Government Congress Quiz

The Capitol

• The Senate meets on the left

• The House of Representatives meets on the right

535 & 538

• 538 electors in the Electoral Congress

House of Representatives 

• Has 435 members from all 50 states

• Serve 2 year terms

• Has the same legislative constitutional powers as the Senate (checks & balances)

•  Currently controlled by the Republicans

• Republicans = 218

• Democrats = 214

• 3 vacancies

Senate

• Each state has 2 senators regardless of its population

• Serve 6 year terms

• 53 Republicans

• 2 Independent (lean Democratic) 

• 45 Democrats

Midterm Elections

• SOOOOOO IMPORTANT!!! Usually overlooked by general population

• Congress makes the laws/society!!!!

• Every two years = 1/3rd of the senate gets elected

2026 midterm election

• Elections for Congress are known as “Midterm” elections

• These elections will decide who controls the House and Senate!

• 2026 elections will have ALL 435 House and 33 of 100 senate seats up for grabs

• One party can control both, one or none of congress

Senate vs House of Representatives

• Under the Constitution, the House of Representatives (“House”) has the power to impeach any government official

• The House serves as the prosecutor

•  The Senate has the sole power to conduct impeachment trials

• The Senate serves as judge and jury

Presidential Impeachments

• Andrew Johnson 1868 - Wrongful removal of politician - acquitted

• Bill Clinton - 1998 - Lied under oath - acquitted 

• Trump #1 2019 - Abuse of power/obstructing justice (Ukraine) - acquitted

• Trump #2 2021 - Incitement of insurrection - acquitted 

• Pos/cons of impeachment???

Who can vote??

• US Citizen

• 18 years or older

• Registered to vote

Terms

• Electoral College = The system used in order to determine the president during the presidential election

• Electors = The elected officials who actually vote on the people's behalf…..its complicated we’ll talk about it…

• Total of 538 electors

• 435 from the House of Representatives

• 100 Senators

• 3 from the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.)

House of Representatives pt. 2

• Each state receives a certain number of representatives depending on its population

• Each state gets a minimum of 3 electoral votes

• The greater the population of a state, the more representatives it has

• This number changes based on the census 

• Ex.)      NY population = 19 Million = 28 Electoral Votes

•  Montana population = 1 Million   = 4 Electoral Votes

How do you become president?

• You do not need to win the overall popular vote

• Ex.) 2016  -  Clinton = 65,845,063   >    Trump = 62,980,180

• Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in a specific state wins all of the electoral votes

• Whichever candidate receives at least 270 electoral votes becomes the president

• Ex.) 2020  -  Biden = 306    vs   Trump = 232

Swing States!!!

• Wisconsin

• Pennsylvania

• Minnesota 

• Georgia

• Florida

• Michigan