111-688: The Dirksen Senate Office Building is the second office building constructed for members and staff of the United States Senate , northeast of the United States Capitol , in Washington, D.C. , and was named for the late longtime Minority Leader Everett Dirksen from Illinois in 1972. On the eve of America's entry into World War II , in December 1941, the U.S. Senate authorized the Architect of
222-687: A $ 21 million ($ 157,991,783 in 2023 dollars) underground parking garage here. That effort was approved in June 1971. But in May 1972, the Subcommittee on Buildings of the Senate Committee on Public Works approved a plan to construct the New Senate Office Building above the parking garage. The building's cost was estimated at $ 48 million ($ 361,124,076 in 2023 dollars) in June 1972. The full Senate approved
333-514: A $ 400,000 ($ 1,262,897 in 2023 dollars) art gallery, $ 227,000 ($ 716,694 in 2023 dollars) in carpeting for auxiliary space, $ 167,700 ($ 529,469 in 2023 dollars) for vertical blinds, and $ 1.2 million ($ 3,788,690 in 2023 dollars) for finishes and furnishings for a large central hearing room with hidden multimedia bays. The Hart Senate Office Building was completed in September 1982 at a cost of $ 137.7 million ($ 434,752,138 in 2023 dollars). The Architect of
444-516: A chair in the front of the Senate chamber. The powers of the presiding officer of the Senate are far less extensive than those of the speaker of the House . The presiding officer calls on senators to speak (by the rules of the Senate, the first senator who rises is recognized); ruling on points of order (objections by senators that a rule has been breached, subject to appeal to the whole chamber); and announcing
555-483: A complete safety check of the work conducted. It was restored to its suspended position in 2015. On October 15, 2001, several suites of this building became contaminated by the release of anthrax powder from an envelope mailed to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in the 2001 anthrax attacks . The building was closed October 17, 2001, displacing hundreds of Senate staff. The building was decontaminated using chlorine dioxide gas from November to December 2001, and
666-457: A given state are not contested in the same general election, except when a vacancy is being filled. Class I comprises Senators whose six-year terms are set to expire on January 3, 2025. There is no constitutional limit to the number of terms a senator may serve. The Constitution set the date for Congress to convene — Article 1, Section 4, Clause 2, originally set that date for the third day of December. The Twentieth Amendment , however, changed
777-639: A historic structure that serves as headquarters for the National Woman's Party and a museum about the women's suffrage movement. The Central Hearing Facility was completed in October 1987, and used for the first time in January 1988. Located on the second floor of the Hart Senate Office Building, the two-story high room has studio-quality television lighting built into the ceiling. Booths built into
888-492: A majority of electors for vice president , the duty falls to the Senate to elect one of the top two recipients of electors for that office. The Senate conducts trials of officials who have been impeached by the House. The Senate has typically been considered both a more deliberative and prestigious body than the House of Representatives due to its longer terms, smaller size, and statewide constituencies, which historically led to
999-407: A majority of the Senate constitutes a quorum to do business. Under the rules and customs of the Senate, a quorum is always assumed as present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. A senator may request a quorum call by "suggesting the absence of a quorum"; a clerk then calls the roll and notes which members are present. In practice, senators rarely request quorum calls to establish
1110-541: A more collegial and less partisan atmosphere. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. , the nation's capital. Despite not being a senator, the vice president of the United States serves as presiding officer and president of the Senate by virtue of that office ; the vice president may vote only if the Senate is equally divided. In the vice president's absence,
1221-565: A plan to spend another $ 54 million ($ 252,257,143 in 2023 dollars) on the structure, and cap costs at $ 135 million ($ 630,642,857 in 2023 dollars). Initially, the House approved this plan. But when constituents bitterly complained, the House reversed itself on both counts. By 1979, construction estimates had soared to $ 179 million ($ 751,455,296 in 2023 dollars), and the General Accounting Office said it would rise to $ 230 million ($ 965,557,084 in 2023 dollars) without changes. In July 1979,
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#17328522310561332-420: A private office for a senator which has outward-facing windows and has 16-foot (4.9 m) high ceilings. Due to the building's layout, a workspace with identical ceilings and views is adjacent to each senator's office. Workspace elsewhere in the suite exists on a main floor and a mezzanine , connected by an internal stairs. This office space has unusually low 8-foot (2.4 m) high ceilings. All workspace
1443-488: A private restroom. Manhole covers in the sidewalks and streets nearby were made of bronze , to avoid unsightly rust stains from traditional iron manhole covers (the usual material). The interior elevator doors were also cast in bronze, and areas in the floors in suites, meeting rooms, and some public areas had removable panels and built-in tubing which allowed for the easy replacement or upgrading of electrical, telecommunications, and computer wiring. The cafeteria beneath
1554-413: A runoff between the top two candidates occurs if the plurality winner in the general election does not also win a majority. In California , Washington , and Louisiana , a nonpartisan blanket primary (also known as a "jungle primary" or "top-two primary") is held in which all candidates participate in a single primary regardless of party affiliation and the top two candidates in terms of votes received at
