officers of the House and Senate

The Vice President of the United States, various elected members of Congress, and elected staff members are the officers of the House and Senate. The Constitution assigns the Vice President to serve as presiding officer of the Senate (or president of the Senate), with the power to cast tiebreaking votes. Article 1, Section 3, of the Constitution instructs the Senate to elect a president pro tempore (temporary president) to preside in the absence of the Vice President. In recent years, the president pro tempore has been the longest-serving member of the majority party. Article 1, Section 2, of the Constitution instructs the House to elect a Speaker as its presiding officer. The Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the president pro tempore are therefore the three constitutional officers of Congress, and they stand in that order in the line of Presidential succession (that is, the order in which they would move up to the Presidency in the case of a vacancy).

Each house also elects its own administrative officers. The Senate elects the secretary of the Senate, sergeant at arms, chaplain, and secretaries for the majority and minority parties. None of these officers are senators. The House elects the clerk of the House, sergeant at arms, doorkeeper, and chaplain, none of whom are representatives.

The political parties represented in Congress also elect officers, including majority and minority leaders, conference (caucus) chairs, and party secretaries.

See also Chaplains, congressional; Clerk of the House of Representatives; Constitution, U.S.; President pro tempore of the Senate; Sergeant at arms; Speaker of the House; Vice President