House of Representatives vs. the Senate

House of Representatives	Senate	Importance
Larger—435 members	Smaller—100 members	Different chamber sizes and constituencies influence formality of debates.
Designed to represent the population	Designed to represent states equally
Narrow (local) constituency	Broad (local and state) constituency
Shorter electoral cycle—2-year term	Longer electoral cycle—6-year term	Coalitions in Congress are affected by term-length differences.
Power vested in leaders and committee chairs	Power distributed more evenly	Roles of Speaker of the House, party leadership, and committee leadership impact the policy-making process.
Originates all revenue bills, impeach high officials	Ratifies treaties, confirms presidential nominees, conduct trials and convict impeached federal officials	Different constitutional responsibilities of the House and Senate affect the policy-making process.
Less reliant on staff	More reliant on staff	Staff handle constituent requests and legislative details.
House Committee on Rules directs time, debate, and floor action	Limits on debate come from unanimous consent, cloture of filibuster, or holds	The number of chamber and debate rules set a high threshold for building majority support.