Senate
The upper chamber of the United States Congress, which along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprise the legislature of the United States.
- 100 voting seats
- ~1/3 are up for election/re-election every 2 years
- State governors get to appoint a replacement if a senator drops out mid-term
- The political party that has a majority of seats gets control of:
- Majority vote on committees
- Control of the agenda
- Control of subpoenas
- Control of hearings
- Control of document requests, etc
- All this control ultimately gives the majority party control of policy