Article I, Sections 1–7: How Congress is built and how a bill becomes law

Article I is the longest article, and it comes first because the framers saw the legislature as the center of the new government. Sections 1–7 build Congress and set the only path a federal law can take. Section 8 (next lesson) lists what Congress may regulate; Sections 9 and 10 list what Congress and the states may not do.

Section 1: All legislative power goes to Congress

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Source: National Archives transcription Verified1

What it says. Congress, made of a Senate and a House, holds "All legislative Powers herein granted." Two words carry the weight. "Herein granted" means Congress has only the powers the Constitution gives it. "All" means no one else in the federal government can make law.

Why it's there. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was a single body where each state had one vote. At the Convention, large states wanted representation by population, small states wanted equal votes. The deal that settled it, usually called the Great Compromise, produced a House by population and a Senate with equal representation for each state Verified2.

How courts read it. Because Congress holds the legislative power, the Court has struck down attempts to make law outside Congress's procedure, such as the one-house veto and the line-item veto. Both cases are in Section 7 below.

Section 2: The House of Representatives

[Clause 1] The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

[Clause 2] No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

[Clause 3] Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

[Clause 4] When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

[Clause 5] The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Source: National Archives transcription Verified1

Changed. Clause 3: Changed. The Archives notes that Article I, Section 2 "was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment." The "three fifths of all other Persons" rule is dead; Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment counts "the whole number of persons in each State." Verified1,3

Clause by clause

• Clause 1, elections every two years. House members serve two-year terms, and anyone qualified to vote for the larger house of their state legislature can vote for the House. Later amendments (15th, 19th, 24th, 26th) stopped states from denying the vote by race, sex, poll tax or age 18+.
• Clause 2, qualifications. At least 25 years old, a citizen for seven years, and living in the state when elected. The Constitution doesn't require living in the district.
• Clause 3, apportionment and the census. Seats are divided among the states by population, counted every ten years. The original formula counted enslaved people as "three fifths of all other Persons." That's dead text: the Fourteenth Amendment counts "the whole number of persons in each State" Verified3. The clause also caps the House at one member per 30,000 people, a floor that stopped mattering long ago.
• Clause 4, vacancies. When a seat opens, the governor calls a special election ("Writs of Election"). Governors can't appoint House members.
• Clause 5, Speaker and impeachment. The House chooses its Speaker and has "the sole Power of Impeachment," meaning the power to charge an official. The Senate holds the trial (Section 3).

How courts read it

• Qualifications are fixed. In 1967 the House refused to seat Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., after he was elected. The Court held that since he "was duly elected by the voters" and "was not ineligible to serve under any provision of the Constitution," the House had no power to exclude him (Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969)) Verified4. In 1995 the Court held that states can't add qualifications either, striking down an Arkansas term-limit rule for members of Congress (U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995)) Verified5.
• Equal districts. Clause 1 says Representatives are chosen "by the People." The Court held that this means "as nearly as is practicable one man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's" (Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964)) Verified6. That is the origin of equal-population congressional districts. The same idea reaches state and local districts through the Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment 14).

Section 3: The Senate

[Clause 1] The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

[Clause 2] Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

[Clause 3] No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

[Clause 4] The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

[Clause 5] The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

[Clause 6] The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

[Clause 7] Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Source: National Archives transcription Verified1

Changed. Clause 1: Changed. The Archives notes that Article I, Section 3 "was modified by the 17th amendment." Senators are no longer "chosen by the Legislature"; since 1913 they are "elected by the people." Verified1,3

Changed. Clause 2: Changed. The vacancy rule in this clause (temporary appointments by the governor while the legislature is in recess) was replaced by the Seventeenth Amendment's vacancy paragraph, part of the change the Archives describes as Article I, Section 3 being "modified by the 17th amendment." Verified1,3

Clause by clause

• Clause 1, two senators per state. Originally "chosen by the Legislature" of each state for six-year terms. Since the Seventeenth Amendment (1913), senators are "elected by the people" Verified3.
• Clause 2, staggered terms. The Senate was split into three classes, so one-third is elected every two years. That keeps the Senate from turning over all at once. The vacancy rule at the end of this clause was replaced by the Seventeenth Amendment.
• Clause 3, qualifications. At least 30, a citizen for nine years, living in the state when elected.
• Clause 4, the Vice President. Presides over the Senate and votes only to break a tie.
• Clause 5, officers. The Senate chooses a President pro tempore to preside when the Vice President is absent.
• Clause 6, impeachment trials. The Senate has "the sole Power to try all Impeachments." Senators are under oath; the Chief Justice presides when the President is tried; conviction takes two-thirds of members present.
• Clause 7, the limit on punishment. Conviction can remove a person from office and bar them from future federal office, nothing more. Criminal punishment, if any, comes separately in the regular courts.

How courts read it. When the Senate used a committee to hear evidence against impeached federal judge Walter Nixon, he argued that "try" required the full Senate. The Court held his claim "nonjusticiable": the Constitution commits impeachment trials to the Senate, and courts won't second-guess how it runs them (Nixon v. United States, 506 U.S. 224 (1993)) Verified7. Don't confuse this case with United States v. Nixon (1974), the Watergate tapes case covered in Article II.

Section 4: Elections and meetings

[Clause 1] The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

[Clause 2] The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Source: National Archives transcription Verified1

Changed. Clause 2: Changed. The Archives notes that Article I, Section 4 "was modified by section 2" of the Twentieth Amendment. Congress now meets "at noon on the 3d day of January," not the first Monday in December. Verified1,3

What it says. States set "the Times, Places and Manner" of congressional elections, but Congress can override most of those rules. Congress must meet at least once a year. The original meeting date (first Monday in December) was replaced by the Twentieth Amendment's January 3 Verified3.

