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Table of Contents

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

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

Together, the Firm and Senate form the legislative co-operative of regime. They interact with the executive and judicial branches to implement the checks and balances that keep all three branches operation and forestall any unmarried branch from abusing its ability.

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

The framers of the Constitution knew that information technology 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 power between ii houses, they'd be able to ensure equal representation for residents of all states, as the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center explains.

At the Ramble Convention of 1787, delegates from Connecticut proposed that the seats in the Business firm be assigned based on population, while the seats in the Senate be assigned two per state. The Bang-up Compromise (or Connecticut Compromise) gives each land equal representation in the Senate while ensuring equal representation per denizen in the Business firm.

Article I, Department ii: 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 as a representative, as well equally the method past which the seats in the House of Representatives are assigned to usa and how vacancies are filled.

The Constitution affords the Business firm — known equally the lower chamber considering it has more than members than the Senate — much leeway in deciding how it will operate.

Age, citizenship, term duration, and residency requirements

Representatives:

• Must be at least 25 years old.
• Must exist citizens for at to the lowest degree seven years.
• Are elected to a two-year term.
• Must be residents of the states they stand for.

Allotment of representatives based on population

Originally, the number of representatives was set up at ane per 30,000 inhabitants, merely the representative count has since increased, as the U.S. House of Representatives History, Art, and Archives website describes. The apportionment was to exist based on an enumeration (population census) that was to be made within three years of the Constitution being ratified (approved) by the 13 states, and then every ten years thereafter.

The Apportionment Deed of 1911 and its successor, the Permanent Circulation Act of 1929, capped the number of representatives at 435. For this reason, as of the 2010 Census, the average number of inhabitants in a congressional district is almost 710,000. The Business firm of Representatives Archives states that the number of representatives was limited to 435 because the U.Southward. 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 own rules of operation

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

• Only a numerical majority is required to pass legislation in the House, which allows bills to be processed speedily. Past dissimilarity, Senate votes typically require a iii-fifths majority, or 60 votes in favor.
• Majority political party leaders in the Business firm control the priority of various policies and decide which bills make their way to the Firm flooring for debate. In the Senate, minority party leaders accept more influence over such procedures, then the majority leaders must piece of work more closely with them.

Power of impeachment

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution states that the Firm "shall have the sole power of impeachment." This power applies to the offices of president, vice president, federal judges, and other federal officers, as 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 captive and remove the official from office. This follows a pattern established in the British authorities and American colonial governments dating back to the 17th century, as the Senate website explains.

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Article I, Section three: Composition and Role of the Senate

Article I, Department three of the Constitution calls for two senators from each state to exist selected by a state'due south legislature to represent that state. However, the 17th Amendment, approved in 1913, mandates the direct ballot of U.South. senators, which means that they're elected by straight vote of the people rather than by state legislators.

Every bit the Senate website explains, the subpoena was in response to corruption and other problems that prevented land legislatures from choosing U.S. senators. The Senate is known as the upper chamber of Congress because it has fewer members than the House.

Historic period, citizenship, term elapsing, and residency requirements

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

Allotment of Senators: Two per State

Equally the Senate website indicates, the reason the framers decided to permit each state to be represented past 2 senators was to prevent the big states from overpowering their smaller counterparts. Benjamin Franklin believed that states should have equal votes in all matters except those involving money. (Article I, Section 8 assigns to the House the power to tax and spend; this clause is described in the following section.)

Power to devise its own rules of operation

The Senate has the ramble authority to set up its own rules, simply as 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 "just every bit a saucer is used to absurd hot tea."

• In the Senate, individual senators have more than options to slow the progress of a bill by making procedural requests, such as keeping floor argue open up on the matter at manus. This is intended to encourage deliberation, or the careful give-and-take and consideration, of issues.
• Majority political party leaders in the Senate propose the priority of items to be debated, but they must piece of work with minority party leaders — and frequently all senators — to decide the floor agenda: 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 but 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 effort and pass judgment on all impeachments

Senators are empowered to try and guess impeachments; in this capacity, they serve under "oath or affidavit." In the case of a president's impeachment, the chief justice of the United States presides. An impeachment conviction requires a 2-thirds bulk vote of the full Senate.

