Differences and Qualifications for House and Senate Representative
The U.s.a. Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government and consists of two houses: the lower house known as the Business firm of Representatives and the upper business firm known as the Senate. The words "Congress" and "House" are sometimes used colloquially to refer to the House of Representatives. In that location are 535 members of Congress: 100 senators and 435 representatives in the Business firm.
Republicans currently control the Senate (54 to 44 Democrats) and the House (246 to 188).
Comparing nautical chart
 | Firm of Representatives | Senate |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | The United States House of Representatives is i of the two houses of the United States Congress. It is frequently referred to every bit the House. | The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States Congress. |
| Blazon | Lower house. Responds to the needs of the people faster since representatives but have a 2 twelvemonth term. Laws dealing with acquirement must start in the House. | Upper house. The half-dozen year term means the Senate can be slower and consider the long-term effects of laws. |
| Seats | 435 voting members, six not-voting members: 5 delegates, 1 resident commissioner | 100 |
| Seats apportioned | Based on the population of each country | 2 for each country |
| Length of term | 2 years. All 435 seats are up for reelection every ii years. | 6 years. Here there is a continuous body thought. Only 1/3 of the senate seats are elected every two years. And then only 34 or 33 senators are up for election at once. |
| Term limits | None | None |
| Leadership | Nancy Pelosi (D) (Speaker); elected by the House of Representatives. | The President of the Senate [currently Kamala Harris (D) but votes in instance of a tie. When he or she is not available, the President pro tempore, a senator elected by the Senate [currently Patrick Leahy (D)] takes over on his behalf. |
| Majority Leader | Steny Hoyer (D) | Chuck Schumer (D) |
| Minority Leader | Kevin McCarthy (R) | Mitch McConnell (R) |
| Majority Whip | James Clyburn (D) | John Thune (R) |
| Minority Whip | Steve Scalise (R) | Dick Durbin (D) |
| Political groups | Democratic (219), Republican (211), 5 vacant seats | Republican (48), Democratic (48), Contained (2) |
| Voting system | Kickoff-past-the-mail | Beginning-past-the-post |
| History | Based on Virginia Plan | Based on New Jersey Plan |
Size of Senate vs. House
While at that place are 100 seats in the Senate (2 senators from each state), in that location are 435 seats in the Business firm of Representatives (i representative from each of the diverse congressional districts, with the number of congressional districts in each state determined past the population).
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the final number of the Business firm at the electric current 435, with district sizes adjusted according to population growth. However, as district borders were never defined definitively, they can and oft do stretch into peculiar shapes due to a practice known as gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering is used at the state legislature level to create districts that overwhelmingly favor 1 political party. Federal and Supreme Court rulings have overturned gerrymandering efforts that have been perceived to be based on race, just otherwise some districts have been reconfigured to give one or some other party an extreme political advantage, thus allowing that party to secure more ability in the state and in the House of Representatives.
A line graph showing which political parties have controlled the U.Due south. House of Representatives and Senate over the years. Click to enlarge.
Roles of Representatives and Senators
The House plays a major role in government, mainly that of initiating all revenue-based legislation. Any proposal to enhance taxes must come up from the House, with Senate review and blessing. The Senate, on the other paw, has sole power of approval on foreign treaties and cabinet and judicial nominations, including appointments to the Supreme Court.
In cases of impeachment (eastward.g., Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998), the House determines if charges can be brought against the official, and a simple majority vote approves or rejects the filing of charges (the impeachment procedure). If approved, the Senate and then serves as the investigative/judicial body to determine if the charges merit removing the accused official from his or her office. However, the vote in the Senate has to represent "a pregnant majority," ordinarily taken to mean 67 of the 100 votes.
Members of Congress are deemed to be "beyond the ability of arrest" while in function, except in cases of treason, murder, or fraud. This stipulation has been used by representatives and senators to avert subpoenas and other judicial procedures. A senator tin can waive the privilege at any time, but a member of the Business firm has to submit his or her petition to a full general vote. If a unproblematic majority approves, the privilege can exist waived.
Congress has the ability to amendment any citizen. Noncompliance with a congressional subpoena tin carry up to a one-year jail sentence. The case is heard in a judicial forum, and punishment (a judgement) for those found guilty of "contempt of Congress" is handled strictly by the judicial organization.
