“I would rather be a senator than a member of the house of representatives” Discuss this statement comparing the role of senators and members of the House of Representatives. (30 Marks)
The US congress is a bicameral chamber that consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each chamber is co-equal and so both can block each other. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives which are elected every 2 years. In the Senate there are 100 members elected every 6 years. Each senator must live in the state they represent and each representative must live in the state their district is in although some states say they must live in the district they stand for. This is known as the locality rule.
As a senator you would be in office for 6 year terms whereas a representative would only have a 2 year term. This allows senators more freedom as they are not tied up in constant election campaigning and don’t have to necessarily involve themselves in pork barrel politics at the beginning of their term. This means that senators are more able to focus on national or state issues rather than just local district issues. Senators can therefore see things from the bigger perspective because a representative may be fighting to keep their local fire station open whereas a senator is able to embrace politics on a state wide scale.
As there are only 100 members of the senate so it is seen as a more prestigious role than the role of a representative. In the past Senators were appointed by state legislatures as the more prestigious chamber and as a counterbalance to the ‘mob rule’ that the Founding Fathers often feared, although since 1913 the Senate has been directly elected. However, the electorate sometimes still imbue the Senate, which has a greater average age than the House, with greater wisdom.
Generally insider presidents have come from the senate rather than the House of Representatives. These include Obama and Kennedy. This reinforces the idea that the senate is a more elite chamber and gives it more status when compared to the House of Representatives.
Although the Senate and the House of Representatives are co-equal chambers when it comes to passing bills the Senate has more exclusive powers, including the ‘advice and consent’ powers, such as the ratification of the president’s nominees to the executive or judiciary and the ratification of treaties. This means that they can pass treaties the president has negotiated with other countries. Senators therefore have significant power over foreign affairs especially since America is seen as the most powerful country in the world. The Senate also conduct the trial of impeachment against high ranking government officials which means that they have the power to remove a president if they feel he has committed ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’. Uniquely, they can also filibuster. An example of a filibuster by a senator was Strom Thurmond of South Carolina who spoke for 24hrs 18 min against the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
However the House of Representatives have some significant powers. They can accuse and higher executive officials of ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’ which allows the senate to then try this official. This means that the Senate cannot try a high ranking government figure without first receiving a case from the House of Representatives. In this way the representatives can also choose whether they want to allow the Senate to try high ranking executive officials.
The Representatives also consider money bills first, which is a significant power they have. By doing this the House of Representatives is able to have a larger say in how the budget is spent and this helps them when pork barrelling, convincing federal government to spend money in their district or state, as well as looking at wider social or economic issues.
Representatives also are closer to home so are more aware of their local issues and needs. This gives a Representative more influence locally. Some voters may also see Senators as corrupt high end government officials whereas their Representative is someone who actually cares about them.
Overall it seems that both houses are co-equal with each house able to counter the other and each house having slightly different powers. Senators and Representatives earn the same salary. However, no members of the Senate have coveted being a Representative while many Representatives seek to become Senators. Therefore it would seem that the Senate is the more prestigious of the two chambers.