Essay 8

Essay 8:

In the United States Congress, the majority party exerts a substantial influence over lawmaking. However, even when one party has a numerical majority in each chamber of the United States Congress, there is no guarantee that legislation supported by that majority party will be passed by both chambers. Rules of each chamber independently influence the likelihood that legislation will pass in that chamber; legislation passed by one chamber is not always passed by the other.  The majority party  has an advantage by assigning members to committees and appointing the heads of the committees.  Through this their committee controls most of the rules and sets the agenda.  The speaker of the house is also from the majority party.  They control debate, and assign bills to the committee.

The House and Senate have many differences which makes it likely that legislation may be passed in one chamber but not the other.  The Senate is less formal with its rules and procedures than the House, making it difficult for the two to agree on legislation.  Another difference is that in the senate, a senator can filibuster to stop a particular bill, but the House rules committees, so they can kill bills that are passed by the Senate.

Even though the House may pass a bill, the Senate can kill the bill with  a filibuster, even if the majority may want to pass the bill.  If the Senate passes a bill, the House Rules Committee can kill it before sending it through to other representatives.