The US government has three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Congress is part of the legislative branch, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate has two members from each state, while the House has a varying number based on population. Senators serve six-year terms, while House members serve two-year terms. The majority party has more control over the House, while Senate rules protect the minority party. Both houses must pass a bill for it to become law, and the president can veto it.
The US government is divided into three branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. Congress, the Senate, and the House of Representatives are all parts of the legislative branch. In US politics, the term “Congress” refers to the Senate and the House of Representatives together. All elected officials in the legislative branch are members of one of these two houses. Some of the many differences between the Senate and the House of Representatives are the number of members of each state, the length of office of each officer, the eligibility requirements for election, and the various rules, powers, and duties of each house.
Room structure
A key difference between the two houses of Congress is their number of members. The Senate has two members from each of the 50 states, for a total of 100 members. In the House of Representatives, or House, the number of elected officials from each state is based on its population. Since 1911, the total membership of the House has been set at 435, with a minimum of one member per state. As of 2012, the most populous state, California, had 53 officials in the House of Representatives.
The District of Columbia and some U.S. territories also send delegates to the House of Representatives. They cannot vote but can participate in discussions and debates. The four territories with delegates as of 2012 were the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Puerto Rico sends an official called a resident commissioner, whose role is the same as non-voting delegates.
congressmen
A significant difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives is the length of time their members serve after being elected. Senators are elected for six-year terms and members of the House are elected for two-year terms. There is no limit to the number of terms a member of a house of Congress can serve. Perhaps because they serve shorter terms, House Representatives were more likely to be re-elected than Senators.
The requirements to be elected are different for the Senate and the House. A Senator must be at least 30 years old and must have been a U.S. citizen for at least nine years. To serve in the House of Representatives, a person must be at least 25 years old and must have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years. A candidate for either house can be elected to represent only the state in which he lives at the time of election, although there are no requirements for how long a person must have lived in that state.
For many people, there is more prestige associated with the Senate than the House of Representatives. The main reason is that there are many more members of the House, so Senators are considered rarer and more powerful. They also tend to get more media attention. It is common for members of the House to seek election to the Senate, but it would be highly unusual for a Senator to seek election to the House of Representatives. Additionally, senators are widely considered to be better candidates for national office such as president or vice president.
Duties and powers
The US Constitution gives each house specific powers. For example, the House initiates the impeachment process when an official is accused of criminal activity. If the House passes an impeachment article, the Senate tries the official. The Constitution also gives the House the power to initiate any bill affecting government revenue or expenditure, and gives the Senate the right to advise the president and consent to any treaty, and to confirm or reject presidential appointments. , such as those of Supreme Court justices.
Another of the many differences between the chambers is that the majority party has more control over the chamber. For example, the majority party controls the rules committee which sets the voting schedule and determines the parameters for discussing policies and bills in the House. Senate rules protect the minority party, so the majority party cannot control debate scheduling or parameters.
For a bill to become law, it must pass both houses of Congress. The bill begins in the House or Senate and must be approved by a majority vote. It is then voted on by the other house, and if a majority of Congressmen in that house also vote for it, it is sent to the president, who can either sign it into law or veto it. A bill that has been vetoed by the president can be signed into law by Congress if two-thirds of the members of each house vote on it.
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