1665-413: A senator's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest three years of their salary. The starting amount of a senator's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of their final salary. In 2006, the average annual pension for retired senators and representatives under CSRS was $ 60,972, while those who retired under FERS, or in combination with CSRS, was $ 35,952. By tradition, seniority
1776-445: A share in the public confidence, and an indiscriminate and hasty admission of them, which might create a channel for foreign influence on the national councils. The Senate (not the judiciary) is the sole judge of a senator's qualifications. During its early years, however, the Senate did not closely scrutinize the qualifications of its members. As a result, four senators who failed to meet the age requirement were nevertheless admitted to
1887-443: A simple majority and does not remove a senator from office. Some senators have opted to withdraw from their re-election races rather than face certain censure or expulsion, such as Robert Torricelli in 2002. The "majority party" is the political party that either has a majority of seats or can form a coalition or caucus with a majority of seats; if two or more parties are tied, the vice president's affiliation determines which party
1998-483: A statewide popular vote . As the upper chamber of Congress, the Senate has several powers of advice and consent . These include the approval of treaties , as well as the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries , federal judges (including justices of the Supreme Court ), flag officers , regulatory officials, ambassadors , other federal executive officials , and federal uniformed officers . If no candidate receives
2109-400: Is a factor in the selection of physical offices and in party caucuses' assignment of committees. When senators have been in office for the same length of time, a number of tiebreakers are used, including comparing their former government service and then their respective state population. The senator in each state with the longer time in office is known as the senior senator , while the other
2220-410: Is anticipated. The Constitution authorizes the Senate to elect a president pro tempore ( Latin for "president for a time"), who presides over the chamber in the vice president's absence and is, by custom, the senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service. Like the vice president, the president pro tempore does not normally preside over the Senate, but typically delegates
2331-523: Is called a senator-elect ; a member who has been appointed to a seat, but not yet seated, is called a senator-designate . The Constitution requires that senators take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. Congress has prescribed the following oath for all federal officials (except the President), including senators: I, ___ ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend
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#17328522310562442-429: Is dominated by the sculptural work Mountains and Clouds by Alexander Calder . The upper part of the work consists of a mobile , "Clouds", made from curved aluminum plates suspended from the roof on a shaft. The largest section of the mobile measures roughly 43 by 32 feet (13.1 by 9.8 m), and the entire mobile weighs about 4,300 pounds (2,000 kg). Crystallization Systems, Inc. of New York manufactured
2553-407: Is generally free of columns and walls. A partition system consisting of oak frames covered in sound-absorbent fabric, designed and manufactured by Acoustical Screen Corporation, was designed for use in providing a flexible partition system in each office. These partitions were originally purchased for only a handful of offices, due to cutbacks in the building's furnishing budget. Each office also has
2664-532: Is held first for the Republican and Democratic parties (and a select few third parties , depending on the state) with the general election following a few months later. In most of these states, the nominee may receive only a plurality, while in some states, a runoff is required if no majority was achieved. In the general election, the winner is the candidate who receives a plurality of the popular vote. However, in five states, different methods are used. In Georgia ,
2775-445: Is held to fill the vacancy. In May 2021, Oklahoma permitted its governor again to appoint a successor who is of the same party as the previous senator for at least the preceding five years when the vacancy arises in an even-numbered year, only after the appointee has taken an oath not to run in either a regular or special Senate election. Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of
2886-488: Is named for Philip A. Hart (1912-1976), who served 18 years as a United States Senator from Michigan . Accessed via a spur of the United States Capitol Subway System , the building features a nine-story atrium dominated by massive artwork, and a large Central Hearing Facility which provides television facilities as well as extensive seating. The Dirksen Senate Office Building was intended to occupy
2997-610: Is the junior senator . For example, majority leader Chuck Schumer is the senior senator from New York, having served in the senate since 1999, while Kirsten Gillibrand is New York's junior senator, having served since 2009. Like members of the House of Representatives, Senators use the prefix " The Honorable " before their names. Senators are usually identified in the media and other sources by party and state; for example, Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer , who represents New York, may be identified as "D–New York" or (D-NY). And sometimes they are identified as to whether they are
3108-460: Is the majority party. One hundred desks are arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern and are divided by a wide central aisle. The Democratic Party traditionally sits to the presiding officer's right, and the Republican Party traditionally sits to the presiding officer's left, regardless of which party has a majority of seats. Each senator chooses a desk based on seniority within
