What is the Legislative Branch?
- The Legislative Branch is a bicameral, or two-house, branch of our American government known collectively as Congress.
- Their primary responsibility is to create laws for our country.
- The two houses of Congress consist of the following:
- The Senate is made up of 100 individuals with each state receiving 2 representatives.
- The House of Representatives is made up of 435 individuals from each state with representation determined by population in each state. Every ten years, a census is taken of the population to determine representation in a process known as reapportionment. The congressional districts are then determined by the state in a process called redistricting, where lines are drawn in accordance with population changes throughout the state.
Who are Maryland's Representatives?
Click on Pictures for their home pages.
MD Senator Chris Van Hollen (D) MD Senator Ben Cardin (D) MD Rep. Andy Harris (R)
What Does Congress Exactly Do?
As stated before, Congress is mostly responsible for proposing bills to become laws and sending them to the President for approval. However, each house is responsible for specific areas of legislation.
Key Powers of the House include:
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Key Powers of the Senate include:
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How Does a Bill Become a Law?
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