The succession social club in the federal government is president, vice president and then Speaker of the House, the leader of the representatives. The vice president is considered the "president" of the Senate, though he or she is not required or even expected to attend most Senate sessions. The Senate elects a "President Pro Tempore," often the senior, or longest-serving, senator of the majority political party, who is responsible for managing solar day-to-solar day concern.
Length of Terms
Senators are elected for a half dozen-twelvemonth term, simply House representatives only have 2-year terms earlier they need to seek reelection. Every member of the House is up for election or reelection every two years, but the Senate has a staggered organization wherein just i-tertiary of the Senators are upwardly for election or reelection every ii years. Information technology is possible for the House to alter to a large extent (in terms of party control) every two years, but changes are slower in the Senate. In both chambers, incumbents accept a great advantage over challengers, winning more than 90% of all contested races.
Qualifications
To be eligible as a representative, a person needs to be at least 25 years quondam at the time of the election and have lived continuously in the U.S. for at to the lowest degree 7 years. To become a senator, one must be at least xxx years erstwhile at the time of the election and take lived continuously in the U.Due south. for at least 9 years. It is not a requirement to exist a natural-born citizen in order to get a member of Congress.
Committees
Most of Congress' work takes place in committees. Both the House and Senate have standing, special, briefing, and joint committees.
Continuing committees are permanent and provide longer-serving members with power bases. In the Business firm, central committees include Upkeep, Means and Means, and Armed services, while the Senate has Appropriations, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary committees. (Some committees exist in both chambers, such as Budget, Armed Services, and Veterans Affairs.) Special committees are temporary, formed to investigate, analyze, and/or evaluate specific issues. Conference committees are formed when legislation is approved in both the House and Senate; they finalize the language in legislation. Joint committees feature members of the House and Senate, with leadership of each committee alternating between members of each chamber.
Committees as well take subcommittees, which are formed to focus more closely on certain problems. Some take go permanent, but most are formed for limited fourth dimension frames. Although useful for zeroing in on central issues, the proliferation of committees, and especially subcommittees, has decentralized the legislative procedure and significantly slowed it, making Congress less responsive to irresolute trends and needs.
Debating legislation has stricter rules in the House than in the Senate, applicative at both the committee and whole-body levels. In the House, fence time is restricted and topics are set beforehand, with discussions limited to the agenda. In the Senate, the tactic chosen filibustering is allowed. Once the floor is ceded to a senator, he or she tin speak for as long every bit the senator chooses, on any topic; no other business can be transacted while the person speaks. A delay is used to block potential legislation or Senate decisions until a favorable vote tin can be called. This has resulted in sometimes comically absurd efforts on the part of senators. For example, during a 2013 delay over the Affordable Care Act, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) read from Light-green Eggs and Ham.
Origins of House and Senate
In general, the House represents the population, while the Senate represents a "landed/large property" populace. In colonial times, the proposed "legislative body" had two models. The Virginia Plan, endorsed by Thomas Jefferson, created a grouping of representatives based on population sizes, so that more populous states would have a greater voice in legislative issues. Opposing it was the New Bailiwick of jersey Program that limited each land to the same number of representatives; the plan suggested that in that location be something between 2 to v representatives per state. The New Jersey Plan was criticized for holding larger states "earnest" to smaller states, as each would have the aforementioned power base of operations. This article in The New Yorker dissects information technology well:
James Madison and Alexander Hamilton absolutely hated the thought that each state should be entitled to the aforementioned number of senators regardless of size. Hamilton was withering on the topic. "As states are a drove of private men," he harangued his fellow-delegates at the Ramble Convention in Philadelphia, "which ought we to respect almost, the rights of the people composing them, or of the artificial beings resulting from the composition? Nothing could be more preposterous or absurd than to cede the erstwhile to the latter."
Per the Connecticut Compromise at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the United states of america adopted the bicameral system of the English Parliament (i.e., House of Lords and House of Commons). The compromise was betwixt the Virginia plan (small land) and the New Jersey proposal (big state), two competing ideas on whether each country should get equal representation in the federal regime or whether representation should be based on population. The compromise established that representatives in the lower house (Firm of Representatives) volition be based on a population number (called a "district") while the upper house (Senate) would contain two representative from each land. It was as well decided that all classes would be eligible to become senators, subject to age and residency restrictions.
References
- Congress.gov
- The Organization of Congress - Cliff Notes
- Wikipedia: Usa House of Representatives
- Wikipedia: United States Senate
- Wikipedia: Construction of the United States Congress
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