Are the House and Senate equal in power?
Many people would argue that the house and senate are in fact equal in power because bills have to go
through all seven stages of the legislation process which involves both the house and the senate. All
legislation must pass through all stages on both houses, both houses have full power of amendment over
all bills, usually resulting in there being two different versions of the same bill once it has gone through
both houses. Conference committees are set up to reconcile the two different versions of the same bill and
these committees are made up of members from both houses and there decision must be agreed by both
houses. It takes a two-thirds majority vote by both houses to override a presidential veto.
There are some other powers which although are rarely used, the two houses share. Since 1967 by the 25th
amendment, should the office of the vice presidency become vacant between elections, the president is
empowered to nominate a new vice president, and the nomination must be confirmed by a simple
majority vote in both houses. In 1973 Nixon appointed Congressmen Gerald Ford as his new vice president
after Spiro Agnew resigned. Ford was confirmed by the senate by 92 votes to 3 and by the house 387 to 35.
The other power is that both chambers can declare war. However this power has not been used since
1941, where congress declared war on japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor, this was the fifth time it
had been used.
Both the house and the senate have standing committees which can conduct investigations of the work of
the executive branch and both houses can establish select committees to perform the same function.
However with the functions of the chambers standing committees they are both same apart from the
senate has an extra function. This is to begin the confirmation process of numerous presidential
appointments to both the executive and judicial branches of the federal government.
Some people could argue that the house has more power than the senate because of the fact that the
House Rules Committee gets to prioritize which bills are even read first of pigeon holed. The house gives a
rule to each bill passing on to the floor for its second reading. The ‘Rule’ sets out the rules of debate by
stating, for example what if any, amendments can be made to the bill at this stage. This stage implies that
the house has more power in the legislation process than the senate. However senators have the power to
use the filibuster which could suggest that the senate is more powerful than the house in the legislation
process because they have the ability to talk a bill to death by using delaying tactics. The filibuster derives
from a senators right of unlimited debate which members of the House do not have. A three-fifths vote is
required to end a filibuster and this can be hard to achieve if the senator using the filibuster is of the
majority party in the senate. If a bill is delayed because a filibuster has been used then the time for the bill
will run out and therefore will not be passed because a decision hasn’t been made.
The senate has four exclusive powers, which are argued to be more significant than the House of
Representatives three exclusive powers. First of all the senate can ratify all treaties negotiated by the
president with a two thirds majority. The senate can confirm appointments to the executive and judicial
branches made by the president with a simple majority. The senate can try cases of impeachment, with a
two thirds majority the senate can convict or remove someone from office. If the electoral college is
deadlocked the senate can elect the vice president.
The general consensus is that the senate is actually more powerful than the house because senators
represent the entire states rather than just part of the state like a member of the House does. Senators
Many people would argue that the house and senate are in fact equal in power because bills have to go
through all seven stages of the legislation process which involves both the house and the senate. All
legislation must pass through all stages on both houses, both houses have full power of amendment over
all bills, usually resulting in there being two different versions of the same bill once it has gone through
both houses. Conference committees are set up to reconcile the two different versions of the same bill and
these committees are made up of members from both houses and there decision must be agreed by both
houses. It takes a two-thirds majority vote by both houses to override a presidential veto.
There are some other powers which although are rarely used, the two houses share. Since 1967 by the 25th
amendment, should the office of the vice presidency become vacant between elections, the president is
empowered to nominate a new vice president, and the nomination must be confirmed by a simple
majority vote in both houses. In 1973 Nixon appointed Congressmen Gerald Ford as his new vice president
after Spiro Agnew resigned. Ford was confirmed by the senate by 92 votes to 3 and by the house 387 to 35.
The other power is that both chambers can declare war. However this power has not been used since
1941, where congress declared war on japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor, this was the fifth time it
had been used.
Both the house and the senate have standing committees which can conduct investigations of the work of
the executive branch and both houses can establish select committees to perform the same function.
However with the functions of the chambers standing committees they are both same apart from the
senate has an extra function. This is to begin the confirmation process of numerous presidential
appointments to both the executive and judicial branches of the federal government.
Some people could argue that the house has more power than the senate because of the fact that the
House Rules Committee gets to prioritize which bills are even read first of pigeon holed. The house gives a
rule to each bill passing on to the floor for its second reading. The ‘Rule’ sets out the rules of debate by
stating, for example what if any, amendments can be made to the bill at this stage. This stage implies that
the house has more power in the legislation process than the senate. However senators have the power to
use the filibuster which could suggest that the senate is more powerful than the house in the legislation
process because they have the ability to talk a bill to death by using delaying tactics. The filibuster derives
from a senators right of unlimited debate which members of the House do not have. A three-fifths vote is
required to end a filibuster and this can be hard to achieve if the senator using the filibuster is of the
majority party in the senate. If a bill is delayed because a filibuster has been used then the time for the bill
will run out and therefore will not be passed because a decision hasn’t been made.
The senate has four exclusive powers, which are argued to be more significant than the House of
Representatives three exclusive powers. First of all the senate can ratify all treaties negotiated by the
president with a two thirds majority. The senate can confirm appointments to the executive and judicial
branches made by the president with a simple majority. The senate can try cases of impeachment, with a
two thirds majority the senate can convict or remove someone from office. If the electoral college is
deadlocked the senate can elect the vice president.
The general consensus is that the senate is actually more powerful than the house because senators
represent the entire states rather than just part of the state like a member of the House does. Senators
