Members of the House serve afixed term of two years, with each seat up for election before the start of the next Congress.Special elections also occur when a seat is vacated early enough. The House's composition was established byArticle One of the United States Constitution. The House is composed of representatives who, pursuant to theUniform Congressional District Act, sit in single membercongressional districts allocated to eachstate on the basis of population as measured by theUnited States census, with each district having at least a single representative, provided that that state is entitled to them.[5] Since its inception in 1789, all representatives have been directly elected. Although suffrage was initially limited, it gradually widened, particularly after the ratification of theNineteenth Amendment and thecivil rights movement.
The House meets in the south wing of theUnited States Capitol. The rules of the House generally address a two-party system, with a majority party in government, and a minority party in opposition. The presiding officer is thespeaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof.Other floor leaders are chosen by theDemocratic Caucus or theRepublican Conference, depending on whichever party has the most voting members.
Representation of all political parties as percentage in House of Representatives over timeHistorical graph of party control of the House, theU.S. Senate, andpresidency[9]
Congress's structure was a contentious issue among the founders during the convention.Edmund Randolph'sVirginia Plan called forbicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House and equal state representation in the Senate.[10]
According toUnited States Constitution does not use that terminology. Both houses' approval is necessary for the passage oflegislation. The Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from several large states, includingMassachusetts,Pennsylvania, andVirginia, and called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored theNew Jersey Plan, which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states.[10]
The Convention ultimately reached theConnecticut Compromise or Great Compromise, under which the House of Representatives would provide representation proportional to each state's population, and the Senate would provide equal representation amongst the states.[10] In 1788, the Constitution was ratified, and it was implemented on March 4, 1789.
Less than a month later, on April 1, 1789, the U.S. House convened for the first time inNew York City, which was then the nation's capital. In 1790, the capital was moved back to Philadelphia, and the House met there from 1790 until 1800 when construction of the new national capitol inWashington, D.C. was completed.[11]
During the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with theU.S. Senate over regionally divisive issues, includingslavery. TheNorth was much more populous than theSouth, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives. However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed.
Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery. One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was theWilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during theMexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until theCivil War (1861–1865), which began soon after several southern states attempted tosecede from theUnion. The Civil War culminated in the South's defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Since all southern senators exceptAndrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the Senate did not hold the balance of power between North and South during the war.
During theReconstruction that followed, theRepublican Party held large majorities, which many Americans associated with the Union's victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877; the ensuing era, known as theGilded Age, was marked by sharp political divisions in the electorate. TheDemocratic Party and Republican Party each held majorities in the House at various times.[12]
The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw a dramatic increase in the power of thespeaker of the House. The rise of the speaker's influence began in the 1890s, during the tenure of RepublicanThomas Brackett Reed. "Czar Reed", as he was nicknamed, attempted to put into effect his view that "The best system is to have one party govern and the other party watch." The leadership structure of the House also developed during approximately the same period, with the positions ofmajority leader andminority leader being created in 1899. While the minority leader was the head of the minority party, the majority leader remained subordinate to the speaker.
20th century
The speakership reached its zenith during the term of RepublicanJoseph Gurney Cannon, from 1903 to 1911. The speaker's powers included chairmanship of the influentialRules Committee and the ability to appoint members of other House committees. However, these powers were curtailed in the "Revolution of 1910" because of the efforts of Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans who opposed Cannon's heavy-handed tactics.
The Democratic Party dominated the House of Representatives during theFranklin D. Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1945, often winning over two-thirds of the seats. Both Democrats and Republicans were in power at various times during the next decade. The Democratic Party maintained control of the House from 1955 until 1995. In the mid-1970s, members passed major reforms that strengthened the power of subscommittees at the expense of committee chairs and allowed party leaders to nominate committee chairs. These actions were taken to undermine theseniority system, and to reduce the ability of a small number of senior members to obstruct legislation they did not favor. There was also a shift from the 1990s to greater control of the legislative program by the majority party; the power of party leaders (especially the speaker) grew considerably.
According to historianJulian E. Zelizer, the majority Democrats minimized the number of staff positions available to the minority Republicans, kept them out of decision-making, and gerrymandered their home districts. RepublicanNewt Gingrich argued American democracy was being ruined by the Democrats' tactics and that the GOP had to destroy the system before it could be saved. Cooperation in governance, says Zelizer, would have to be put aside until they deposed Speaker Wright and regained power. Gingrich brought an ethics complaint which led to Wright's resignation in 1989. Gingrich gained support from the media and good government forces in his crusade to persuade Americans that the system was, in Gingrich's words, "morally, intellectually and spiritually corrupt". Gingrich followed Wright's successor, DemocratTom Foley, as speaker after theRepublican Revolution of 1994 gave his party control of the House.[13]
Gingrich attempted to pass a major legislative program, theContract with America and made major reforms of the House, notably reducing the tenure of committee chairs to three two-year terms. Many elements of the Contract did not pass Congress, were vetoed by PresidentBill Clinton, or were substantially altered in negotiations with Clinton. After Republicans held control in the1996 election, however, Clinton and the Gingrich-led House agreed on the first balanced federal budget in decades, along with a substantial tax cut.[14]
21st century
Republicans held on to the House until2006, when the Democrats won control andNancy Pelosi was subsequently elected by the House as the first female speaker.
