Examine:Analyse The Similarities Between The Powers Of The US Senate and the UK House of Lords.

Paragraph Focus

• Para 1 = Scrutiny

• Para 2 = Financial Powers

• Para 3 = Delaying Legislation

Para 1 = Senate and Lords

• US

  • eg. the Senate amended the 2025 OBBBA reconciliation package, stripping out several provisions before final passage

• UK

  • eg. the Lords scrutinised and proposed changes to the Illegal

• this shows that both chambers have the power to scrutinise the other chamber by revising and amending legislation

• this ensures the legislation is more well thought out, and prevents one chamber from completely controlling the legislative agenda without checks

Para 2 = Senate and Lords

• US

  • eg. the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2026 enacted 5 full year funding bills and was introduced by the House of Representatives

• UK

  • eg. Chancellor’s Rachel Reeve’s 2026 Spring Budget was approved by the Commons making changes for pensioners and working households, this could not be altered by the Lords

• this shows that both the Lords and the Senate are inferior in terms of financial legislation

• in the US, this ensure that the chamber closets to the people with the most democratic legitimacy controls taxation and spending measures

• in the UK, this ensures that elected representatives have sole control over finance, making them directly accountable to the electorate

Comparative Theory

• this can be explained by the structural theory

• this is because the institutional structures limit the unelected Lords or less representative Senate from control finances

• in the US, the constitution requires revenue bills to originate in the HofR

• in the UK, Parliament Acts of 1911 and ‘49 bar the Lords from blocking or amending money bills

Para 3 = Senate and Lords

• US

  • eg. in 2022, there was a filibuster of the Freedom to Vote Act, where the cloture vote failed 49-51

• UK

  • eg. Nov 2025, concerns were raised over delays from the house of lords to the Assisted Dying Bill because the peers tabled more than 1000 amendments and it eventually died

• this shows that both chambers can use their powers to delay legislation

• in the US, this means that laws are more well thought out before passed

• In the UK, this means that the legitimacy of the Commons is undermined by the unelected peers