Federal  Government Info

The US Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government. It is responsible for making laws for the entire country. It consists of two chambers: the upper house, the US Senate, and the lower house, the House of Representatives.

US Senate

Each state in the United States elects two senators, regardless of the state’s population. There are 50 states so there are 100 Senators representing their constituents and legislating at the federal level. Senators serve six-year terms with staggered elections.  New York’s senior senator is Charles “Chuck” Schumer. Kirsten Gillibrand is New York’s junior senator.

US House of Representatives

Each state is also represented by the US House of Representatives, but here the number of representatives is based on the state’s population.  There are a total of 435 representatives  representing the 50 states. Twenty-six (26) of them represent different areas of New York.  Locally, Cortland County is split between New York's 22nd Congressional District (includes all of Madison and Onondaga counties, as well as communities in Cayuga, Cortland, and Oneida counties) and New York's 19th Congressional District (covers Broome, Chenango, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties, as well as parts of Otsego and Ulster Counties).  

 To find out which district you live in and who your representative is, enter your zip code here.