In January, both houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, convene. The two houses are “ legally coordinate” in all areas except the Senate’s power to ratify treaties and appointments, the House’s power to initiate revenue bills, and the varying roles in impeachment and election of the President and Vice President.
Congress is bound in its legislative powers by what the Constitution allows. The primary set of restrictions on the legislative powers comes from the Bill of Rights and the Constitution itself. The Commerce Clause, Article One Section Eight of the Constitution allows the United States Congress to wield far reaching legislative power over a plethora of issues. In justifying laws Congress must appeal to the legal relevance of interstate commerce. Members of either house of Congress can not be arrested while in session or travelling to and from sessions of Congress.
“ Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. “
- James Garfield, 20th President of the United States of America