Difference Between Senate and House of Representatives in the Us

Table of Contents

1. Difference Between House and Senate
2. House: Roles and Responsibilities
3. Senate: Roles and Responsibilities
4. How a Bill Becomes Law
5. How Their Differences Make the House and Senate Stronger

The U.S. Congress is often referred to every bit a unmarried entity, only it's actually a combination of two distinct groups: the House of Representatives and the Senate. While both houses of Congress work together to propose and enact the laws that govern our country, the differences between the House and Senate ensure that each bedchamber in this bicameral ("two room") system has distinct roles and responsibilities.

Together, the Business firm and Senate course the legislative co-operative of authorities. They interact with the executive and judicial branches to implement the checks and balances that go along all 3 branches functioning and prevent any single co-operative from abusing its power.

Article I of the U.S. Constitution: Divergence Between House and Senate

The framers of the Constitution knew that it was important to protect the smaller states of the newly formed Union from beingness overshadowed by their more populous counterparts. They hoped that by dividing legislative ability between ii houses, they'd be able to ensure equal representation for residents of all states, as the U.S. Capitol Visitor Centre explains.

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, delegates from Connecticut proposed that the seats in the House be assigned based on population, while the seats in the Senate be assigned ii per state. The Peachy Compromise (or Connecticut Compromise) gives each land equal representation in the Senate while ensuring equal representation per citizen in the House.

Article I, Section 2: Composition and Function of the Firm of Representatives

Article I of the Constitution specifies the powers, duties, and responsibilities of each of the two houses of Congress. It lays out the rules for qualifying equally a representative, too equally the method past which the seats in the Business firm of Representatives are assigned to us and how vacancies are filled.

The Constitution affords the House — known as the lower chamber because it has more members than the Senate — much leeway in deciding how it will operate.

Age, citizenship, term elapsing, and residency requirements

Representatives:

• Must be at least 25 years one-time.
• Must be citizens for at least seven years.
• Are elected to a two-year term.
• Must be residents of the states they represent.

Allocation of representatives based on population

Originally, the number of representatives was ready at i per thirty,000 inhabitants, just the representative count has since increased, as the U.South. House of Representatives History, Art, and Archives website describes. The apportionment was to be based on an enumeration (population census) that was to be made within three years of the Constitution beingness ratified (approved) by the xiii states, and so every 10 years thereafter.

The Circulation Act of 1911 and its successor, the Permanent Circulation Human activity of 1929, capped the number of representatives at 435. For this reason, as of the 2010 Demography, the boilerplate number of inhabitants in a congressional district is about 710,000. The House of Representatives Archives states that the number of representatives was limited to 435 because the U.S. population was growing faster in urban states than in rural ones, which gave big states a college proportion of representatives than smaller states.

Power to devise its ain rules of operation

The Constitution allows each business firm of Congress to gear up its own rules. This has led to divergent practices and procedures in the Business firm and Senate. The Library of Congress summarizes the operating rules of the House of Representatives:

• But a numerical majority is required to laissez passer legislation in the House, which allows bills to be processed quickly. By dissimilarity, Senate votes typically require a three-fifths majority, or 60 votes in favor.
• Majority party leaders in the House control the priority of diverse policies and make up one's mind which bills make their way to the House floor for argue. In the Senate, minority party leaders have more influence over such procedures, so the majority leaders must piece of work more closely with them.

Power of impeachment

Article I, Section two of the Constitution states that the House "shall have the sole power of impeachment." This power applies to the offices of president, vice president, federal judges, and other federal officers, equally the Library of Congress' Constitution Annotated explains. Grounds for impeachment are "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

The House determines whether to impeach and if an impeachment is called for; the Senate decides whether to convict and remove the official from part. This follows a design established in the British government and American colonial governments dating dorsum to the 17th century, every bit the Senate website explains.

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Article I, Section iii: Composition and Function of the Senate

Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution calls for two senators from each state to exist selected by a state's legislature to correspond that state. Nonetheless, the 17th Amendment, approved in 1913, mandates the directly ballot of U.S. senators, which means that they're elected by direct vote of the people rather than by country legislators.

As the Senate website explains, the amendment was in response to corruption and other bug that prevented state legislatures from choosing U.S. senators. The Senate is known as the upper chamber of Congress because it has fewer members than the Business firm.

Age, citizenship, term duration, and residency requirements

The Constitution requires that senators be at least 30 years old, U.S. citizens for at to the lowest degree ix years, and residents of the states they'll represent. Senate terms are for six years; the terms are staggered and so that approximately a tertiary of all senate seats are up for election every ii years. This is intended to protect the Senate from short-term political pressure and to ensure that turnover in the Senate occurs evenly, rather than having stasis for six years followed by upheaval.

