Who Is the House of Representatives Minority Leader

Table of Contents

1. Difference Betwixt House and Senate
2. House: Roles and Responsibilities
3. Senate: Roles and Responsibilities
4. How a Bill Becomes Law
5. How Their Differences Make the Business firm and Senate Stronger

The U.S. Congress is often referred to as a unmarried entity, but it's really a combination of two distinct groups: the Firm of Representatives and the Senate. While both houses of Congress work together to propose and enact the laws that govern our country, the differences between the House and Senate ensure that each chamber in this bicameral ("two room") system has singled-out roles and responsibilities.

Together, the Firm and Senate form the legislative branch of regime. They collaborate with the executive and judicial branches to implement the checks and balances that go along all 3 branches functioning and forbid whatsoever unmarried branch from abusing its power.

Article I of the U.S. Constitution: Departure 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 than populous counterparts. They hoped that past dividing legislative ability between two houses, they'd be able to ensure equal representation for residents of all states, as the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center explains.

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, delegates from Connecticut proposed that the seats in the House exist assigned based on population, while the seats in the Senate exist assigned two per land. The Bang-up Compromise (or Connecticut Compromise) gives each state equal representation in the Senate while ensuring equal representation per citizen in the House.

Article I, Section 2: Composition and Function of the Firm of Representatives

Commodity 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 as a representative, every bit well as the method by which the seats in the House of Representatives are assigned to united states of america and how vacancies are filled.

The Constitution affords the House — known as the lower bedroom because it has more members than the Senate — much elbowroom in deciding how it will operate.

Age, citizenship, term elapsing, and residency requirements

Representatives:

• Must exist at least 25 years erstwhile.
• Must exist citizens for at least seven years.
• Are elected to a ii-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, but the representative count has since increased, as the U.S. Business firm of Representatives History, Fine art, and Archives website describes. The apportionment was to be based on an enumeration (population census) that was to be made within 3 years of the Constitution being ratified (approved) by the xiii states, and and then every 10 years thereafter.

The Circulation Human activity of 1911 and its successor, the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, capped the number of representatives at 435. For this reason, equally of the 2010 Demography, the boilerplate number of inhabitants in a congressional district is well-nigh 710,000. The Firm of Representatives Archives 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 big states a higher proportion of representatives than smaller states.

Power to devise its ain rules of functioning

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

• Only a numerical bulk is required to laissez passer legislation in the House, which allows bills to exist processed apace. By dissimilarity, Senate votes typically crave a 3-fifths majority, or 60 votes in favor.
• Majority party leaders in the House control the priority of various policies and determine which bills brand their mode to the House flooring for debate. In the Senate, minority party leaders have more than influence over such procedures, and then the majority leaders must piece of work more closely with them.

Ability of impeachment

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution states that the Business firm "shall accept the sole ability of impeachment." This ability 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 convict and remove the official from office. This follows a blueprint 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 iii: Composition and Office of the Senate

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

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

Historic period, citizenship, term elapsing, and residency requirements

The Constitution requires that senators be at to the lowest degree 30 years onetime, U.S. citizens for at least nine years, and residents of the states they'll represent. Senate terms are for six years; the terms are staggered and so that approximately a tertiary of all senate seats are upwardly for election every two years. This is intended to protect the Senate from short-term political pressure and to ensure that turnover in the Senate occurs evenly, rather than having stasis for half-dozen years followed past upheaval.

Allotment of Senators: Two per State

As the Senate website indicates, the reason the framers decided to allow each country to be represented by 2 senators was to forestall the big states from overpowering their smaller counterparts. Benjamin Franklin believed that states should have equal votes in all matters except those involving money. (Article I, Section eight assigns to the Firm the power to tax and spend; this clause is described in the following section.)

Power to devise its own rules of operation

The Senate has the constitutional authority to fix its ain rules, just as the House does. The Senate website quotes George Washington as explaining to Thomas Jefferson that the framers intended the Senate to "absurd" legislation passed by the House "just as a saucer is used to cool hot tea."

• In the Senate, individual senators have more than options to irksome the progress of a bill by making procedural requests, such as keeping flooring fence open on the matter 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, just they must work with minority party leaders — and often all senators — to determine the floor agenda: the order in which items are brought earlier the Senate.

Vice president as president of the Senate

The Constitution makes the vice president the president of the Senate, just the vice president is immune to vote only to break a tie. The Senate is empowered to choose its own officers and president pro tempore to preside over the Senate when the vice president is unavailable.

