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Legislative Branch Learning Topics:

The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the United States government. The structure and responsibilities of Congress are defined in Article One of the United States Constitution. The United States Congress is bicameral, that is, having two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The first Congress started its term in New York City on March 4, 1789 and their first action was to declare that the new Constitution of the United States was in effect.

The powers of the Congress are set forth in Article 1 of the United States Constitution. Congress's powers were later supplemented by the post-Civil War amendments to the Constitution (Amendments 13, 14, and 15, each of which authorizes the Congress to enforce its provisions by appropriate legislation), and by the 16th Amendment, which authorizes an income tax.

The Senate has 100 seats, one-third are renewed every two years; two members are elected from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms. Each state has equal representation in the Senate because the states are each equal members of the federal union.

The House of Representatives has 435 seats. Members are directly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms from Congressional districts. The states with the smallest population still have at least one seat. These seats are apportioned according to the population of each state, but the total number is fixed at 435.