Republicans retook the House in2010 elections with the largest shift of political power between the parties since the1938 elections.[15] Republicans held the House until Democrats retook it in the2018 elections, which became the largest shift of power to the Democrats since the 1970s. In the2022 elections, Republicans took back control of the House, winning a slim majority.
UnderArticle I, Section 2 of the Constitution, seats in the House of Representatives areapportioned among the states by population, as determined by thecensus conducted every ten years. Each state is entitled to at least one representative, however small its population.
The only constitutional rule relating to thesize of the House states: "The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative."[17] Congress regularly increased the size of the House to account for population growth until it fixed the number of voting House members at 435 in 1911.[6] In 1959, upon the admission ofAlaska andHawaii, the number was temporarily increased to 437 (seating one representative from each of those states without changing existing apportionment), and returned to 435 four years later, after the reapportionment consequent to the1960 census.
States typically redraw district boundaries after each census, though they may do so at other times, such as the2003 Texas redistricting. Each state determines its own district boundaries, either through legislation or through non-partisan panels.Malapportionment is unconstitutional and districts must be approximately equal in population (seeWesberry v. Sanders). Additionally, Section 2 of theVoting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits redistricting plans that are intended to, or have the effect of, discriminating against racial or language minority voters.[21] Aside from malapportionment and discrimination against racial or language minorities, federal courts have allowed state legislatures to engage ingerrymandering to benefit political parties or incumbents.[22][23] In a 1984 case,Davis v. Bandemer, theSupreme Court held that gerrymandered districts could be struck down based on theEqual Protection Clause, but the Court did not articulate a standard for when districts are impermissibly gerrymandered. However, the Court overruled Davis in 2004 inVieth v. Jubelirer, and Court precedent holds gerrymandering to be apolitical question. According to calculations made byBurt Neuborne using criteria set forth by theAmerican Political Science Association, only about 40 seats, less than 10% of the House membership, are chosen through a genuinely contested electoral process, given partisan gerrymandering.[24][25]
Qualifications
Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for representatives. Each representative must: (1) be at least twenty-five (25) years old; (2) have been acitizen of the United States for the past seven years; and (3) be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they represent. Members are not required to live in the districts they represent, but they traditionally do.[26] The age and citizenship qualifications for representatives are less thanthose for senators. The constitutional requirements of Article I, Section 2 for election to Congress are the maximum requirements that can be imposed on a candidate.[27] Therefore, Article I, Section 5, which permits each House to be the judge of the qualifications of its own members does not permit either House to establish additional qualifications. Likewise, a state could not establish additional qualifications.William C. C. Claiborne served in the House below the minimum age of 25.[28]
Disqualification: under theFourteenth Amendment, a federal or state officer who takes the requisite oath to support the Constitution, but later engages in rebellion or aids the enemies of the United States, is disqualified from becoming a representative. This post–Civil War provision was intended to prevent those who sided with theConfederacy from serving. However, disqualified individuals may serve if they gain the consent of two-thirds of both houses of Congress.
Elections
Population per U.S. representative allocated to each of the 50 states and D.C., ranked by population. Since D.C. (ranked 49th) receives no voting seats in the House, its bar is absent.U.S. congressional districts for the 115th Congress
Elections for representatives are held in every even-numbered year, onElection Day the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Pursuant to theUniform Congressional District Act, representatives must be elected fromsingle-member districts. After a census is taken (in a year ending in 0), the year ending in 2 is the first year in which elections for U.S. House districts are based on that census (with the Congress based on those districts starting its term on the following January 3). As there is no legislation at the federal level mandating one particular system for elections to the House, systems are set at the state level. As of 2022,first-past-the-post orplurality voting is used in 46 states, electing 412 representatives,ranked-choice orinstant-runoff voting in two states (Alaska and Maine), electing 3 representatives, andtwo-round system in two states (Georgia and Louisiana), electing 20 representatives. Elected representatives serve a two-year term, with no term limit.
In most states, major party candidates for each district are nominated in partisanprimary elections, typically held in spring to late summer. In some states, the Republican and Democratic parties choose their candidates for each district in theirpolitical conventions in spring or early summer, which often use unanimous voice votes to reflect either confidence in the incumbent or the result of bargaining in earlier private discussions. Exceptions can result in so-called floor fights—convention votes by delegates, with outcomes that can be hard to predict. Especially if a convention is closely divided, a losing candidate may contend further by meeting the conditions for a primary election. The courts generally do not considerballot access rules forindependent andthird party candidates to be additional qualifications for holding office and no federal statutes regulate ballot access. As a result, the process to gain ballot access varies greatly from state to state, and in the case of athird party in the United States may be affected by results of previous years' elections.
In 1967, Congress passed theUniform Congressional District Act, which requires all representatives to be elected from single-member-districts.[29][30] Following theWesberry v. Sanders decision, Congress was motivated by fears that courts would imposeat-large plurality districts on states that did not redistrict to comply with the new mandates for districts roughly equal in population, and Congress also sought to prevent attempts by southern states to use such voting systems to dilute the vote of racial minorities.[31] Several states have used multi-member districts in the past, although only two states (Hawaii and New Mexico) used multi-member districts in 1967.[30]Louisiana is unique in that it holds an all-party primary election on the general Election Day with a subsequent runoff election between the top two finishers (regardless of party) if no candidate received a majority in the primary. The states ofWashington andCalifornia use a similar (though not identical) system to that used by Louisiana.