3219-437: Is the majority party. The next-largest party is known as the minority party. The president pro tempore, committee chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority party; they have counterparts (for instance, the "ranking members" of committees) in the minority party. Independents and members of third parties (so long as they do not caucus support either of the larger parties) are not considered in determining which
3330-467: Is the only work by Calder to combine a mobile and a stabile. "He had mounted the forms atop one another before, but had never used them separately in a single piece as he anticipated to do with moving clouds and stationary mountains," says Capitol Hill reporter Justin Cox. After the 2011 Virginia earthquake , there were concerns that the mobile might have become unsafe. It was lowered to the ground in 2014, and
3441-451: Is the third U.S. Senate office building, and is located on 2nd Street NE between Constitution Avenue NE and C Street NE, northeast of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. , in the United States. Construction began in January 1975, and it was first occupied in November 1982. Rapidly rising construction costs plagued the building, creating several unfortunate scandals. The structure
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3552-510: Is usable. Instead of the Neoclassical architectural style of the Dirksen and Russell Senate Office Buildings , the Hart Senate Office Building is Modernist . To fit within the context provided by the Dirksen and Russell buildings, Hart's building lines were designed to mesh with those of the earlier structures and the new building clad in dazzlingly white marble from Vermont . The marble
3663-480: The House of Representatives . Senators are elected by their state as a whole. The Elections Clause of the United States Constitution grants each state (and Congress, if it so desires to implement a uniform law) the power to legislate a method by which senators are elected. Ballot access rules for independent and minor party candidates also vary from state to state. In 45 states, a primary election
3774-610: The Russell Senate Office Building ). When World War II delayed implementation of the Senate's building plans, the space problems grew increasingly urgent. Soon after the war in 1945, the United States Congress passed the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 , in order to modernize and streamline its operations and provide senators and committees with professional staff assistance. To house
3885-527: The U.S. Capitol and the Russell Senate Office Building , during the 19th and earlier 20th centuries . In the 1970s and early 1980s , a third Senate office building, the current distinctly different of modernist-style of architecture of the Hart Senate Office Building of 1971-1982, was built to the west next to the Dirksen Building on a spot originally intended for a mirror image of
3996-413: The gavel of the Senate to maintain order. A " hold " is placed when the leader's office is notified that a senator intends to object to a request for unanimous consent from the Senate to consider or pass a measure. A hold may be placed for any reason and can be lifted by the senator who placed it at any time. A senator may place a hold simply to review a bill, to negotiate changes to the bill, or to kill
4107-409: The president pro tempore , who is traditionally the most senior member of the Senate's majority party, presides over the Senate, and more often by rule allows a junior senator to take the chair, guided by the parliamentarian . In the early 1920s, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began. The Senate's legislative and executive business is managed and scheduled by
4218-457: The "senatorial trust" called for a "greater extent of information and stability of character": A senator must be thirty years of age at least; as a representative must be twenty-five. And the former must have been a citizen nine years; as seven years are required for the latter. The propriety of these distinctions is explained by the nature of the senatorial trust, which, requiring greater extent of information and stability of character, requires at
4329-492: The Capitol (then the seventh Architect, David Lynn (served 1923-1954), to prepare plans for a new second Senate Office Building. The federal government's expanded wartime role nationally and internationally beginning in the 1930s , raised new issues for senatorial action, which in turn required increased staff assistance and created crowded conditions in the Capitol and the original Senate Office Building of 1904-1908 (later renamed
4440-500: The Capitol , who at the time was Alan M. Hantman . Day-to-day supervision of the project carried out by Assistant Capitol Architect Michael G. Turnbull . The renovation was well received by senators and their staff. Senator Robert F. Bennett of Utah , Chairman of the Senate Legislative Branch Subcommittee, made the following comments regarding the renovation: There is a staff gymnasium located within
4551-534: The Capitol argued that the significantly higher costs of the Hart Senate Office building were due to the unexpected excavation issues, the foundation construction errors, Senate-ordered changes, high inflation , and some mismanagement of the construction project. Architect of the Capitol George M. White argued the construction cost was a reasonable $ 110 per square foot. Architect John Carl Warnecke defended
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4662-407: The Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. The annual salary of each senator, since 2009, is $ 174,000;
4773-515: The Constitution, the vice president serves as president of the Senate. They may vote in the Senate ( ex officio , for they are not an elected member of the Senate) in the case of a tie, but are not required to. For much of the nation's history the task of presiding over Senate sessions was one of the vice president's principal duties (the other being to receive from the states the tally of electoral ballots cast for president and vice president and to open
