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Nov 21, 2023 · Learn about the U.S. House of Representatives. Discover how the number of Representatives is determined, and how Members of Congress are elected.
- A member of the House of Representatives is considered to be the direct representative of the people of her or his district. The Senate, made up of...
- The House of Representatives has two basic functions. To pass legislation to meet the needs of its constituents. To conduct oversight of the Exec...
- The term of a Representative in Congress in two years. The reasoning behind the relatively short term of office compared to the Senate is to allow...
- The House of Representatives is one part of the Legislative Branch of the United State government. The other part of the Legislative Branch is the...
- Overview
- Constitutional framework
- Powers
- The speaker of the House of Representatives
House of Representatives, one of the two houses of the bicameral United States Congress, established in 1789 by the Constitution of the United States.
The House of Representatives shares equal responsibility for lawmaking with the U.S. Senate. As conceived by the framers of the Constitution, the House was to represent the popular will, and its members were to be directly elected by the people. In contrast, members of the Senate were appointed by the states until the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment (1913), which mandated the direct election of senators.
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Each state is guaranteed at least one member of the House of Representatives. The allocation of seats is based on the population within the states, and membership is reapportioned every 10 years, following the decennial census. House members are elected for two-year terms from single-member districts of approximately equal population. The constitutional requirements for eligibility for membership of the House of Representatives are a minimum age of 25 years, U.S. citizenship for at least seven years, and residency of the state from which the member is elected, though he need not reside in the constituency that he represents.
The Constitution vests certain exclusive powers in the House of Representatives, including the right to initiate impeachment proceedings and to originate revenue bills. The organization and character of the House of Representatives have evolved under the influence of political parties, which provide a means of controlling proceedings and mobilizing the necessary majorities. Party leaders, such as the speaker of the House and the majority and minority leaders, play a central role in the operations of the institution. However, party discipline (i.e., the tendency of all members of a political party to vote in the same way) has not always been strong, owing to the fact that members, who must face reelection every two years, often vote the interests of their districts rather than their political party when the two diverge.
A further dominating element of House organization is the committee system, under which the membership is divided into specialized groups for purposes such as holding hearings, preparing bills for the consideration of the entire House, and regulating House procedure. Each committee is chaired by a member of the majority party. Almost all bills are first referred to a committee, and ordinarily the full House cannot act on a bill until the committee has “reported” it for floor action. There are approximately 20 standing (permanent) committees, organized mainly around major policy areas, each having staffs, budgets, and subcommittees. They may hold hearings on questions of public interest, propose legislation that has not been formally introduced as a bill or resolution, and conduct investigations. Among important standing committees are those on appropriations, on ways and means (which handles matters related to finance), and on rules. There are also select and special committees, which are usually appointed for a specific project and for a limited period.
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The committees also play an important role in the control exercised by Congress over governmental agencies. Cabinet officers and other officials are frequently summoned before the committees to explain policy. The Constitution (Article I, section 6) prohibits members of Congress from holding offices in the executive branch of government—a chief distinction between parliamentary and congressional forms of government.
After the census of 1920, Northeastern and Midwestern states held 270 House seats and the South and West held 169. Thereafter, the balance between the two regions gradually shifted: following the 2010 census, the Northeast and Midwest accounted for only 172 seats, compared with the South and West’s 263. Most notably, the number of representatives from New York declined from 45 in the 1930s to only 27 in 2012, while the number from California increased from 11 to 53.
The most significant role in the House of Representatives is that of speaker of the House. This individual, who is chosen by the majority party, presides over debate, appoints members of select and conference committees, and performs other important duties; speakers are second in the line of presidential succession (following the vice president).
The table contains a complete list of speakers of the House of Representatives.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Learn about the U.S. House of Representatives. Discover how the number of Representatives is determined, and how Members of Congress are elected.
Sep 3, 2021 · The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the two legislative bodies in the United States federal government. The House is currently made up of 435 representatives—referred to as congressmen or congresswomen—who serve an unlimited number of two-year terms.
- Phaedra Trethan
Jun 28, 2017 · The U.S. House of Representatives is the lower house of Congress and plays a vital role, along with the Senate, in the process of moving proposed legislation to law. The bicameral relationship ...
Members of Congress are local politicians serving in a national institution. They spend their days moving between two worlds—their home districts and Washington. While many come from the ranks of the social and economic elite, to be successful they must be true to their local roots.
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Members of the House of Representatives represent the people of their districts, and they are policymakers. They are empowered to create laws that are in the interest of the public good. There are more than 11,000 bills introduced in Congress every term.