Seats vacated during a term are filled throughspecial elections, unless the vacancy occurs closer to the next general election date than a pre-established deadline. The term of a member chosen in a special election usually begins the next day, or as soon as the results are certified.
Historically, manyterritories have sentnon-voting delegates to the House. While their role has fluctuated over the years, today they have many of the same privileges as voting members, have a voice in committees, and can introduce bills on the floor, but cannot vote on the ultimate passage of bills. Presently,the District of Columbia and the five inhabitedU.S. territories each elect a delegate. A seventh delegate, representing theCherokee Nation, has been formally proposed but has not yet been seated.[32] An eighth delegate, representing theChoctaw Nation is guaranteed by treaty but has not yet been proposed. Additionally, some territories may choose to also electshadow representatives, though these are not official members of the House and are separate individuals from their official delegates.
Terms
Representatives and delegates serve for two-year terms, while aresident commissioner (a kind of delegate) serves for four years. A term starts on January 3 following the election in November. The U.S. Constitution requires that vacancies in the House be filled with a special election. The term of the replacement member expires on the date that the original member's would have expired.
The Constitution permits the House toexpel a member with a two-thirds vote. In the history of the United States, only six members have been expelled from the House; in 1861, three were removed for supporting the Confederate states' secession: DemocratsJohn Bullock Clark of Missouri,John William Reid of Missouri, andHenry Cornelius Burnett of Kentucky. DemocratMichael Myers of Pennsylvania was expelled after his criminal conviction for accepting bribes in 1980, DemocratJames Traficant of Ohio was expelled in 2002 following his conviction for corruption, and RepublicanGeorge Santos was expelled in 2023 after he was implicated in fraud by both a federal indictment and aHouse Ethics Committee investigation.[33][34][35]
The House also has the power to formallycensure or reprimand its members; censure or reprimand of a member requires only a simple majority, and does not remove that member from office.
Comparison to the Senate
As a check on the regional, popular, and rapidly changing politics of the House, theSenate has several distinct powers. For example, the "advice and consent" powers (such as the power to approvetreaties and confirm members of theCabinet) are a sole Senate privilege.[36] The House, however, has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue, to impeach officials, and to choose thepresident if a presidential candidatefails to get a majority of the Electoral College votes.[37] Both House and Senate confirmation is now required to fill a vacancy if the vice presidency is vacant, according to the provisions of theTwenty-fifth Amendment.[38][39] The Senate and House are further differentiated by term lengths and the number of districts represented: the Senate has longer terms of six years, fewer members (currently one hundred, two for each state), and (in all but seven delegations) larger constituencies per member.
Since December 2014, the annual salary of each representative is $174,000,[40][41] the same as it is for each member of theSenate.[42] Thespeaker of the House and themajority andminority leaders earn more: $223,500 for the speaker and $193,400 for their party leaders (the same as Senate leaders).[41] Acost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes not to accept it. Congress sets members' salaries; however, theTwenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits a change in salary (but not COLA[43]) from taking effect until after the next election of the whole House. Representatives are eligible for retirement benefits after serving for five years.[44] Outside pay is limited to 15% of congressional pay, and certain types of income involving a fiduciary responsibility or personal endorsement are prohibited. Salaries are not for life, only during active term.[41]
Titles
Representatives use the prefix "The Honorable" before their names. A member of the House is referred to as arepresentative,congressman, orcongresswoman.
Representatives are usually identified in the media and other sources by party and state, and sometimes by congressional district, or a major city or community within their district. For example,Democratic representativeNancy Pelosi, who representsCalifornia's 11th congressional district withinSan Francisco, may be identified as "D–California", "D–California–11" or "D–San Francisco".
"Member of congress" is occasionally abbreviated as either "MOC" or "MC" (similar toMP).[45] However, the abbreviation "Rep." for Representative is more common, as it avoids confusion as to whether they are a member of the House or theSenate.
