Question regarding U.S. government..?

Question

My child has an upcoming test on the U.S. government, and is having trouble answering the following question: How many votes have to be cast to approve a treaty, and who approves the treaty? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

From the Wikipedia article:

In the United States, the term "treaty" is used in a more restricted legal sense than in international law. U.S. law distinguishes what it calls treaties from treaty executive agreements, congressional-executive agreements, and sole executive agreements. All four classes are equally treaties under international law; they are distinct only from the perspective of internal American law. The distinctions are primarily concerning their method of ratification. Where treaties require advice and consent by 2/3rds of the Senate, sole executive agreements may be executed by the President acting alone. Some treaties grant the President the authority to fill in the gaps with executive agreements, rather than additional treaties or protocols. And finally, Congressional executive agreements require majority approval by both the House and the Senate, either before or after the treaty is signed by the President. Currently, international agreements are executed by executive agreement rather than treaties at a rate of 10:1. Despite the relative ease of executive agreements, the President still often chooses to pursue the formal treaty process over an executive agreement in order to gain Congressional support on matters that require the Congress to pass implementing legislation or appropriate funds, and those agreements that impose long-term, complex legal obligations on the U.S.

Answer 2

Treaties are discussed in Article II Section 2, under Presidential Powers, since all treaties start in the Executive Branch.

The above answer provides some good background information. The main difference between a formal Treaty and an Executive Agreement is that the treaty as the same force and effect as a law passed by Congress, and can override prior Congressional laws, while an Executive Agreement has the same force as an administrative regulation, and cannot override Congressional law.