Who is the officer of the legislative branch?

Answer 1

The Legislative branch of the U.S. government does not have one lone officer at the top of the pile, the way that the executive branch has. The Vice President of the U.S. is also the President of the Senate, but he gets no vote unless the Senate is deadlocked in a tie, and other than that, he has no power over that body at all. "Below" the V.P. in the Senate are the majority and the minority leaders, who do have SOME real power in the Senate. The Speaker of the House is the top spot in the lower house, the U.S. House of Representatives. Below that person are the majority and minority leaders. In an interesting aside, the Speaker of the House is next in-line for the presidency in the unprecedented event that both the President and the V.P. die.

All officers are elected by their respective legislative bodies and by the political parties within those bodies, and are not subject to confirmation or veto by any other government body. The short answer is that the Speaker leads the House and the Senate Majority Leader leads the Senate, but the reality is that what they are really trying to do is "herd cats", so there's not much actual leadership.