Clinton’Id rather be a senator than a member of the house of representatives’ Both houses need each other in order to function as they are both part of the legislative branch of government however there are many arguments to suggest that senate is more prestigious that the house of representatives. American citizens see a lot more pride in their senator as they represent the entire state not just a small region within it. For example Representative Joe Baca represents a single congressional region in California whereas Jerry Brown represents the entire state.
The senator has a greater reputation for representing the views of the state over what the party tells them or their own personal views which make the individuals within the state feel as though they are able to trust their senator. A typical American would know their own senator and a number of others that had perhaps run for president or have had a high profile in the media but they would know little about members of the house and would probably only know their own representative. Senators are also one of only 100 whereas there are 435 seats in the House of Representatives and so the senator’s ideas and opinions are more likely to be heard.
Members of the house only serve 2 year terms whereas terms are 6 years in the senate and so they are more likely to make a difference or even gain higher positions of leadership within their party. For example in 2003 republican senator for the state of Tennessee became the leader of the majority after 8 years sitting in the senate, representatives can still gain levels of leadership however, they just take much longer for example Nancy Pelosi also became house minority leader in 2003 but she had been in the house since 1987.
The House of Representatives has 3 main exclusive powers that could be seen as more important than the senate such as the power to initiate money bills, this is because at the beginning of America history the founding rather believed that as it was directly elected, the house should be responsible for how peoples money was spent. This is a huge responsibility as they are ultimately responsible for the state of the economy and therefore responsibly for the lives of everyday American citizens as especially in today’s economic crisis where there are many people unemployed and homeless nd so it is very important that money is spent correctly. The second power of the house is the power to impeach a member of the executive or judiciary if they feel they are not behaving correctly, this has happened 17 times since 1789, in 1980 they impeached 3 judges and in 1999 President Clinton. The final exclusive responsibility of the house is that if the Electoral College produced a deadlock the house would have to choose the president, this has only happened twice, in 1800 and 1924.
These responsibilities of the house are all of great importance for the American political system to function and could and have been fundamentally responsible for the leader of the country. On the other hand the responsibilities of being a senator could be more attractive as there is a greater platform to launch a presidential campaign than from the House of Representatives. Presidents such as Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Barak Obama were all members on the senate before starting their campaign.
In 2008 Obama himself and 5 of his competitors all had seats in the senate and 2 former senators were also running for president in 2008: John Edwards and Fred Thompson. The case is similar for those in the recruitment pool for vice-president, 4 of the last 6 vice presidents were either former or serving members of congress including the current vice president Joe Biden. The democrats have nominated a member of the senate to be vice president in 14 out of the last 15 elections. However Since 1789, 19 Presidents and 33 major presidential nominees served in the U.
S. House of Representatives at some point in their career so being in the senate is not the be all and end all. Senators have many more exclusive powers that are seen as more prestigious that the exclusive powers of the house. They have the power to confirm or deny any appointments made by the president, in late 2006 when secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld resigned, Bush had to get the approval of the senate to appoint his replacement, Robert Gates. The senate confirmed this nomination by 95 votes to 2.
The other exclusive power is its power to ratify with a super majority all treaties negotiated by the president, which means it is very important for the president to keep the senate informed about all treaty negotiations in order to make it more likely for them to ratify his decisions. Also although House of Representatives has the power to impeach someone the senate has the power to question this impeachment and investigate as the whether the person is guilty of what they are being accused of, if they are found guilty by the two thirds majority the individual is removed from office.
In the example of the 1980s where three judges were impeached the senate found all three guilty, whereas in the case of President Clinton in 1999 the senate acquitted him. Another exclusive power which could essentially be one of its most important functions is in the chance of the electoral college producing a deadlock, it is the responsibility of the senate to elect the vice-president- if the president is killed, died, is impeached, or convicted then the vice-president takes up office so it is very important that they make the correct decision.
To conclude it is clear that a senator and a member of the house both have very important roles to play but I believe that being a senator comes with greater responsibilities. Although both houses have equal power in the passage of legislation and both have to agree on any constitutional amendments the fact that a senator represents an entire state and actually takes consideration of the states wishes would give more job satisfaction, they also serve longer terms than members of the house which would could mean even the founding fathers saw their role as more important.
Although being in the house of representatives does have some very important exclusive powers for example in an electoral college they choose the president whereas the senate only choose the vice-president so that could be seen as a greater responsibility.
Looking at all the roles and responsibilities of both the house and senate I would agree with the statement ‘id rather be a senator than a member of the house of representatives’ as it is clearly a good platform for running for office and greater opportunities for promotion, also I feel that because your state knows are relies on their senator it would be greater motivation for doing an honest job.