4884-734: The Dirksen Building. Prior to 2001, it was referred to as the Senate Health and Fitness Facility (without mentioning the "staff"). A revolving support fund administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for the office of the Architect of the Capitol to run the exercise / health facility was established in Chapter 4, Section 121f of the Title 2 of the United States Code . The revolving fund receives funds from membership dues and monies obtained through
4995-612: The Dirksen Senate Office Building was doubled in size and extended beneath the Hart building, which allowed the public to use for the first time during lunch hours. The structure's $ 137 million cost did not include furnishing, which Senate experts estimated would cost another $ 32.6 million ($ 102,926,069 in 2023 dollars). Unspecified changes made by Warnecke led to $ 4.2 million ($ 13,260,414 in 2023 dollars) in cost savings, however. These allowed certain items to be restored, such as
5106-601: The House of Representatives, the Senate has historically had stronger norms of conduct for its members. Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution , sets three qualifications for senators: (1) they must be at least 30 years old; (2) they must have been citizens of the United States for at least nine years; and (3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election. The age and citizenship qualifications for senators are more stringent than those for representatives. In Federalist No. 62 , James Madison justified this arrangement by arguing that
5217-513: The Senate agreed to cap costs at $ 137.7 million ($ 578,074,828 in 2023 dollars) after an acrimonious three-hour debate during which some senators suggested the building be torn down. The Architect of the Capitol ordered changes in the design to keep construction costs under the $ 137.7 million cap. These included elimination of a penthouse-level dining room, $ 906,000 ($ 2,860,461 in 2023 dollars) in furnishings for an interior gymnasium, oak paneling for each senator's office, dimmer switches for lights,
5328-586: The Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution . Each of the 50 states is represented by two senators who serve staggered six-year terms . In total, the Senate consists of 100 members. From its inception in 1789 until 1913, senators were appointed by the state legislature of their respective states. However, since 1913, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment , senators have been elected through
5439-445: The Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. Before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were elected by the individual state legislatures . Problems with repeated vacant seats due to the inability of a legislature to elect senators, intrastate political struggles, bribery and intimidation gradually led to a growing movement to amend the Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators. In contrast to
5550-444: The Senate has several officers who are not members. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the secretary of the Senate , who maintains public records, disburses salaries, monitors the acquisition of stationery and supplies, and oversees clerks. The assistant secretary of the Senate aids the secretary's work. Another official is the sergeant at arms who, as the Senate's chief law enforcement officer, maintains order and security on
5661-505: The Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate . The name is derived from the senatus , Latin for council of elders , derived from senex , meaning old man in Latin. Article Five of the Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that state's consent. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus
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#17328522310565772-526: The Senate premises. The Capitol Police handle routine police work, with the sergeant at arms primarily responsible for general oversight. Other employees include the chaplain , who is elected by the Senate, and pages , who are appointed. The Senate uses Standing Rules for operation. Like the House of Representatives , the Senate meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At one end of
5883-498: The Senate voted to name the new office building the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building in honor of retiring Senator Philip Hart ( D - Michigan ). Hart died on December 26, 1976, of melanoma , having declined to run for reelection the previous November. By August 1978, actual construction costs were now $ 85 million ($ 397,071,429 in 2023 dollars) and were expected to top $ 122 million ($ 569,914,286 in 2023 dollars). The Senate approved
5994-566: The Senate's majority leader, who on occasion negotiates some matters with the Senate's minority leader. A prominent practice in the Senate is the filibuster on some matters and its remedy the vote on cloture . The drafters of the Constitution debated more about how to award representation in the Senate than about any other part of the Constitution. While bicameralism and the idea of a proportional "people's house" were widely popular, discussions about Senate representation proved contentious. In
6105-514: The Senate's north wing of the Capitol. Although more streamlined and less ornate than the first Senate Office Building (Russell), the new building was designed to harmonize with the Greek / Roman eras of Classical Revival style architecture of the Capitol and the first Senate Office Building. Bronze spandrels between the third- and fourth-floor windows depicted scenes from American industry: Shipping, Farming, Manufacturing, Mining and Lumbering. Below
6216-529: The Senate's retirement system since January 1, 1987, while CSRS applies only for those senators who were in the Senate from December 31, 1986, and prior. As it is for federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Under FERS, senators contribute 1.3% of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2% of their salary in Social Security taxes. The amount of