Power to endeavor and pass judgment on all impeachments

Senators are empowered to effort and approximate impeachments; in this capacity, they serve under "oath or affirmation." In the example of a president'southward impeachment, the master justice of the U.s. presides. An impeachment conviction requires a two-thirds majority vote of the full Senate.

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

Resources on the structure and role of the House of Representatives and Senate

• Cornell Police School's Legal Information Institute offers a fully annotated version of the Constitution and an explanation of the Constitution compiled by the Congressional Research Service.
• The S. Capitol Company Heart features a study guide that explains the departure betwixt the Firm and Senate. Information technology poses half dozen questions near the constitutional footing for the 2 houses of Congress and provides sample answers.

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U.Southward. Firm of Representatives: Roles and Responsibilities

The duties of the Firm 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, Section 1, as the Legal Data Institute explains.

In the early Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland, Main Justice John Marshall wrote that the government is "one of enumerated powers," which means that it can practise simply the powers that have been granted to it explicitly by the Constitution. Paired with this doctrine is the ruling that legislative powers may not exist delegated to whatever other branch of government.

Subsequent rulings take modified these 2 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 8.

This gives Congress the right to do any "means which are appropriate" to perform its constitutional duties, unless those means are inconsistent with "the letter and spirit of the Constitution."

• Implied powers are those that aren't explicitly stipulated in the Constitution, just the government assumes these powers are granted to it by inference based on prior Supreme Court decisions, as the Legal Dictionary 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 and then that it can exercise its enumerated powers. The Legal Data Establish gives equally an example the ability to larn territory, which results from the enumerated powers to brand war and treaties.
• Inherent powers are also called implied powers, as the Constitution Annotated notes. They're powers that Congress possesses fifty-fifty though they've never been explicitly exercised. An case would be the power to tax cyberspace service providers.

Only congress may declare state of 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 eight of the Constitution. The taxing and spending clause and the commerce clause take been used to broaden congressional authority over federal tax and economic policy.

In addition, Congress' war powers have created a lot of friction between the executive and legislative branches. For example, presidents have tried to expand their ability to engage the U.Due south. war machine in overseas conflicts, every bit the Business firm of Representatives Archive describes. For example, in the period later on World War Two, presidents committed troops to the Dominican Republic, Laos, and Vietnam, among other countries, without requesting or receiving authorization from Congress.

The House originates all acquirement legislation

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution states that bills intended to raise acquirement must originate in the House. This is 1 of the major differences between the Firm 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 Firm.

Bills require merely a numerical bulk vote

The decision of the framers to permit bills to pass the House afterward getting a simple majority of votes was motivated by the want to allow legislation to exist enacted apace. The responsibility for assessing and developing bills belongs to standing committees that are chaired by members of the majority political party, simply are fabricated up of members of both parties, as the Congressional Research Service explains.

Majority party powers and prerogatives

The of import part of political parties in the organisation and performance of the House is described by the House of Representatives Annal. The majority party elects a speaker of the business firm and chooses other leadership positions, including the chair of all House committees. In that location are more members of the Business firm than of the Senate, so the bulk party wields more than power in the lower chamber.

Set policy agenda

The speaker of the house usually selects the Firm majority leader. The House bulk leader is charged with formulating the political party's legislative agenda, equally described by USHistory.org. The minority party chooses a minority leader whose bear on on the House policy agenda is much more than limited.

Decide which legislation reaches the House flooring

Among the duties of the speaker of the firm 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 exist debated and voted upon by the entire body of representatives.

Chair all committees

While majority party members are chosen to chair all Firm committees, they must work with the ranking fellow member of the minority political party to ready bills for deliberation by all Firm members. The Firm of Representatives Athenaeum describes the iii types of Business firm committees:

• Standing 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.
• Joint committees include members from the House and Senate, usually to report 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 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 bones 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 blessing presidential nominees, approving treaties, and managing internal matters.

Powers

The Senate receives all its potency 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 Article I, Section 8 necessary and proper clause.

Simply the Senate confirms presidential nominations and treaties

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution grants the president power to nominate and appoint ambassadors, Supreme Court justices, and "other officers of the United States." All the same, the Constitution requires that nominations and appointments exist fabricated "with the Advice and Consent of the Senate."

