The Legislative Branch of the United States is in-depth introduced in Article 1 of the Constitution. The United States government contains a Legislative Branch known as Congress. The Congress is further divided into two essential parts the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meetings are conducted at the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Congress is the maker of all the federal laws of the United States.  The process of this begins from the mere thought of the members of Congress, when a member has a new idea to solve an issue whether to amend or bring a completely new law the member can propose the idea during the meetings. This is known as the Bill.

In a nutshell, when the bill is approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives it further goes to the approval of the President. The President has the power to either pass the bill and convert it into law or use the power of veto to disapprove the bill passed by Congress. If the President uses his veto, Congress has the option to vote again to nullify the veto of the President or Congress can make changes in the bill and resend for approval of the President.

The United States Senate has a total number of hundred members, two members from each State. Senators represent all the members of the State that they come from. The Senators are elected every six years but unlike other portfolios, the senate has no limitations on the terms for an individual to serve. The leader of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States. The role of the Vice-President is to attend important meetings and ceremonies of the Senate and in case the Senate is not able to achieve common ground the Vice-Presidents’ vote acts as a tie-breaker. The Senate has several unique responsibilities.

The Senate must approve the President’s nominations for Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, and other high-ranking positions. Any deal signed by the president with other countries must be approved by the Senate. A trial for a government employee who commits a crime against the country can only be held in the Senate. The below mentioned are requirements for a person to be a member of the United States Senate –

– Shall be at least 30 years of age or more.
– Shall be a citizen of the United States for more than 9 years.
– Shall be resident of the state he or she wishes to represent.

The United States, House of Representatives has a total of 435 voting members. The members are elected once every two years and there are no limitations to the serving term of individual members. The House of Representatives has several unique responsibilities, only the House of Representatives has the authority to introduce tax legislation They have the authority to decide whether or not a government official should be brought before the Senate if he or she commits a crime against the country, this process is known as Impeachment. Each member of the House represents an area of the State called a District. The number of representatives of the state is based on the population of that particular state. For instance, California has a large population therefore the state has more representatives in the House whereas Wyoming has the lowest population and therefore has fewer representatives. The highest member is known as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. If the President and Vice President can no longer serve, the Speaker of the House of Representatives becomes President. The current Speaker of the House is Democrat Nancy Pelosi. The below mentioned are requirements for a person to be a member of the House of Representatives –

– Shall be at least 25 years of age or more.
– Shall be a citizen of the United States for more than 7 years.
– Shall be resident of the State he or she wishes to represent.

Women in Congress were unable to acquire seats Congress due to a variety of societal and institutional constraints. Women’s domestic responsibilities and inability to vote prevented them from running for and holding public office in the early twentieth century. Due to the obvious two-party system and the lack of term limitations, the Widow’s succession – in which a woman temporarily takes over a seat vacated by her husband’s death – was the most common road to Congress for white women.

Due to recent social subsidies and increasing understanding of women’s lack of representation in Congress, women candidates began to make significant breakthroughs in the twentieth century. Until the second-wave women’s liberation, when activists moved into electoral politics, women candidates were rare in terms of recruitment and financial support. The Donors and political action committees such as Emily’s List began recruiting, training, and sponsoring women candidates in the 1970s. Watershed political incidents like Clarence Thomas’ confirmation and the 2016 presidential election gave women candidates a boost, resulting in the Year of the Woman and the election of members of The Squad, respectively.

Women of color faced particular barriers, making it much harder for them to gain a seat in Congress. Before 1965, Jim Crow laws, voter suppression, and other kinds of systemic racism made it nearly difficult for women of color to obtain access to Congress. The passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, as well as the repeal of race-based immigration prohibitions in the 1960s, made it easier for Black, Asian American, Latina, and other women to run for Congress.

Notwithstanding that, racially polarised voting, racial prejudices, and a lack of institutional support have prevented, and continue to hinder, women of color from achieving the same level of success as their white colleagues in Congress. Women of color have had an especially tough time winning Senate elections, which need victories in State-wide electorates. In 1993, Carol Moseley Braun became the first woman of color elected to the Senate. Mazie Hirono, the second woman of color, was not seated until 2013. The contribution of women in Congress since then has evolved drastically and is still progressing with time.

Reference –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress