United States Senate

==Membership==
{{See also|List of current United States senators}}
[[File:US Senate composition, 118th Congress.svg|thumb|300x300px|Members of the United States Senate by class from the staggered term system for the [[118th United States Congress]]]]

===Qualifications===
{{United States Senate}}
[[Article One of the United States Constitution|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Article 1, Section 3 |url=https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-3/ |journal=Constitution of the United States}}</ref> 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 the "senatorial trust" called for a "greater extent of information and stability of character":

<blockquote>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 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 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.<ref name="fed62">[https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-61-70 Federalist Papers, No. 62] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123012140/https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-61-70 |date=November 23, 2021 }}, Library of Congress.</ref></blockquote>

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 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 (politician)|John Eaton]] (aged 28 in 1818). Such an occurrence, however, has not been repeated since.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Youngest_Senator.htm|title=1801–1850, November 16, 1818: Youngest Senator|access-date=November 17, 2007|website=United States Senate|archive-date=December 26, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021226155950/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Youngest_Senator.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> 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. In November 1972, [[Joe Biden]] was elected to the Senate at the age of 29, but 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 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 [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] from serving. That Amendment, however, also provides a method to remove that disqualification: a two-thirds vote of both chambers of Congress.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Fourteenth Amendment |url=https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/#14_S1 |journal=Constitution of the United States}}</ref>

===Elections and term===
Originally, senators were selected by the [[State legislature (United States)|state legislatures]], not by [[Universal suffrage|popular elections]]. By the early years of the 20th century, the legislatures of as many as 29 states had provided for popular election of senators by referendums.<ref name="direct">{{Cite web |title=Direct Election of Senators |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Direct_Election_Senators.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124193803/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Direct_Election_Senators.htm |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |access-date=April 23, 2019 |publisher=U.S. Senate official website}}</ref> Popular election to the Senate was standardized nationally in 1913 by the ratification of the [[Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Seventeenth Amendment]].

====Elections====
{{further|List of United States Senate elections}}
Elections to the Senate are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, [[Election Day (United States)|Election Day]], and occur simultaneously with elections for the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]].<ref>{{USC|2|1}}</ref> 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]] is held first for the Republican and Democratic parties (and a select few [[Third party (United States)|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 (voting)|plurality]] of the popular vote.

However, in five states, different methods are used. In [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], 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 (state)|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 the primary election advance to the general election, where the winner is the candidate with the greater number of votes. In Louisiana, the [[Louisiana primary|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]], [[Instant-runoff voting|ranked-choice voting]] is used to nominate and elect candidates for federal offices, including the Senate.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=James |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Election audit confirms win for Ballot Measure 2 and Alaska's new ranked-choice voting system |url=https://www.adn.com/politics/2020/12/14/election-audit-confirms-win-for-ballot-measure-2-and-alaskas-new-ranked-choice-voting-system/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219222510/https://www.adn.com/politics/2020/12/14/election-audit-confirms-win-for-ballot-measure-2-and-alaskas-new-ranked-choice-voting-system/ |archive-date=February 19, 2021 |access-date=January 10, 2021 |website=Anchorage Daily News}}</ref>

====Vacancies====
The [[Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Term of A Senator – When Does It Begin and End? – Senate 98-29 |url=https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/termofasenator.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222214934/https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/termofasenator.pdf |archive-date=December 22, 2020 |access-date=November 13, 2015 |website=United States Senate |publisher=United States Printing Office |pages=14–15}}</ref> If a special election for one seat happens to coincide with a general election for 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 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):<ref name="CRS_R44781">{{Cite web |last=Neale |first=Thomas H. |date=April 12, 2018 |title=U.S. Senate Vacancies: Contemporary Developments and Perspectives |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44781.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605230617/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44781.pdf |archive-date=June 5, 2018 |access-date=October 13, 2018 |website=fas.org |publisher=Congressional Research Service}} '''NOTE:''' wherever present, references to page numbers in superscripts refer to the electronic (.pdf) pagination, not as found printed on the bottom margin of displayed pages.</ref>
* Four states – [[North Dakota]], [[Oregon]], [[Rhode Island]], and [[Wisconsin]] – do not empower their governors to make temporary appointments, relying exclusively on the required special election provision in the Seventeenth Amendment.<ref name="CRS_R44781" />{{rp|7–8}}
* Eight states – [[Alaska]], [[Connecticut]], [[Louisiana]], [[Massachusetts]], [[Mississippi]], [[Texas]], [[Vermont]], and [[Washington (state)|Washington]] – provide for gubernatorial appointments, but also require a special election on an accelerated schedule.<ref name="CRS_R44781" />{{rp|10–11}}
* The remaining thirty-eight states provide for gubernatorial appointments, "with the appointed senator serving the balance of the term or until the next statewide general election".<ref name="CRS_R44781" />{{rp|8–9}}

