cloture – The only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster.

The President nominates someone for a vacancy on the Court and the Senate votes to confirm the nominee, which requires a simple majority. In this way, both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the federal government have a voice in the composition of the Supreme Court.

Justice N V Ramana

A staunch opponent of Civil Rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s, Thurmond conducted the longest speaking filibuster ever by a lone senator, at 24 hours and 18 minutes in length, in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

That year, the Senate adopted a rule to allow a two-thirds majority to end a filibuster, a procedure known as “cloture.” In 1975 the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from two-thirds of senators voting to three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn, or 60 of the 100-member Senate.

The Constitution sets three qualifications for service in the U.S. Senate: age (at least thirty years of age); U.S. citizenship (at least nine years); and residency in the state a senator represents at time of election.

The framers of the Constitution set the minimum age for Senate service at 30 years.

• The 100 US Senate seats are classified into three classes of United States senators, two of which (classes 1 and 2) consist of 33 seats and one (class 3) of 34 seats.
• The three classes were established by Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution.

Also referred to as a congressman or congresswoman, each representative is elected to a two-year term serving the people of a specific congressional district. Among other duties, representatives introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve on committees.

Because the House wanted a manageable number of members, Congress twice set the size of the House at 435 voting members. The first law to do so was passed on August 8, 1911. Finally, in 1929 the Permanent Apportionment Act became law. It permanently set the maximum number of representatives at 435.