How Many U.S. Senators Are There? Civics Question 21

There are one hundred (100) U.S. senators.

Question 21 asks how many U.S. senators there are. The answer is one hundred. You can say the number or the words, and either is accepted. The question is about the Senate only, so it does not include the 435 voting members of the House of Representatives.

Where the Number Comes From

The Senate counts states, not people. The Constitution gives every state two senators, whether it is the largest state or the smallest.

There are 50 states. Fifty states, two senators each, one hundred senators. The number is not set by a law that Congress can change. It moves only when a new state joins, and the last time that happened was 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii became states.

Why the Officer Asks This

Five questions in this part of the test ask for a number, and they sit close together. This one and question 27, which asks how many senators each state has, are the same fact seen from two sides.

Officers move between the number questions quickly, so mixing up which chamber has which number is the most common way to lose a mark in this stretch.

How to Remember 100 Senators

Build the number instead of memorizing it. 50 states times 2 senators equals 100. If you can count the states, you can rebuild the answer to this question and to question 27 at the same time.

Then separate the Senate numbers from the House numbers and keep them in pairs:

• Senate: 100 members, 6-year terms, 2 per state.
• House: 435 voting members, 2-year terms.

The rule that keeps the pairs apart is size against time. The smaller chamber has the longer term. The bigger chamber has the shorter term. One hundred people stay six years, 435 people stay two.

A Number Worth Not Saying

Do not answer 535. That is the total for both chambers, 435 plus 100, and it is not the answer to any question on the list.

Do not answer 50 either. Fifty is the number of states, and each state has two senators sitting in the chamber.

What to Say on Test Day

Say “one hundred.” Then stop.

You do not need to explain the math or mention the states. The officer is listening for one number.