In ten states within the final category above – [[Arizona]], [[Hawaii]], [[Kentucky]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-general-assembly/2021/03/29/kentucky-lawmakers-nix-veto-mcconnell-backed-senate-vacancy-plan/7055091002/|title=Kentucky lawmakers override veto of Mitch McConnell-backed Senate vacancy plan|author=Morgan Watkins|publisher=Louisville Courier Journal|access-date=September 2, 2023}}</ref> [[Maryland]], [[Montana]], [[North Carolina]], [[Oklahoma]], [[Utah]], [[West Virginia]], and [[Wyoming]] – the governor must appoint someone of the same political party as the previous incumbent.<ref name="CRS_R44781" />{{rp|9}}<ref name=OCPA>{{cite news |title=House approves appointment process for U.S. Senate vacancies |url=https://www.ocpathink.org/post/house-approves-appointment-process-for-u-s-senate-vacancies |work=OCPA |publisher=Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs |date=May 27, 2021 |access-date=December 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213095954/https://www.ocpathink.org/post/house-approves-appointment-process-for-u-s-senate-vacancies |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref name="MA Law 54-140">{{Cite web |last=DeLeo |first=Robert A. |date=September 17, 2009 |title=Temporary Appointment of US Senator |url=http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/54-140.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829050913/https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter54/Section140 |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |access-date=September 28, 2009 |publisher=Massachusetts Great and General Court}}</ref><ref name="Temporary Appointment Not a Candidate">{{Cite web |last=DeLeo |first=Robert A. |date=September 17, 2009 |title=Temporary Appointment of US Senator Shall not be a candidate in special election |url=https://malegislature.gov/Document/Download?entityTypeName=Journal&generalCourtNumber=186&branchName=2&entityNumber=09-22-09 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108073223/https://malegislature.gov/Document/Download?entityTypeName=Journal&generalCourtNumber=186&branchName=2&entityNumber=09-22-09 |archive-date=January 8, 2021 |access-date=July 19, 2015 |publisher=[[Massachusetts General Court]]}}</ref>

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 the governor authority to appoint a senator.<ref name="Alaska appointments">{{Cite web |date=October 28, 2009 |title=Stevens could keep seat in Senate |url=http://www.adn.com/politics/story/569836.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528015846/http://www.adn.com/politics/story/569836.html |archive-date=May 28, 2009 |website=Anchorage Daily News}}</ref> Because the 17th Amendment vests the power to grant that authority to the legislature&nbsp;– not the people or the state generally&nbsp;– it is unclear whether the ballot measure supplants the legislature's statute granting that authority.<ref name="Alaska appointments" /> As a result, it is uncertain whether an Alaska governor may appoint an interim senator to serve until a special election 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.<ref name=OCPA/>

====Term====
Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the seats are up for election every two years. This was achieved by dividing the senators of the [[1st United States Congress|1st Congress]] into thirds (called [[Classes of United States senators|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 a given state are not contested in the same general election, except when a vacancy is being filled. [[Class I Senator|Class I]] comprises Senators whose six-year terms are set to expire on January 3, 2025. There is no constitutional [[Term limits in the United States|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 to the United States Constitution|Twentieth Amendment]], however, changed 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/reference/Sessions/sessionDates.htm|title=Dates of Sessions of the Congress|work=United States Senate|access-date=June 17, 2020|archive-date=December 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208023235/https://www.senate.gov/reference/Sessions/sessionDates.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

A member who has been elected, but not yet seated, is called a ''senator-elect''; a member who has been appointed to a seat, but not yet seated, is called a ''senator-designate''.

