Congress is the bicameral (two-chamber) legislature created by Article I of the Constitution — the longest article, placed first because the Framers expected the legislature to be the most powerful branch. Its two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, share the lawmaking power but differ in almost everything else. Those differences are the heart of this material.
The Great (Connecticut) Compromise split Congress: the House represents people (seats apportioned by population), the Senate represents states (two per state, equal). Everything else follows.
| Feature | House of Representatives | Senate |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 435 members (fixed by law, 1929) | 100 members (2 per state) |
| Term | 2 years — entire House up each cycle | 6 years — staggered, about ⅓ up each cycle |
| Constituency | A single congressional district | An entire state |
| Minimum age | 25 | 30 |
| Floor control | Tight — the Rules Committee governs debate | Loose — unlimited debate (the filibuster) |
| Character | Majoritarian, faster, more partisan | More deliberative; individual senators more powerful |
Because House members face voters every two years in smaller districts, they respond quickly to short-term opinion and follow party leadership closely. Senators, with six-year staggered terms and statewide constituencies, are more insulated from momentary swings and act with more individual independence.
Floor procedure is the sharpest contrast. In the 435-member House, debate must be rationed, so the House Rules Committee acts as a traffic cop: it sets how long a bill is debated and whether amendments are allowed. This lets the majority move legislation quickly. The Senate has no such bottleneck. By tradition a senator may speak indefinitely — the filibuster — to delay or block a vote. Ending debate requires cloture, which takes 60 votes for most legislation. Because a minority can force the majority to find 60 votes, the Senate's practical threshold for a controversial bill is often 60, not a simple majority of 51.
Most powers are shared — a bill must pass both chambers in identical form. But a few jobs are exclusive:
The House alone originates revenue (tax) bills (the Origination Clause, Article I, Section 7) and impeaches federal officials (brings the charges, by simple majority).
The Senate alone confirms presidential appointments (judges, Cabinet officers, ambassadors, by simple majority), ratifies treaties (by a two-thirds vote), and tries impeachments (conviction and removal require two-thirds).
Memory anchor: the House accuses; the Senate confirms, tries, and ratifies.
The powers of Congress are enumerated (specifically listed) in Article I, Section 8: lay and collect taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce among the states (the Commerce Clause), coin money, establish post offices, declare war, and raise and support the armed forces. The list closes with the most important clause of all — the Necessary and Proper Clause (the Elastic Clause), Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, which lets Congress make all laws "necessary and proper" for carrying out its listed powers. This is the source of implied powers — powers not listed but reasonably needed to carry out the enumerated ones.
Article I, Section 9 states that "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." Translation: the executive branch cannot spend a dollar Congress has not appropriated. This power of the purse is the leverage behind every government-shutdown standoff and the way Congress funds or defunds agencies and programs.
A bill becomes law only by surviving an obstacle course. The order matters:
[GRAPH: A left-to-right flow of seven boxes — Introduction → Committee (most bills die here) → Markup → Floor vote (House: Rules Committee sets terms; Senate: filibuster may require 60-vote cloture) → Other chamber repeats the process → Conference committee reconciles differing versions → President signs, vetoes, or lets it become law. A "Congress can override a veto with two-thirds of both chambers" arrow loops back from the President box to Congress.]
Most bills die in committee, never getting a hearing, because a committee chair can simply refuse to schedule one. If the two chambers pass different versions, a temporary conference committee reconciles them, and both chambers must re-pass the identical text. Finally the president signs the bill, vetoes it (Congress may override with a two-thirds vote of both chambers), or takes no action.
Most real work happens in committees, not on the floor. Standing committees are permanent and handle most legislation by subject area; conference committees are temporary and reconcile House and Senate versions. Committees are gatekeepers: the majority party holds every chairmanship, and a chair can quietly kill a bill before the full chamber ever votes.