If the impeachment trial leads to a confidence, the punishment is removal from office and disqualification from "any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States," according to Commodity I, Section iii. Nevertheless, the impeached person is "liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law."

Resource on the structure and function of the House of Representatives and Senate

• Cornell Police force School's Legal Data Institute offers a fully annotated version of the Constitution and an caption of the Constitution compiled by the Congressional Research Service.
• The S. Capitol Visitor Center features a study guide that explains the difference betwixt the House and Senate. It poses six questions about the ramble basis for the two houses of Congress and provides sample answers.

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U.S. House of Representatives: Roles and Responsibilities

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

In the early on Supreme Court case McCulloch five. Maryland, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the government is "one of enumerated powers," which means that it can exercise but 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 whatever other co-operative of government.

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

Enumerated, implied, resulting, and inherent powers

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

This gives Congress the correct to practice any "means which are advisable" to perform its ramble duties, unless those ways are inconsistent with "the letter of the alphabet and spirit of the Constitution."

• Implied powers are those that aren't explicitly stipulated in the Constitution, merely the government assumes these powers are granted to it by inference based on prior Supreme Courtroom decisions, as the Legal Dictionary explains.
• Resulting powers are those that Congress has because they're needed for information technology to fulfill its duties. They're derived from other powers specifically granted to the government so that it can exercise its enumerated powers. The Legal Information Constitute gives as an example the power to larn territory, which results from the enumerated powers to make state of war and treaties.
• Inherent powers are likewise chosen implied powers, as the Constitution Annotated notes. They're powers that Congress possesses even though they've never been explicitly exercised. An example would exist the power to tax internet service providers.

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

The power to declare war, levy taxes, and regulate commerce are among the congressional powers enumerated in Article I, Department eight of the Constitution. The taxing and spending clause and the commerce clause have been used to augment congressional authority over federal tax and economic policy.

In addition, Congress' war powers have created a lot of friction betwixt the executive and legislative branches. For example, presidents take tried to expand their power to engage the U.S. military in overseas conflicts, as the House of Representatives Annal describes. For instance, in the period after World War II, presidents committed troops to the Dominican Commonwealth, Lao people's democratic republic, and Vietnam, among other countries, without requesting or receiving authorization from Congress.

The House originates all revenue legislation

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

Bills require only a numerical majority vote

The decision of the framers to permit bills to pass the House after getting a simple majority of votes was motivated by the desire to allow legislation to be enacted apace. The responsibility for assessing and developing bills belongs to standing committees that are chaired by members of the majority political party, but are made up of members of both parties, as the Congressional Inquiry Service explains.

Bulk political party powers and prerogatives

The important role of political parties in the arrangement and performance of the Firm is described by the House of Representatives Archive. The majority political 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 Firm than of the Senate, so the majority party wields more power in the lower chamber.

Prepare policy agenda

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

Determine which legislation reaches the Business firm 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 Firm members, and deciding the priorities for bills to exist debated and voted upon by the entire body 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 prepare bills for deliberation by all House members. The House of Representatives Athenaeum describes the three types of Firm committees:

• Standing committees are permanent; their jurisdiction is divers in the Firm rules.
• Select committees are temporary; they're created by resolution and charged with conducting investigations or researching specific topics.
• Articulation committees include members from the Business firm and Senate, usually to report specific matters rather than to consider a piece of legislation.

Resource 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 8, including the types of taxes permitted and limits imposed on the power to tax and spend.
• The Firm of Representatives website explains the composition and functions of the Firm, including its leadership, committees, commissions, schedule, rules, and history.

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U.S. Senate: Roles and Responsibilities

Article I, Department iii of the Constitution describes the bones limerick, operation, and duties of the Senate, although the Constitution grants the Senate elbowroom 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. As described above for the House, the Senate'southward 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.

Only the Senate confirms presidential nominations and treaties

Article Two, Section ii of the Constitution grants the president power to nominate and appoint ambassadors, Supreme Court justices, and "other officers of the Usa." However, the Constitution requires that nominations and appointments be made "with the Advice and Consent of the Senate."

