Who Is a Member of the House of Representatives

Table of Contents

1. Divergence Betwixt 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 often referred to every bit a single entity, but information technology's actually a combination of ii singled-out groups: the House of Representatives and the Senate. While both houses of Congress work together to suggest and enact the laws that govern our country, the differences between the House and Senate ensure that each sleeping room in this bicameral ("two room") organization has distinct roles and responsibilities.

Together, the House and Senate form the legislative branch of government. They interact with the executive and judicial branches to implement the checks and balances that keep all iii branches functioning and prevent any single branch from abusing its ability.

Article I of the U.S. Constitution: Difference Between 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 ii houses, they'd be able to ensure equal representation for residents of all states, equally the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center 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 state. The Great Compromise (or Connecticut Compromise) gives each land equal representation in the Senate while ensuring equal representation per denizen in the House.

Article I, Section 2: Limerick and Role of the Business 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 equally a representative, as well equally the method by which the seats in the House of Representatives are assigned to the states and how vacancies are filled.

The Constitution affords the Business firm — known as the lower sleeping room because information technology has more members than the Senate — much leeway in deciding how information technology will operate.

Age, citizenship, term duration, and residency requirements

Representatives:

• Must be at least 25 years old.
• Must be citizens for at least vii years.
• Are elected to a two-year term.
• Must be residents of the states they represent.

Allocation of representatives based on population

Originally, the number of representatives was set at 1 per 30,000 inhabitants, only the representative count has since increased, as the U.S. Business firm of Representatives History, Art, and Athenaeum website describes. The apportionment was to be based on an enumeration (population census) that was to exist made inside three years of the Constitution beingness ratified (approved) by the thirteen states, and so every 10 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 nearly 710,000. The House of Representatives Athenaeum states that the number of representatives was limited to 435 because the U.S. population was growing faster in urban states than in rural ones, which gave large states a higher proportion of representatives than smaller states.

Power to devise its own rules of operation

The Constitution allows each firm of Congress to set its own 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:

• Only a numerical majority is required to pass legislation in the Business firm, which allows bills to be processed quickly. Past contrast, Senate votes typically require a three-fifths majority, or 60 votes in favor.
• Majority party leaders in the House control the priority of diverse policies and determine which bills make their way to the Business firm floor for argue. In the Senate, minority party leaders have more influence over such procedures, so the bulk leaders must work more closely with them.

Power of impeachment

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution states that the House "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 loftier crimes and misdemeanors."

The House determines whether to impeach and if an impeachment is chosen for; the Senate decides whether to captive and remove the official from office. This follows a blueprint 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 iii: Limerick and Function of the Senate

Article I, Department iii of the Constitution calls for 2 senators from each state to exist selected by a state's legislature to correspond that state. Notwithstanding, the 17th Amendment, canonical in 1913, mandates the direct election of U.S. senators, which means that they're elected by direct vote of the people rather than past state legislators.

As the Senate website explains, the amendment was in response to abuse and other problems that prevented land legislatures from choosing U.Southward. senators. The Senate is known as the upper chamber of Congress considering it has fewer members than the Firm.

Age, citizenship, term elapsing, and residency requirements

The Constitution requires that senators be at to the lowest degree 30 years sometime, U.S. citizens for at least 9 years, and residents of the states they'll correspond. Senate terms are for half dozen years; the terms are staggered so that approximately a third of all senate seats are up for election every two years. This is intended to protect the Senate from brusk-term political force per unit area and to ensure that turnover in the Senate occurs evenly, rather than having stasis for half-dozen years followed by upheaval.

Allocation of Senators: Two per State

As the Senate website indicates, the reason the framers decided to allow each state to be represented by two senators was to forestall the large states from overpowering their smaller counterparts. Benjamin Franklin believed that states should take equal votes in all matters except those involving money. (Article I, Section viii 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 performance

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

• In the Senate, private senators have more options to slow the progress of a bill past making procedural requests, such as keeping floor fence open up on the matter at hand. This is intended to encourage deliberation, or the careful discussion and consideration, of problems.
• Majority party leaders in the Senate advise the priority of items to be debated, but they must work with minority party leaders — and often all senators — to determine the floor calendar: 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, but the vice president is allowed to vote simply to break a necktie. The Senate is empowered to cull its ain officers and president pro tempore to preside over the Senate when the vice president is unavailable.

Power to try and laissez passer judgment on all impeachments

Senators are empowered to endeavor and estimate impeachments; in this capacity, they serve under "adjuration or affirmation." In the case of a president's impeachment, the chief justice of the United States presides. An impeachment conviction requires a ii-thirds majority vote of the full Senate.

If the impeachment trial leads to a conviction, the penalisation is removal from function and disqualification from "any role of honor, trust or profit under the U.s.," according to Article I, Section three. Withal, the impeached person is "liable and subject field to indictment, trial, judgment and penalisation, according to police."

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

• Cornell Law School'southward Legal Information Found offers a fully annotated version of the Constitution and an explanation of the Constitution compiled by the Congressional Research Service.
• The S. Capitol Company Middle features a study guide that explains the deviation between the House and Senate. Information technology poses half-dozen questions about the constitutional basis for the ii houses of Congress and provides sample answers.

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U.Southward. House of Representatives: Roles and Responsibilities

The duties of the Business firm of Representatives are stated in Article I, Sections vii and 8 of the Constitution. Withal, the powers granted to both houses of Congress are derived from Article I, Section 1, equally the Legal Information Constitute explains.

In the early on Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland, Primary Justice John Marshall wrote that the government is "one of enumerated powers," which means that it can practice just the powers that have been granted to it explicitly by the Constitution. Paired with this doctrine is the ruling that legislative powers may non be delegated to any other co-operative of regime.

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 Commodity I, Department 8.

This gives Congress the right to exercise whatsoever "means which are appropriate" to perform its ramble duties, unless those ways are inconsistent with "the alphabetic character 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 it past inference based on prior Supreme Court decisions, as the Legal Lexicon explains.
• Resulting powers are those that Congress has because they're needed for it to fulfill its duties. They're derived from other powers specifically granted to the government so that information technology can exercise its enumerated powers. The Legal Information Plant gives every bit an instance the power to acquire territory, which results from the enumerated powers to make war and treaties.
• Inherent powers are too called implied powers, equally the Constitution Annotated notes. They're powers that Congress possesses even though they've never been explicitly exercised. An example would be the ability to tax net service providers.

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

The power to declare war, levy taxes, and regulate commerce are amidst 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 broaden congressional authority over federal tax and economic policy.

In improver, Congress' war powers have created a lot of friction betwixt the executive and legislative branches. For example, presidents have tried to expand their power to engage the U.S. military in overseas conflicts, as the House of Representatives Archive describes. For example, in the period after Earth War II, presidents committed troops to the Dominican Commonwealth, Laos, and Vietnam, among other countries, without requesting or receiving authority from Congress.

The Firm originates all acquirement legislation

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution states that bills intended to enhance revenue must originate in the Firm. This is one of the major differences between the Firm and Senate. The Senate is allowed to propose amendments to spending and taxing legislation, just equally it can with other bills sent to it from the House.

Bills require only a numerical majority vote

The decision of the framers to allow bills to laissez passer the House after getting a simple majority of votes was motivated by the desire to permit legislation to be enacted quickly. The responsibility for assessing and developing bills belongs to continuing committees that are chaired by members of the bulk party, but are fabricated up of members of both parties, equally the Congressional Research Service explains.

Majority party powers and prerogatives

The important role of political parties in the organisation and performance of the Business firm 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. At that place are more members of the House than of the Senate, so the majority party wields more power in the lower chamber.

Fix policy agenda

The speaker of the business firm unremarkably selects the House majority leader. The House majority leader is charged with formulating the party's legislative agenda, as described by USHistory.org. The minority party chooses a minority leader whose bear upon on the House policy calendar is much more limited.

Decide which legislation reaches the Firm floor

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

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

Resources 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 Article 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 limerick and functions of the Firm, including its leadership, committees, commissions, schedule, rules, and history.

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U.Due south. Senate: Roles and Responsibilities

Commodity I, Department iii of the Constitution describes the basic composition, operation, and duties of the Senate, although the Constitution grants the Senate elbowroom in determining how it volition conduct its business. The Senate website describes the powers and procedures of the legislative trunk, 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 to a higher place for the House, the Senate'southward powers are either enumerated, or expressly stated in the Constitution, or derived from the enumerated powers through the Commodity I, Department 8 necessary and proper clause.

Only the Senate confirms presidential nominations and treaties

Article II, Department 2 of the Constitution grants the president ability to nominate and engage ambassadors, Supreme Court justices, and "other officers of the United states of america." However, the Constitution requires that nominations and appointments be fabricated "with the Advice 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 also has the power to change a treaty's terms. (The president's power to institute executive agreements with other nations doesn't require Senate approval.)

Senate rules and procedures encourage deliberation rather than speed

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

The Senate was intended to human activity more than deliberately than the Business firm. This emphasizes the Senate's duty to propose on and consent to deportment taken in the Firm and by the executive branch of authorities. In this role, the framers expressed their "suspicion of the presidency" past allowing the Senate to serve as a cheque on executive powers. Information technology as well serves equally a check confronting the impulsiveness of the House.

Individual senators take significant procedural leverage

The continuing rules of the Senate promote deliberation by assuasive senators to "argue at length" and by requiring greater than a simple majority to end fence on a matter, as the Congressional Research Service explains. The rules also let Senators propose floor amendments to pending bills that are exterior of the subject matter of the bills themselves. For example, the Real ID Act of 2005 passed every bit a "rider": an boosted 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 organisation and the possibility that bills will be proposed whose subjects haven't been researched or debated in committee. To bring some order to Senate proceedings, the majority leader is given priority in being recognized to speak and to advise the bills and legislation that the body will consider.

Majority party powers and prerogatives

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

Proposes items for consideration

The duties of the Senate majority leader include handling all procedural matters that arise on the Senate flooring and informing members of the majority party nigh the content, implications, and status of all awaiting legislation. In collaboration with Senate committee chairs, the bulk leader addresses any conflicts that may prevent proposed bills from being passed.

Negotiates with the minority party to conduct Senate floor action

Most Senate deportment require greater than a simple bulk to pass. Therefore, the bulk 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 between the majority and minority parties in the Senate every bit "ane of compromise and mutual abstinence" that's intended to prevent stalemates from arising on important matters of legislation.

Chairs all committees

Similarly, members of the Senate majority party are chosen to chair all committees. However, the nature of the Senate requires that the bulk leaders of committees work with the ranking fellow member of the minority political party to accomplish the committee's goals. The Senate website explains that the bulk party controls most committee staff and resource, 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'due south history and functioning, including biographies of past senators, historical highlights, and a complete chronology.
• The Library of Congress profiles current members of the Senate and explains the trunk's policies and procedures. The site links to active legislation and floor activeness, as well as specific committees, leadership, and officers.

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How a beak becomes law

The procedure that Congress must follow to enact legislation is described in Article I, Department vii of the Constitution. USA.gov explains that anyone who has an idea for a new police force is encouraged to contact their U.South. representative or senator to suggest it. However, near bills originate in the offices of one or more of their legislative sponsors.

Pace i: The bill is introduced in either the House or the Senate

A beak can be introduced by a representative or a senator; that person becomes the bill's sponsor (note that bills tin take multiple sponsors). After meeting in pocket-sized groups to discuss the bill'due south merits, representatives or senators assign the bill to a commission for further enquiry, discussion, and potential amendments.

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

Once the nib is released past the commission, representatives or senators debate it and propose amendments or other changes prior to putting the neb to a vote. After passing in the initial torso (House or Senate), the nib goes to the other torso, where information technology's researched, discussed, and amended farther.

Afterwards both chambers have the beak, joint committees piece of work out the differences between the 2 versions. Both houses then vote on the exact same nib. If the bill passes, it'south sent to the president for approval.

Stride 3: The president considers the bill

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 effect.) If the president approves the bill, it's signed into constabulary. If the president rejects the bill, it'southward returned to Congress with an explanation for the veto.

If Congress adjourns before the 10-24-hour interval period for signing the bill expires, the president can simply choose not to sign the bill, and the bill won't become police force. This is called a "pocket veto."

Pace iv: Congress may vote to override a presidential veto

Congress has the power to override a presidential veto by a 2-thirds majority vote of both the House and Senate. If the veto is overridden, the beak becomes law. A pocket veto by the president tin't exist overridden past Congress.

Resource on how a neb becomes law

• The House 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 pace in the process of a bill becoming police in both the House and Senate, including committee activity, floor action, conference committees, and presidential review.

Determination: How Their Differences Make the House and Senate Stronger

The framers of the Constitution worked carefully to ensure that the powers wielded by the three branches of authorities —  legislative, executive, and judicial — were advisedly balanced then that the duties of each co-operative were clear and no 1 branch would overpower the other ii. The bicameral legislature that splits legislative duties between a large House 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 land's history and persist today, the partitioning of responsibilities and sharing of power have succeeded in keeping the wheels of government turning relatively effectively more than two centuries later the Constitution was written. While few constitutional experts and political scholars would fence that the bicameral legislative system works perfectly, near would agree that the conception has stood the test of fourth dimension.

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Boosted Resource

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

U.Due south. Congress, "The Legislative Process: Overview"

U.Due south. National Athenaeum, "The Constitution of the Usa: A Transcription"

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

Vote Smart, "Government 101: Congress"

haysinclaboy.blogspot.com

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