The Founding Fathers installed numerous overlapping systems of checks and balances in order to ensure the federal government would not become too powerful and that no single branch could control the others. As such, under Article One of the US Constitution, the Founders established the legislative branch known as the United States Congress.
Congress is a bicameral legislature, meaning it is composed of two coequal chambers: the House of Representatives, often called the lower chamber, and the Senate, often called the upper chamber. The House and the Senate have different powers and structures, but the pair must work in tandem to pass legislation.
When it comes to the US House, Article One explains that Representatives should be elected every two years by voters in each state. Members of the House must be at least 25 years old, have been an American citizen for at least seven years, and live in the state they wish to represent. The number of representatives each state receives is based on population, which is counted every ten years through the census.
The lower chamber must choose its own leaders – like the Speaker of the House – and has the “sole Power of Impeachment.”
The US Senate, on the other hand, is made up of two senators from each state, each serving a six-year term. Senators must be at least 30 years old, have been American citizens for at least nine years, and live in the state they represent. The Vice President serves as President of the Senate and may vote only to break a tie. The Senate can hold impeachment trials, but a two-thirds vote of the senators is required to convict.
In 1788, James Madison addressed the structure of government and the importance of limiting its power in Federalist No. 51:
“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
