The Senate: Introductory Business

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

New Senate rules have been introduced.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

If I may, I would like to motion or request that the Vice President introduce the following bill for our first act in the new Senate.

Senate Rules

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least two Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 72 hours. A two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislations initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the president officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officers ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 72 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The PPT shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 72 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 72 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the Presiding Officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 72 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads. If a redraft or override comes to the Senate from the House, it shall be administered in its original thread for that chamber with the same Presiding Officer.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of three days (72 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least three Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 48 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Cleared up who administers the 17th, 18th, and 19th slots.

Remember that the President of Congress is now officially the President of the Senate. I don't recall there ever being a Deputy President of Congress, but with the PPT selecting their own Deputy, I don't see the need for one.

Senate Rules

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least two Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 72 hours. A two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislations initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the president officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officers ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 72 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The PPT shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 72 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 72 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the Presiding Officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 72 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads. If a redraft or override comes to the Senate from the House, it shall be administered in its original thread for that chamber with the same Presiding Officer.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of three days (72 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least three Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 48 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I don't recall there ever being a Deputy President of Congress, but with the PPT selecting their own Deputy, I don't see the need for one.

Congress put one in after you left to assist the Vice-President in their congressional duties. It's why FalterinArc has been presiding over House debates for about a month despite not being elected to that body or to the VPship.

So with a unicameral body, I'd argue we don't need one. We have three people administering legislation for one house. Per tradition, the President of the Senate will relinquish most of their responsibilities to the PPT and only open threads for cabinet hearings. The Deputy PPT will have the same powers as the PPT.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Thanks, Ishan and Yankee; I've deleted the second sentence in Article 6.4 and corrected Article 2.3a.

Senate Rules

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least two Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 72 hours. A two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislations initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officers ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 72 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The PPT shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 72 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 72 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the Presiding Officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 72 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of three days (72 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least three Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 48 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

For the record, I would like former President Sestak to give us the thumbs up before I ask the Vice President to open a vote.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Sounds agreeable to me. It's a real relief we don't have to record all of the amendments yet.

Senate Rules

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 72 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 72 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two-thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 72 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 72 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the Presiding Officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 72 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of three days (72 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least nine Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 48 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

Added Yankee's changes and corrected other technical errors I noticed.

Do we want to modestly extend the voting periods, even if just for a day? I want everyone to vote when called to, but I also feel like expecting all 18 members to vote within two days is a bit unrealistic.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

FTR I was making the current changes before Sestak's last post.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 72 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 72 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two-thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 72 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 72 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the Presiding Officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 72 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of three days (72 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least nine Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 48 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

Just a title change here. I think five days is a bit much. How about four days minimum (not including sponsor advocacy) for debate, four days to vote on amendments/motions, and four days for final votes?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

How many days for tabling votes in that proposal, Scott?

Also if that four days doesn't include sponsor advocacy, am I assuming that is a five day total for initial debate period (advocacy plus initial responses)?

Four days, all-around. And yes.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 120 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 120 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 96 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 96 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 120 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two-thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 4 days (i.e. 96 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 96 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 120 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the presiding officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 96 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 5 days (i.e. 120 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of four days (96 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least nine Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 120 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 4 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

Okay, so four days shall be the standard time for both debate and voting.

This text still has 9 votes for Expulsion/Censure and 6 votes for VONC.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least four Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 120 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 120 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 96 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 96 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 120 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two-thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 4 days (i.e. 96 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 96 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 120 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the presiding officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 96 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 5 days (i.e. 120 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of four days (96 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 120 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 4 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

Anything else?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Alright... taking a hacksaw to this, it seems.

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and/or when the office of President Pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least four Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 120 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 120 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 96 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 96 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

7.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If a senator has objected to a friendly amendment, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 120 hours. The Senate may waive the 120-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 120-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 120-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two-thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 4 days (i.e. 96 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 96 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 120 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the presiding officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 96 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 5 days (i.e. 120 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of four days (96 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 120 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) Six senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 4 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

Explanations/What I did not change:

1. Technically yes, wxtransit, the passing of responsibilities is permanent under the current text, but we've never encountered a situation (at least to my memory) where a senator passed seniority down to someone else. Perhaps Yankee would know?