6327-405: The Senate. The Seventeenth Amendment requires that vacancies in the Senate be filled by special election. Whenever a senator must be appointed or elected, the secretary of the Senate mails one of three forms to the state's governor to inform them of the proper wording to certify the appointment of a new senator. If a special election for one seat happens to coincide with a general election for
6438-471: The Senate: Henry Clay (aged 29 in 1806), John Jordan Crittenden (aged 29 in 1817), Armistead Thomson Mason (aged 28 in 1816), and John Eaton (aged 28 in 1818). Such an occurrence, however, has not been repeated since. In 1934, Rush D. Holt Sr. was elected to the Senate at the age of 29; he waited until he turned 30 (on the next June 19) to take the oath of office. On November 7, 1972, Joe Biden
6549-487: The Seventeenth Amendment is enacted varies among the states. A 2018 report breaks this down into the following three broad categories (specific procedures vary among the states): In ten states within the final category above – Arizona , Hawaii , Kentucky , Maryland , Montana , North Carolina , Oklahoma , Utah , West Virginia , and Wyoming – the governor must appoint someone of the same political party as
6660-445: The additional staff, the Senate resorted to renting space in nearby private and several government buildings. Moreover, with the anticipated admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states in 1959-1960, four new senators would also require office space. As pressure for more space mounted, the Senate in 1948 acquired adjacent property on the northside of the Capitol in which to eventually erect a second office building in order to accommodate
6771-696: The ancient architectural style of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Russell Building and the Capitol, plus surrounding similar Classical structures, such as the U.S. Supreme Court Building , the old Postal Square Building (formerly the City Post Office for Washington, D.C. and the District of Columbia 1914-1986, now the National Postal Museum of the Smithsonian Institution ), and
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#17328522310566882-431: The authority under Article One of the U.S. Constitution to pass or defeat federal legislation. The Senate has exclusive power to confirm U.S. presidential appointments to high offices, approve or reject treaties, and try cases of impeachment brought by the House. The Senate and the House provide a check and balance on the powers of the executive and judicial branches of government. The composition and powers of
6993-409: The bill. A bill can be held for as long as the senator who objects to the bill wishes to block its consideration. Holds can be overcome, but require time-consuming procedures such as filing cloture. Holds are considered private communications between a senator and the leader, and are sometimes referred to as "secret holds". A senator may disclose the placement of a hold. The Constitution provides that
7104-593: The budget battles in 1979 over the cost of the Hart Senate Office Building, funds for completion of the Calder work were deleted. But Senator Nicholas F. Brady , who had been appointed to serve out the unexpired term of Senator Harrison A. Williams (who had resigned on March 11, 1982, after his bribery conviction in the Abscam scandal), decided in June 1982 to establish the Capitol Art Foundation. The foundation's goal
7215-528: The building plan in September 1972, but by then the building's estimated cost had risen to $ 53.5 million ($ 389,694,511 in 2023 dollars). In April 1973, the Architect of the Capitol awarded the architectural design contract to John Carl Warnecke , a nationally prominent architect working in the District of Columbia who had helped save Lafayette Square and designed the John F. Kennedy grave site . Warnecke's design for
7326-531: The building was approved by the Senate Committee on Public Works on August 8, 1974. Warnecke was given just two weeks to come up with the cost estimate, which the Architect of the Capitol later claimed was far too little time to generate an accurate cost forecast. By the end of the year, the estimated cost of construction had risen to $ 69 million. Ground for the new structure was broken in January 1975, and by
7437-479: The building was erected at a cost of $ 97 per square foot, "well below the costs of any other major public building built in the District during that period." However, the American Institute of Architects said commercial construction costs in Washington, D.C., ranged from $ 54 to $ 65 per square foot, and The Christian Science Monitor reported the cost of the building at $ 137.70 per square foot. The building
7548-657: The building's cost, noting that it almost doubled in size (from 650,000 square feet (60,000 m ) to 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m )), and that building costs in the District of Columbia leapt 76 percent during its erection. Warnecke dismissed allegations about Senate-ordered changes, saying these increased costs just 2 percent, and said that construction alone was just $ 107 million ($ 337,824,828 in 2023 dollars) (with another $ 28 million ($ 88,402,759 in 2023 dollars) coming from administrative costs, fees, and furnishings). He argued that excellent construction management held inflation in construction costs to just 67 percent, and that
7659-478: The certificates "in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives", so that the total votes could be counted). Since the 1950s, vice presidents have presided over few Senate debates. Instead, they have usually presided only on ceremonial occasions, such as swearing in new senators, joint sessions, or at times to announce the result of significant legislation or nomination, or when a tie vote on an important issue
