The House vs. Senate: Elected Officials
While the Senate and the House of Representatives together make up Congress, they have different roles, powers, and requirements for elected officials. Let’s look at some of the differences:
House of Representatives
- Each state is represented according to its population.
- 435 voting members who each represent a district within a state
- Two-year terms
- Minimum age: 25
- Must be residents of the state they represent
- Must be citizens for at least 7 years
Senate
- Each state gets two representatives, regardless of its population.
- 100 Senators in total
- 6 year terms
- ⅓ of Senators are elected every two years, while the remaining ⅔ remain current members.
- This makes the Senate a “continuous body”
- Minimum age: 30