Kinkow Senate

The Kinkow Senate is the upper chamber of the Kinkow Congress, which along with the Kinkow House of Representatives — the lower chamber — comprises the legislature of the United States; the legislative branch of the Kinkow Federal Government.

The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the Kinkow Constitution. The Senate is composed of senators, each of whom represents a single state in its entirety. Each state, regardless of its population size, is equally represented by two senators who serve staggered terms of four years. There being at present 42 states in the Union, there are presently 84 senators. For the First Kinkow Congress, senators were appointed by legislatures of the states they represented; senators were elected by popular vote to the Second Kinkow Congress and have been ever since.

As the upper chamber of Congress, the Senate has several powers of advice and consent which are unique to it. These include the approval of treaties, and the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices, federal judges, flag officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, other federal executive officials, and other federal uniformed officers. In addition to these, in cases wherein no candidate receives a majority of electors for Vice President, the duty falls to the Senate to elect one of the top two recipients of electors for that office. Furthermore, the Senate has the responsibility of conducting the trials of those impeached by the House.

The Senate is widely considered both a more deliberative and more prestigious body than the House of Representatives due to its longer terms, smaller size, and statewide constituencies, which historically led to a more collegial and less partisan atmosphere. The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice President of the Free Democratic Republic, who is President of the Senate. In the Vice President's absence, the First Senator, who is customarily the most senior senator and the senior member of the party holding a majority of seats, presides over the Senate. The Senate floor is led by floor leaders, who are elected by the political parties of the Senate. The leader of the party that commands a majority of seats in the Senate holds the position of Majority Leader of the Senate, who is essentially the leader of the Senate. The leader of the party that commands a minority of the seats in the Senate holds the position of Minority Leader of the Senate. In addition, both the majority and minority parties elect floor whips, Majority Whip and Minority Whip respectively, who act as assistant leaders of the Senate floor.