7770-409: The chamber of the Senate is a dais from which the presiding officer presides. The lower tier of the dais is used by clerks and other officials. Sessions of the Senate are opened with a special prayer or invocation and typically convene on weekdays. Sessions of the Senate are generally open to the public and are broadcast live on television, usually by C-SPAN 2 . Senate procedure depends not only on
7881-434: The early years of the 20th century, the legislatures of as many as 29 states had provided for popular election of senators by referendums. Popular election to the Senate was standardized nationally in 1913 by the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment . Elections to the Senate are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, Election Day , and occur simultaneously with elections for
7992-662: The eighth Architect of the Capitol , J. George Stewart (served 1954-1970), looking on, members of the Senate Office Building Commission laid the cornerstone on July 13, 1956, and the new office building was finally opened 2-1/4 years later on October 15, 1958. The Dirksen Building was designed to accommodate the new modern invention of television and the wider media era, complete with committee hearing rooms equipped with rostrums that were better suited to listening to testimony than sitting around conference tables, as had been done in previous committee rooms, both in
8103-517: The end, some small states—unwilling to give up their equal power with larger states under the Articles of Confederation —threatened to secede in 1787, and won the day by a vote of 5–4 in what became known as the Connecticut Compromise . The Connecticut Compromise provided, among other things, that each state—regardless of population—would be represented by two senators. First convened in 1789,
8214-521: The enemies of the United States. This provision, which came into force soon after the end of the Civil War, was intended to prevent those who had sided with the Confederacy from serving. That Amendment, however, also provides a method to remove that disqualification: a two-thirds vote of both chambers of Congress. Originally, senators were selected by the state legislatures , not by popular elections . By
8325-482: The enlarged staff and Senators. The consulting architects, Otto R. Eggers and Daniel Paul Higgins 's partnership / firm of Eggers & Higgins , of New York City , drew up the plans for a seven-story building faced in white marble, to be located across First Street from the Old Senate Office Building of 1904-08 ( Russell Senate Office Building ) and diagonally northeast across the Capitol grounds from
8436-452: The entire block bounded by 1st Street NE, Constitution Avenue NE, 2nd Street NE, and C Street NE. However, due to the resource and financial demands of the Korean War , the building was scaled back and occupied only the western half of this area. In 1969, Congress voted to acquire the eastern half of the block for a "New Senate Office Building". Originally, the Senate intended only to build
8547-407: The governor authority to appoint a senator. Because the 17th Amendment vests the power to grant that authority to the legislature – not the people or the state generally – it is unclear whether the ballot measure supplants the legislature's statute granting that authority. As a result, it is uncertain whether an Alaska governor may appoint an interim senator to serve until a special election
8658-416: The inside of the desk's drawer with a pen. Except for the president of the Senate (who is the vice president), the Senate elects its own officers, who maintain order and decorum, manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate, and interpret the Senate's rules, practices and precedents. Many non-member officers are also hired to run various day-to-day functions of the Senate. Under
8769-409: The installation of the work, the motor malfunctioned and the mobile portion of Mountains and Clouds stopped rotating. When this happened is unclear, with one source saying shortly after the work's installation and another saying about 2005. In 2015, Senator Chris Murphy began a fundraising effort to restore the mobile to operation. Mountains and Clouds is considered a one-of-a-kind work, as it
8880-402: The interior of the structure, including the atrium, are clad in the same white Vermont marble as the exterior. The atrium's floor, however, is rose-colored Tennessee marble . Walkways on the interior of the atrium provide access to each office suite. The public entrance to each suite is on an odd-numbered floor, with private staff entrances on even-numbered floors. Each office suite contains
8991-718: The junior or senior senator in their state ( see above ). Unless in the context of elections, they are rarely identified by which one of the three classes of senators they are in. The Senate may expel a senator by a two-thirds vote. Fifteen senators have been expelled in the Senate's history: William Blount , for treason, in 1797, and fourteen in 1861 and 1862 for supporting the Confederate secession . Although no senator has been expelled since 1862, many senators have chosen to resign when faced with expulsion proceedings – for example, Bob Packwood in 1995. The Senate has also censured and condemned senators; censure requires only
9102-407: The large hearing room, auxiliary area carpeting, vertical blinds, and the gymnasium equipment (now estimated to cost just $ 736,000 ($ 2,323,730 in 2023 dollars)). The cost savings also allowed the Architect of the Capitol to build a tennis court on the building's roof. Below the structure is a 350-car parking garage. The building's design deliberately spared the adjacent Sewall–Belmont house ,
9213-456: The large, modern offices in the Hart Senate Office Building. In late 1982, the Senate found $ 9.5 million ($ 29,993,793 in 2023 dollars) in unused funds, which it designated to pay for the modular furniture and partitions for use in the Hart building. The Hart Senate Office Building consists of nine above-ground stories. The structure has 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m ) of internal floor space, of which 333,000 square feet (30,900 m )
