A system of rotation, however, ensures that half the Senate retires every three years. The four senators who represent the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory are elected concurrently with members of the House of Representatives and the duration of their terms of office coincide with those for that House a maximum of three years.
The Senate is elected by a system of proportional representation which ensures that the composition of the Senate more accurately reflects the votes of the electors than the method used to elect members of the House of Representatives. The Senate is a house of review and a powerful check on the government of the day. The proportional representation system of voting used to elect senators makes it easier for independents and the candidates of the smaller parties to be elected.
In recent decades this has meant that the government party usually does not have a majority of votes in the Senate and the non—government senators are able to use their combined voting power to reject or amend government legislation.
The Senate's large and active committee system also enables senators to inquire into policy issues in depth and to scrutinise the way laws and policies are administered by ministers and public servants. The President. After each Senate election the senators elect one of their number to preside over their proceedings.
Deputy President and Chairman of Committees When a bill a proposed law is being considered in detail the Senate resolves itself into a committee of the whole. At this point the President leaves the chair and the Chairman of Committees, who is also the Deputy President, presides over the Chamber from the chair between the two Clerks at the table.
The Deputy President also presides over the Chamber from the President's chair in the absence of the President. Party Whips Each party has its own Whip who is responsible for arranging for members of their party to take part in debates and for ensuring their attendance in the Chamber when a vote is to be taken.
The Whips meet together regularly to arrange the order of business in the Senate. The Clerks The Clerks at the Table are senior officers of the Department of the Senate trained in parliamentary procedure.
They record the proceedings of the Senate and advise the President and senators on procedure. Hansard editors Debates in the Senate are recorded on digital audio and digital tape.
The Hansard transcript is prepared by editors, who use voice recognition software, typing or a stenotype machine to input the text. Advisers' benches These seats are for Senators' staff, and advisers to ministers. Usher of the Black Rod The Usher of the Black Rod is a parliamentary officer with a number of ceremonial and official duties including escorting the President into the Chamber at the beginning of each sitting day, delivering messages from the Senate to the House of Representatives and assisting with keeping order in the Senate.
To the President's right sit the senators who belong to the government party or coalition of parties and to the left sit the senators who form the official opposition. Minority parties and independent senators sit on the 'cross benches' between the government and opposition. The Senate elects one senate member to serve as president pro tempore. The minority leader and majority are meant to consult one another to come to agreements on floor debate rules and to equally divide debate time between the parties.
Other important positions for both the majority and minority parties include:. Like the House, the Senate has committees that study issues in depth. There are a few restrictions on committee membership , which are intended to treat senators equitably in the assignment process. First, when a state is represented by two senators from the same party, they may not serve together on the same committee.
For example, a senator that serves on the Appropriations Committee has more power over what programs get what level of funding.
For a full list of committees and their classifications, see this Congressional Research Service report. During the course of each two-year congressional session, the Senate will refer approximately 3, bills and resolutions to its committees. Committees act on a small proportion of these, as some are only meant to call attention to issues or test future support.
Approximately bills and resolutions are reported to the full Senate. The Senate committee studies the bill and summons numerous witnesses to hearings on the bill, including members of Congress, administrative officials, representatives from the business sector, and the general public.
Once released from the committee, the bill goes to the Senate floor for consideration. Unlike in the House, bills in the Senate are not subject to the same type of parameters set by the House Committee on Rules. The Senate does not have a rules committee like the House Rules Committee that exists to manage floor procedures because the Senate was meant to have a more open, deliberative method of exploring policies, which allow senators to offer amendments that have no relation to the underlying bill.
This makes the Senate almost a leaderless body in the sense that any senator can take control of the agenda by offering an amendment and then force a debate on that amendment. As a result, it can be very difficult to get a bill passed in the Senate. For example, if most Republicans and Democrats want to pass a transportation bill, but one senator is against the bill, that one senator can bring up an amendment on a divisive issue e. During a typical floor debate on an individual piece of legislation, every senator is given the opportunity to speak for or against a bill, and each has the right to unlimited debate.
To ensure legislation continues to move in a timely fashion, the Senate works out unanimous consent agreements that set parameters around debates. The Senate must first agree to consider a piece of legislation by voting on a motion to proceed , which requires 60 votes. The Senate majority leader attempts to get all senators to agree by unanimous consent to take up the bill he wishes to have debated.
If senators withhold their consent, they are implicitly threatening extended debate on the question of considering the bill. Senators may do this because they oppose the bill or because they wish to delay consideration of one measure in the bill in the hope of influencing the fate of some other, possibly unrelated, measure.
The House has 23 committees while the Senate has a total of 20 committees. How does a bill become a law? Passing legislation into law is a complicated and lengthy process between the House and Senate before the bill is presented before the President to be signed into law. For a thorough explanation of the legislation process, please see the How a Bill Becomes a Law section on the House website. Do Members of Congress pay into the social security system?
Since January 1, , all Members of Congress participate in the Social Security system and are required to pay Social Security taxes. What kind of retirement plan do Members of Congress have? What kind of health care do Members of Congress receive? Skip to main content. You are here. How Congress Works. Minority Leader. Chairman of the Conference. Committee on Committees. Assists the leader, rounds up votes, heads large group of deputy and assistant whips.
Steering and Policy Committee. Assists the leader, rounds up votes, heads large forum of deputy and assistant whips.
The following is a brief summary: To levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises. To borrow money. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with Indian tribes. To establish rules for naturalization that is, becoming a citizen and bankruptcy.
To coin money, set its value, and punish counterfeiting. To fix the standard of weights and measures. To establish a post office and post roads. To issue patents and copyrights to inventors and authors.
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