How Does the Census Affect the House of Representatives

Table of Contents

1. Difference Between Business firm and Senate
2. Business firm: 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 as a unmarried entity, just it'south actually a combination of 2 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 state, the differences betwixt the House and Senate ensure that each chamber in this bicameral ("two room") arrangement has distinct roles and responsibilities.

Together, the House and Senate course the legislative branch of regime. They collaborate with the executive and judicial branches to implement the checks and balances that go on all iii branches performance and prevent any single co-operative from abusing its power.

Commodity I of the U.Southward. Constitution: Departure Betwixt House and Senate

The framers of the Constitution knew that it was important to protect the smaller states of the newly formed Union from being overshadowed by their more populous counterparts. They hoped that past dividing legislative power between two houses, they'd be able to ensure equal representation for residents of all states, every bit 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 two per country. The Great Compromise (or Connecticut Compromise) gives each state equal representation in the Senate while ensuring equal representation per citizen in the House.

Article I, Department 2: Composition and Function of the House of Representatives

Article I of the Constitution specifies the powers, duties, and responsibilities of each of the two houses of Congress. Information technology lays out the rules for qualifying as a representative, also as the method by which the seats in the House of Representatives are assigned to united states and how vacancies are filled.

The Constitution affords the Firm — known equally the lower sleeping room because it has more than members than the Senate — much elbowroom in deciding how information technology will operate.

Age, citizenship, term elapsing, and residency requirements

Representatives:

• Must be at least 25 years old.
• Must be citizens for at least seven years.
• Are elected to a 2-year term.
• Must be residents of united states they represent.

Allocation of representatives based on population

Originally, the number of representatives was gear up at 1 per 30,000 inhabitants, but the representative count has since increased, every bit the U.S. House of Representatives History, Art, and Athenaeum website describes. The apportionment was to be based on an enumeration (population census) that was to be made within three years of the Constitution being ratified (canonical) by the 13 states, and and so every ten years thereafter.

The Circulation Act of 1911 and its successor, the Permanent Apportionment 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 virtually 710,000. The House of Representatives Athenaeum states that the number of representatives was express to 435 because the U.S. population was growing faster in urban states than in rural ones, which gave big states a higher proportion of representatives than smaller states.

Power to devise its own rules of operation

The Constitution allows each house of Congress to fix its ain rules. This has led to divergent practices and procedures in the Firm and Senate. The Library of Congress summarizes the operating rules of the House of Representatives:

• Merely a numerical majority is required to pass legislation in the House, which allows bills to be processed rapidly. By contrast, Senate votes typically require a 3-fifths majority, or lx votes in favor.
• Majority party leaders in the House control the priority of various policies and determine which bills make their way to the Business firm floor for argue. In the Senate, minority party leaders have more than influence over such procedures, so the majority leaders must work more closely with them.

Power of impeachment

Article I, Department 2 of the Constitution states that the Business firm "shall take 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 role. This follows a pattern established in the British government and American colonial governments dating back to the 17th century, as the Senate website explains.

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Article I, Section 3: Composition and Function of the Senate

Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution calls for two senators from each state to be selected by a state'due south legislature to represent that land. However, the 17th Subpoena, approved in 1913, mandates the direct election of U.Southward. senators, which means that they're elected by straight vote of the people rather than past country legislators.

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

Age, citizenship, term duration, and residency requirements

The Constitution requires that senators be at least 30 years quondam, U.S. citizens for at least nine years, and residents of u.s. they'll represent. Senate terms are for vi years; the terms are staggered and then that approximately a third of all senate seats are upwards for election every two years. This is intended to protect the Senate from brusque-term political pressure and to ensure that turnover in the Senate occurs evenly, rather than having stasis for six years followed past upheaval.

Allotment of Senators: Two per State

As the Senate website indicates, the reason the framers decided to permit each land to be represented by ii 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 House the power to taxation and spend; this clause is described in the following section.)

Power to devise its own rules of operation

The Senate has the constitutional authorization to set its own rules, just as the House does. The Senate website quotes George Washington as explaining to Thomas Jefferson that the framers intended the Senate to "cool" legislation passed past the House "merely every bit a saucer is used to absurd hot tea."

• In the Senate, private senators have more than options to wearisome the progress of a beak by making procedural requests, such as keeping flooring debate open on the thing at hand. This is intended to encourage deliberation, or the conscientious discussion and consideration, of issues.
• Majority party leaders in the Senate suggest the priority of items to be debated, only they must work with minority political party leaders — and often all senators — to determine the floor agenda: the order in which items are brought before the Senate.