Similarly, the Senate is empowered to approve treaties proposed past the president by a 2-thirds bulk vote. The Senate likewise has the power to change a treaty's terms. (The president's 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 sleeping room of Congress subsequently early on state senates and the governor's councils of the Colonial era. To shield senators from short-term political pressure, their terms were set at 6 years rather than the two-twelvemonth terms of House representatives.

The Senate was intended to human activity more deliberately than the House. This emphasizes the Senate'due south duty to propose on and consent to actions taken in the House and past the executive branch of regime. In this role, the framers expressed their "suspicion of the presidency" past allowing the Senate to serve as a check on executive powers. It also serves as a check confronting the impulsiveness of the Business firm.

Individual senators have meaning procedural leverage

The standing rules of the Senate promote deliberation past allowing senators to "debate at length" and by requiring greater than a unproblematic bulk to stop 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 bailiwick matter of the bills themselves. For example, the Existent ID Deed of 2005 passed every bit a "rider": an boosted provision to a armed forces spending act that in its original version made no reference to traveler identification, as ThoughtCo explains.

The consequence is an unpredictable daily flooring schedule for Senate business organization and the possibility that bills will be proposed whose subjects oasis't been researched or debated in commission. To bring some gild 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.

Majority party powers and prerogatives

In improver to the Senate majority leader's power to control debates on the Senate floor, the majority party is granted other rights in the functioning of the Senate.

Proposes items for consideration

The duties of the Senate bulk 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 bulk leader addresses any conflicts that may preclude proposed bills from beingness passed.

Negotiates with the minority party to carry Senate floor activeness

Nearly Senate actions require greater than a simple majority to pass. Therefore, the majority party must piece of 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 betwixt the majority and minority parties in the Senate as "one of compromise and common forbearance" that's intended to forestall stalemates from arising on important matters of legislation.

Chairs all committees

Similarly, members of the Senate bulk political party are called to chair all committees. Notwithstanding, the nature of the Senate requires that the bulk leaders of committees work with the ranking member of the minority political party to reach the committee's goals. The Senate website explains that the bulk party controls most commission staff and resources, simply the minority party retains a level of control based on its share of Senate seats.

Resource on Senate roles and responsibilities

• The Senate website details the institution's history and performance, including biographies of past senators, historical highlights, and a consummate chronology.
• The Library of Congress profiles current members of the Senate and explains the body'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 bill becomes police

The procedure that Congress must follow to enact legislation is described in Commodity I, Section 7 of the Constitution. USA.gov explains that anyone who has an idea for a new law is encouraged to contact their U.South. representative or senator to suggest it. Nevertheless, virtually bills originate in the offices of one or more of their legislative sponsors.

Footstep 1: The nib is introduced in either the House or the Senate

A bill tin be introduced by a representative or a senator; that person becomes the bill's sponsor (note that bills can accept multiple sponsors). Later on meeting in modest groups to hash out the bill'southward claim, representatives or senators assign the bill to a commission for further research, discussion, and potential amendments.

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

Once the bill is released by the committee, representatives or senators fence it and propose amendments or other changes prior to putting the bill to a vote. After passing in the initial trunk (House or Senate), the neb goes to the other body, where information technology'southward researched, discussed, and amended further.

After both chambers accept the bill, joint committees work out the differences between the 2 versions. Both houses then vote on the exact same pecker. If the bill passes, it's sent to the president for approving.

Step iii: The president considers the bill

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

If Congress adjourns earlier the 10-day period for signing the bill expires, the president can only choose non to sign the pecker, and the nib won't go police force. 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 House and Senate. If the veto is overridden, the neb becomes law. A pocket veto by the president can't be overridden by Congress.

Resources on how a bill becomes constabulary

• 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 footstep in the process of a bill becoming police force in both the House and Senate, including commission action, flooring action, conference committees, and presidential review.

Decision: 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 carefully balanced so that the duties of each branch were articulate 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 key component of the framers' ability-sharing strategy.

Despite struggles and challenges that arose early on in our country's history and persist today, the sectionalization of responsibilities and sharing of power have succeeded in keeping the wheels of government turning relatively effectively more than than two centuries afterwards the Constitution was written. While few ramble experts and political scholars would argue that the bicameral legislative organisation works perfectly, well-nigh would agree that the formulation has stood the test of fourth dimension.

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Additional Resources

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

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

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

U.S. Senate, "Constitution of the U.s.a."

Vote Smart, "Government 101: Congress"

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

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