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Senate rule XXXI governs the Senate process for considering the president's nominations. For most positions, the nomination is passed first to a Senate committee for review. Generally, it is the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the topic or department related to the position to be filled. [11] A public hearing by the committee is possible.
The Senate has exclusive power to confirm U.S. presidential appointments to high offices, and (by two-thirds supermajority to pass main motions) approve or reject treaties, and try cases of impeachment brought by the House. The Senate and the House provide a check and balance on the powers of the executive and judicial branches of government.
Democratic (8) Jurisdiction; Policy areas: Books, manuscripts and monuments to the memory of individuals, Congressional office buildings, Congressional Record, Corrupt practices, Credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, Federal elections generally, Government Publishing Office, Meetings of the Congress and attendance of members, Presidential succession, Senate library, statuary ...
Nevertheless, while the Senate cannot originate revenue and appropriation bills, it does retain the power to amend or reject them. A congressional act in 1974 established procedures to try to establish appropriate annual spending levels. [7] The Government Accountability Office is an important information-gathering agency for Congress.
Section 2 gives the Senate the power of advice and consent to federal appointments made by the president and allows Congress to "vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments".
Recognizing this, one key purpose of the Electoral Count Act's procedural provisions is "to drain away as much power as possible from the Senate president, whom the [law] appoints to preside at the joint session when Congress counts the votes." [8]: 634
The guarantee of equal suffrage in the Senate is arguably subject to being amended through the procedures outlined within the article. [26] Law professor George Mader holds that the shielding provision can be amended because it is not "self-entrenched," meaning that it does not contain a provision preventing its own amendment.
Additionally, Article One, Section 3, Clause 6 grants to the Senate the sole power to try federal impeachments and spells out the basic procedures for impeachment trials. Among the requirements is the stipulation that the Chief Justice of the United States is to preside over presidential impeachment trials.