And so this is the firstīill being introduced in this first session The cover of a House bill, and notice some interesting things. Well, what does a bill actually look like? So, right over here is Left side, just like that, and the House of Representatives Picture right over here, the Senate chamber is on the That the Washington Monument is behind you in this Capitol building from the lawn, you can assume How laws get passed, in particular how do bills get passed by one or both of these houses. We're going to go into a little more depth in this video is exactly Number of representatives depending on their population. We talk about how it has two houses, the Senate that has 100 members, two per state, two times 50, and the House of Representatives

In other videos we have first started talkingĪbout the legislative branch of the United States federal government. With all of this in mind, the founders gave the Power of the Purse and other powers that more directly affected the people to the Lower House (House of Representatives), but they gave other powers (such as powers to confirm treaties) to the Senate.Īlthough this reasoning can help us understand why one house has a power and the other doesn't, the powers could be rearranged (theoretically speaking) and it wouldn't be a huge deal, so long as the power remains decentralized throughout the Bicamaral Congress. Becoming a senator is also harder, as there are fewer senators and the requirements are harder. Senators were (originally) farther removed from the people as they were elected by the state legislators, although this changed with the 17th Amendment. The Senate was supposed to be the elite house, which is why it is sometimes called the Upper House. But, as to the question of the duties imparted to each house, the founders did give each house different duties based upon how the house was set up. Ignoring the Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise), which was the historical reason for a Bicameral Congress, a divided congress helps make checks and balances on each part.

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