Earth Humans Senate
Earth Humans Senate | |
|---|---|
| Earth Humans Acting Congress | |
| Type | |
| Type | Upper House of the United States of Earth Humans Congress |
Term limits | None |
| History | |
| Founded | January 6, 2019 |
New session started | January 21, 2019 |
| Leadership | |
Aubrey Watts (L) since January 17, 2019 | |
President pro tempore | Jude Evans (L) since January 17, 2019 |
Majority Leader | Brett Wade (L) since January 17, 2019 |
Major-Minority Leader | Aiden Black (I) since January 17, 2019 |
Minor-Minority Leader | Avery Conner (C) since January 17, 2019 |
Majority Whip | Jody Scott (L) since January 17, 2019 |
Major-Minority Whip | Brice Berry (I) since January 17, 2019 |
Minor-Minority Whip | Ryan Chandler (C) since January 17, 2019 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 36 13 (or 12 plus the Vice President of Earth Humans for a majority) 21 for a 3/5 majority 24 for a 2/3 majority |
 | |
Political groups | Majority (13)
Major-Minority (12) Minor-Minority (11) |
Length of term | 1 year (Acting Congress) 6 years |
| Elections | |
| Plurality (method) First-past-the-post (system) | |
Last election | January 17, 2019 |
Next election | November 7, 2019 (36 seats) |
| Constitution | |
| United States of Earth Humans Constitution | |
The Earth Humans Senate, previously known as the Assembly, is the upper chamber of the Earth Humans Congress, which along with the Earth Humans House of Representatives — the lower chamber — comprises the legislature of the Earth Humans. Members of the Senate are called Senators.
The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article I, Section 3 of the Earth Humans Constitution. The Senate is composed of senators, each of whom represents a single state in its entirety, with each state being equally represented by three senators, regardless of its population, serving staggered terms of six years; with 12 states currently in the Nation, there are 36 E.H. Senators. Senators are elected by direct popular vote, also known as First-past-the-post voting.
As the upper house, the Senate has several powers of advice and consent; these include the approval of treaties and the confirmation of Cabinet Secretaries, Supreme Court justices, federal judges, other federal executive officials, ambassadors, and other federal uniformed workers. Other responsibilities include conducting trials of those impeached by the House.
The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice President of the Earth Humans, who is President of the Senate. In the Vice President's absence, the President Pro Tempore, who is customarily the senior member of the party holding the majority of seats, presides over the Senate. The remaining leadership of the Senate is determined by the Senators, they nominate members of their party and take a majority vote.
History
Originally the upper house was named the "Assembly" but on January 28, 2019, a bill was passed in Congress that would allow the government to let Congress rename the two houses. On February 8, 2019, the Assembly was renamed to "Senate" and the Council of Representatives was renamed to "House of Representatives."
Membership
There are currently 36 seats in the Senate. The first general election in November 2019 all states will vote for 4 Senators due to an amendment to the constitution on January 24, 2019.
Qualifications
Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for senators: (1) they must be at least thirty years old; (2) they must have been citizens of the Earth Humans for the past nine years or longer; and (3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election.
Term and Elections
Senators are elected directly by popular vote.
Term
Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the seats are up for elections every two years. This will be achieved by dividing the senators of the 1st Congress into thirds (called classes), where the terms of one-third will expire after two years, the terms of another third will expire after four years, and the terms of the last third will expire after six years. Current senator terms will all expire after one year due to the Acting Congress bylaws. There is no constitutional limit to the number of terms a senator may serve.
A member who has been elected, but not yet seated, is called a senator-elect.
Elections
Elections to the Senate are held on the first Thursday after the first Wednesday in odd-numbered years, Election Day, and coincide with elections for the House of Representatives. Senators are elected by their state as a whole.
Oath
The Constitution requires that senators take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. Congress has prescribed the following oath for all federal offices (except the President), including Senators:
- I, ___ ___, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Earth Humans against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true conviction and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of circumvention; and that I will well and devotedly discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. On my honor.
Procedure
Daily Sessions
The Senate meets on weekdays and does not typically meet on weekends unless otherwise specified. The Senators can submit bills to the floor, debate them, and vote on them. After a bill has been voted through it must then be sent to the House of Representatives for a vote. If the bill is passed in the House then it is sent to the President for their signature. The president may veto the bill, then send it back to the Senate with footnotes on how to rewrite the bill to attain the signature. If the bill is vetoed by the president, the revised version must be voted on by both houses of Congress.
Closed Sessions
On occasion, the Senate may go into what is called a closed session. During a closed session, the chamber doors are closed, cameras turned off, and the galleries are completely cleared of anyone not sworn to secrecy, not instructed in the rules of the closed session, or not essential to the session. Closed sessions are a rarity and usually held only when the Senate is discussing sensitive subject matter such as information critical to national security, private communications from the president, or deliberations during impeachment trials. A senator may call for and force a closed session if the motion is seconded by at least one other member, but an agreement usually occurs beforehand.