Vice president as president of the Senate

The Constitution makes the vice president the president of the Senate, merely the vice president is allowed to vote simply to break a tie. The Senate is empowered to cull its own 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 effort and judge impeachments; in this capacity, they serve under "oath or affirmation." In the case of a president'due south impeachment, the chief justice of the The states presides. An impeachment conviction requires a two-thirds bulk vote of the full Senate.

If the impeachment trial leads to a conviction, the punishment is removal from office and disqualification from "any role of honor, trust or profit under the United States," according to Article I, Section 3. However, the impeached person is "liable and subject area to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to police."

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

• Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute offers a fully annotated version of the Constitution and an caption of the Constitution compiled by the Congressional Enquiry Service.
• The South. Capitol Company Center features a study guide that explains the deviation betwixt the Firm and Senate. It poses six questions nigh the constitutional ground for the 2 houses of Congress and provides sample answers.

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U.S. 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. However, the powers granted to both houses of Congress are derived from Article I, Department one, as the Legal Information Found explains.

In the early on Supreme Court case McCulloch five. Maryland, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the regime is "1 of enumerated powers," which means that it can exercise merely the powers that have been granted to it explicitly past the Constitution. Paired with this doctrine is the ruling that legislative powers may not be delegated to whatever 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 by including the power to declare war, levy taxes, and regulate commerce. These powers are derived from the Constitution's necessary and proper clause in Article I, Section eight.

This gives Congress the right 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."

• Unsaid powers are those that aren't explicitly stipulated in the Constitution, but the government assumes these powers are granted to information technology by inference based on prior Supreme Court decisions, equally the Legal Lexicon explains.
• Resulting powers are those that Congress has considering they're needed for it to fulfill its duties. They're derived from other powers specifically granted to the government and then that it can do its enumerated powers. The Legal Information Establish gives as an instance the ability to larn territory, which results from the enumerated powers to make war and treaties.
• Inherent powers are likewise chosen unsaid powers, as the Constitution Annotated notes. They're powers that Congress possesses even though they've never been explicitly exercised. An case would exist the power to revenue enhancement net 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, Section 8 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 take created a lot of friction between the executive and legislative branches. For instance, presidents accept tried to expand their power to engage the U.S. military in overseas conflicts, as the Firm of Representatives Archive describes. For case, in the period after World State of war II, presidents committed troops to the Dominican Republic, Laos, and Vietnam, among other countries, without requesting or receiving authorization from Congress.

The House originates all revenue legislation

Article I, Section seven of the Constitution states that bills intended to enhance revenue must originate in the House. This is i of the major differences between the House and Senate. The Senate is allowed to suggest amendments to spending and taxing legislation, just as it tin can with other bills sent to it from the House.

Bills crave but a numerical majority vote

The decision of the framers to allow bills to laissez passer the House later on getting a unproblematic majority of votes was motivated past the desire to allow legislation to be enacted quickly. The responsibility for assessing and developing bills belongs to continuing committees that are chaired by members of the majority political party, merely are made up of members of both parties, as the Congressional Research Service explains.

Majority party powers and prerogatives

The important function of political parties in the organization and performance of the House is described by the Firm of Representatives Archive. The majority party elects a speaker of the business firm and chooses other leadership positions, including the chair of all Business firm committees. There are more than members of the House than of the Senate, so the bulk party wields more power in the lower bedroom.

Set policy agenda

The speaker of the business firm unremarkably selects the House majority leader. The House majority leader is charged with formulating the party'south legislative agenda, equally described past USHistory.org. The minority party chooses a minority leader whose affect on the House policy agenda is much more express.

Make up one's mind which legislation reaches the House flooring

Among the duties of the speaker of the business firm are presiding over all House proceedings, determining which bills become to which committees, influencing committee assignments for new House 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 Business firm committees, they must work with the ranking member of the minority political party to ready bills for deliberation by all House members. The Firm of Representatives Archives describes the three types of House committees:

• Continuing committees are permanent; their jurisdiction is divers in the House 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 Firm and Senate, usually to study specific matters rather than to consider a piece of legislation.

Resources on Business firm of Representatives roles and responsibilities

• The legal site Justia details the powers that the House derives from the taxing and spending clause of Article I, Section 8, including the types of taxes permitted and limits imposed on the power to tax and spend.
• The House of Representatives website explains the composition and functions of the House, including its leadership, committees, commissions, schedule, rules, and history.