Resource allotment of Senators: Two per State

As the Senate website indicates, the reason the framers decided to allow each state to be represented by two senators was to prevent the large states from overpowering their smaller counterparts. Benjamin Franklin believed that states should have equal votes in all matters except those involving money. (Article I, Department 8 assigns to the Business firm the power to revenue enhancement and spend; this clause is described in the post-obit section.)

Power to devise its own rules of functioning

The Senate has the ramble authority to set its ain rules, just every bit the House does. The Senate website quotes George Washington equally explaining to Thomas Jefferson that the framers intended the Senate to "cool" legislation passed by the House "simply equally a saucer is used to absurd hot tea."

• In the Senate, individual senators have more options to irksome the progress of a nib by making procedural requests, such as keeping floor debate open on the matter at hand. This is intended to encourage deliberation, or the careful discussion and consideration, of issues.
• Majority party leaders in the Senate propose the priority of items to exist debated, but they must work with minority party leaders — and oft all senators — to make up one's mind the floor calendar: the order in which items are brought earlier the Senate.

Vice president as president of the Senate

The Constitution makes the vice president the president of the Senate, but the vice president is allowed to vote just to break a tie. The Senate is empowered to choose its ain officers and president pro tempore to preside over the Senate when the vice president is unavailable.

Power to try and pass judgment on all impeachments

Senators are empowered to endeavor and judge impeachments; in this chapters, they serve under "adjuration or affirmation." In the case of a president's impeachment, the master justice of the United States presides. An impeachment conviction requires a two-thirds majority vote of the total Senate.

If the impeachment trial leads to a conviction, the penalisation is removal from office and disqualification from "any office of honor, trust or profit under the United states of america," according to Article I, Department 3. Still, the impeached person is "liable and subject field to indictment, trial, judgment and penalization, according to constabulary."

Resources on the structure and role of the Firm of Representatives and Senate

• Cornell Law School'due south Legal Information Institute offers a fully annotated version of the Constitution and an explanation of the Constitution compiled by the Congressional Research Service.
• The S. Capitol Visitor Eye features a written report guide that explains the difference between the House and Senate. It poses six questions about the ramble ground for the two houses of Congress and provides sample answers.

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U.Southward. Business firm of Representatives: Roles and Responsibilities

The duties of the House of Representatives are stated in Article I, Sections 7 and 8 of the Constitution. Nonetheless, the powers granted to both houses of Congress are derived from Article I, Department 1, as the Legal Information Institute explains.

In the early Supreme Courtroom case McCulloch v. Maryland, Primary Justice John Marshall wrote that the government is "one of enumerated powers," which means that information technology can practise only the powers that have been granted to it explicitly by the Constitution. Paired with this doctrine is the ruling that legislative powers may not be delegated to any other branch of government.

Subsequent rulings have modified these two doctrines, resulting in new categories of powers derived from this constitutional foundation.

Enumerated, implied, resulting, and inherent powers

Marshall's decision expanded the scope of the legislative powers enumerated in the Constitution past including the power to declare war, levy taxes, and regulate commerce. These powers are derived from the Constitution's necessary and proper clause in Commodity I, Department 8.

This gives Congress the correct to exercise any "means which are appropriate" to perform its constitutional duties, unless those means are inconsistent with "the letter and spirit of the Constitution."

• Implied powers are those that aren't explicitly stipulated in the Constitution, but the regime assumes these powers are granted to it by inference based on prior Supreme Court decisions, equally the Legal Lexicon explains.
• Resulting powers are those that Congress has because they're needed for it to fulfill its duties. They're derived from other powers specifically granted to the authorities and then that it can practice its enumerated powers. The Legal Information Institute gives equally an example the power to larn territory, which results from the enumerated powers to make war and treaties.
• Inherent powers are also chosen implied powers, equally the Constitution Annotated notes. They're powers that Congress possesses fifty-fifty though they've never been explicitly exercised. An example would be the power to tax internet service providers.

Only congress may declare war, levy taxes, and regulate commerce

The ability to declare war, levy taxes, and regulate commerce are among the congressional powers enumerated in Commodity I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The taxing and spending clause and the commerce clause have been used to augment congressional say-so over federal revenue enhancement and economic policy.

In addition, Congress' war powers have created a lot of friction between the executive and legislative branches. For example, presidents have tried to aggrandize their ability to appoint the U.S. military in overseas conflicts, every bit the House of Representatives Annal describes. For example, in the period later on Earth War Two, presidents committed troops to the Dominican Republic, Laos, and Vietnam, among other countries, without requesting or receiving authorisation from Congress.