1. A. Cloture — a 60-vote motion — is the only way to end a filibuster and force a final vote. B: the House Rules Committee governs the House, not the Senate. C: a pocket veto is a presidential tool, not a Senate procedure. D: a discharge petition is a House device to force a bill out of committee. E: an override applies to a presidential veto, not to ending debate. Fix rule: 60 votes ends a Senate filibuster; nothing else does.
2. C. Originating revenue bills is exclusive to the House (Origination Clause). A, B, and E are exclusive Senate powers (ratifying treaties, confirming appointments). D is also a Senate power — the Senate tries impeachments while the House brings them. Fix rule: money starts and accusations start in the House; approvals and trials live in the Senate.
3. B. The Necessary and Proper (Elastic) Clause lets Congress take actions not specifically listed but needed to carry out its enumerated powers — the source of implied powers. A: the Commerce Clause covers regulating interstate commerce, not this. C: the Supremacy Clause makes federal law prevail over state law. D: the Origination Clause concerns where revenue bills start. E: the Tenth Amendment reserves powers to the states. Fix rule: a power that is unlisted but "needed to carry out a listed power" traces to the Necessary and Proper Clause.
4. B. Most bills die in committee, and a chair who refuses a hearing can kill one before any floor vote. A invents an automatic timeline that does not exist. C misstates the process — bills are not shuttled to the other chamber to rescue them. D reverses reality: inaction kills bills, it does not enact them. E confuses lawmaking with judicial review. Fix rule: no hearing usually means no bill — the committee chair is the gatekeeper.
5. D. A veto is overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both chambers. A understates the threshold. B assigns the courts a role they do not have in overrides. C describes the Article V amendment-ratification bar, not an override. E is a device to move a bill out of committee, unrelated to overrides. Fix rule: veto override = two-thirds of both House and Senate.
6. E. Six-year staggered terms and statewide constituencies insulate senators from momentary opinion swings more than the House's two-year district terms. A and C are House features that make it more responsive, not less. B is an exclusive House power, not the Senate's. D misattributes the House's short term to the Senate. Fix rule: longer, staggered terms buy insulation from short-term opinion.
7. B. The power of the purse means the executive cannot spend money Congress has not appropriated. A is false — presidential approval cannot substitute for an appropriation. C misunderstands the Treasury, which pays out only appropriated funds. D assigns spending authority to the courts. E invents a taxing power agencies do not have. Fix rule: no appropriation, no spending — Congress holds the purse.
8. C. When the chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles them and both chambers re-pass the identical text. A misassigns the Rules Committee's job. B invents a presidential choice that does not exist. D confuses lawmaking with the courts. E invents automatic Senate primacy. Fix rule: two different versions require a conference committee and a re-vote on one identical text.
9. D. Declaring war is enumerated in Article I, Section 8. A (executive orders), C (appointing ambassadors), and E (negotiating treaties) are presidential powers. B (judicial review) is a judicial power. Fix rule: if a power is listed in Article I, Section 8, it is a congressional enumerated power — war, taxes, commerce, coining money.
10. E. A determined minority can filibuster, and only a 60-vote cloture motion ends debate, so 55 votes is not enough. A wrongly extends the House Rules Committee into the Senate. B and D invent powers those officers do not hold. C reverses the Origination Clause (revenue bills start in the House). Fix rule: in the Senate, 51 passes but 60 is often needed just to vote.
11. C. The Speaker of the House is the only congressional leader named in the Constitution and is second in presidential succession after the vice president. A and E are party floor leaders, not constitutional officers. B presides only in the vice president's absence and is largely ceremonial. D is a vote-counting party role. Fix rule: the Speaker is the constitutionally named leader and follows the vice president in succession.
12. A. Revenue bills must originate in the House under the Origination Clause. B reverses the rule. C invents a joint-resolution shortcut that does not apply. D and E are not chambers of Congress and cannot originate legislation. Fix rule: all bills raising revenue start in the House.