2. I actually think section 5 is appropriate standalone, because tabling of bills (in effect, stopping debate and not allowing a bill to receive a formal up-or-down vote on its merits) is not something that should be common or seen as a standard part of debate.

3. Technically, yes, if one senator votes to table a bill and eighteen either abstain or don't vote (the effect is the same and abstentions and non-votes are only counted differently), the bill is tabled. But this is extremely unlikely to happen and if a senator does not wish for their vote to be counted, their abstention or non-vote should not have any impact on the bill in question.

Everything else wxtransit raised has been accounted for and modified accordingly.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Also, a question that has been brought up previously in other circles -- due to the large size of this new chamber, are we going to have two Deputy PPTs or stick with one? I don't feel particularly inclined either way at this point but I wanted to bring it up in discussion here for completeness.

Again, we don't need more than three people overseeing the administration of a single chamber. The Vice President's legislative role has been significantly reduced thanks to not needing to carry legislation between two chambers and so either they or the Deputy PPT can take over if the PPT is not available.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

No, I do appreciate the comments, wxtransit. I just wish I'd had this all squared away on the first draft; this is legislative sausage-making right before our eyes.

I caught the redundancy error in Section 4.3 and have deleted it.

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and/or when the office of President Pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has been active on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least four Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 120 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 120 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 96 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 96 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

7.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If a senator has objected to a friendly amendment, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 120 hours. The Senate may waive the 120-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 120-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 120-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 4 days (i.e. 96 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 96 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 120 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the presiding officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 96 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 5 days (i.e. 120 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of four days (96 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 120 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) Six senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 4 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

For now I'll assume the other 14 senators who haven't spoke are all paying attention. This is arguably one of the most important packages you will ever vote on, and if this ends with only about half the chamber voting then I will be very disappointed because that would mark a terrible start here...

But that shouldn't be necessary thanks to my buddy Mr. Crackity-crack!

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Replacing "active on the forum" with "posted on the forum" for clarity:

Senate Rules

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and has posted on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall convene the Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence and who has posted on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President pro tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President pro tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President pro tempore.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking his or her oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she becomes inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT becomes inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the Dean of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 72 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has not posted on the Atlas/Talk Elections Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 72 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two-thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 72 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 72 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the Presiding Officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 72 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of three days (72 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least nine Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 48 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case he will lose his seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread.

b.) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

3.) If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I suppose having a Dean sort of makes sense, but they should only be needed on very rare occasions. Otherwise, basically everything the Dean is responsible for should just go to the PPT, Deputy PPT, or Vice President.

I'm sort of rushing everything from Sestak's suggestions on, but here's where we are now:

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President Pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in their present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which must be no fewer than ten members.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The Vice President shall convene the Senate to elect a President Pro Tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President Pro Tempore is vacant. Otherwise, the most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and has posted on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall carry out this duty as Dean of the Senate. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The Vice President shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President Pro Tempore until the election of the President Pro Tempore. If all of the Vice President, President Pro Tempore, and Deputy President Pro Tempore are either vacant or unavailable, these powers shall be absorbed by the Dean of the Senate until the election of the President Pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President Pro Tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President Pro Tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President Pro Tempore in the event of a vacancy.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking their oath of office, must appoint a successor should they become inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT becomes inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the President of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has not posted on the Atlas/Talk Elections Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President of the Senate shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President Pro Tempore shall maintain a record listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, they may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have ninety-six (96) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the vacancy, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 96 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 96 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

7.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a dash and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a dash and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The PPT shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 120 hours. The Senate may waive the 120-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 120-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 120-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw their her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, their sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 48 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Once a piece of legislation has been on the floor for 120 hours, any Senator may motion for a final vote. If no objection is made against such a motion within 24 hours, a final vote shall be opened. If an objection is made, then a vote shall be opened on ending debate. The concurrence of three-fourths of the Senate shall be required to end debate, unless the legislation had been on the floor for at least 336 hours or debate had ceased for at least 24 hours prior to the motion for a final vote. Should the Senate vote to end debate, a final vote shall be opened.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senator may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senator may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of four (4) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 4 days (i.e. 96 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 96 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 96 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 96 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the presiding officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 96 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least four days (i.e. 96 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of four days (96 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least nine Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last for no less than 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case they will lose their seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) a Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 336 consecutive hours and has not posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 336 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts).

b.) Two Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change their vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a three-fifths majority before moving to a Final Vote.

