what does senate and house do? exactly?
930023
they write the laws for the executive branch to enforce.
838551
The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. Each state is represented in the House proportionally to its population, and is entitled to at least one Representative. The total number of Representatives is currently fixed at 435 by the Reapportionment Act of 1929, though Congress has the authority to change that number. Each Representative serves for a two-year term and may be re-elected an unlimited number of times. The presiding officer of the House is known as the Speaker, and is elected by the members. The present House delegations by state are shown in the article List of U.S. states by population.\n\nThe bicameral Congress arose from the desire of the Founders to create a "house of the people" that would represent public opinion, balanced by a more deliberative Senate that would represent the governments of the individual states, and would be less susceptible to variations of mass sentiment. The House is often considered the "lower house," and the Senate as the "upper house," although the United States Constitution does not use such language. The Constitution provides that the approval of both houses is necessary for the passage of legislation.\n\nThe House is generally considered a more partisan chamber than the Senate. Many of the Founding Fathers intended the Senate (whose members were originally chosen by the state legislatures) to be a check on the popularly elected House, just as the House was to be a check on the Senate. The "advice and consent" powers (such as the power to approve treaties) were therefore granted to the Senate alone. The House was granted its own exclusive powers: the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach officials, and elect the President in electoral college deadlocks. The Senate, however, can propose amendments to spending bills, try impeached officials, and choose the Vice President in an electoral college deadlock. The Senate and its members generally have greater prestige than the House since Senators serve longer terms (six years) in a smaller body and (in most cases) represent larger constituencies than Representatives.\n\nThe House meets in the south wing of the United States Capitol.
905738
They made two houses as a compromise between the (big) states that wanted a legislature representation based on population and the (small) states that thought all states should be represented equally. We have one of each now. Because the Senate has a set, smaller amount of representatives (senators), they are generally more respected.
474086
Senate:\nRepublicans:\nMajority Leader: Bill Frist (TN)\nMajority Whip: Mitch McConnell (KY)\nPresident Pro Tempore: Ted Stevens (AK)\n\nDemocrats:\nMinority Leader: Harry Reid (NV)\nMinority Whip: Dick Durbin (IL)\n\nHouse:\nRepublicans: \nSpeaker of the House: Dennis Hastert (IL)\nMajority Leader: John Boehner (OH)\nMajority Whip: Roy Blunt (MO)\n\nDemocrats: \nMinority Leader: Nancy Pelosi (CA)\nMinority Whip: Steny Hoyer (MD)\n\nThe Majority Leaders in both houses are in charge directing legislation onto the Floor of their chambers.  They lead their parties and determine what position their party will take on any particular legislation.  The Whips are in charge of rounding up votes.  They must ensure that the party members are going to vote with the party, and they can tally what legislation can and can't pass.\n\nThe Speaker of the House is the 3rd in the line of Constitutional succession after the President and Vice-President.  He presides over the House of Representatives and conducts affairs.  He also has control over the powerful Rules Committee, which determines what legislation gets to the floor of the House and what kind of debate it can have.\n\nThe President Pro Tempore is the presiding officer of the Senate when the Vice President is not around.  He doesn't really have much power outside of that.
976839
Bills regarding taxes and appropriations for the expenses of the government must emanate from the House of Congress.\nBills affecting names of streets, public schools and other public places are initiated in the Lower House. \n\nBills affecting the whole country are passed in the Senate.
164793
Every state gets 2 senators while each state gets a specific number of Representatives based on population.\n\nSenators serve 6 year terms and House members serve two year terms.  \n\nThe senate is considered the upper house of congress, while the house is the lower.
978405
The United States Congress is an example with the House of Representatives and the Senate. The difference is the House represents states by population. The bigger the state the more reps you have. In the Senate each state only has 2 reps no matter the size.  Parliament in England is another example with the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Good luck on your quiz. Post how you did. I want to know
1174831
If you go to Congress.org you can get a listing of recent bill in Congress on both House and Senate.  It will also tell you how different representatives voted and what the final count was as well as a synopsis of what each bill is about.  I believe it also allows you to get info on state laws as well.  \n\nAnother great resource is the "Congress At Your Fingertips" directory.  It has all the contact info and more for every member of the House and Senate.  The book is printed by Capitol Advantage website www.capitoladvantage.com
752105
House. If only one.\nNot necessarily more power.  They just can just set the agenda better from the house.  Even though it may not get past the senate.
763020
The House is larger (435 members), and elected en masse every two years. The great power of the House is in taxation and spending. The Constitution requires that all revenue bills originate in the House. Therefore, the House Ways and Means Committee, House Budget Committee and the House Appropriations Committee basically control domestic spending.\n\nThe real power of the Senate lies in two areas: Appointments and Foreign Policy. The Senate is smaller (100 members) and has longer six year terms. And the Constitution requires all treaties negotiated with foreign governments to be approved by the Senate. It also requires all major executive appointments (members of the president's cabinet, ambassadors, etc) to be approved by the Senate. And all members of the federal Judiciary (most especially, the members of the Supreme Court) must also be approved by the Senate.\n\nBottom line -- The House dominates in taxing and spending policy, and the Senate dominates in appointments and foreign policy.\n\nHope this answer helps.
383713
Yes indeed. "Legislative" means the ones who actually pass the laws ("legis" -- from the Latin for law), while "Executive" means the ones who execute (enforce) them, and "judicial" means the ones who judge them.  So Congress (the House of Representatives) and the Senate are both part of the legislative branch.
696165
You would think the senate staffer would give you the best answer but he didn't, must be working for a (D).\nCongress, both the house and the senate have all kinds of cool non legislative powers.  not only does the congress(one or the other, sometimes both) have to declare war they also have to ratify all treaties, they confirm federal, appeals and supreme court justices, ambassadors, cabinet members, so they actually approved the late great DICK Cheney, they hold the budget purse strings, but that's kind of legislative, they can remove judges, presidents or anyone they approve through impeachment, they can investigate anyone in public, in some MA senators case they can get away with DWI and vehicular homicide and Child porn in FL. Okay the last two were political jabs but Congress has buckets of non legislative power, enough to keep them busy without passing any new laws all year long if they wanted.
283048
you are welcome :)\n\nWhat a coincidence Im just learning about this. I believe the answer is Congress (which includes the House of Representatives). Because congress decides how much money can be spent. But im not 100% for sure
21165
Congress is the legislative branch, and there is no universal head of congress, because congress has two houses.  The senate is chaired by the vice-president.  The House of Representatives is chaired by the speaker of the house.
177555
Members of the house are re-elected every 2 years (I think) whereas members of the senate ever 6 years (I think)\n\nMembers of the house have limited time on the floor to talk whereas members of the senate can rant on for as long as they want to.\n\nSenate has 100 members.  House has 435 members.\n\nSenate is more rowdy.  House is more gentlemen-ly
454841
You can always go to the webpages for the U.S. House and Senate. Through those pages you can see the congressional schedule and the various bills under consideration.
882810
Don't wanna be a wikipaster, so this link here will give you some good information. the higher rated answers above explain things nicely as well\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Senate