1. A. Cloture — a 60-vote motion — is the only way to end a filibuster and force a final vote. B: the House Rules Committee governs the House, not the Senate. C: a pocket veto is a presidential tool, not a Senate procedure. D: a discharge petition is a House device to force a bill out of committee. E: an override applies to a presidential veto, not to ending debate. Fix rule: 60 votes ends a Senate filibuster; nothing else does.
2. C. Originating revenue bills is exclusive to the House (Origination Clause). A, B, and E are exclusive Senate powers (ratifying treaties, confirming appointments). D is also a Senate power — the Senate tries impeachments while the House brings them. Fix rule: money starts and accusations start in the House; approvals and trials live in the Senate.
3. B. The Necessary and Proper (Elastic) Clause lets Congress take actions not specifically listed but needed to carry out its enumerated powers — the source of implied powers. A: the Commerce Clause covers regulating interstate commerce, not this. C: the Supremacy Clause makes federal law prevail over state law. D: the Origination Clause concerns where revenue bills start. E: the Tenth Amendment reserves powers to the states. Fix rule: a power that is unlisted but "needed to carry out a listed power" traces to the Necessary and Proper Clause.
4. B. Most bills die in committee, and a chair who refuses a hearing can kill one before any floor vote. A invents an automatic timeline that does not exist. C misstates the process — bills are not shuttled to the other chamber to rescue them. D reverses reality: inaction kills bills, it does not enact them. E confuses lawmaking with judicial review. Fix rule: no hearing usually means no bill — the committee chair is the gatekeeper.
5. D. A veto is overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both chambers. A understates the threshold. B assigns the courts a role they do not have in overrides. C describes the Article V amendment-ratification bar, not an override. E is a device to move a bill out of committee, unrelated to overrides. Fix rule: veto override = two-thirds of both House and Senate.
6. E. Six-year staggered terms and statewide constituencies insulate senators from momentary opinion swings more than the House's two-year district terms. A and C are House features that make it more responsive, not less. B is an exclusive House power, not the Senate's. D misattributes the House's short term to the Senate. Fix rule: longer, staggered terms buy insulation from short-term opinion.
7. B. The power of the purse means the executive cannot spend money Congress has not appropriated. A is false — presidential approval cannot substitute for an appropriation. C misunderstands the Treasury, which pays out only appropriated funds. D assigns spending authority to the courts. E invents a taxing power agencies do not have. Fix rule: no appropriation, no spending — Congress holds the purse.
8. C. When the chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles them and both chambers re-pass the identical text. A misassigns the Rules Committee's job. B invents a presidential choice that does not exist. D confuses lawmaking with the courts. E invents automatic Senate primacy. Fix rule: two different versions require a conference committee and a re-vote on one identical text.
9. D. Declaring war is enumerated in Article I, Section 8. A (executive orders), C (appointing ambassadors), and E (negotiating treaties) are presidential powers. B (judicial review) is a judicial power. Fix rule: if a power is listed in Article I, Section 8, it is a congressional enumerated power — war, taxes, commerce, coining money.
10. E. A determined minority can filibuster, and only a 60-vote cloture motion ends debate, so 55 votes is not enough. A wrongly extends the House Rules Committee into the Senate. B and D invent powers those officers do not hold. C reverses the Origination Clause (revenue bills start in the House). Fix rule: in the Senate, 51 passes but 60 is often needed just to vote.
11. C. The Speaker of the House is the only congressional leader named in the Constitution and is second in presidential succession after the vice president. A and E are party floor leaders, not constitutional officers. B presides only in the vice president's absence and is largely ceremonial. D is a vote-counting party role. Fix rule: the Speaker is the constitutionally named leader and follows the vice president in succession.
12. A. Revenue bills must originate in the House under the Origination Clause. B reverses the rule. C invents a joint-resolution shortcut that does not apply. D and E are not chambers of Congress and cannot originate legislation. Fix rule: all bills raising revenue start in the House.