Senate

At the federal level, the upper house of Congress. As outlined in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress is made up of two Houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate provides equal representation (two Senators) for each state, while the House provides representation proportional to a state's population. Senators are elected to six-year terms and the House representatives to two-year terms. The Senate holds the exclusive powers of making treaties and approval of nominations to the president's cabinet, appointment of federal judges, and ambassadorships. In addition, only the Senate can try a public official for a crime against the United States. A bill can be introduced in either House, except for bills raising revenue, which can only be introduced in the House of Representatives. The name senate is derived from the Roman Senate (Latin senex, meaning old man), or board of wise old men.