Pension
All members of Congress are automatically enrolled in theFederal Employees Retirement System, a pension system also used forfederal civil servants, except the formula for calculating Congress members' pension results in a 70% higher pension than other federal employees based on the first 20 years of service.[46] They become eligible to receive benefits after five years of service (two and one-half terms in the House). The FERS is composed of three elements:
The FERS basic annuity, a monthly pension plan based on the number of years of service and the average of the three highest years of basic pay (70% higher pension than other federal employees based on the first 20 years of service)
Members of Congress may retire with full benefits at age 62 after five years of service, at age 50 after 20 years of service, and at any age after 25 years of service.[46] With an average age of 58, the US House of Representatives is older than comparable chambers in Russia and the other G7 nations.[47]
Tax deductions
Members of Congress are permitted to deduct up to $3,000 of living expenses per year incurred while living away from their district or home state.[48]
Health benefits
Before 2014, members of Congress and their staff had access to essentially the same health benefits as federal civil servants; they could voluntarily enroll in theFederal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), an employer-sponsored health insurance program, and were eligible to participate in other programs, such as the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS).[49]
However, Section 1312(d)(3)(D) of thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided that the only health plans that the federal government can make available to members of Congress and certain congressional staff are those created under the ACA or offered through ahealth care exchange. TheOffice of Personnel Management promulgated a final rule to comply with Section 1312(d)(3)(D).[49] Under the rule, effective January 1, 2014, members and designated staff are no longer able to purchase FEHBP plans as active employees.[49] However, if members enroll in a health plan offered through a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchange, they remain eligible for an employer contribution toward coverage, and members and designated staff eligible for retirement may enroll in a FEHBP plan upon retirement.[49]
TheACA and the final rule do not affect members' or staffers' eligibility forMedicare benefits.[49] The ACA and the final rule also do not affect members' and staffers' eligibility for other health benefits related to federal employment, so members and staff are eligible to participate in FSAFEDS (which has three options within the program), the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, and the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program.[49]
TheOffice of the Attending Physician at the U.S. Capitol provides members with health care for an annual fee.[49] The attending physician provides routine exams, consultations, and certain diagnostics, and may write prescriptions (although the office does not dispense them).[49] The office does not provide vision or dental care.[49]
Members (but not their dependents, and not former members) may also receive medical and emergency dental care at military treatment facilities.[49] There is no charge for outpatient care if it is provided in theNational Capital Region, but members are billed at full reimbursement rates (set by the Department of Defense) for inpatient care.[49] (Outside the National Capital Region, charges are at full reimbursement rates for both inpatient and outpatient care).[49]
Personnel, mail and office expenses
House members are eligible for a Member's Representational Allowance (MRA) to support them in their official and representational duties to their district.[50] The MRA is calculated based on three components: one for personnel, one for official office expenses and one for official or franked mail. The personnel allowance is the same for all members; the office and mail allowances vary based on the members' district's distance from Washington, D.C., the cost of office space in the member's district, and the number of non-business addresses in their district. These three components are used to calculate a single MRA that can fund any expense—even though each component is calculated individually, the franking allowance can be used to pay for personnel expenses if the member so chooses. In 2011 this allowance averaged $1.4 million per member, and ranged from $1.35 to $1.67 million.[51]
The Personnel allowance was $944,671 per member in 2010. Each member may employ no more than 18 permanent employees. Members' employees' salary is capped at $168,411 as of 2009.[51]
Travel allowance
Before being sworn into office, each member-elect and one staffer can be paid for one round trip between their home in their congressional district and Washington, D.C., for organization caucuses.[51] Members are allowed "a sum for travel based on the following formula: 64 times the rate per mile ... multiplied by the mileage between Washington, DC, and the furthest point in a Member's district, plus 10%."[51] As of January 2012[update] the rate ranges from $0.41 to $1.32 per mile ($0.25 to $0.82/km) based on distance ranges between D.C. and the member's district.[51]
Officers
Member officials
Theparty with a majority of seats in the House is known as themajority party. The next-largest party is the minority party. Thespeaker, committee chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority party; they have counterparts (for instance, the "ranking members" of committees) in the minority party.
The Constitution provides that the House may choose its own speaker.[52] Although not explicitly required by the Constitution, every speaker has been a member of the House. The Constitution does not specify the duties and powers of the speaker, which are instead regulated by the rules and customs of the House. Speakers have a role both as a leader of the House and the leader of their party (which need not be the majority party; theoretically, a member of theminority party could be elected as speaker with the support of a fraction of members of the majority party). Under thePresidential Succession Act (1947), the speaker is second in the line ofpresidential succession after the vice president.
The speaker is the presiding officer of the House but does not preside over every debate. Instead, they delegate the responsibility of presiding to other members in most cases. The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the House chamber. The powers of the presiding officer are extensive; one important power is that of controlling the order in which members of the House speak. No member may make a speech or a motion unless they have first been recognized by the presiding officer. Moreover, the presiding officer may rule on a "point of order" (a member's objection that a rule has been breached); the decision is subject to appeal to the whole House.
Speakers serve as chairs of their party's steering committee, which is responsible for assigning party members to other House committees. The speaker chooses the chairs of standing committees, appoints most of the members of theRules Committee, appoints all members of conference committees, and determines which committees consider bills.
Each party elects afloor leader, who is known as themajority leader orminority leader. The minority leader heads their party in the House, and the majority leader is their party's second-highest-ranking official, behind the speaker. Party leaders decide what legislation members of their party should either support or oppose.
After the whips, the next ranking official in the House party's leadership is theparty conference chair (styled as the Republican conference chair and Democratic caucus chair).
The chairs ofHouse committees, particularly influential standing committees such asAppropriations,Ways and Means, andRules, are powerful but not officially part of the House leadership hierarchy. Until the post of majority leader was created, the chair of Ways and Means was thede facto majority leader.
Leadership and partisanship
When the presidency and Senate are controlled by a different party from the one controlling the House, the speaker can become thede facto "leader of the opposition". Some notable examples includeTip O'Neill in the 1980s,Newt Gingrich in the 1990s,John Boehner in the early 2010s, andNancy Pelosi in the late 2000s and again in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Since the speaker is a partisan officer with substantial power to control the business of the House, the position is often used for partisan advantage.
