F9

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 each chamber; legislation passed by one chamber is not always passed by the other.

(a) Describe one advantage that the majority party in the House and/or Senate has in lawmaking, above and beyond the numerical advantage that the majority party enjoys in floor voting. 

One advantage that the majority party in the House has in lawmaking is that it has control of the Rules Committee. Whoever is in charge of the Rules Committee is in charge of when bills can be voted on or if they should be delayed. With that power, the majority party can make sure that a bill that they like will pass to the whole house or if a bill should be delayed until the majority will vote for it so it won't be defeated. 

(b) Describe one difference between House and Senate rules that may make it likely that legislation may pass in one chamber but not the other.

One difference between House and Senate rules is that the House does not allow filibustering while the Senate does. Filibustering is when a senator, who is opposed to new legislation, purposely talks for as long as he wishes on a certain topic to delay the passage of a bill. This is not possible in the House because there is a specific amount of time that the representatives have on the floor.

(c) Explain how the difference identified in (b) can lead to the passage of a bill in one chamber but not the other.

With the rule of filibustering, it makes it quite easy for the House to pass a bill but it makes it harder for a bill to pass through the Senate. In order for a filibuster to stop, there must be 60 votes out of 100 to make it stop. This makes it difficult to pass because many senators choose not to vote as it can affect them if they want to filibuster in the future.