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How the Senate Functions Differently Than the House of Representatives [1]

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Date: 2025-06-01

100 Senators. 435 members of the House of Representatives. Membership in either makes you a part of the most exclusive club in the world. Yet the two chambers are very different when it comes to rules, precedents, and even decorum that it is surprising they can agree on anything at all.

The differences between the chambers can best be summed up by the fate of the Budget of Abominations. The partisan bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives in an orderly (for the most part) fashion while it faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.

Sen. Ron Johnson said Sunday that he thinks he has enough GOP colleagues on board with his opposition to the House's "big, beautiful bill" to stall its progress and make changes. The Wisconsin Republican's remarks underscore the potentially difficult path ahead for the sweeping domestic policy package, which just narrowly passed the House last week. As House Speaker Mike Johnson urges his Senate colleagues not to "meddle" with the bill too much, fiscal hawks in the Senate have signaled they won't support the package in its current form. "We have enough to stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit," Sen. Johnson said on CNN's 'State of the Union.'

How are these chambers, glommed together by the need to pass legislation, so different in character? What does the Constitution have to say about each chamber? Bear with me below the fold.

The differences start with the Constitution

The founders wrote a bicameral legislature in the Constitution as a part of a Great Compromise between the states.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

These are the qualifications for joining Congress. They look very similar at first glance (other than the age difference). However, in practice it takes a LOT more effort to get elected to the Senate than it does the House of Representatives. The length of term is another key difference — it was done this way to insulate the Senate from “the passions of the people” as the Founders did not trust the voters.

The House of Representatives has original jurisdiction for any bills that are revenue related although in practice this doesn’t matter because the Senate can modify or even totally strip out the provisions of a bill. The House of Representatives also is the only chamber that can impeach a member of the other branches. Finally, if there is an election where no one gets the majority of the Electoral College, the House decides the matter.

The Senate holds trials on impeached officials. It also “advises and consents” to all executive branch and judicial branch nominations of the President (which the House has no say in). The Senate also confirms all treaties with a 2/3rds majority. The Senate also chooses the Vice President in the event of no one getting an Electoral College majority.

The differences continue in the rules each abide by

House and Senate leadership have different rules and stratagems that are possible based on those rules.

The rules of the House and the Senate could not be much more different if they tried. The House is orderly with rules and procedures that do not provide much wiggle room. The Senate is built on nearly 225 years of precedents and norms that can change if they agree to do so. The Senate rules are like Calvinball in the respect that there are so many of them (that are often contradictory) that there is plenty of room to wiggle.

More differences than similarities emerge when comparing selected House and Senate rules of procedure for referring legislation to committees, and for scheduling, raising and considering measures on the floor.

This is partially due to the size of each chamber. 435 members are harder to manage than 100 and need much more structure to prevent the chamber from devolving into chaos.

House and Senate rules of procedure are largely a function of the number of members comprising each chamber. In the House, a structured legislative process and strict adherence to the body’s rules and precedents have resulted from the need to manage how 435 Representatives make decisions. By contrast, the Senate’s smaller membership has brought about a less formal policymaking process and a more flexible approach to the chamber’s standing rules. While individual Representatives must typically yield to the majority will of the House, the Senate usually accommodates the interests of individual Senators.

Here are some of the major differences in the rules and procedures of each chamber:

In the House, the person presiding over the chamber has great discretion in recognizing who can speak while in the Senate the presiding officer has little discretion in deciding who is speaking.

In the House, the rulings of the person presiding are rarely challenged while in the Senate these rulings are challenged and even amended to become new precedents frequently.

In the Senate (except in extraordinary circumstances) the amount of debate is unlimited while in the House debate time is sharply limited by the rules agreed upon.

In the Senate, a single Senator can filibuster proceedings for as long as possible while the House hasn’t had a filibuster since the 1800s.

In the House, debate can end early with a majority vote while in the Senate it takes usually 60 votes to end debate (50+VP for presidential nominations and a few other motions).

In the Senate, once cloture is invoked there is 30 more hours of debate while in the House once debate has ended there are few procedures that can reopen debates.

Most major legislation is considered by the Committee of the Whole in the House while in the Senate there is no such thing.

The rules adopted by the House sharply limit the type and number of amendments that can be offered while in the Senate the legislation can be amended at any time.

Germaneness (the amendment has to be related to the subject) is required in the House while in the Senate “riders” or nongermane amendments are possible in most circumstances.

The House sharply limits quorum calls from being used thus it cannot delay proceedings while in the Senate quorum calls are a popular delay tactic so that agreements can be made before a vote.

Roll call votes are rare in the House where they vote by electronic device while in the Senate roll call votes are common and there is no electronic device.

The House routinely adjourns at end of each legislative day while the Senate often recesses instead of adjourning.

The House has four different calendars for legislation and rarely extends calendar days beyond one day at a time while the Senate has two different calendars and frequently extends a calendar day beyond a single day.

Unanimous consent on the rules is the foundation of doing business in the Senate and abiding by the rules and precedents while in the House the Rules Committee in conjunction with the Speaker zealously controls the rules process.

The strength of party leaders is also a key difference in the chambers. The House has stronger party leaders while the Senate generally has weaker party leaders.

Party leaders and committees function differently in the House and Senate as well. The House elects a Speaker (Article 1, Section 2) who exerts great control. The Speaker is in charge of the calendar (what bills are debated and when that occurs) and influences the House Rules Committee in deciding the legislation to be considered. The Senate does not have a position similar to Speaker. In the Senate, the majority and minority leaders generally work together in consultation with all members to determine the schedule.

Conclusion

That was admittedly dense reading above, so I found this video that breaks it down in a 3 minute session.

If you want something a little longer (17 minutes or so), this video is amazing.

I know I should’ve led with this article for my civics series but I’m glad I wrote it now. Thank you all for the support you’ve shown me through some admittedly tough material to read.

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