In the instance when the presidency and both Houses of Congress are controlled by one party, the speaker normally takes a low profile and defers to the president. For that situation the House minority leader can play the role of ade facto "leader of the opposition", often more so than the Senate minority leader, due to the more partisan nature of the House and the greater role of leadership.
Non-member officials
The House is also served by several officials who are not members. The House's chief such officer is theclerk, who maintains public records, prepares documents, and oversees junior officials, includingpages until the discontinuation of House pages in 2011. The clerk also presides over the House at the beginning of each new Congress pending the election of a speaker. Another officer is thechief administrative officer, responsible for the day-to-day administrative support to the House of Representatives. This includes everything from payroll tofoodservice.
The position ofchief administrative officer (CAO) was created by the104th Congress following the1994 mid-term elections, replacing the positions ofdoorkeeper and director of non-legislative and financial services (created by the previous congress to administer the non-partisan functions of the House). The CAO also assumed some of the responsibilities of the House Information Services, which previously had been controlled directly by theCommittee on House Administration, then headed by RepresentativeCharlie Rose of North Carolina, along with the House "Folding Room".
Thechaplain leads the House inprayer at the opening of the day. Thesergeant at arms is the House's chief law enforcement officer and maintains order and security on House premises. Finally, routine police work is handled by theUnited States Capitol Police, which is supervised by theCapitol Police Board, a body to which the sergeant at arms belongs, and chairs in even-numbered years.
Like the Senate, the House of Representatives meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At one end of the chamber of the House is arostrum from which thespeaker, Speaker pro tempore, or (when in Committee of the Whole House) the chair presides.[53] The lower tiers of the rostrum are used by clerks and other officials. A table in front of the rostrum is used by the official reporters. Members' seats are arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern facing the rostrum and are divided by a wide central aisle.[54] By tradition, Democrats sit on the left of the center aisle, while Republicans sit on the right, facing the presiding officer's chair.[55] Sittings are normally held on weekdays; meetings on Saturdays and Sundays are rare. Sittings of the House are generally open to the public; visitors must obtain a House Gallery pass from a congressional office.[56] Sittings are broadcast live on television and have been streamed live onC-SPAN since March 19, 1979,[57] and onHouseLive, the official streaming service operated by the Clerk, since the early 2010s.
The procedure of the House depends not only on the rules, but also on a variety of customs, precedents, and traditions. In many cases, the House waives some of its stricter rules (including time limits on debates) byunanimous consent.[58] A member may block a unanimous consent agreement, but objections are rare. The presiding officer, thespeaker of the House enforces the rules of the House, and may warn members who deviate from them. The speaker uses agavel to maintain order.[59] Legislation to be considered by the House is placed in a box called the hopper.[60]
In one of its first resolutions, the U.S. House of Representatives established theOffice of the Sergeant at Arms. In an American tradition adopted from English custom in 1789 by the first speaker of the House,Frederick Muhlenberg ofPennsylvania, theMace of the United States House of Representatives is used to open all sessions of the House. It is also used during the inaugural ceremonies for all presidents of the United States. For daily sessions of the House, the sergeant at arms carries the mace ahead of the speaker in procession to therostrum. It is placed on a green marble pedestal to the speaker's right. When the House is in committee, the mace is moved to a pedestal next to the desk of the Sergeant at Arms.[61]
The Constitution provides that a majority of the House constitutes aquorum to do business.[62] Under the rules and customs of the House, a quorum is always assumed present unless aquorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. House rules prevent a member from making a point of order that a quorum is not present unless a question is being voted on. The presiding officer does not accept a point of order of no quorum during general debate, or when a question is not before the House.[63]
During debates, a member may speak only if called upon by the presiding officer. The presiding officer decides which members to recognize, and can therefore control the course of debate.[64] All speeches must be addressed to the presiding officer, using the words "Mr. Speaker" or "Madam Speaker". Only the presiding officer may be directly addressed in speeches; other members must be referred to in the third person. In most cases, members do not refer to each other only by name, but also by state, using forms such as "the gentleman from Virginia", "the distinguished gentlewoman from California", or "my distinguished friend from Alabama".
