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power to approve the President's nominations for major federal offices.
Any treaty made by the United States is a subject to the Senate's approval.
The House of Representatives consists of 435 members. A state's
representation is based on population. The number of representatives
changes as population changes. Only the House can bring charges of
impeachment against high federal officials. It alone can initiate tax bills.

The judicial branch
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the
land. It has a chief justice and eight associate justices. The President
appoints all justices with the approval of the Senate. The justices hold
office for life.
About 95 federal district courts are located in various cities. Above
the district courts are 13 federal courts of appeals, often called Circuit
courts. Above the courts of appeals is the Supreme Court. Decisions of a
district court may be appealed to an appeals court, and from the appeals
court to the Supreme Court. Federal courts decide cases that involve the
Constitution and federal laws. Judges of these courts hold office for life.
The President appoints them with the approval of the Senate.
The American people have a strong voice in their government. They
can exercise their democratic rights by voting in national, state, and local
elections, and by working in political parties and campaigns.
The two-party system. The United States has two major political
parties, the Democratic and the Republican. Members of these two parties
hold almost all the offices in the national, state, and local governments.
Minor political parties of the United States rarely elect candidates to
government offices. They serve chiefly to rail attention to problems that
the major parties may have neglected. Often, one or both of the major
parties may then attempt to solve such a problem. Then the third party,
which brought attention to the problem, may disappear.
National elections to elect a President and vice-President are held
every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
All members of the House of Representatives and about one-third of the
members of the Senate are elected at the same time. Between the
Presidential elections, all of the representatives and another one-third of
the senators are elected. This election is held on the same day in
November in even-numbered years.

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