Comparison To The Senate
As a check on the popularly elected House, the Senate has several distinct powers. For example, the "advice and consent" powers (such as the power to approve treaties) is a sole Senate privilege. The House, however, has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue; and has exclusive authority to impeach officials; and choose the President in the event of an Electoral College deadlock. The Senate and House are further differentiated by term lengths and the number of districts represented. The Senate, with longer terms of six years, fewer members (currently one hundred, two for each of the several states), and larger constituencies per member (in all but seven delegations); the Senate has been informally referred to as the "upper" house, with the House of Representatives being referred to as the "lower" house. Additionally, the Senate has traditionally been considered a less partisan chamber because fewer members gives the Senate a greater potential to broker compromises and act more bilaterally.
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