberative nature of debate and the longstanding rules of procedure which the Senate holds to are a benefit to the Congressional legislative process. "To quote former Senator Lamar Alexander "the Senate wasn't created to be efficient. It was created to be inefficient" (Kramer, L.)

As a deliberative and seasoned entity the Senate does have specific powers which it must exercise in the process of governmental functionality. Of these powers the Senate's role in approving nominations is certainly one of the most important and crucial. Found in Article Two, Section Two the language articulates that the President "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States" (U.S. Constitution.net). The power over nomination approval ultimately decides historic appointments; a point which Presidents have grappled with since the nation's founding.

As economic, political, and social globalization has transformed the face of world powers over the course of the country's history; the Senate's power of treaty approval has been instrumental in the conduct of foreign policy. "The Constitution gives the Senate the power to approve, by a two-thirds vote, treaties made by the executive branch" (United States Senate.gov). Regardless of the administration, the President must ultimately bow to the will of the Senate on treaties; President Wilson failed in his attempt at the passage of the League of Nations, just as President Obama is having difficulty in passage of trade bills with Columbia, South Korea, and Panama.

The Senate's powers also include further checks on the Executive Branch, namely the authority of impeachment by trial, two of which have been conducted on sitting Presidents: Jackson and Clinton. In addition the Senate has investigative powers on "malfeasance in the Executive Branch and elsewhere in American society" (United States Senate.gov).