What’s the biggest difference between the House and the Senate in how they operate?
In the House, the party with the majority number of seats has the power. The House conducts most of its important business by passing rules bills. These are literally bills that determine how the House will consider a bill. Because a rule requires only a simple majority, the party with the most votes has the upper hand. In the Senate, while the majority still enjoys a tremendous advantage, any single Senator has immense power and can stop anything on their own. As a result, the Senate conducts a great amount of its business through something called unanimous consent agreements. Everyone must agree or things can’t move forward.
