What is the difference between senate and house in us

View the Constitution. What does a member of Congress do? Members of Congress represent the people of their district in the United States Congress by holding hearings, as well as developing and voting on legislation.

All bills must pass Congress before they can go to the President to be signed into law. In addition, I am also available to help you if you are experiencing difficulties dealing with a federal agency.

To see how I can help you, click here. What are the qualifications to run for office in the House of Representatives and Senate? The required qualifications are found in Article 1 of the Constitution:. House of Representatives.

How many members of Congress are there? There are a total of Members of Congress. In the early Supreme Court case McCulloch v. 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. The power to declare war, levy taxes, and regulate commerce are among the congressional powers enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The taxing and spending clause and the commerce clause have been used to broaden congressional authority over federal tax and economic policy. For example, p residents have tried to expand their power to engage the U.

For example, in the period after World War II, presidents committed troops to the Dominican Republic, Laos, and Vietnam, among other countries, without requesting or receiving authorization from Congress. Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution states that bills intended to raise revenue must originate in the House. This is one of the major differences between the House and Senate. The Senate is allowed to propose amendments to spending and taxing legislation, just as it can with other bills sent to it from the House.

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 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 speaker of the house usually selects the House majority leader. The minority party chooses a minority leader whose impact on the House policy agenda is much more limited.

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 by the entire body of representatives. 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 Archives describes the three types of House committees :. Article I, Section 3 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.

The Senate receives all its authority from the Constitution. Similarly, the Senate is empowered to approve treaties proposed by the president by a two-thirds majority vote. To shield senators from short-term political pressure, their terms were set at six years rather than the two-year terms of House representatives.

The Senate was intended to act more deliberately than the House. It also serves as a check against the impulsiveness of the House. The rules also let Senators propose floor amendments to pending bills that are outside of the subject matter of the bills themselves.

To bring some order 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. 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 about the content, implications, and status of all pending legislation.

In collaboration with Senate committee chairs, the majority leader addresses any conflicts that may prevent proposed bills from being passed. Most Senate actions require greater than a simple majority to pass. Therefore, the majority 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. Similarly, members of the Senate majority party are chosen to chair all committees.

Non-germane amendments may not be introduced from floor. Senate members serving rotating six-year terms Referral decisions easy to challenge. Rules Committee weak; few limits on debate or amendments. Committee consideration easily bypassed. Unlimited debate unless shortened by unanimous consent or by invoking cloture. Non-germane amendments may be introduced riders. List of United States Senate Classes.

Qualifications for Entering Congress: House: Must be 25 years of age when seated, not when elected. Must have been a citizen of the United States for 7 years. Must be an inhabitant of the state from which elected. NOTE: custom, but not the Constitution, requires that a representative live in the district that he or she represents.

Senate: Must be 30 years of age when seated, not when elected. Must have been a citizen of the United States for 9 years. Congressional Leadership I. With the Democrats controlling the House of Representatives and the Republicans controlling the Senate, it will be very difficult to pass any laws. This happened in the final two years of Barack Obama's Presidency, when he struggled to make any changes as the Republicans voted down his bills. Without controlling one of the houses, Donald Trump is now forced to rely on a Democrat-controlled house to pass his bills and with the current animosity between the two parties, that seems unlikely.

With the election on the horizon, that is likely to prove extremely difficult, meaning he will struggle to make any significant changes over the next two years.