The House and Senate cannot possibly deal with this many matters, so over the years they have arrived at a system that divides the labor among smaller groups, called standing committees, with each group focusing on a specific set of issues. While the committees of the two houses of Congress handle much of the same legislation, some differences do exist. Due to these constitutional conditions, House members are often thought to be more expert on fiscal, or financial, matters, while senators are deemed more knowledgeable of foreign affairs. The main powers of Congress are to raise money for use by the government and to decide in broad terms how to spend it. There are three major categories of bills considered by Congress.
Most bills are authorization bills, which create and set goals for government programs.
Appropriations bills are requests for money to fund these programs. And revenue bills are designed to raise money through taxation, and other means. The president also has a hand in the lawmaking process. Each year the executive branch presents a budget to the Congress, outlining the funds the president and the executive departments would like to spend. Congress considers the president's plan but usually changes it in many ways.