Similarly, the Senate is empowered to corroborate treaties proposed by the president past a ii-thirds bulk vote. The Senate also has the ability to change a treaty's terms. (The president's ability to establish executive agreements with other nations doesn't crave Senate blessing.)

Senate rules and procedures encourage deliberation rather than speed

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

The Senate was intended to act more than deliberately than the Business firm. This emphasizes the Senate'south duty to advise on and consent to actions taken in the House and by the executive branch of authorities. In this role, the framers expressed their "suspicion of the presidency" by assuasive the Senate to serve as a bank check on executive powers. Information technology as well serves as a check against the impulsiveness of the House.

Individual senators have significant 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 end debate on a matter, equally the Congressional Inquiry Service explains. The rules also allow Senators suggest floor amendments to awaiting bills that are outside of the field of study thing of the bills themselves. For example, the Real ID Act of 2005 passed equally a "rider": an additional provision to a war machine spending act that in its original version made no reference to traveler identification, equally ThoughtCo explains.

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

Majority party powers and prerogatives

In improver to the Senate majority leader's power to control debates on the Senate flooring, the bulk party is granted other rights in the functioning of the Senate.

Proposes items for consideration

The duties of the Senate bulk leader include handling all procedural matters that arise on the Senate flooring and informing members of the majority party about the content, implications, and status of all awaiting 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 acquit Senate floor action

Most Senate deportment require greater than a simple majority to pass. Therefore, the majority political party must work more closely with the Senate minority party than is typical in the House, which needs only a simple majority to approve measures. The Senate website describes the relationship betwixt the majority and minority parties in the Senate every bit "i of compromise and mutual forbearance" that's intended to prevent stalemates from arising on important matters of legislation.

Chairs all committees

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

Resources on Senate roles and responsibilities

• The Senate website details the institution'due south 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 body's policies and procedures. The site links to active legislation and flooring activity, likewise as specific committees, leadership, and officers.

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How a nib becomes constabulary

The procedure that Congress must follow to enact legislation is described in Article I, Department 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 ane or more of their legislative sponsors.

Pace 1: The neb is introduced in either the House or the Senate

A nib can be introduced by a representative or a senator; that person becomes the bill's sponsor (notation that bills tin have multiple sponsors). Afterwards meeting in small groups to discuss the pecker's claim, representatives or senators assign the bill to a committee for further research, word, and potential amendments.

Step 2: The bill is debated and put to a vote

One time the bill is released by the committee, representatives or senators contend it and propose amendments or other changes prior to putting the beak to a vote. Later passing in the initial body (House or Senate), the bill goes to the other body, where information technology's researched, discussed, and amended further.

After both chambers have the beak, joint committees work out the differences between the two versions. Both houses then vote on the verbal same beak. If the pecker passes, information technology'south sent to the president for approval.

Pace 3: The president considers the nib

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

If Congress adjourns before the 10-day 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 4: Congress may vote to override a presidential veto

Congress has the power to override a presidential veto by a ii-thirds majority vote of both the Firm and Senate. If the veto is overridden, the neb becomes police force. A pocket veto by the president can't be overridden by Congress.

Resource on how a pecker becomes constabulary

• 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 bill becoming law in both the Firm and Senate, including commission activity, floor action, briefing committees, and presidential review.

Conclusion: How Their Differences Make the House and Senate Stronger

The framers of the Constitution worked advisedly to ensure that the powers wielded by the three branches of government —  legislative, executive, and judicial — were advisedly balanced so that the duties of each branch were articulate and no one branch would overpower the other two. The bicameral legislature that splits legislative duties betwixt a large Business firm of Representatives and a smaller Senate is a key component of the framers' power-sharing strategy.

Despite struggles and challenges that arose early in our country's history and persist today, the division of responsibilities and sharing of power accept succeeded in keeping the wheels of government turning relatively effectively more than two centuries after the Constitution was written. While few ramble experts and political scholars would argue that the bicameral legislative system works perfectly, almost would agree that the formulation has stood the examination of fourth dimension.

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Boosted Resource

The New York Times, "When the Business firm and the Senate Are Controlled by Two Dissimilar Parties, Who Wins?"

U.S. Congress, "The Legislative Process: Overview"

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

U.S. 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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