Which chamber of Congress is most powerful?
- House of Representatives designed to represent the people: direct elections every 2 years to
ensure they listen to constituents
- Senate designed to represent the states: originally appointed by state legislature for longer, 6
year terms, away from public pressure
- 17th Amendment introduced direct elections for senators (appointment deemed
undemocratic)
Concurrent powers of the House + Senate:
- Passing legislation: needs majority approval in both chambers
- Override presidential veto: needs ⅔ supermajority in both chambers
- Initiate constitutional amendments: needs ⅔ supermajority in both chambers
- Declare war
- Confirm a newly appointed vice-president
Exclusive powers of the House + Senate:
- Initiate revenue bills (House - FFs thought it was more appropriate for the elected branch to
propose tax amendments)
- Impeach officials (House)
- Elect president if no candidate wins majority of Electoral College votes (House)
- Confirm appointments e.g. to SC (Senate)
- Try impeached officials (Senate)
- Ratify treaties (Senate)
- Elect vice-president if no candidate wins a majority of Electoral College votes (Senate)
- Balance of power is much more equal between Senate/House vs. HoC/HoL
- Both chambers must vote in favour of a bill to pass it (whereas HoC can bypass HoL
due to Parliament Acts 1911/1949) e.g. 2010-2014 House voted 50+ times to repeal
ACA but Senate (Democrat-controlled) defeated it every time
- Senate regarded as more prestigious/powerful: Representatives often then seek election to
the Senate, but senators don’t really leave the Senate to run for the House; most presidents/
vice-presidents have come from the Senate not the House
- Representatives are elected every 2 years so are in an almost constant cycle of
election campaigns/fundraising; senators can focus more on legislation/raising their
profile
- Representatives represent a particular district, senators serve an entire state so have
more name recognition + a broader mandate (had to win over more voters)
- Senate has fewer seats than the House so the vote of a single senator can be seen
as more powerful
- Senators can filibuster bills they don’t like (b/c Senate rules allow for unlimited debate
whereas House rules don’t): cloture (= vote to end a debate) requires 60 votes + this
supermajority requirement gives individual senators significant power
- Article II Section II’s ‘Advice and Consent clause’: Senate votes on treaties
(supermajority required); have significant influence over foreign policy
- But to avoid this requirement (difficult to achieve) presidents have
increasingly used ‘Congressional-Executive Agreements’: proposed
agreement is put in a bill that both Houses vote on (so majority required
rather than supermajority); most trade agreements are now passed this way
- Revenue bills must begin in the House but the Senate can amend them as they
would any other bill
- ‘Shell Bill’: where the Senate amends the entire text of a revenue bill from the
House; essentially allows the Senate to write its own revenue bills
, - The House does elect the president if no candidate wins a majority of Electoral
College votes but this is incredibly rare in a two-party system (has only happened
twice, and not since the 1800s)
- The House has the power to impeach public officials but the Senate’s role of trying +
convicting them arguably has more impact
- House of Representatives designed to represent the people: direct elections every 2 years to
ensure they listen to constituents
- Senate designed to represent the states: originally appointed by state legislature for longer, 6
year terms, away from public pressure
- 17th Amendment introduced direct elections for senators (appointment deemed
undemocratic)
Concurrent powers of the House + Senate:
- Passing legislation: needs majority approval in both chambers
- Override presidential veto: needs ⅔ supermajority in both chambers
- Initiate constitutional amendments: needs ⅔ supermajority in both chambers
- Declare war
- Confirm a newly appointed vice-president
Exclusive powers of the House + Senate:
- Initiate revenue bills (House - FFs thought it was more appropriate for the elected branch to
propose tax amendments)
- Impeach officials (House)
- Elect president if no candidate wins majority of Electoral College votes (House)
- Confirm appointments e.g. to SC (Senate)
- Try impeached officials (Senate)
- Ratify treaties (Senate)
- Elect vice-president if no candidate wins a majority of Electoral College votes (Senate)
- Balance of power is much more equal between Senate/House vs. HoC/HoL
- Both chambers must vote in favour of a bill to pass it (whereas HoC can bypass HoL
due to Parliament Acts 1911/1949) e.g. 2010-2014 House voted 50+ times to repeal
ACA but Senate (Democrat-controlled) defeated it every time
- Senate regarded as more prestigious/powerful: Representatives often then seek election to
the Senate, but senators don’t really leave the Senate to run for the House; most presidents/
vice-presidents have come from the Senate not the House
- Representatives are elected every 2 years so are in an almost constant cycle of
election campaigns/fundraising; senators can focus more on legislation/raising their
profile
- Representatives represent a particular district, senators serve an entire state so have
more name recognition + a broader mandate (had to win over more voters)
- Senate has fewer seats than the House so the vote of a single senator can be seen
as more powerful
- Senators can filibuster bills they don’t like (b/c Senate rules allow for unlimited debate
whereas House rules don’t): cloture (= vote to end a debate) requires 60 votes + this
supermajority requirement gives individual senators significant power
- Article II Section II’s ‘Advice and Consent clause’: Senate votes on treaties
(supermajority required); have significant influence over foreign policy
- But to avoid this requirement (difficult to achieve) presidents have
increasingly used ‘Congressional-Executive Agreements’: proposed
agreement is put in a bill that both Houses vote on (so majority required
rather than supermajority); most trade agreements are now passed this way
- Revenue bills must begin in the House but the Senate can amend them as they
would any other bill
- ‘Shell Bill’: where the Senate amends the entire text of a revenue bill from the
House; essentially allows the Senate to write its own revenue bills
, - The House does elect the president if no candidate wins a majority of Electoral
College votes but this is incredibly rare in a two-party system (has only happened
twice, and not since the 1800s)
- The House has the power to impeach public officials but the Senate’s role of trying +
convicting them arguably has more impact
