5.1 The Legislative Branch: Congress's Structure & Powers

Why the Legislative Branch Matters on the GED

Civics and Government is 50% of the GED Social Studies Test — the single largest content area — and questions about the three branches of government appear more often than any other civics topic. The legislative branch (Congress) is usually tested first because it is the branch that makes federal law, and GED items frequently ask you to identify which branch has a given power, compare the House and Senate, or trace the steps a bill takes before it becomes law. Expect stimulus-based items: a short passage, a diagram of the lawmaking process, or an excerpt from Article I of the Constitution, followed by a question asking you to identify a power, a step, or a role.

Congress Is Bicameral

The Framers created a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as part of the Great Compromise, which resolved a dispute between large states (who wanted representation based on population) and small states (who wanted equal representation regardless of size).

A common GED trap is assuming the two chambers are interchangeable. They are not: the House is built for speed and population-based representation (shorter terms mean members answer to voters more often), while the Senate is built for stability and equal state representation (six-year terms insulate senators from short-term political swings). If a GED passage says a chamber has 100 members serving staggered six-year terms, that is the Senate — even if the passage never uses the word "Senate."

The Speaker of the House and Congressional Leadership

The Speaker of the House is elected by a majority vote of House members at the start of each new Congress and is almost always the leader of the majority party. The Speaker sets the legislative agenda, refers bills to committees, and presides over floor debate. Constitutionally, the Speaker is second in line for the presidency, right after the Vice President, under the Presidential Succession Act. In the Senate, the Vice President is the constitutional presiding officer (casting tie-breaking votes), but because the VP rarely attends daily sessions, the President pro tempore — traditionally the most senior member of the majority party — presides in the VP's absence, followed in practice by the Senate Majority Leader, who controls the floor schedule.

Enumerated and Implied Powers

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution lists Congress's enumerated powers — powers explicitly granted in the text. Key ones tested on the GED include the power to:

• Lay and collect taxes
• Coin money and regulate its value
• Regulate interstate and foreign commerce (the Commerce Clause)
• Declare war
• Raise and support an army and navy
• Establish federal courts below the Supreme Court

The final clause of Section 8, the Necessary and Proper Clause (also called the Elastic Clause), lets Congress pass any law "necessary and proper" for executing its enumerated powers. This clause is the constitutional basis for implied powers — powers not spelled out word-for-word but reasonably connected to an enumerated one (for example, creating a national bank to carry out the taxing and borrowing powers). GED passages about a disputed federal law (should Congress be allowed to do X?) are usually testing whether you can connect an action back to an enumerated or implied power.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

GED items sometimes present a flowchart or list of steps out of order and ask you to sequence them, or ask which step comes next. The core sequence is:

1. A member introduces a bill in the House or Senate.
2. The bill goes to a committee, which can amend, approve, or kill it.
3. The full chamber debates and votes.
4. The bill must pass the other chamber in identical form (differences are resolved in a conference committee).
5. The bill goes to the President, who may sign it into law, veto it (send it back with objections), or take no action — if Congress is in session, it becomes law without a signature after 10 days; if Congress adjourns during that window, it dies via a pocket veto.
6. Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate — one of the clearest examples of checks and balances on the exam.

Congress's Unique Checks: Impeachment and Confirmation

Congress holds powers that check the other two branches directly. Impeachment is a two-step process tested frequently on the GED: the House impeaches (formally charges) an official — such as the President, a federal judge, or a cabinet secretary — by a simple majority vote; the Senate then holds a trial and can convict and remove the official only with a two-thirds vote. A common wrong-answer trap is treating impeachment and removal as the same event — impeachment is only the charge, comparable to an indictment, not a conviction. Congress's Senate also confirms presidential nominees (cabinet secretaries, federal judges, ambassadors) by simple majority and ratifies treaties by a two-thirds vote — both are checks on executive power that reappear in Section 5.2.