9324-503: The mobile. A computer-controlled motor moves the mobile. The lower part of the work consists of a stabile made of four flat, triangular-shaped steel plates painted matte black and supported by two curving legs. Sources differ as to how tall the stabile is, with reported heights of 51 feet (16 m), 52 feet (16 m), and 55 feet (17 m). The stabile weighs about 38 short tons (34 t) or 39 short tons (35 t). The Segré Foundry of Waterbury, Connecticut , manufactured
9435-421: The need for car conductors). The changes were expected to produce savings of $ 122,000 ($ 299,874 in 2023 dollars) a year and cut waiting times to two minutes from four. Transportation Group Inc., of Orlando, Florida, was paid $ 15.8 million ($ 38,836,188 in 2023 dollars) and the Architect of the Capitol received $ 2 million ($ 4,915,973 in 2023 dollars) to design and manufacture the new subway cars and system. The system
9546-469: The new building's west pediment is the inscription: "The Senate is the Living Symbol of Our Union of States." Although the Senate approved the plans for the new building beginning in 1949, construction was delayed until six years later in 1956. By then, increased costs of construction caused some scaling back of the original architects' design, including the elimination of a planned central corridor. With
9657-399: The old adjacent monumental railroad terminal Union Station . The Hart and Dirksen Buildings however are inter-connected, and one can walk between the two almost as easily as if they were one structure. Almost two decades later (after its extremely long of a decade and controversial construction period), the building was renovated during 1999–2000 under the auspices of the tenth Architect of
9768-564: The opening date for sessions to noon on the third day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. The Twentieth Amendment also states that the Congress shall assemble at least once every year, and allows the Congress to determine its convening and adjournment dates and other dates and schedules as it desires. Article 1, Section 3, provides that the president has the power to convene Congress on extraordinary occasions at his discretion. A member who has been elected, but not yet seated,
9879-517: The operation of the Senate's waste recycling program. United States Senate Minority (49) The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress . The Senate and the United States House of Representatives (which is the lower chamber of Congress) comprise the federal bicameral legislature of the United States . Together, the Senate and the House have
9990-459: The party. By custom, the leader of each party sits in the front row along the center aisle. Forty-eight of the desks date back to 1819, when the Senate chamber was reconstructed after the original contents were destroyed in the 1812 Burning of Washington . Further desks of similar design were added as new states entered the Union. It is a tradition that each senator who uses a desk inscribes their name on
10101-573: The president pro tempore and party leaders receive $ 193,400. In 2003, at least 40 senators were millionaires; by 2018, over 50 senators were millionaires (partly due to inflation). Along with earning salaries, senators receive retirement and health benefits that are identical to other federal employees, and are fully vested after five years of service. Senators are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). FERS has been
10212-417: The previous incumbent. In September 2009, Massachusetts changed its law to enable the governor to appoint a temporary replacement for the late senator Edward Kennedy until the special election in January 2010. In 2004, Alaska enacted legislation and a separate ballot referendum that took effect on the same day, but that conflicted with each other. The effect of the ballot-approved law is to withhold from
10323-405: The primary election advance to the general election, where the winner is the candidate with the greater number of votes. In Louisiana, the blanket primary is considered the general election and candidates receiving a majority of the votes is declared the winner, skipping a run-off. In Maine and Alaska , ranked-choice voting is used to nominate and elect candidates for federal offices, including
10434-498: The public hallways. Privately, members of Congress, their staff, and often witnesses access the hearing room from nondescript doors on the second floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. A small " green room ", hidden behind the back wall of the Central Hearing Facility, provides a waiting room and space for individuals to prepare before entering the main hearing room. A spur of the United States Capitol Subway System
10545-408: The quorum as present; instead, quorum calls are generally used to temporarily delay proceedings. Usually, such delays are used while waiting for a senator to reach the floor to speak or to give leaders time to negotiate. Once the need for a delay has ended, a senator may request unanimous consent to rescind the quorum call. Hart Senate Office Building The Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building
10656-461: The responsibility of presiding to a majority-party senator who presides over the Senate, usually in blocks of one hour on a rotating basis. Frequently, freshmen senators (newly elected members) are asked to preside so that they may become accustomed to the rules and procedures of the body. It is said that, "in practice they are usually mere mouthpieces for the Senate's parliamentarian , who whispers what they should do". The presiding officer sits in
10767-399: The results of votes. Each party elects Senate party leaders . Floor leaders act as the party chief spokesmen. The Senate majority leader is responsible for controlling the agenda of the chamber by scheduling debates and votes. Each party elects an assistant leader (whip) , who works to ensure that his party's senators vote as the party leadership desires. In addition to the vice president,
