Senate V House Of Representatives Flashcards
Why is the senate considered more prestigious than the House of Representatives?
Longer terms (6 years) They are expected to be a steadying influence on the immediacy created in the house with its two year terms
Senators represent a whole state not just a small district, this means they have greater status and uphold states rights and the federal system
What is the purpose of bicameralism?
‘An invitation to struggle’
They are supposed to be different
How can the president circumvent the powers of the senate?
The War Powers act
This is considered unconstitutional by most but the senate only has the power the president allows them to
How can the president circumvent both houses?
Obama normalised relations with Cuba through an executive order
DACA executive order due to congressional inaction on the DREAM act
What is the big power the house has that the senate does not?
Power of the purse
Sets the financial agenda and controls the purse strings of government through the Ways and Means and Appropriations committees
This means the house has stopped the wall and stopped Obama closing Guantanamo bay
Has congress as a whole ever been successful in using their power of impeachment?
Nope
Johnson (1868) and Clinton (1999) both acquitted
Nixon resigned before he could be impeached
What significant powers does the senate have?
Advice and Consent powers
-ratifying treaties and confirming appointments
The senate tried the president in the impeachment process and needs a super majority to convict
Individual senators can filibuster
Give an example of a v successful filibuster in the Senate?
Bipartisan filibuster in the senate by Rand Paul (R) and Ron Wyden (D) blocked the renewal of the Patriot act’s surveillance powers in 2015.
Why is the house potentially more powerful in the impeachment process?
It initiates it and only needs a simple majority
When has the senate been powerful in its decisions about treaties?
Did not ratify the treaty of Versailles or the Kyoto treaty or the UN arms trade treaty
When has the senate been powerful in its decisions about appointments?
They rejected Bork as Supreme Court nominee in 1987
Harriet Miers for Supreme Court 2005 and Susan Rice for Secretary of State in 2013 were forced to withdraw before their rejection. These were both presidential nominees
Why can we say both houses have an equal role?
The have to pass bills in the same form, equal role in legislation
What happened with Merrick Garlands Nomination in 2016?
The republican senate refused to hold hearings at all
Senate showed power over Obama
In times of crisis the senate often don’t use their powers and instead defer to the president. Give an example of this
Reflected in the declaration of war on Iraq winning an overwhelming majority in the senate (77-23)
Why has the senate been weak with Trumps nominations?
Friendly senate have confirmed appointments without proper scrutiny
Betsy DeVos was the first nominee to be confirmed in a tie break, VP Pence decided so she was confirmed
Gorsuch had frivolous questioning about whether he would rather fight one horse sized duck or 100 duck sized horses
How do the two houses have to work together?
Passing legislation
Passing constitutional amendments
Many amendments that pass in the house fail in the senate as did most of the ‘contract with America’
Why can’t Trump pass anything?
Even though Trump has majorities in both houses
He can’t repeal or replace Obamacare, get funding for the wall and has had to give Congress until March 2018 to pass the dream act. For the first time in a congress run by the same party in both houses there has been a government shutdown
Everyone hates him and his ideas basically
Why can the DACA dispute not be resolved easily?
The house would easily pass a bill but the senate are being difficult and this lead to 2018 shutdowns
How many members are there of the House of Representatives? What is the average number of people in a constituency?
435
around 550,000
elected every two years so have to be very district oriented
How many people do the senators for California represent? How many people do the Wyoming senators represent?
California- 32 million
Wyoming- 481,400
What is the difference between formal rules in the house and senate? Which house is more specialist?
House has more comprehensive and formal rules and a majoritarian system to make decisions. House members are more specialist and serve on one or two standing committees.
The senate has less formal rules. Tradition of consent and cooperation.
In the senate members are more generalist. They serve on two or three standing committees. More is discussed on the senate floor and the chamber is less committee based. Senators are more individualistic and due to filibusters have to work harder to find consensus,
name a vote that was unanimously passed?
No social security for Nazis Act 2014
What bipartisan filibuster did Rand Paul and Ron Wyden conduct together?
June 2015 to prevent the renewal of the surveillance powers of the patriot act.
With a supermajority in both houses, congress can overturn a presidential veto? When has this happened?
Farm Bill vetoes by GWB twice and overturned twice
JASTA was vetoes by Obama by overturned
