The Constitution of the United States gives the president the power to make treaties and appointments with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. The president agrees to a treaty ( a deal made with another country ) , appoints someone to the Supreme Court, appoints an ambassador ( our country's representative in a foreign country ) or chooses the head of a department of the federal government ( such as the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Attorney General ). The person the president appoints is called a nominee. The nominee doesn't actually have a job until the appointment has been confirmed by a majority ( of those present ) of the Senate.
Treaties with foreign countries do not take effect until they have been approved by 2/3 of the Senators present. If only a few Senators are present, the vote sometimes has to wait. The vote will wait for a "quorum"--the minimum number of Senators needed to vote on a particular type of bill or measure. What constitutes a quorum may differ, depending on the measure to be voted on. Congress has a set of rules for this, with a "Rules Committee" to see that the rules are enforced.
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