Arabin Senate

For recent Senate elections, see 2022 Arabin Senate elections.

Arabin Senate
93rd Arabin Congress
Type
Type	Upper house of the Arabin Congress
Term limits	None
History
Founded	January 10, 1839 (1839-01-10)
New session started	January 5, 2023 (2023-01-05)
Leadership
President of the Senate	Chelsea Pickering (D) since August 22, 2022
Vice President of the Senate	Andrew Clegg (R) since January 5, 2023
Majority Leader	Spencer Pickering (R) since January 5, 2023
Minority Leader	Mary Nichols (D) since January 5, 2023
Structure
Seats	32 17 (or 16 plus the Vice President for a majority) 19 for a 3/5 majority 21 for a 2/3 majority
Political groups	Majority (17)   Republican Minority (15)   Democratic
Length of term	6 years
Elections
Voting system	Plurality
Last election	December 3, 2022 (11 seats + 1 special election)
Next election	December 7, 2024 (10 seats + 1 special election)
Meeting place
Arabin Capitol Building, District of Arabi

Senate composition by state and party

  2 Republicans

  2 Democrats

  1 Republican and 1 Democrat

The Arabin Senate is the upper chamber of the Arabin Congress, which along with the Arabin House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of Arabi. The Senate chamber is located in the south wing of the Capitol Building, in the District.

The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the Arabin Constitution. The Senate is composed of senators, each of whom represents a single state in its entirety. Each state, regardless of its population size, is equally represented by two senators who serve staggered terms of six years. There being at present 16 states in the country, there are currently 32 senators. From 1838 to 1878, senators were appointed by legislatures of the states they represented; they are now elected by popular vote following the ratification of Tenth Amendment in 1878.

As the upper chamber of Congress, the Senate has several powers of 'advice and consent' which are unique to it. These include the approval of treaties, and the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices, federal judges, flag officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, other federal executive officials, and other federal uniformed officers. In addition to these, in cases wherein no candidate receives 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. Furthermore, the Senate has the responsibility of conducting the trials of those impeached by the House.

Membership

Qualifications

Article 1, Section 3, Clause 3, sets the following qualifications for senators: (1) must be thirty years of age; (2) must be a citizen of Arabi for seven years; (3) must be a resident within the state they reside. The age limit in the Senate was decided by the authors of the constitution because of what age they considered for an adult to be "fully mature." Over the years several members of Congress has tried to raise or lower the age limit no to avail.

Elections and term

Senate elections occur every two years during midterm elections or presidential elections. Senators are elected to six-year terms, there are no term limits. There are currently 32 seats in the Senate. Senators are split into 3 class with one-third (Class 1, 2, or 3) of senate seats are up for re-election every two years. Throughout the Senate's history there have many attempts to place term limits on senators. In 1902 an amendment was passed in Congress to limit Senators to two terms and Representatives to 6 terms for a total of 12 years in each chamber. The amendment failed to recieve three-fourths of votes in favor from the states legistlatures. Seven states voted to ratify the amendment while eight rejected it.

Leadership

Senate Vice President

The Senate Vice President is the second highest ranking senator in the Arabin Senate. The Arabin Constitution provides that the Vice President of Arabi is the President of the Senate and dictates that the Senate must choose a vice president to act in the President of the Senate's absence. While the President of the Senate is not a Senator, the Vice President of the Senate is an elected member of the Senate, able to speak and vote on any bills. The Senate Vice President is third in the line of succession to the presidency.

The current Senate Vice President is Andrew Clegg of New Bristol. He was sworn in on January 5, 2023, during the 93rd Congress.