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

PPT exclusion removed, dash for VP/colon for PPT added, all presiding officers may correct grammar/formatting at any time.

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President Pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in their present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which must be no fewer than ten members.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The Vice President shall convene the Senate to elect a President Pro Tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President Pro Tempore is vacant. Otherwise, the most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and has posted on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall carry out this duty as Dean of the Senate. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The Vice President shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President Pro Tempore until the election of the President Pro Tempore. If all of the Vice President, President Pro Tempore, and Deputy President Pro Tempore are either vacant or unavailable, these powers shall be absorbed by the Dean of the Senate until the election of the President Pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President Pro Tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President Pro Tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President Pro Tempore in the event of a vacancy.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking their oath of office, must appoint a successor should they become inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT becomes inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the President of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has not posted on the Atlas/Talk Elections Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President of the Senate shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President Pro Tempore shall maintain a record listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, they may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have ninety-six (96) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative, may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the vacancy, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 96 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 96 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

7.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a dash if administered by the President of the Senate, and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The presiding officer shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 120 hours. The Senate may waive the 120-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 120-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 120-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw their her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, their sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 48 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Once a piece of legislation has been on the floor for 120 hours, any Senator may motion for a final vote. If no objection is made against such a motion within 24 hours, a final vote shall be opened. If an objection is made, then a vote shall be opened on ending debate. The concurrence of three-fourths of the Senate shall be required to end debate, unless the legislation had been on the floor for at least 336 hours or debate had ceased for at least 24 hours prior to the motion for a final vote. Should the Senate vote to end debate, a final vote shall be opened.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senator may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senator may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of four (4) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 4 days (i.e. 96 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 96 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 96 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 96 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the presiding officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 96 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least four days (i.e. 96 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of four days (96 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least nine Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last for no less than 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case they will lose their seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) a Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 336 consecutive hours and has not posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 336 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts).

b.) Two Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change their vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a three-fifths majority before moving to a Final Vote.

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Aaaaaaaand the 3/5 threshold.

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President Pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in their present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which must be no fewer than ten members.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The Vice President shall convene the Senate to elect a President Pro Tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President Pro Tempore is vacant. Otherwise, the most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and has posted on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall carry out this duty as Dean of the Senate. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The Vice President shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President Pro Tempore until the election of the President Pro Tempore. If all of the Vice President, President Pro Tempore, and Deputy President Pro Tempore are either vacant or unavailable, these powers shall be absorbed by the Dean of the Senate until the election of the President Pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President Pro Tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President Pro Tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President Pro Tempore in the event of a vacancy.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking their oath of office, must appoint a successor should they become inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT becomes inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the President of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has not posted on the Atlas/Talk Elections Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President of the Senate shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President Pro Tempore shall maintain a record listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, they may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have ninety-six (96) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative, may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the vacancy, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 96 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 96 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

7.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a dash if administered by the President of the Senate, and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The presiding officer shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 120 hours. The Senate may waive the 120-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 120-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 120-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw their her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, their sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 48 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Once a piece of legislation has been on the floor for 120 hours, any Senator may motion for a final vote. If no objection is made against such a motion within 24 hours, a final vote shall be opened. If an objection is made, then a vote shall be opened on ending debate. The concurrence of three-fourths of the Senate shall be required to end debate, unless the legislation had been on the floor for at least 336 hours or debate had ceased for at least 24 hours prior to the motion for a final vote. Should the Senate vote to end debate, a final vote shall be opened.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senator may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senator may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of three-fifths of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of four (4) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 4 days (i.e. 96 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 96 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 96 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 96 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the presiding officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 96 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least four days (i.e. 96 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of four days (96 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least nine Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last for no less than 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case they will lose their seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) a Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 336 consecutive hours and has not posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 336 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts).

b.) Two Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change their vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a three-fifths majority before moving to a Final Vote.