10878-428: The roof of the Hart building. The roof had reached the end of its life and was replaced. The skylights, which leaked extensively and were causing damage to the building, were also replaced. To enhance the building's energy efficiency, solar panels capable of generating 148 kilowatts of solar power were installed on the roof. The entire roof project cost about $ 11.3 million ($ 14,543,548 in 2023 dollars). The atrium
10989-434: The rules, but also on a variety of customs and traditions. The Senate commonly waives some of its stricter rules by unanimous consent . Unanimous consent agreements are typically negotiated beforehand by party leaders. A senator may block such an agreement, but in practice, objections are rare. The presiding officer enforces the rules of the Senate, and may warn members who deviate from them. The presiding officer sometimes uses
11100-458: The same time that the senator should have reached a period of life most likely to supply these advantages; and which, participating immediately in transactions with foreign nations, ought to be exercised by none who are not thoroughly weaned from the prepossessions and habits incident to foreign birth and education. The term of nine years appears to be a prudent mediocrity between a total exclusion of adopted citizens, whose merits and talents may claim
11211-454: The seats are up for election every two years. This was achieved by dividing the senators of the 1st Congress into thirds (called classes ), where the terms of one-third expired after two years, the terms of another third expired after four, and the terms of the last third expired after six years. This arrangement was also followed after the admission of new states into the union. The staggering of terms has been arranged such that both seats from
11322-415: The sides of the room are elevated and can accommodate television camera crews. Above them are glassed-in booths where television reporters and news presenters can report from without disturbing the proceedings below. The Central Hearing Facility is lavishly paneled and has a stone backdrop behind the dais. Public access to the Central Hearing Facility is controlled via two foyers, accessible from
11433-531: The stabile. Mountains and Clouds was the last work Calder completed. He was in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 1976, to show the finalized maquette to Architect of the Capitol George White. White gave his approval for the full-size work to be installed at the Hart Senate Office Building. Calder flew to his daughter's home in New York, and died of a heart attack at 6:00 AM on November 11. During
11544-414: The state's other seat, each seat is contested separately. A senator elected in a special election takes office as soon as possible after the election and serves until the original six-year term expires (i.e. not for a full-term). The Seventeenth Amendment permits state legislatures to empower their governors to make temporary appointments until the required special election takes place. The manner by which
11655-483: The time ground clearance began in April the building's cost had risen to $ 84 million ($ 475,636,364 in 2023 dollars). The poor and uneven condition of the soil at the site caused delays in the excavation, and major cost increases. When the foundations were finished, it was discovered that many of the anchoring bolts were misaligned and had to be replaced. This also added extensive new costs to the project. On August 30, 1976,
11766-415: Was 3 inches (7.6 cm) thick, twice the usual thickness for an office building, and used to cover even the most mundane aspects of the structure (such as the mechanical shed on the roof). More than 8,961 short tons (8,129 t) of marble were needed for interior and exterior use. To echo the courtyards of Dirksen and Russell, the Hart building has an atrium covered by a vast skylight . The walls of
11877-444: Was constructed to connect the Hart Senate Office Building to the subway's main track beneath the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The spur opened when the new building did. In 1989, the Senate approved a plan to upgrade the subway beneath the Hart and Dirksen office buildings. The changes included four new cars capable of seating 25 people (up from 18), making platforms and cars wheelchair-accessible, and automating these cars (eliminating
11988-450: Was elected to the Senate at the age of 29, which was only 13 days prior to his 30th birthday on November 20, 1972. Therefore, he reached his 30th birthday before the swearing-in ceremony for incoming senators in January 1973. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution disqualifies as senators any federal or state officers who had taken the requisite oath to support the Constitution but who later engaged in rebellion or aided
12099-469: Was finished in 1994. The atrium in the Hart Senate Office Building is 90 feet (27 m) high and capped by a lighting system and skylight. The skylight is actually 18 separate skylights, each of which has nine panels. A four-globe light fixture is suspended from each skylight. Each light fixture has an electric motor which can lower the fixture to the lobby floor so that bulbs can be replaced. Beginning in 2014, major renovations and repairs were made to
12210-412: Was first occupied on November 22, 1982. The structure contained offices for 50 senators, but 25 of them refused to move into the structure. To save costs, the building gave each person a cubicle, rather than an office, which greatly upset Senate staff. To resolve the issue, junior senators (not normally able to choose which offices they wanted, nor obtain spacious and well-equipped ones) were able to claim
12321-503: Was to raise funds for the placement of art through the United States Capitol Complex . By June 1985, the foundation had raised $ 250,000 ($ 708,230 in 2023 dollars) to manufacture and $ 400,000 ($ 1,133,168 in 2023 dollars) to install Mountains and Clouds . Most of the money came from billionaire art collector Paul Mellon and C. Douglas Dillon . The work was dedicated in a ceremony held on May 5, 1987. Some time after
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