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U.Southward. Senate: Roles and Responsibilities

Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution describes the basic limerick, operation, and duties of the Senate, although the Constitution grants the Senate leeway in determining how it will conduct its concern. 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 authorization from the Constitution. As described above for the House, the Senate's powers are either enumerated, or expressly stated in the Constitution, or derived from the enumerated powers through the Commodity I, Section viii necessary and proper clause.

But the Senate confirms presidential nominations and treaties

Article Two, Section 2 of the Constitution grants the president power to nominate and engage ambassadors, Supreme Court justices, and "other officers of the Us." 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 besides has the power to change a treaty's terms. (The president'southward power to establish executive agreements with other nations doesn't require Senate blessing.)

Senate rules and procedures encourage deliberation rather than speed

The Senate website explains that the framers modeled the upper chamber of Congress afterward early on land senates and the governor's councils of the Colonial era. To shield senators from short-term political pressure, their terms were set at six years rather than the ii-year terms of Business firm representatives.

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

Individual senators take significant procedural leverage

The standing rules of the Senate promote deliberation by allowing senators to "debate at length" and by requiring greater than a elementary bulk to end debate on a matter, equally the Congressional Research Service explains. The rules also let Senators propose floor amendments to pending bills that are outside of the subject thing of the bills themselves. For case, the Existent ID Deed of 2005 passed as a "rider": an additional provision to a military spending human action 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 be proposed whose subjects oasis't been researched or debated in commission. To bring some order to Senate proceedings, the bulk leader is given priority in being recognized to speak and to advise the bills and legislation that the torso volition consider.

Majority party powers and prerogatives

In addition to the Senate bulk leader's power to control debates on the Senate floor, the majority party is granted other rights in the performance 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 near the content, implications, and status of all pending legislation. In collaboration with Senate committee chairs, the majority leader addresses whatever conflicts that may forestall proposed bills from existence passed.

Negotiates with the minority party to conduct Senate flooring activity

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

Chairs all committees

Similarly, members of the Senate bulk party are chosen to chair all committees. However, 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 committee's goals. The Senate website explains that the majority party controls most commission staff and resources, but the minority 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'southward history and operation, including biographies of by senators, historical highlights, and a complete chronology.
• The Library of Congress profiles electric current members of the Senate and explains the body's policies and procedures. The site links to active legislation and floor activity, as well every bit 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, Department vii of the Constitution. USA.gov explains that anyone who has an thought for a new law is encouraged to contact their U.South. representative or senator to suggest it. However, about bills originate in the offices of one or more of their legislative sponsors.

Step one: The bill is introduced in either the House or the Senate

A beak can exist introduced by a representative or a senator; that person becomes the bill's sponsor (note that bills can have multiple sponsors). Afterwards coming together in small groups to discuss the beak's merits, representatives or senators assign the beak to a committee for further research, discussion, and potential amendments.

Footstep two: The nib is debated and put to a vote

In one case the beak is released past the committee, representatives or senators debate it and propose amendments or other changes prior to putting the bill to a vote. After passing in the initial body (House or Senate), the bill goes to the other body, where it's researched, discussed, and amended further.

Later on both chambers accept the bill, joint committees piece of work out the differences between the two versions. Both houses then vote on the exact same bill. If the bill passes, it's sent to the president for approval.

Footstep 3: The president considers the bill

The president has 10 days to sign or veto bills that Congress sends to the White House for blessing. (A presidential veto prevents the legislation from taking effect.) If the president approves the bill, it's signed into police. If the president rejects the beak, information technology's returned to Congress with an explanation for the veto.

If Congress adjourns before the 10-day period for signing the beak expires, the president can but choose not to sign the bill, and the bill won't become constabulary. 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 two-thirds majority vote of both the Firm and Senate. If the veto is overridden, the bill becomes law. A pocket veto by the president can't exist overridden by Congress.

Resource on how a neb becomes law

• The Firm of Representatives website explains the legislative process, 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 House and Senate, including committee activeness, floor action, briefing committees, and presidential review.

Determination: How Their Differences Make the Business firm and Senate Stronger

The framers of the Constitution worked carefully to ensure that the powers wielded by the iii branches of government —  legislative, executive, and judicial — were carefully balanced so that the duties of each branch were clear and no one branch would overpower the other two. The bicameral legislature that splits legislative duties betwixt a large House of Representatives and a smaller Senate is a central 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 finer more two centuries after the Constitution was written. While few constitutional experts and political scholars would argue that the bicameral legislative organisation works perfectly, most would concord that the formulation has stood the examination of time.

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Additional Resources

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

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

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

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

Vote Smart, "Authorities 101: Congress"

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

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