There are 448 permanent seats on the House Floor and four tables, two on each side. These tables are occupied by members of the committee that have brought a bill to the floor for consideration and by the party leadership. Members address the House from microphones at any table or "the well", the area immediately in front of the rostrum.[65]
Passage of legislation
Under theU.S. Constitution, the House of Representatives determines the rules according to which it passes legislation. Any of the rules can be changed with each new Congress, but in practice each new session amends a standing set of rules built up over the history of the body in an early resolution published for public inspection.[66] Before legislation reaches the floor of the House, theRules Committee normally passes a rule to govern debate on that measure (which then must be passed by the full House before it becomes effective). For instance, the committee determines if amendments to the bill are permitted. An "open rule" permits all germane amendments, but a "closed rule" restricts or even prohibits amendment. Debate on a bill is generally restricted to one hour, equally divided between the majority and minority parties. Each side is led during the debate by a "floor manager", who allocates debate time to members who wish to speak. On contentious matters, many members may wish to speak; thus, a member may receive as little as one minute, or even thirty seconds, to make their point.[67]
When debate concludes, the motion is put to a vote.[68] In many cases, the House votes by voice vote; the presiding officer puts the question, and members respond either "yea!" or "aye!" (in favor of the motion) or "nay!" or "no!" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote. A member may, however, challenge the presiding officer's assessment and "request the yeas and nays" or "request a recorded vote". The request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth of the members present. Traditionally, however, members of Congress second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy. Some votes are always recorded, such as those on the annual budget.[69]
A recorded vote may be taken in one of three different ways. One is electronically. Members use a personal identification card to record their votes at 46 voting stations in the chamber. Votes are usually held in this way. A second mode of recorded vote is by teller. Members hand in colored cards to indicate their votes: green for "yea", red for "nay", and orange for "present" (i.e., to abstain). Teller votes are normally held only when electronic voting breaks down. Finally, the House may conduct aroll call vote. The Clerk reads the list of members of the House, each of whom announces their vote when their name is called. This procedure is only used rarely (and usually for ceremonial occasions, such as for the election of a speaker) because of the time consumed by calling over four hundred names.[69]
Voting traditionally lasts for, at most, fifteen minutes, but it may be extended if the leadership needs to "whip" more members into alignment.[69] The 2003 vote on the prescription drug benefit was open for three hours, from 3:00 to 6:00 a.m., to receive four additional votes, three of which were necessary to pass the legislation.[70] The 2005 vote on theCentral American Free Trade Agreement was open for one hour, from 11:00 p.m. to midnight.[71] An October 2005 vote on facilitating refinery construction was kept open for forty minutes.[72]
Presiding officers may vote like other members. They may not, however, vote twice in the event of a tie; rather, a tie vote defeats the motion.[73]
The House uses committees and their subcommittees for a variety of purposes, including the review of bills and the oversight of the executive branch. The appointment of committee members is formally made by the whole House, but the choice of members is actually made by the political parties. Generally, each party honors the preferences of individual members, giving priority on the basis of seniority. Historically, membership on committees has been in rough proportion to the party's strength in the House, with two exceptions: on the Rules Committee, the majority party fills nine of the thirteen seats;[74] and on the Ethics Committee, each party has an equal number of seats.[75] However, when party control in the House is closely divided, extra seats on committees are sometimes allocated to the majority party. In the 109th Congress, for example, the Republicans controlled about 53% of the House, but had 54% of the Appropriations Committee members, 55% of the members on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and 58% of the members on the Judiciary Committee.
The largest committee of the House is theCommittee of the Whole, which, as its name suggests, consists of all members of the House. The Committee meets in the House chamber; it may consider and amend bills, but may not grant them final passage. Generally, the debate procedures of the Committee of the Whole are more flexible than those of the House itself. One advantage of the Committee of the Whole is its ability to include otherwise non-voting members ofCongress.
Most committee work is performed by twenty standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a specific set of issues, such as Agriculture or Foreign Affairs. Each standing committee considers, amends, and reports bills that fall under its jurisdiction. Committees have extensive powers with regard to bills; they may block legislation from reaching the floor of the House. Standing committees also oversee the departments and agencies of the executive branch. In discharging their duties, standing committees have the power to hold hearings and tosubpoena witnesses and evidence.
The House also has one permanent committee that is not a standing committee, thePermanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and occasionally may establish temporary or advisory committees, such as theSelect Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. This latter committee, created in the 110th Congress and reauthorized for the 111th, has no jurisdiction over legislation and must be chartered anew at the start of every Congress. The House also appoints members to serve on joint committees, which include members of the Senate and House. Some joint committees oversee independent government bodies; for instance, the Joint Committee on the Library oversees theLibrary of Congress. Other joint committees serve to make advisory reports; for example, there exists aJoint Committee on Taxation. Bills and nominees are not referred to joint committees. Hence, the power of joint committees is considerably lower than those of standing committees.
Each House committee and subcommittee is led by a chairman (always a member of the majority party). From 1910 to the 1970s, committee chairs were powerful.Woodrow Wilson in his classic study,[76] suggested:
Power is nowhere concentrated; it is rather deliberately and of set policy scattered amongst many small chiefs. It is divided up, as it were, into forty-seven seigniories, in each of which a Standing Committee is the court-baron and its chairman lord-proprietor. These petty barons, some of them not a little powerful, but none of them within the reach of the full powers of rule, may at will exercise almost despotic sway within their own shires, and may sometimes threaten to convulse even the realm itself.
From 1910 to 1975 committee and subcommittee chairmanship was determined purely by seniority; members of Congress sometimes had to wait 30 years to get one, but their chairship was independent of party leadership. The rules were changed in 1975 to permit partycaucuses to elect chairs, shifting power upward to the party leaders. In 1995, Republicans underNewt Gingrich set a limit of three two-year terms for committee chairs. The chairman's powers are extensive; he controls the committee/subcommittee agenda, and may prevent the committee from dealing with a bill. The senior member of the minority party is known as the Ranking Member. In some committees like Appropriations, partisan disputes are few.