The House originates all revenue legislation

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution states that bills intended to raise revenue must originate in the Firm. This is i of the major differences between the House and Senate. The Senate is immune to suggest amendments to spending and taxing legislation, but as information technology can with other bills sent to it from the House.

Bills crave only a numerical bulk vote

The decision of the framers to permit bills to pass the House afterward getting a simple bulk of votes was motivated by the want to allow legislation to be enacted quickly. The responsibility for assessing and developing bills belongs to continuing committees that are chaired past members of the majority party, but are made upwards of members of both parties, equally the Congressional Inquiry Service explains.

Majority party powers and prerogatives

The important role of political parties in the organisation and operation of the Firm is described by the House of Representatives Archive. The bulk party elects a speaker of the house and chooses other leadership positions, including the chair of all Firm committees. There are more members of the House than of the Senate, so the majority party wields more ability in the lower chamber.

Set policy agenda

The speaker of the house normally selects the House majority leader. The Firm majority leader is charged with formulating the party's legislative agenda, as described by USHistory.org. The minority party chooses a minority leader whose affect on the House policy calendar is much more than limited.

Decide which legislation reaches the House floor

Among the duties of the speaker of the house are presiding over all House proceedings, determining which bills go to which committees, influencing committee assignments for new House members, and deciding the priorities for bills to be debated and voted upon past the entire trunk of representatives.

Chair all committees

While majority party members are chosen to chair all House committees, they must work with the ranking member of the minority party to fix bills for deliberation by all House members. The House of Representatives Athenaeum describes the three types of House committees:

• Standing committees are permanent; their jurisdiction is defined in the House rules.
• Select committees are temporary; they're created by resolution and charged with conducting investigations or researching specific topics.
• Joint committees include members from the House and Senate, normally to study specific matters rather than to consider a piece of legislation.

Resources on House of Representatives roles and responsibilities

• The legal site Justia details the powers that the House derives from the taxing and spending clause of Commodity I, Section eight, including the types of taxes permitted and limits imposed on the power to revenue enhancement and spend.
• The House of Representatives website explains the limerick and functions of the House, including its leadership, committees, commissions, schedule, rules, and history.

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U.S. Senate: Roles and Responsibilities

Article I, Section iii of the Constitution describes the basic composition, operation, and duties of the Senate, although the Constitution grants the Senate leeway in determining how it will conduct its business. The Senate website describes the powers and procedures of the legislative body, which include trying impeachments, reviewing and approving presidential nominees, approving treaties, and managing internal matters.

Powers

The Senate receives all its authority from the Constitution. Every bit described in a higher place for the House, the Senate'due south powers are either enumerated, or expressly stated in the Constitution, or derived from the enumerated powers through the Article I, Section 8 necessary and proper clause.

Simply the Senate confirms presidential nominations and treaties

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution grants the president power to nominate and appoint ambassadors, Supreme Courtroom justices, and "other officers of the United states." Nevertheless, the Constitution requires that nominations and appointments exist made "with the Communication and Consent of the Senate."

Similarly, the Senate is empowered to approve treaties proposed by the president by a two-thirds majority vote. The Senate also has the power to change a treaty's terms. (The president'due south ability to establish executive agreements with other nations doesn't require Senate approving.)

Senate rules and procedures encourage deliberation rather than speed

The Senate website explains that the framers modeled the upper chamber of Congress after early on state senates and the governor'due south councils of the Colonial era. To shield senators from short-term political pressure, their terms were fix at six years rather than the two-year terms of House representatives.

The Senate was intended to act more deliberately than the House. This emphasizes the Senate'due south duty to advise on and consent to deportment taken in the House and past the executive branch of authorities. In this office, the framers expressed their "suspicion of the presidency" past assuasive the Senate to serve every bit a check on executive powers. It also serves as a check confronting the impulsiveness of the House.

Private senators take meaning procedural leverage

The continuing rules of the Senate promote deliberation by allowing senators to "debate at length" and by requiring greater than a uncomplicated majority to stop fence on a affair, as the Congressional Inquiry Service explains. The rules also let Senators propose flooring amendments to pending bills that are exterior of the discipline affair of the bills themselves. For example, the Real ID Act of 2005 passed as a "rider": an additional provision to a war machine spending act that in its original version made no reference to traveler identification, as ThoughtCo explains.

The upshot is an unpredictable daily floor schedule for Senate business organisation and the possibility that bills will exist proposed whose subjects haven't been researched or debated in commission. To bring some club to Senate proceedings, the majority leader is given priority in being recognized to speak and to propose the bills and legislation that the body will consider.

