Legislative Branch

Makes the Laws

The BasicsLegislative Branch=Congress, which is divided into

the House of Representatives & the Senate (bicameral)

Representatives (House) are elected according to a state’s population and Senators are elected 2 per state

Representatives=435 Senators=100Representatives elected every 2 yearsSenators elected every 6 years

RequirementsHouse of Representatives

Must be at least 25 yrs. old Must be a citizen of the United States for at least 7 yearsMust live in the state in which he/she is elected

SenateMust be at least 30 years oldMust have been a citizen of the United States for at least

9 yearsMust live in the state in which he/she is elected

Structure

House of Representatives

Senate

Checks & BalancesCan impeach elected officials (put them on trial for

wrong-doing)Can override a President’s vetoMust approve the President’s selections for judges

and other officials

How a Bill Becomes a LawThere is a simple process Congress must use to make laws.1. A member of Congress (either the House or the

Senate) must propose a bill.2. The bill must then go to committee.

a) The committee in each house must review it and possibly edit it.

b) If the either committee dislikes the bill, they can “kill it” or refuse to bring it to a vote.

c) Once the bill passes through each committee, different versions may exist. A joint committee (House and Senate) must agree to the same language for the bill.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

3. The bill then goes to each house for a vote.4. It must pass with a majority of 51% in each house

to move on to the next step.5. The President must either sign the bill or veto it. 6. If the President vetoes the bill, Congress can

override it. Each house must vote to override the veto with a 2/3 majority vote.

How an Amendment is Ratified1. There are two ways an amendment can be proposed.

A. Congress• Both the House and the Senate must approve the proposal by a 2/3

majority (Most Common)

B. State Convention• At a convention called by 2/3 of the States

2. After an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified (approved). This can be done in two ways.

A. State Legislatures (Most Common)• ¾ of the State Legislatures approve

B. State Conventions• ¾ of the State Conventions approve

Bill of RightsMany of the Framers refused to support a new

Constitution unless it guaranteed rights for individuals called the Bill of Rights.

The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of Rights.

These are your MOST BASIC rights as a citizen!!!We will study these more next week!