Legislative functions
Most bills may be introduced in either House of Congress. However, the Constitution states, "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." Because of theOrigination Clause, the Senate cannot initiate bills imposing taxes. This provision barring the Senate from introducing revenue bills is based on the practice of theBritish Parliament, in which only theHouse of Commons may originate such measures. Furthermore, congressional tradition holds that the House of Representatives originatesappropriation bills.
Although it cannot originate revenue bills, the Senate retains the power to amend or reject them.Woodrow Wilson wrote the following about appropriations bills:[77]
[T]he constitutional prerogative of the House has been held to apply to all the general appropriations bills, and the Senate's right to amend these has been allowed the widest possible scope. The upper house may add to them what it pleases; may go altogether outside of their original provisions and tack to them entirely new features of legislation, altering not only the amounts but even the objects of expenditure, and making out of the materials sent them by the popular chamber measures of an almost totally new character.
The approval of the Senate and the House of Representatives is required for a bill to become law. Both Houses must pass the same version of the bill; if there are differences, they may be resolved by aconference committee, which includes members of both bodies. For the stages through which bills pass in the Senate, seeAct of Congress.
The president mayveto a bill passed by the House and Senate. If they do, the bill does not become law unless each House, by a two-thirds vote, votes to override the veto.
Checks and balances
The Constitution provides that the Senate's "advice and consent" is necessary for the president to make appointments and to ratify treaties.[78] Thus, with its potential to frustrate presidential appointments, the Senate is more powerful than the House.
The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives toimpeach federal officials for "Treason,Bribery, or other highCrimes andMisdemeanors" and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments.[79] The House may approve "articles of impeachment" by a simple majority vote; however, a two-thirds vote is required for conviction in the Senate.[80] A convicted official is automatically removed from office and may be disqualified from holding future office under the United States.[81] No further punishment is permitted during the impeachment proceedings; however, the party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of law.
In U.S. history, the House of Representativeshas impeached seventeen officials, seven who were convicted. Another,Richard Nixon, resigned after theHouse Judiciary Committee passedarticles of impeachment but before a formal impeachment vote by the full House. Only three U.S. presidents have ever been impeached:Andrew Johnson in 1868,Bill Clinton in 1998, andDonald Trump in 2019 and in 2021.[82] The trials of Johnson, Clinton, and Trump all ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
Under theTwelfth Amendment, the House has the power to elect the president if no presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in theElectoral College. The Twelfth Amendment requires the House to choose from the three candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. The Constitution provides that "the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote".[83] It is rare for no presidential candidate to receive a majority of electoral votes. In U.S. history, the House has only had to choose a president twice. In the1800 election, which was held before adoption of theTwelfth Amendment, it electedThomas Jefferson overAaron Burr. In the1824 election, it electedJohn Quincy Adams overAndrew Jackson andWilliam H. Crawford. If no vice presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the Senate elects the vice president from the two candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes.
Historical composition
This chart shows the historical composition of the United States House of Representatives, from the 1st Congress to the present day.
United States House of Representatives, 1789 to present
^abThe Freedom caucus does not publish its member roster and the actual count may therefore be higher.
^The number of the majority party's voting representatives in the House in excess of the minimum number required to have an absolute majority of voting representatives.
^abc"Delegates of the Continental Congress Who Signed the United States Constitution"Archived January 14, 2021, at theWayback Machine, United States House of Representatives. Accessed February 19, 2017. "While some believed the Articles should be 'corrected and enlarged as to accomplish the objects proposed by their institution,' the Virginia Plan called for completely replacing it with a strong central government based on popular consent and proportional representation.... The Virginia Plan received support from states with large populations such as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and South Carolina. A number of smaller states, however, proposed the 'New Jersey Plan,' drafted by William Paterson, which retained the essential features of the original Articles: a unicameral legislature where all states had equal representation, the appointment of a plural executive, and a supreme court of limited jurisdiction.... The committee's report, dubbed the Great Compromise, ironed out many contentious points. It resolved the delegates' sharpest disagreement by prescribing a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House and equal state representation in the Senate. After two more months of intense debates and revisions, the delegates produced the document we now know as the Constitution, which expanded the power of the central government while protecting the prerogatives of the states."
^SeeH.Res. 78, passed January 24, 2007. On April 19, 2007, the House of Representatives passed the DC House Voting Rights Act of 2007, a bill "to provide for the treatment of the District of Columbia as a Congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives, and for other purposes" by a vote of 241–177. That bill proposes to increase the House membership by two, making 437 members, by converting the District of Columbia delegate into a member, and (until the 2010 census) grant one membership toUtah, which is the state next in line to receive an additional district based on its population after the2000 Census. The bill was under consideration in the U.S. Senate during the 2007 session.
^2 U.S.C.§ 2c "no district to elect more than one Representative"
^Section 2 reads: "Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress."
^abcBrudnick, Ida A. (January 4, 2012)."Congressional Salaries and Allowances"(PDF).CRS Report for Congress. United States House of Representatives. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on February 12, 2019. RetrievedDecember 2, 2012.
^Congressional Research Service."Congressional Salaries and Allowances"(PDF).CRS Report for Congress. United States House of Representatives. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on February 12, 2019. RetrievedSeptember 21, 2012.