Why it matters locally. This clause is why your ballot for Congress is printed, mailed and counted by the county under California's Elections Code, under federal rules Congress has added on top (registration, overseas voters, voting-rights protections). In Colusa County, the county elections office runs those elections, and city elections in Williams are typically consolidated with them Unverified8.

Section 5: Each house runs itself

[Clause 1] Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

[Clause 2] Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

[Clause 3] Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

[Clause 4] Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Source: National Archives transcription Verified1

Clause by clause. Each house judges its own members' elections and qualifications. A majority is a quorum to do business. Each house makes its own rules, can punish members for disorderly behavior, and can expel a member by two-thirds. Each keeps and publishes a journal of its proceedings, and one-fifth of members present can force a recorded yes-no vote. Neither house can adjourn for more than three days, or move elsewhere, without the other's consent.

How courts read it. "Judge of the ... Qualifications" doesn't let a house invent new qualifications. That was the point of Powell: the House can judge whether a member meets the Constitution's age, citizenship and residence rules, but it can't add a test of its own Verified4. Expulsion, by two-thirds, is different: it punishes a sitting member and is left to the house.

The local parallel. A city council also judges its own procedure, but not freely. California's Brown Act, not the council's preference, decides when the Williams council may meet in private, and requires public agendas and recorded votes. See the Brown Act lesson.

Section 6: Pay, privileges and the ban on double offices

[Clause 1] The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

[Clause 2] No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

Source: National Archives transcription Verified1

Clause by clause

• Pay. Members are paid "out of the Treasury of the United States," not by their states.
• Privilege from arrest. Protects members going to and from sessions, except for "Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace." In practice it covers only civil arrest, which barely exists today.
• Speech or Debate. Members can't be "questioned in any other Place" for legislative acts. That shields votes, speeches and committee work from lawsuits and prosecution.
• Incompatibility. No one can hold a federal executive or judicial office and sit in Congress at the same time. This is a key reason the U.S. has no parliamentary cabinet.
• Emoluments for new offices. A member can't be appointed to an office created, or whose pay was raised, during that member's term.

How courts read it. The Speech or Debate Clause covers aides too. The Court held that a Senator's aides must be "treated as the latter's alter egos" for legislative acts, but the clause doesn't protect conduct outside the legislative process (Gravel v. United States, 408 U.S. 606 (1972)) Verified9.

The local parallel. City council members in California don't get Speech or Debate immunity from the U.S. Constitution. They are covered by state immunity statutes and by federal doctrines on legislative immunity in civil-rights suits, which are outside this course.

Section 7: How a bill becomes law

[Clause 1] All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

[Clause 2] Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

[Clause 3] Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Source: National Archives transcription Verified1

Clause by clause

• Clause 1, revenue bills start in the House. Bills "for raising Revenue" must originate in the House, the chamber closest to the voters. The Senate can amend them.
• Clause 2, presentment and veto. Every bill that passes both houses goes to the President. The President signs it, or returns it with objections (a veto). Two-thirds of each house can override. If the President does nothing for ten days (Sundays excepted), it becomes law, unless Congress has adjourned and prevented its return, in which case it dies (the "pocket veto").
• Clause 3, orders and resolutions too. Any "Order, Resolution, or Vote" that needs both houses must also go to the President, except a vote to adjourn. This closes a loophole: Congress can't avoid the veto by calling a law something else.

How courts read it

• No one-house veto. For decades Congress wrote laws letting one house cancel an agency's decision. The Court struck that down: the Constitution's lawmaking steps reflect "a single, finely wrought and exhaustively considered, procedure" (INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983)) Verified10. Any action that changes legal rights must pass both houses and go to the President.
• No line-item veto. In 1996 Congress let the President cancel individual spending items after signing a bill. The Court held that this produced laws that were not "the product of the 'finely wrought' procedure that the Framers designed," and struck it down (Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998)) Verified11. The City of New York was a party because a cancelled item would have cost it Medicaid money.

How it reaches Williams

Sections 1–7 bind only the federal government. Nothing in them requires California or Williams to have two houses, a veto or any particular procedure. California has its own design in Article IV, and Williams, a general law city, follows the Government Code Verified12. Two pieces do reach you: Section 2's "by the People," which led to equal-population districts, and Section 4, which governs the congressional races on your ballot.

In Williams

• The city council is a small legislature with no second house and no veto. In a general law city like Williams, ordinances are adopted by the council under state statutes, not under Article I. Ask how an ordinance was adopted: the Government Code, not the Constitution, sets the readings and publication rules (see How it fits: statutes).
• The "who decides" question starts here. Article I teaches the habit of asking which body holds a power and how it must act. Use the same habit on Williams: is a fee set by ordinance, by resolution, or by a staff schedule? See Who decides?.

Common misconceptions

• "Congress can pass a law on anything important." No. It has only the powers "herein granted." The list is in Section 8.
• "The Constitution still says enslaved people count as three-fifths." The words are still in the original text, but the Fourteenth Amendment replaced them in 1868 Verified3.
• "Senators were always elected by voters." Not until the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913 Verified3.
• "Impeachment means removal." Impeachment is the House's charge. Removal takes a two-thirds Senate conviction.
• "Members of Congress must live in their district." The Constitution only requires living in the state.

Check yourself

Pick an answer for each question. You will see right away if it is right, and why.