United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives
119th United States Congress
Seal of the House
Flag of the United States House of Representatives
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
New session started
January 3, 2025 (2025-01-03)
Leadership
Mike Johnson (R)
since October 25, 2023
Steve Scalise (R)
since January 3, 2023
Hakeem Jeffries (D)
since January 3, 2023
Tom Emmer (R)
since January 3, 2023
Katherine Clark (D)
since January 3, 2023
Structure
Seats435 voting members
6 non-voting members
218 for a majority
Political groups
Majority (218)
  •   Republican (218)

Minority (214)

Vacant (3)

  •   Vacant (3)
Length of term
2 years
Elections
Plurality voting in 46 states[a]
Varies in 4 states
Last election
November 5, 2024
Next election
November 3, 2026
RedistrictingState legislatures or redistricting commissions, varies by state
Meeting place
House of Representatives Chamber
United States Capitol
Washington, D.C.
United States of America
Website
house.gov
Rules
Rules of the House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is a part of the U.S. Congress. Congress is the legislature of the U.S. government and makes federal laws. The other part of Congress is the U.S. Senate. There are maximum 435 members in House of Representatives. These members are called U.S. representatives or just representatives. All representatives are elected every two years.

Every 10 years, the United States Census Bureau counts the population of the United States. The U.S. states can gain or lose representatives based on the count. The House of Representatives is in one of the two wings in the U.S. Capitol building. The other wing is for the Senate. Sometimes, the House of Representatives is informally called the House. The chairperson in the U.S. House of Representatives is called the Speaker of the House.

According to the U.S. Constitution, all bills about raising revenue, which includes taxes, must start in the House of Representatives. Also, only the House of Representatives has the power to impeach certain officials such as the president or federal judges.

Members

Every state has members of the House of Representatives. The Constitution says every U.S. state must have at least one member, but almost all states have more. The number is based on how many people live in that state. There are 435 total people who are members of the House of Representatives. Each member serves for 2 years (one term), but they can serve for more if they are elected again. Elections happen every 2 years, and half of them take place on the same day as elections for the president. Those take place every 4 years. They are usually elected with plurality voting, but states can choose the method, and some states choose others. After each election, Congress has a period of time. The term is for 2 years.

There are two groups of members, also called political parties. Besides in the House, they exist in the U.S. Senate, the presidency, the state governments, and more. The groups are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. In the infobox to the right is a chart showing which the members are part of which party. Blue is the Democrats, and red is the Republicans.

According to the U.S. Constitution, the House of Representatives expell one of its memnbers by a vote of at least two thirds. That most recently happened with George Santos.[1]

Speaker of the House

At the beginning of every term, the House members vote on a leader,[2] who is called the Speaker of the House and controls the schedule of when the members speak.[3]

Notes

  1. Alaska (for its primary elections only), California, and Washington also use a nonpartisan blanket primary, and Mississippi uses the two-round system for their respective primary elections.
  2. Louisiana uses the Louisiana primary.

References

  1. Pengelly, Martin (2023-12-01). "Republican George Santos expelled from Congress in bipartisan vote". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  2. "Article I". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  3. "House Leadership". Kids in the House. Retrieved April 2, 2025.

Other websites

38°53′20″N 77°0′32″W / 38.88889°N 77.00889°W / 38.88889; -77.00889