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate.

Anything else?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Are people going to want a separate thread when we have a final vote on the rules package?

I'm looking towards having a vote within the next 24 or 48 hours.

I don't see why that's necessary but I also don't really care either way as long as people show up, preferably without needing others to babysit them by asking them to do their jobs all the time.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

On a related note, I would advise each party/coalition to delegate whipping responsibilities to one person. In a divided Senate, it is in the interest of all the parties to miss as few votes as possible. Also, presiding officers should not be expected to PM everybody for every bill, hearing, vote, etc. as Wulfric suggested.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

336 -> 168. Please, please let this be the last change before we can vote on this already...

Official Senate Procedures and Rules for Operation (OSPR)

Definitions

1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President Pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in their present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever.

4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which must be no fewer than ten members.

Article 1: Officers of the Senate

1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Senate.

a.) The President of the Senate shall keep a Senate Noticeboard, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation.

b.) The President of the Senate shall also track the activity of legislation of the Senate by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Senate slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Senatorial queue.

2.) The Vice President shall convene the Senate to elect a President Pro Tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President Pro Tempore is vacant. Otherwise, the most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence and has posted on the forum in the preceding 168 hours, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator if they are on a leave of absence, shall carry out this duty as Dean of the Senate. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The Vice President shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President Pro Tempore until the election of the President Pro Tempore. If all of the Vice President, President Pro Tempore, and Deputy President Pro Tempore are either vacant or unavailable, these powers shall be absorbed by the Dean of the Senate until the election of the President Pro Tempore.

a) If there is a serving Deputy President Pro Tempore, appointed during the same session of the Senate, they shall instead maintain the powers and prerogatives of the President Pro Tempore and shall be responsible for administering the vote for President Pro Tempore in the event of a vacancy.

b) If the official responsible for the vote falls behind by over 24 hours, the President of the Senate shall take over administration in their stead.

3.) The PPT, after taking their oath of office, must appoint a successor should they become inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT becomes inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. In case of the PPT resigning or being deposed, the Deputy PPT (or, should none currently exist, the President of the Senate) will serve as Acting PPT with full powers until a new PPT is elected.

4.) The President Pro Tempore will be subject to a Motion of No Confidence should his peers decide it, said proceeding being initiated if at least six Senators have sponsored a Motion of No Confidence, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against the PPT, citing the motives of why the PPT should be removed from his office.

5.) The Dean of the Senate shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the Dean of the Senate shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. A two-thirds majority of the sitting Senators is needed for the motion to succeed, at which point the concerned Senator will immediately cease to be PPT. Only one Motion of No Confidence can be introduced against a given PPT per legislative session.

6.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Senate under the following circumstances:

-A publicly announced absence by the President of the Senate from the Atlas Forum.

- If the President of the Senate has not posted on the Atlas/Talk Elections Forum for seven consecutive days.

- During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Senate

-The President of the Senate should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution.

-A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Senate.

Article 2: Introducing Legislation

1.) The President of the Senate shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President Pro Tempore shall maintain a record listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, they may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have ninety-six (96) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative, may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

3.) 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.

a.) The first 15 open threads shall be open to all legislation initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces of legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the Presiding Officer for these open threads.

b.) The sixteenth slot shall be reserved for national emergencies and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

c.) The seventeenth slot shall be reserved for budgetary legislation and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

d.) The eighteenth and nineteenth slots shall be reserved for the President of the Republic of Atlasia and administered by either the President of the Senate or the PPT.

e.) The twentieth slot shall be reserved for public submissions and shall be introduced by the President of the Senate.

4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the vacancy, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 96 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 96 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

7.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officer's ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

8.) All legislation on the Senate floor shall be given a distinct designation. The format of this designation shall denote in the following order "S" for the Senate chamber, followed by "B" for a bill or "R" for a Resolution. Immediately following the second letter will be number of the present senate at the time of introduction, followed by a dash if administered by the President of the Senate, and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

Article 3: Amendments

1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.