===Oath===
The Constitution requires that senators take an oath or [[Affirmation in law|affirmation]] to support the Constitution.<ref>[[Article Six of the United States Constitution|United States Constitution, Article VI]]</ref> Congress has prescribed the following oath for all federal officials (except the President), including senators: {{blockquote|I, ___ ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend 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.<ref>See: {{USC|5|3331}}; see also: {{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Oath_Office.htm|title=U.S. Senate Oath of Office|access-date=January 8, 2023|archive-date=July 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728181228/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Oath_Office.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

===Salary and benefits===
[[File:US Senate salaries.webp|thumb|center|300px|U.S. Senate salaries]]
The annual [[Salaries of United States senators|salary]] of each senator, since 2009, is $174,000;<ref name="salaries">{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/senate_salaries.htm|title=Salaries|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194432/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/senate_salaries.htm |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |website=United States Senate|access-date=October 2, 2013}}</ref> the president pro tempore and party leaders receive $193,400.<ref name="salaries" /><ref name="usgovinfo" /> In 2003, at least 40 senators were millionaires;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sean Loughlin and Robert Yoon |date=June 13, 2003 |title=Millionaires populate U.S. Senate |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/06/13/senators.finances |url-status=live |access-date=June 19, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201223040117/http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/06/13/senators.finances/ |archive-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref> by 2018, over 50 senators were millionaires (partly due to inflation).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wealth of Congress |url=https://www.rollcall.com/wealth-of-congress |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112234253/https://www.rollcall.com/wealth-of-congress |archive-date=November 12, 2019 |access-date=November 8, 2018 |website=Roll Call}}</ref>

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.<ref name="usgovinfo">{{Cite web |title=US Congress Salaries and Benefits |url=http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194424/https://www.thoughtco.com/salaries-and-benefits-of-congress-members-3322282 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |access-date=October 2, 2013 |publisher=Usgovinfo.about.com}}</ref> Senators are covered by the [[Federal Employees Retirement System]] (FERS) or [[Civil Service Retirement System]] (CSRS). FERS has been 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 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.<ref name="usgovinfo" />

===Seniority===
{{Main|Seniority in the United States Senate}}
By tradition, seniority 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Richard A. |title=Traditions of the United States Senate |url=https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/Traditions.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211024549/https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/Traditions.pdf |archive-date=December 11, 2018 |access-date=February 16, 2018 |website=United States Senate|page=4}}</ref>

The senator in each state with the longer time in office is known as the ''senior senator'', while the other 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.

===Titles===
Like members of the House of Representatives, Senators use the prefix "[[The Honorable]]" before their names.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hickey |first=Robert |title=Use of the Honorable for U.S. Elected Officials |url=https://www.formsofaddress.info/honorable/#325 |access-date=August 3, 2022 |website=formsofaddress.info |date=May 18, 2020 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124061923/https://www.formsofaddress.info/honorable/#325 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mewborn |first=Mary K. |title=Too Many Honorables? |url=https://washingtonlife.com/backissues/archives/99nov/honorables.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101131703/http://www.washingtonlife.com/backissues/archives/99nov/honorables.htm |archive-date=January 1, 2016 |website=Washington Life}}</ref> Senators are usually identified in the media and other sources by party and state; for example, [[Democratic Party (United States)|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 the junior or senior senator in their state (''[[#Seniority|see above]]''). Unless in the context of elections, they are rarely identified by which one of the [[Classes of United States senators|three classes of senators]] they are in.

===Expulsion and other disciplinary actions===
The Senate may [[List of United States senators expelled or censured|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 States of America|Confederate]] [[secession]]. Although no senator has been expelled since 1862, many [[Resignation from the United States Senate|senators have chosen to resign]] when faced with expulsion proceedings&nbsp;– for example, [[Bob Packwood]] in 1995. The Senate has also censured and condemned senators; [[Censure in the United States|censure]] requires only 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.