Majority party powers and prerogatives

In addition to the Senate majority leader's power to command debates on the Senate floor, the majority party is granted other rights in the operation of the Senate.

Proposes items for consideration

The duties of the Senate majority leader include handling all procedural matters that arise on the Senate floor and informing members of the majority party almost the content, implications, and status of all pending legislation. In collaboration with Senate committee chairs, the majority leader addresses whatever conflicts that may prevent proposed bills from being passed.

Negotiates with the minority party to bear Senate flooring activeness

Most Senate actions crave greater than a elementary majority to pass. Therefore, the majority political party must work more than closely with the Senate minority party than is typical in the House, which needs only a unproblematic majority to approve measures. The Senate website describes the relationship between the majority and minority parties in the Senate as "one of compromise and mutual abstinence" that's intended to prevent stalemates from arising on important matters of legislation.

Chairs all committees

Similarly, members of the Senate majority party are chosen to chair all committees. All the same, the nature of the Senate requires that the majority leaders of committees work with the ranking fellow member of the minority party to accomplish the commission's goals. The Senate website explains that the majority political party controls near committee staff and resources, but the minority party retains a level of control based on its share of Senate seats.

Resource on Senate roles and responsibilities

• The Senate website details the establishment'southward history and operation, including biographies of past senators, historical highlights, and a complete chronology.
• The Library of Congress profiles current members of the Senate and explains the torso'southward policies and procedures. The site links to agile legislation and flooring activity, every bit well as specific committees, leadership, and officers.

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How a bill becomes law

The procedure that Congress must follow to enact legislation is described in Commodity I, Section 7 of the Constitution. Us.gov explains that anyone who has an thought for a new law is encouraged to contact their U.S. representative or senator to suggest it. However, near bills originate in the offices of one or more of their legislative sponsors.

Step i: The nib is introduced in either the House or the Senate

A bill can exist introduced by a representative or a senator; that person becomes the nib's sponsor (notation that bills tin can have multiple sponsors). After meeting in small groups to talk over the neb's merits, representatives or senators assign the bill to a committee for further research, discussion, and potential amendments.

Footstep ii: The bill is debated and put to a vote

Once the bill is released by the committee, representatives or senators debate it and propose amendments or other changes prior to putting the beak to a vote. After passing in the initial body (Firm or Senate), the bill goes to the other body, where it's researched, discussed, and amended farther.

Later both chambers take the nib, joint committees work out the differences between the two versions. Both houses then vote on the verbal same beak. If the bill passes, it'south sent to the president for approving.

Stride 3: The president considers the bill

The president has 10 days to sign or veto bills that Congress sends to the White Business firm for blessing. (A presidential veto prevents the legislation from taking issue.) If the president approves the neb, information technology'south signed into law. If the president rejects the bill, it'due south returned to Congress with an explanation for the veto.

If Congress adjourns before the 10-twenty-four hour period period for signing the bill expires, the president can simply choose not to sign the bill, and the bill won't become law. This is called a "pocket veto."

Step iv: Congress may vote to override a presidential veto

Congress has the power to override a presidential veto by a two-thirds bulk vote of both the House and Senate. If the veto is overridden, the pecker becomes law. A pocket veto past the president can't exist overridden past Congress.

Resources on how a bill becomes police force

• The House of Representatives website explains the legislative procedure, including how bills and resolutions are proposed, introduced, amended, debated, voted on, and enacted.
• Vote Smart examines each step in the process of a beak becoming constabulary in both the House and Senate, including committee action, flooring activeness, conference committees, and presidential review.

Conclusion: How Their Differences Make the House and Senate Stronger

The framers of the Constitution worked carefully to ensure that the powers wielded by the three branches of regime —  legislative, executive, and judicial — were advisedly counterbalanced so that the duties of each co-operative were clear and no 1 co-operative would overpower the other 2. The bicameral legislature that splits legislative duties between a large House of Representatives and a smaller Senate is a primal component of the framers' ability-sharing strategy.

Despite struggles and challenges that arose early in our country's history and persist today, the segmentation of responsibilities and sharing of power have succeeded in keeping the wheels of government turning relatively finer more than 2 centuries after the Constitution was written. While few constitutional experts and political scholars would contend that the bicameral legislative system works perfectly, most would concur that the formulation has stood the exam of time.

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Additional Resources

The New York Times, "When the House and the Senate Are Controlled past Two Different Parties, Who Wins?"

U.Due south. Congress, "The Legislative Process: Overview"

U.S. National Archives, "The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription"

U.South. Senate, "Constitution of the United States"

Vote Smart, "Government 101: Congress"

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Source: https://online.maryville.edu/blog/difference-between-house-and-senate/

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