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Its responsibilities include funding government functions and programs, holding hearings to inform the legislative process, and oversight of the executive branch. Congress is a bicameral legislature divided into two equal institutions: the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Included within the scope of the power is the authority to initiate investigations, hold hearings, gather testimony or documents from witnesses, and, in situations where either a government or private party is not forthcoming, compel compliance with congressional requests through the issuance and enforcement of ...

The Constitution specifically grants Congress its most important power — the authority to make laws. A bill, or proposed law, only becomes a law after both the House of Representatives and the Senate have approved it in the same form.

Section 2. [HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES] The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

It can be reported, with or without amendment, or tabled, which means no further action on it will occur. Tabling effectively “kills” the measure. If the committee has approved extensive amendments, they may decide to report a new bill incorporating all the amendments.

The legislative branch, which makes our laws, is the Congress. Congress has two parts: the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Each state has two U.S. Senators and at least one U.S. Representative; the more residents a state has, the more U.S. Representatives it is allowed.

Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government that represents the American people and makes the nation's laws. It shares power with the executive branch, led by the president, and the judicial branch, whose highest body is the Supreme Court of the United States.