Garrett Hollar

A. In the House of Representatives, the majority party has an obvious advantage over the
minority party. However, this extends far beyond the numerical advantage seen in
having a majority. Unlike the Senate, where they are free to discuss and debate a bill for
an unlimited amount of time, for example filibuster, the House is very restricted. The
House Rules Committee gets to examine each bill, and decide how long a bill is allowed
to be discussed, and can also put into place any specific rules about this debate and
discussion of a particular bill. The majority of members of the Rules Committee are, of
course, chosen by the Majority Party. For this reason, the Majority Party is able to dictate
rules and a timeframe for discussion of any bill, which gives them a major advantage.
B. Outside of the House Rules Committee, the Majority Party enjoys other benefits that
surpass the obvious benefits that accompany having a majority in any decision making
body. The Majority Party in the House gets to choose who serves as the Speaker of the
House, which is a very important and politically rewarding position. The speaker gets to
choose which members of congress get to sit on specific committees. This could be
used, for example, if the speaker wanted to form a Environmental Committee full of
congressmen and women who dont believe in climate change so that they do not pass
any restricting legislation. The Speaker also gets to decide which committees bills get
sent to. This can be very helpful, as he or she can send a gun restrictions law to the
Freedom to Bear Arms Committee.
C. While the House and Senate share a very similar end goal, to pass legislation, the way
they go about getting things done is very different. The House of Representatives is,
stated simply, much more formal than the Senate. Time limits on the discussion of bills in
the House set by the Rules Committee make sure decisions happen relatively quickly
and are not drawn out. However, in the Senate these rules do not exist, which opens the
door to Filibusters and secret holds. This can be a nightmare for members of the House,
as the Senate can delay bills they have passed for an indefinite amount of time. For
example, a bill can be tossed from committee to committee around the house for months
only to be shot down in a day by a filibuster in the Senate.
D. Another way the Senate can stall the House is by modifying bills so that they are no
longer germane. Another way of saying relevant or appropriate, germaneness is a
requirement in the House but not in the Senate. To stall legislation, the Senate can
modify a bill at a conference between the two houses that renders it non germane which,
according to the House rules, the house is capable of passing. The bill would then be
thrown back to the House where the process can continue over and over.