"Established by Article I of the Constitution, the Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the U.S. Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers." [Source: The White House, The Legislative Branch]
Architect of the Capitol - Constructs and maintains the historic Capitol Hill buildings and grounds.
Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives and Records Administration - Provides the historical records of the U.S Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
Congressional Budget Office - States here that it creates "independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process."
Government Accountability Office - States here it is an independent agency that "examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies with objective, non-partisan, fact-based information to help the government save money and work more efficiently."
Government Publishing Office - Creates and provides "information, products and services" for all branches of the U.S. government. Explore and Research (on main page) provides a pull-down menu of links to:
Library of Congress - Notes that it is the key research body of the U.S. Congress and offers "millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts." Provides a main screen search box with a pull-down menu to search by type of material (such as: Books, Films/Videos, Legislation, Manuscripts, Newspapers, Periodicals, Personal Narratives, Photos/Prints/Drawings).
Research guide: Finding Goverment Documents.
Key link: Digital Collections.
Key link: Help Resources Available from the Library of Congress.
Note: The Library of Congress' Library Collections & Services Group includes this Division: Law Library. There are many digital research guides available here, including 67 guides under topic: Government. This page also includes link: Ask a Librarian: Law Library of Congress.
Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) - Advances "workplace rights, safety and health, and accessibility in the [U.S.] legislative branch."
Biographical Directory:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress - Covers current and past members of the U.S. Congress + past members of Continental Congresses. Filter by Congress (such as: 118 (2023-2025), party, position and/or state.
C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle - Offers recordings of U.S. Congressional proceedings, including Congressional news conferences and hearings. Tip: Search C-SPAN videos by Organization: U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives and add search terms. Includes audio streams of live Congressional hearings. C-SPAN states: "You must log in with your television provider in order to view the C-SPAN Live Streams." [Provider: C-SPAN]
U.S. House of Representatives:
U.S. Senate:
U.S. Congressional Research Service - Provides public access to "research products" (including reports on key policy issues) created by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for the U.S. Congress. CRS works to provide "timely, objective, and authoritative research and analysis." CRS is a federal legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress. The site description notes that CRS "serves as shared staff exclusively to congressional committees and Members of Congress."
Congress.gov - States on this page that it is "the official website for U.S. federal legislative information." [Presenter: U.S. Library of Congress]
Constitution of the United States - Includes text and Constitution: Related Events. [Provider: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration]
GovInfo - Includes free online access to official publications of the U.S legislative branch of the federal government. [Provider: U.S. Government Publishing Office.]
Links to:
United States Code - This site states that "[t]he United States Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States." [Preparer: Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives.]
CQ.com (daily news/analysis, when the U.S. Congress is in session) & CQ Magazine (weekly news/analysis) > in each of BLS Library's SARA catalog records, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (CQ) - Reports on acts of the U.S. Congress. [Provider: FiscalNote] (remote access requires BLS proxy server)
ProQuest Congressional > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (PROQUEST) - Provides the full text of many U.S. legislative and executive publications. (remote access requires BLS proxy server)
ProQuest Legislative Insight > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (PROQUEST) - Provides legislative histories of U.S. public laws. As ProQuest notes here: "[l]egislative histories enable you to trace the development of a public law from early consideration to enactment." These legislative histories include links to specific documents (such as bills, discussions in the Congressional Record and reports). (remote access requires BLS proxy server)
U.S. Congressional Documents Library (in HeinOnline) > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (HEIN). [Publisher: W.S. Hein] (remote access requires BLS proxy server)
Westlaw Precision > tab: Statutes & Court Rules (requires BLS username/password) provides:
Westlaw Precision > tab: Legislative History (requires BLS username/password) includes: