Who Is the Chief Officer of the House of Representatives
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government and consists of two houses: the lower business firm known as the House of Representatives and the upper house known every bit the Senate. The words "Congress" and "Firm" 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 House.
Republicans currently control the Senate (54 to 44 Democrats) and the Business firm (246 to 188).
Comparison chart
 | Firm of Representatives | Senate |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | The United States House of Representatives is 1 of the two houses of the Usa Congress. It is frequently referred to every bit the House. | The United states of america Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States Congress. |
| Type | Lower house. Responds to the needs of the people faster since representatives only have a two twelvemonth term. Laws dealing with revenue must start in the House. | Upper house. The six yr term means the Senate can exist slower and consider the long-term furnishings of laws. |
| Seats | 435 voting members, 6 non-voting members: v delegates, 1 resident commissioner | 100 |
| Seats apportioned | Based on the population of each land | 2 for each state |
| Length of term | 2 years. All 435 seats are up for reelection every two years. | 6 years. Here there is a continuous body idea. Only 1/iii of the senate seats are elected every two years. So only 34 or 33 senators are up for election at one time. |
| Term limits | None | None |
| Leadership | Nancy Pelosi (D) (Speaker); elected by the House of Representatives. | The President of the Senate [currently Kamala Harris (D) just votes in example 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 | Autonomous (219), Republican (211), five vacant seats | Republican (48), Democratic (48), Independent (2) |
| Voting system | First-past-the-post | First-past-the-post |
| History | Based on Virginia Plan | Based on New Bailiwick of jersey Plan |
Size of Senate vs. House
While there are 100 seats in the Senate (ii senators from each state), there are 435 seats in the Firm of Representatives (1 representative from each of the diverse congressional districts, with the number of congressional districts in each state determined by the population).
The Reapportionment Deed of 1929 set the last number of the Firm at the current 435, with district sizes adapted according to population growth. However, as district borders were never defined definitively, they tin can and frequently do stretch into peculiar shapes due to a exercise known as gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering is used at the state legislature level to create districts that overwhelmingly favor one party. Federal and Supreme Court rulings have overturned gerrymandering efforts that take been perceived to be based on race, but otherwise some districts have been reconfigured to give ane or another political party an farthermost political reward, thus assuasive that party to secure more power in the state and in the Business firm 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 Business firm plays a major part in authorities, mainly that of initiating all revenue-based legislation. Any proposal to raise taxes must come from the House, with Senate review and approval. The Senate, on the other manus, has sole power of approval on strange treaties and cabinet and judicial nominations, including appointments to the Supreme Court.
In cases of impeachment (e.yard., Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Nib Clinton in 1998), the House determines if charges tin be brought against the official, and a unproblematic majority vote approves or rejects the filing of charges (the impeachment process). If approved, the Senate then serves equally the investigative/judicial torso to determine if the charges merit removing the defendant official from his or her role. However, the vote in the Senate has to represent "a significant bulk," usually taken to hateful 67 of the 100 votes.
Members of Congress are accounted to exist "across the ability of abort" while in part, except in cases of treason, murder, or fraud. This stipulation has been used past representatives and senators to avoid subpoenas and other judicial procedures. A senator can waive the privilege at whatsoever time, but a member of the Business firm has to submit his or her petition to a general vote. If a simple majority approves, the privilege can be waived.
Congress has the power to subpoena whatever citizen. Noncompliance with a congressional subpoena can bear up to a one-twelvemonth jail judgement. The instance is heard in a judicial forum, and punishment (a sentence) for those found guilty of "contempt of Congress" is handled strictly by the judicial arrangement.
The succession order in the federal government is president, vice president and so Speaker of the Firm, 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," ofttimes the senior, or longest-serving, senator of the majority party, who is responsible for managing day-to-day business organisation.
Length of Terms
Senators are elected for a vi-year term, but House representatives simply take two-year terms before they need to seek reelection. Every fellow member of the Business firm is upwards for election or reelection every 2 years, merely the Senate has a staggered organization wherein only one-third of the Senators are up for election or reelection every ii years. Information technology is possible for the House to change to a big extent (in terms of party control) every ii years, but changes are slower in the Senate. In both chambers, incumbents have a great advantage over challengers, winning more than than 90% of all contested races.
Qualifications
To be eligible as a representative, a person needs to be at least 25 years old at the time of the election and have lived continuously in the U.Due south. for at least 7 years. To go a senator, one must be at least 30 years erstwhile at the time of the election and take lived continuously in the U.S. for at least 9 years. It is not a requirement to be a natural-born citizen in order to become a member of Congress.
Committees
Most of Congress' work takes place in committees. Both the Firm and Senate accept continuing, special, conference, and joint committees.
Standing committees are permanent and provide longer-serving members with power bases. In the Business firm, key committees include Budget, Ways and Means, and Armed Services, while the Senate has Appropriations, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary committees. (Some committees be in both chambers, such as Upkeep, Armed Services, and Veterans Affairs.) Special committees are temporary, formed to investigate, clarify, and/or evaluate specific bug. Briefing 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 betwixt members of each bedchamber.
Committees also have subcommittees, which are formed to focus more closely on certain issues. Some have become permanent, simply most are formed for limited time frames. Although useful for zeroing in on key problems, the proliferation of committees, and specially 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-trunk levels. In the House, debate time is restricted and topics are set beforehand, with discussions limited to the calendar. In the Senate, the tactic called filibustering is allowed. Once the floor is ceded to a senator, he or she tin can speak for equally long equally the senator chooses, on any topic; no other business can be transacted while the person speaks. A filibuster is used to block potential legislation or Senate decisions until a favorable vote can exist called. This has resulted in sometimes comically absurd efforts on the part of senators. For example, during a 2013 filibuster over the Affordable Care Act, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) read from Green Eggs and Ham.
Origins of House and Senate
In general, the Firm represents the population, while the Senate represents a "landed/large belongings" populace. In colonial times, the proposed "legislative body" had two models. The Virginia Program, endorsed by Thomas Jefferson, created a grouping of representatives based on population sizes, then that more than populous states would have a greater voice in legislative issues. Opposing it was the New Bailiwick of jersey Plan that limited each state to the same number of representatives; the program suggested that in that location be something betwixt two to five representatives per land. The New Bailiwick of jersey Program was criticized for belongings larger states "hostage" to smaller states, every bit each would take the same ability base. This article in The New Yorker dissects it well:
James Madison and Alexander Hamilton absolutely hated the idea that each state should exist entitled to the same number of senators regardless of size. Hamilton was withering on the topic. "As states are a collection of individual men," he harangued his fellow-delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, "which ought we to respect nigh, the rights of the people composing them, or of the artificial beings resulting from the limerick? Zilch could be more preposterous or absurd than to sacrifice the former to the latter."
Per the Connecticut Compromise at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the U.s.a. adopted the bicameral organization of the English Parliament (i.e., House of Lords and House of Commons). The compromise was between the Virginia program (small state) and the New Jersey proposal (large state), ii competing ideas on whether each state should go equal representation in the federal authorities or whether representation should exist based on population. The compromise established that representatives in the lower house (Business firm of Representatives) will be based on a population number (chosen a "commune") while the upper firm (Senate) would contain two representative from each state. It was also decided that all classes would be eligible to become senators, discipline to age and residency restrictions.
References
- Congress.gov
- The Organization of Congress - Cliff Notes
- Wikipedia: United States House of Representatives
- Wikipedia: United states Senate
- Wikipedia: Structure of the United States Congress
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