2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.

3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.

4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. The designated number shall begin an with S for the Senate Chamber followed by the number of the present Senate, followed by a colon and then a number displaying at least two digits beginning with "01" and increasing until the end of the session.

5.) The presiding officer shall have authority to correct grammar and formatting of legislation, provided that such technical changes do not alter the intended meaning of the legislation.

Article 4: Debate

1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 120 hours. The Senate may waive the 120-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 120-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 120-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.

2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw their her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, their sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 48 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.

3.) Once a piece of legislation has been on the floor for 120 hours, any Senator may motion for a final vote. If no objection is made against such a motion within 24 hours, a final vote shall be opened. If an objection is made, then a vote shall be opened on ending debate. The concurrence of three-fourths of the Senate shall be required to end debate, unless the legislation had been on the floor for at least 168 hours or debate had ceased for at least 24 hours prior to the motion for a final vote. Should the Senate vote to end debate, a final vote shall be opened.

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senator may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 120 hours, any Senator may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of three-fifths of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 168 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

Article 5: Motions to Table

1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation.

2.) The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of four (4) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected.

3.) For the motion to table to pass, two-thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion.

4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President Pro Tempore.

Article 6: Final Votes

1.) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 4 days (i.e. 96 hours). A final vote may be ended earlier than 96 hours:

a. If the vote has a majority to pass or fail, then the Presiding officer may call 24 hours for Senators to vote or change their votes.
 
b. If all Senators have voted and the result is unanimous for or against, then the Presiding Officer may end the vote immediately.

2.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 96 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto.

3.) If a redraft is presented, the original sponsor shall have 96 hours after it is offered to accept the redraft or reject it and request an override. If the redraft is rejected by the Senate, the sponsor may than either motion to resume debate on the bill or withdraw the bill from the floor. If the original sponsor shall have left the chamber, the presiding officer shall allow for someone to assume sponsorship as with a normal bill, with the 96 hours commencing after it is completed.

4.) Veto Override and Redraft proceedings shall not be conducted in a slot and thus not subjected to any limits on the amount of legislation on the floor, but shall be conducted in their original threads.

Article 7: Confirmation Hearing

1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination.

2.) Each hearing shall last for at least four days (i.e. 96 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate.

3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of four days (96 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited.

Article 8: Expulsion and Censure of a sitting Senator

1.) Senators can be subject to either Censure (formal statement of disapproval) or Expulsion by their peers, so long as reasonable justification exists in the form of unethical or corrupt behavior, inactivity, treason and such other offenses or behavior.

2.) Censure proceedings shall be initiated if at least nine Senators have sponsored a motion of Censure, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues, citing the motives of why said Senator should be censored.

3.) The President Pro Tempore, or, if he is the subject of the motion, the Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last for no less than 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore or Deputy President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 96 hours. The assent of two-thirds of the Senate is required for the Senator to be censored, in which case they will lose their seniority.

4.) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if:

a.) a Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and has not posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts).

b.) Two Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues

5.) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least 96 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for a maximum of 3 days. When the articles of expulsion have enough votes to pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Senator who wishes to change their vote must do so during that interval. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed.

Article 9: Impeachment Trials

1.) After the Senate has passed an article of impeachment by three-fifths of the voting Senators, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official.

2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government.

3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a three-fifths majority before moving to a Final Vote.

Article 10: Rules Disputes

1.) The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators.

Article 11: Relationship within the Senate

1.) The President of the Senate shall be in charge of overseeing the Senate.

2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the President of the Senate of its passage.

3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by the Senate.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I'm gonna go ahead and ask Blair to open a final vote after 24 hours has passed from my last change. Then once that finishes, we nominate and elect our first PPT of the new Senate!

Only last foreseeable question is cloture, otherwise, from what I can see, it looks good (though I could be missing something) -- and it seems a majority of the Senate is in favor of the status quo.

Dealt with already.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Aye

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

All eyes on Yankee.