Comparing The House of Representatives and the

Senate

Everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask…

Background/General Info

• Which is considered the lower/upper house?• Why?

– Which is considered “closest to the American people”…why?

• Which is designed to give more power to states with larger/smaller populations?– The House = The more people in your state, the

more representatives your state gets– More people = louder “voice” or more “weight”

– The Senate = no matter what, every state gets same #

Qualifications for House Members• What are the 3 Constitutional requirements for

House/Senate members?• Term Length?

• Every 2 years, each and every member of the House must run for re-election

• Every 2 years, 1/3rd of the Senate runs for re-election; **never both Senators from the same state…

• There is a Congressional election every even-numbered year in the month of November.

• e.g., 11/2008, 11/2010, 11/2012, 11/2014

Members of Congress (MoC’s) • How many members in the House of

Representatives/Senate?• House members referred to as “US Representatives”,

“Representative” or “Congressman”• Senate members as “Senator”.

• What is the name of the geographical area they are elected from and represent?

• What is the minimum # of Reps or Senators a state can have?

**Most Reps in any state?

California has 53, Texas has 36

How many Reps does PA have?• PA currently has 18 members of the House of Reps

**Number has decreased by 5 over the past 30 years: used to have 23 Reps…

Who is our US Representative?• Tim Murphy (R – PA) represents us here in the 18th

Congressional district of PA

Our 2 US Senators

• Pat Toomey • Robert Casey, Jr.

Party Division in The House

• Current party division:– Republicans– 234– Democrats– 201

• 6 non-voting delegates…

201

234

Party Division in the Senate

• Current party breakdown:– 53 Democrats (55 total)

• 2 Independents caucus with Dems– Angus King (I – ME), Bernie Sanders (I – VT)

• 45 Republicans

45

53

2

RepublicansDemocratsIndependents