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Sunday, September 23, 2012

QOD- Senate & House- Mon Sept 24

QOD- Senate & House- Mon Sept 24...

What is the present makeup of the US Senate in terms of Republicans & Democrats?

What is the significance of getting 51 or getting 60 Senators?

How many Senators are up for election?

What is the present makeup of the House in terms of Republicans & Democrats?

What does a simple majority mean more in the House?

Student's Response....

Currently, in the US Senate there are 51 Democrats, 2 Independents, and 47 Republicans.  Of the 100 Senators in the Senate, 33 are up for election this year.  The significance of getting 51 vs 60 Senators is that 60 Senators is a super-majority, whereas 51 is a simple majority.  A super-majority is needed to stop a filibuster, or bring a vote out of cloture.  The current composition of the House of Representatives is 191 Democrats, 241 Republicans, and 3 vacancies.  All of the 435 seats are up for election this year.  In the house, a simple majority means more than it does in the Senate because there are so many more people in the house, it's more difficult to get one.  A simple majority is 218 members.
-Lila


The current number of Republicans in the U.S. Senate is 47 and Democrats have 51.  If a certain party gets 51 members or even a larger number it means that that party has a majority of the members and it helps them pass votes in the view of their party.  For this current election there are 21 Democratic spots and 10 Republican spots up for grabs, so the republican have a chance to gain a majority in the Senate.  As of October 2009 the current make-up of the House of Representatives is Democrats: 257 and Republicans: 178 and that makes up the 435 spots in the House of Representatives.  In the House if the simple majority is 218 and that means that if a bill gets past with 218 votes it will pass because it has simple majority.  
- Dani

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