^abcdeBrudnick, Ida."Congressional Salaries and Allowances"(PDF).Congressional Research Service Report for Congress. United States House of Representatives. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on June 10, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 21, 2012.
^Article IArchived January 28, 2010, at theWayback Machine, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School . Retrieved February 3, 2010.
^"The Rostrum".U.S. House of Representatives. Office of the Historian.Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 12, 2015.
^"Access to Congress".Digital Media Law Project. Berkman Center for Internet and Society.Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 12, 2015. "U.S. House of Representatives".The District.Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 12, 2015.
Brady, David W. (1973).Congressional Voting in a Partisan Era: A Study of the McKinley Houses and a Comparison to the Modern House of Representatives. Univ. Press of Kansas.
Brady, David W.; McCubbins, Mathew D. (2002).Party, Process, and Political Change in Congress: New Perspectives on the History of Congress.
Congressional Quarterly, massive, highly detailed summary of Congressional activity, and major executive and judicial decisions; based onCongressional Quarterly Weekly Report and the annual CQ almanac.
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1945–1964 (1965)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1965–1968 (1969)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1969–1972 (1973)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1973–1976 (1977)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1977–1980 (1981)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1981–1984 (1985)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1985–1988 (1989)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1989–1992 (1993)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1993–1996 (1998)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 1997–2001 (2002)
Congressional Quarterly,Congress and the Nation: 2001–2004: A Review of Government and Politics: 107th and 108th Congresses (2005)
Congressional Quarterly's Guide to Congress (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press. 2000.,
Cooper, Joseph (1970).The Origins of the Standing Committees and the Development of the Modern House. Rice Univ. Press.
Cox, Gary W.; McCubbins, Mathew D. (1993).Legislative Leviathan: Party Government in the House. Univ. of California Press.
DeGregorio, Christine A. (1997).Networks of Champions: Leadership, Access, and Advocacy in the U.S. House of Representatives. Univ. of Michigan Press.
Gertzog, Irwin J. (1984).Congressional Women: Their Recruitment, Treatment, and Behavior. Praeger.
Hardeman, D. B.; Bacon, Donald C. (1987).Rayburn: A Biography. Texas Monthly Press.
Hatzenbuehler, Ronald L. (1972). "Party Unity and the Decision for War in the House of Representatives in 1812".William and Mary Quarterly.29 (3):367–90.doi:10.2307/1923870.ISSN0043-5597.JSTOR1923870.
Kiewiet, D. Roderick; McCubbins, Mathew D. (1991).The Logic of Delegation: Congressional Parties and the Appropriations Process. Univ. of Chicago Press.
Klingman, Peter D. (1976).Josiah Walls: Florida's Black Congressman of Reconstruction. Univ. Press of Florida.
Grant de Pauw, Linda; Bickford, Charlene Bangs; Bowling, Kenneth R., eds. (1992–2006).Documentary History of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America, March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1791., 14 volumes of primary documents
Lowitt, Richard (1963).George W. Norris: The Making of a Progressive, 1861–1912. Vol. 1. Syracuse Univ. Press., leader of Republican insurgents in 1910
Margulies, Herbert F. (1996).Reconciliation and Revival: James R. Mann and the House Republicans in the Wilson Era. . Greenwood.
Merriner, James L. (1999).Mr. Chairman: Power in Dan Rostenkowski's America. Southern Illinois Univ. Press.
Patterson, James (1967).Congressional Conservatism and the New Deal: The Growth of the Conservative Coalition in Congress, 1933–39.
Remini, Robert V. (1992).Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union.. Speaker for most of 1811–1825
Rohde, David W. (1991).Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House. Univ. of Chicago Press.
Rohde, David W.; Shepsle, Kenneth A. (1987). "Leaders and Followers in the House of Representatives: Reflections on Woodrow Wilson's Congressional Government".Congress & the Presidency.14 (2):111–133.doi:10.1080/07343468709507958.
Schickler, Eric (2001).Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress.
Schooley, C. Herschel (1977).Missouri's Cannon in the House.Marceline, Missouri: Walsworth., Chaired Appropriations in the 1960s
Shelley II, Mack C. (1983).The Permanent Majority: The Conservative Coalition in the United States Congress.
Sinclair, Barbara (1982).Congressional Realignment, 1925–1978. Univ. of Texas Press.
Stewart, Charles H. III (1989).Budget Reform Politics: The Design of the Appropriations Process in the House of Representatives, 1865–1921. Cambridge Univ. Press.
Strahan, Randall; Moscardelli, Vincent G. (2000). "The Clay Speakership Revisited".Polity.32 (4):561–593.doi:10.2307/3235293.JSTOR3235293.S2CID155152645., uses roll call analysis
Strahan, Randall (1990).New Ways and Means: Reform and Change in a Congressional Committee. Univ. of North Carolina Press.
Trefousse, Hans L. (1997).Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian., majority leader in the 1860s
Poole, Keith T.; Rosenthal, Howard (1997).Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-514242-6.
Zelizer, Julian E.Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party (Penguin, 2020), focus on Jim Wright and Newt Gingrich in 1990s.
External links
Listen to this article (32 minutes)
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 4 August 2006 (2006-8-4), and does not reflect subsequent edits.
_US_House_of_Representatives.svg)
_US_House_of_Representatives.svg)
