Method of choosing senators.
The Senate: Its Organization.—In the constitution, as originally adopted, it was provided that each state should have two senators, elected “by the legislature thereof”. For more than a hundred years that method of election was followed. The two houses of the state legislature chose the senators. But this plan became unpopular and in 1913 the constitution was amended to provide that the senators should be chosen in each state by popular vote. The term remains fixed at six years, but one-third of the senators retire every second year.[[110]] Every state, large or small, has two senators. Nevada, with only 80,000 population has equal representation in the Senate with New York, which has above ten million people. Proportionally, New York ought to have about two hundred and fifty senators. This may seem to be unfair to the larger states, but it was a necessary concession to the smaller states at the time the union was formed. |The principle of equality.| Population, moreover, is not the only thing that should be taken into consideration. A state may be large in area, with great natural resources and a splendid future before it, and yet be very thinly settled. The Senate was created to represent the states as such, and all the states are equal in rights, if they are not equal in area or population. At any rate the provision for equal representation is in the constitution and if you read the provision, you will see that it cannot be easily changed (Article V, last clause).
The Senate’s procedure.
The Senate holds regular sessions each year at Washington. It may be called in special session, even when the House of Representatives is not sitting. This is because the Senate has some special powers apart from those which it shares equally with the lower house. It makes its own rules of procedure, decides any disputes as to the qualifications of its own members, and has power, by a two-thirds vote, to expel any senator from its membership. Most of the Senate’s routine work is done by committees, the members of which are assigned every second year by an unofficial “Committee on Committees” subject to the approval of the whole chamber. There are about thirty of these committees, but many of them are of small importance. The more important are those which deal with revenue measures, appropriations, foreign relations, and interstate commerce. Each committee has its own chairman.
The Senate: Its Exclusive Powers.—The Senate has three special powers in which the House of Representatives possesses no share. These powers relate to impeachments, the confirming of appointments, and the ratification of treaties.
1. Trial of impeachments.
The Senate, as the constitution declares, has “the sole power to try all impeachments”. The procedure known as impeachment is of English origin and goes back to mediaeval times when the only way of holding a king to account was to impeach and punish his advisors. The framers of the American constitution regarded impeachment as a useful means of checking any arbitrary use of executive power and they, therefore, made provision that “the President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States” should be subject to impeachment before the Senate in case of wrong-doing. The term “civil officers” includes members of the cabinet, judges, ambassadors, even postmasters; but it does not include the members of either branch of Congress nor, of course, does it include either state or local officeholders. Civil officers of the United States can be impeached only for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”; and if convicted can be punished only to the extent of being removed from office as well as disqualified from ever holding any federal position again. They cannot be put to death, or imprisoned, or fined.
When it is desired to impeach any civil officer, the charges against him are laid before the Senate by the House of Representatives. The Senate sets a date for hearing the case; the evidence is presented; and the Senate then frames its verdict behind closed doors.[[111]] A two-thirds majority is necessary for a conviction.[[112]]
2. Confirmation of appointments.
All the more important appointments made by the President require the confirmation of the Senate. The President sends to the presiding officer of the Senate the names of his proposed appointees and the Senate thereupon refers them to the appropriate committees for consideration. When the committees make their report the Senate then votes to confirm or reject. A bare majority, not a two-thirds vote, suffices. Rejections take place at times, but the great majority of the President’s nominations are confirmed without delay. The Senate understands that the chief responsibility for selecting federal officers rests with the executive branch of the government and that confirmation should not be refused without good reason. There is, however, a practice known as “senatorial courtesy”, which has frequently led to the rejection of names proposed by the President. According to this custom the Senate will not confirm the appointment of any local officer, such as postmaster or internal revenue officer, unless the person named for the appointment is satisfactory to the senator or senators from the state concerned, provided, of course, that these senators are of the same political party as the President himself. Or, to put it more concretely, if a Republican President nominates as internal revenue officer at Philadelphia someone who is not approved by the Republican Senators from Pennsylvania, the Republican majority in the Senate will not permit the appointment to be confirmed. This unwritten rule of senatorial courtesy has been enforced at some times and not at others. Some presidents have been able to persuade the Senate to disregard it; but in general it is a custom which ties the hands of all presidents to a considerable extent. When the Senate is not in session, the President is free to make appointments at his own discretion. These are known as “recess appointments” and are temporary only. If the Senate, at its next session, fails to confirm them, these recess appointments lapse and the appointees get no pay for the time they may have served.