Presiding Officer: Senate

Presiding Officer: Senate

Order Code RS21553
Updated November 25, 2003
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Presiding Officer: Senate
name re dacted
Analyst in American National Government
Government & Finance Division
Summary
The Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as the presiding
officer of the Senate and further provides that in the absence of the Vice President, the
Senate may elect a President pro tempore, who by custom, is usually the most senior
Senator of the majority party, to perform the duties of the chair. In daily practice,
however, the duties and functions of the chair are carried out by an acting President pro
tempore, and temporary presiding officers, often junior Senators, who rotate in the chair
for shifts of generally one hour each. Since 1977, only majority-party Senators have
been appointed to preside over the Senate, except during the power-sharing period of the
107th Congress (2001-2002), when chamber control was evenly divided. This report will
be updated as warranted.
Election and Historical Position of President of the Senate
The Senate does not elect its regular presiding officer.1 Rather, the President of the
Senate (Vice President of the United States) and the President pro tempore are made the
Senate’s presiding officers by Article I, Section III, of the Constitution, which provides
that the Vice President “shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless
they be equally divided”; and the “Senate shall choose . . . a President pro tempore, in the
absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the
United States.”
For most of its first century, the Senate filled the post of President pro tempore on
a temporary basis, whenever the Vice President was not present. By 1890, the Senate
began the practice of the President pro tempore holding office continuously until the
1 Floyd M. Riddick and Alan S. Frumin, Riddick’s Senate Procedure: Precedents and Practices
(Washington: GPO, 1992).
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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election of a successor.2 The practice of electing the longest-serving majority-party
Senator as President pro tempore has been followed since 1945, with one exception.3
In modern practice, neither the Vice President nor the President pro tempore spends
much time presiding over the Senate.
Vice Presidents have never been extended
significant legislative power other than their ability to cast the deciding vote in the event
of a tie. A few have attempted to guide Senate action, but most have followed the
precedent set by John Adams, who, as Vice President, remained aloof from the day-to-day
business of the Senate. Vice Presidents today preside only upon ceremonial occasions or
when a close vote on a measure or amendment of interest to the Administration or
executive business is likely to occur.
The responsibilities of the President pro tempore have changed over time. Presidents
pro tempore have been entrusted with making appointments to an assortment of national
commissions, usually with the advice of the party floor leaders; administering oaths
required by the Constitution in the absence of the Vice President; signing legislation in
the absence of the Vice President; and jointly presiding with the Speaker of the House
when the two chambers sit together in joint sessions or joint meetings.4 Contemporary
Presidents pro tempore infrequently preside over the Senate. Instead, they designate (in
writing or in person) an acting President pro tempore to preside for the day,5 who, after
the start of each daily meeting, turns to party officials who arrange for junior Members
to preside thereafter. These subsequent Senators are primarily first-term Members who
preside for shifts of generally one hour each. The chair is addressed as “Mr. President”
or “Madame President,” depending on who is in the chair.
Duties and Functions of the Presiding Officer
The general duties of the Senate presiding officer consist mostly of preserving order
and decorum on the Senate floor and in the galleries. As a Senator, the presiding officer
may vote on all matters. The Vice President may not vote except to break ties, but he may
also decline to vote in such instances, allowing the matter to be defeated on a tie vote.
Within the general duties, however, some of the more important functions of the
presiding officer are
! recognizing the first Senator who seeks recognition to speak, with
exceptions for the priority given to party and committee leaders when
managing legislation;
2 Robert C. Byrd, The Senate, 1789-1989: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate,
vol. 2 (Washington: GPO, 1991), pp. 167-205. See also CRS Report RL30960, The President
Pro Tempore of the Senate: History and Authority of the Office, by Richard C. Sachs.
3 Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan was the second-ranking Republican when
elected President pro tempore in 1947. See David R. Tarr and Ann O’Connor, eds., Congress
A to Z, 3rd ed. (Washington: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1999), p. 348.
4 Robert C. Byrd, The Senate, 1789-1989: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate,
vol. 2 (Washington: GPO, 1991), pp. 167-205.
5 Riddick, Senate Procedure, p. 1025.

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! recognizing Members who wish to introduce bills from the floor, or to
offer amendments and motions to bills being debated;
! ruling on points of order, with the advice of the parliamentarian, subject
to appeal to the full Senate;
! enforcing voting and amending procedures; and
! referring bills to committees, on the advice of the parliamentarian.
Other functions include
! answering parliamentary inquiries,
with the assistance of the
parliamentarian;
! announcing Senators to House-Senate conference committees when
given such authority by unanimous consent;
! appointing members to special committees when given such authority by
unanimous consent;
! administering oaths; and
! generally enforcing the rules of the Senate.
In the late 1960s, to encourage freshmen Senators to grow more accustomed to the
Senate’s rules and procedures, the majority leader created what has become known as the
“Golden Gavel Award.” The plain gold-painted wooden gavel is a mark of distinction,
awarded to those who preside for 100 hours during any year. To highlight this mark of
achievement, the majority or minority leader stops other floor business to honor the
recipient.6 Between 1990 and 2000 only 29 Senators achieved this milestone.7
6 U.S. Senate, [http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/goldengavel.pdf], visited Nov. 25,
2003.
7 Based on full text search, “Golden Gavel,” in the Congressional Record.

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