An Agreement Between Two Or More Sovereign Powers

The Constitution provides that the President is “empowered, by and with the Council and with the approval of the Senate, to conclude contracts, provided that two-thirds of the senators present give their consent” (Article II, Section 2). The drafters of the Constitution gave the Senate a share of the contractual power to give the president the council and council of the Senate, verify the power of the president, and protect the sovereignty of states by giving each state an equal voice in the treaty process. As Alexander Hamilton stated in The Federalist, No. 75, “The functioning of treaties as laws strongly argues for the participation of all or part of the legislative entity in the function of making them.” The constitutional requirement that the Senate approve a treaty by a two-thirds majority means that successful treaties must be supported to overcome partisan division. .