Okay, it is now time to unconfuse Mr. Rabrrrrrr about gov. terms:

[Rabrrrrrr]

I always thought Speaker of the House meant the Speaker of the Senate - isn't that what that drunk fuck Tip O'Niel was? Speaker of the House in the Senate?

So I kept hearing about Pelosi maybe being Speaker of the House, so I assumed she was a Senator - come to find out this morning, she's a Congressperson.

(also come to find out that she is, indeed, the new Speaker! YAY!!!!)

I thought, in the presidential succession, the Speaker of the House who is high in line for taking the helm was the Senate one. Is it, instead, the Congress one?

It seems to me that some words are used interchangably about congress and the senate - I thought the legislative branch was just called the legislative branch, and that it was divided into the Congress and the Senate, Congress having some 500 members and the Senate having 102 members, and Congress sometimes called "The House of Representatives".

But sometimes I hear "House" being used to mean Senate, or sometimes, it seems, to cover both Congress and the Senate.

And the people in the Senate are Senators - the people in Congress are called Representatives, yes (or sometimes Congressman/woman)?

Will one, or more, of you please explain these terms to me and end my infernal confusion?

Thanks!

[Bossy Monkey]

1. Civics lesson on the off chance you aren't kidding

Congress (or the legislative branch) consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Thus one could theoretically call a Senator a Congressman, but nobody ever does. Instead, Congressman (or woman) always refers to a member of the House of Representatives, which I imagine is the source of your confusion.

The House has a Speaker; the president of the Senate is the Vice President of the United States. I seem to recall that Shooter McBirdshot has been neglecting this duty, but maybe I'm just making this up. I think the President Pro Tempore presides in his absence (and Wikipedia agrees), but since this is generally the oldest guy in the body in the majority party (at the moment, Senator Tubes of Alaska), the title is mainly an honorific.

Tip O'Neill was Speaker of the House.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. So Tip was a congressman?

Thanks for the clarification - this has been pissing me off for a couple years, and I figured it was time to actually ask someone to explain it to me.

Congress is the Senate and the House? No wonder I've been confused.

Thanks!

:yourock:

[billyskank]

4. Congress is the Senate and the House

Jeez Rabrrrrrr, even I knew that. :D

[LostinVA]

5. But, you can also call them both houses

ie "Both houses of Congress." Or chambers.

[ScreamingMeemie]

6. "Cesspools" comes to mind for me as well...

:hi:

[Richardo]

7. ...and he's an English git

:hi:

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. It's fucking confusing, that's the problem.

They should have let scientists design and derive nomenclature for this stuff - then it would make sense.

[kick-ass-bob]

3. Senate=Senators

House of Representatives = "Rep." before their name.

Congress "should be" both houses put together, but I can see where the confusion comes in. (Like when I just said "houses")

I think technically, all members of House of Reps and Senate are "congresspeople"

[sarge43]

9. Hope this helps

Congress: Formally, both the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, informally only members of the House are called Congress(wo)men. Formally, congresscritters are call Representative So&So (state abbreviation and party), Representative Nancy Pelosi (CA-D). The House of Rep is also informally called the lower house.

The Speaker of the House is a member of the majority party who is elected to the position by other representatives in that party. The Speaker is not the captain of the team, s/he has certain ceremonial duties, such as inviting the President to the House to give the State of the Union address. The Speaker is also second in the line of presidential succession. Right now Pelosi is Minority Leader of the House, ie she captains the minority party in the House.

All representatives run for election every two years.

The number of reps is determined by the population of each state. I forget the formula, something like for each 500,000 residents you get one rep. So California has a lot; Rhode Island has one. Also, the number of reps also determines the number of members by state of the Electoral College which is why pres candidates spend a lot of time campaigning in California and none in Rhode Island.
Right now as memory serves, there's 435 reps.

Senate, also informally called the upper house. It's Senator What'shisFace (TX-R). Each state gets two senators each. A senator's term is six years. However, every two years, one third of the senate is up for election.

There is the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate which I believe explains itself. Neither have any official or ceremonial duties; they're team captains. The Senate Pro Tem is the longest serving senator in the majority party. S/he is third in the line after the Speaker. The Vice President presides over the Senate and breaks ties on votes. So when you watch the Pres give the State of the Union, that's the Speaker and the VP behind him, representing the two houses of Congress.