The United States Capitol Building at sunset

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What Do You Know About Congress?

Take this quiz and see how knowledgeable you are about the legislative branch

Dena Bunis

En español

Published October 19, 2018

12 Questions

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What Do You Know About Congress?

[ {
  "question" : "How many members are there in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "50 senators and 300 representatives",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "100 senators and 435 representatives",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "150 senators and 350 representatives",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "200 senators and 500 representatives",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "During the Civil War the Capitol building was used as:",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "A bakery",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Military barracks",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "A hospital",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "All of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who is the oldest sitting senator?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is 85. (The oldest senator ever was Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who retired at age 100.)",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "How often do House members run for reelection?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Every two years",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Every three years",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Every six years",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Every eight years",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "How often do U.S. senators run for reelection?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Every four years",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Every six years",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Every 10 years",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Never. They are elected for life.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who breaks a tie vote in the U.S. Senate?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "The most senior senator",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The secretary of state",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The vice president of the United States",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "The majority leader",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The vice president of the United States, who also serves as president of the Senate and can vote only when there’s a tie.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Where did the first Congress meet?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "New York City",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Philadelphia",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Boston",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Washington, D.C.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "How old do you have to be to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "21",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "25",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "35",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "40",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "How many times can a U.S. senator or member of the U.S. House of Representatives run for reelection?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Twice",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Four times",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Ten times",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "An unlimited number of times",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Can Congress override a presidential veto?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Yes, Congress can appeal the veto to the U.S. Supreme Court",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Yes, a two-thirds majority vote of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate can override the veto",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Yes, a simple majority vote of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate can override the veto",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "No",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "The junior senator of a state is always younger than the senior senator.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "True",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "False",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The junior senator is the senator with less seniority, regardless of his or her age.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who has the power to declare war?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "The president’s cabinet",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Congress",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "The secretary of defense",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The president",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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What Do You Know About Congress?

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Dena Bunis covers Medicare, health care, health policy and Congress. She also writes the “Medicare Made Easy” column for the AARP Bulletin. An award-winning journalist, Bunis spent decades working for metropolitan daily newspapers, including as Washington bureau chief for the Orange County Register and as a health policy and workplace writer for Newsday.