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The Senate is designed to represent the states equally, with each state being allotted two senators regardless of population. This was established in order to ensure that smaller states had equal representation to larger states in the legislative process. The Senate was created to serve as a check on the power of the House of Representatives, which is designed to represent the population.
Other Differences Between The House And The Senate
This stipulation has been used by representatives and senators to avoid subpoenas and other judicial procedures. A senator can waive the privilege at any time, but a member of the House has to submit his or her petition to a general vote. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are part of the U.S Congress, the legislative branch of the government that has the role of making laws – which will be enacted by the executive branch of the government, headed by the U.S. The legislative branch is divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate.
United States Congress
Curious about who else has been Speaker of the House or Majority Leader? Click here for a three part media-based lesson about exploring the differences between the House and the Senate. The Vice President of the United States serves as President of the Senate and may cast the decisive vote in the event of a tie in the Senate. Both the House and Senate have standing, special, conference, and joint committees. Republicans currently control the Senate (54 to 44 Democrats) and the House (246 to 188).
Majority Rules
These powers are derived from the Constitution’s necessary and proper clause in Article I, Section 8. The Constitution makes the vice president the president of the Senate, but the vice president is allowed to vote only to break a tie. The Senate is empowered to choose its own officers and president pro tempore to preside over the Senate when the vice president is unavailable. The House determines whether to impeach and if an impeachment is called for; the Senate decides whether to convict and remove the official from office. This follows a pattern established in the British government and American colonial governments dating back to the 17th century, as the Senate website explains. Committees also have subcommittees, which are formed to focus more closely on certain issues.
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The Speaker is elected by the entire membership of the House of Representatives and was not traditionally a partisan figure. Enter your ZIP code in the banner of this page to find the representative for your congressional district. After being introduced, a bill is referred to the appropriate committee for review.
Contact Your Representative
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One of the major functions of the House is its power to accuse and charge the representative or the members who have indulged in any corruption. There is a total of 435 seats in the House of Representatives, which consists of one leader from every district of the United States. There are a large number of similarities and differences between both entities. Much like the House power to select the president, this power has rarely been used.
The legislation was widely seen as a significant step towards reducing the federal budget deficit and restoring the nation's financial stability. The decision of the framers to allow bills to pass the House after getting a simple majority of votes was motivated by the desire to allow legislation to be enacted quickly. The responsibility for assessing and developing bills belongs to standing committees that are chaired by members of the majority party, but are made up of members of both parties, as the Congressional Research Service explains. The succession order in the federal government is president, vice president and then Speaker of the House, the leader of the representatives.
Government Oversight
Also referred to as a congressman or congresswoman, each representative is elected to a two-year term serving the people of a specific congressional district. Among other duties, representatives introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve on committees. The number of representatives with full voting rights is 435, a number set by Public Law 62-5 on August 8, 1911, and in effect since 1913. The number of representatives per state is proportionate to population. Per the Connecticut Compromise at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the United States adopted the bicameral system of the English Parliament (i.e., House of Lords and House of Commons).
Senators
The House is one of Congress’s two chambers (the other is the U.S. Senate), and part of the federal government’s legislative branch. The number of voting representatives in the House is fixed by law at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 states. Debating legislation has stricter rules in the House than in the Senate, applicable at both the committee and whole-body levels. In the House, debate time is restricted and topics are set beforehand, with discussions limited to the agenda. Once the floor is ceded to a senator, he or she can speak for as long as the senator chooses, on any topic; no other business can be transacted while the person speaks.
They are on average older than their counterparts in the House, and have an older minimum age to be selected, according to the Constitution. If a Washington politician has ambitions for higher things, then the Senate will provide a better springboard. Dennis Hastert, who was Speaker from 1999 to 2007, operated very much behind the scenes, while the House majority leader Tom DeLay .(the Hammer') drove the Republican agenda through the House.
The important role of political parties in the organization and functioning of the House is described by the House of Representatives Archive. The majority party elects a speaker of the house and chooses other leadership positions, including the chair of all House committees. There are more members of the House than of the Senate, so the majority party wields more power in the lower chamber. The decision of one senator can change the entire course of a bill in the Senate while a representative in the House cannot.
Senators’ terms are staggered so that about one-third of the Senate is up for reelection every two years. Senators must be 30 years of age, U.S. citizens for at least nine years, and residents of the state they represent. The procedure that Congress must follow to enact legislation is described in Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution. USA.gov explains that anyone who has an idea for a new law is encouraged to contact their U.S. representative or senator to suggest it. However, most bills originate in the offices of one or more of their legislative sponsors. This emphasizes the Senate’s duty to advise on and consent to actions taken in the House and by the executive branch of government.
When receiving a bill from Congress, the President has several options. If the President agrees substantially with the bill, he or she may sign it into law, and the bill is then printed in the Statutes at Large. If the President believes the law to be bad policy, he or she may veto it and send it back to Congress.
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