# United States House of Representatives *Lower chamber of the United States Congress* The United States House of Representatives is the lower house of the two-chamber United States Congress, and the [[United States Senate]] is the upper house.[^1] Article One of the Constitution gives the two chambers joint authority, within enumerated matters, to enact or reject federal bills. A bill that clears both chambers goes to the president, who may sign or veto it.[^1] Three powers belong to the House alone: originating revenue bills, impeaching federal officers, and choosing the president when no candidate holds an Electoral College majority.[^1] Representatives are elected for two-year terms, and a vacancy may be filled by special election.[^2] Under the Uniform Congressional District Act, members sit for single-member districts. Those districts are apportioned among the states by census population, and every state is guaranteed at least one seat. All representatives have been directly elected since the House first met in 1789.[^2] The voting membership has stood at 435 since 1913 under the Apportionment Act of 1911. The exception was 1959 to 1963, when it stood at 437 after Alaska and Hawaii were admitted. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 capped the voting membership at 435.[^2] Five non-voting delegates sit for the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. A non-voting resident commissioner, elected to a four-year term, sits for Puerto Rico.[^2] After the 2020 census, California held the largest delegation, with 52 seats. Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming each held a single seat.[^2] The chamber occupies the south wing of the United States Capitol.[^2] ## History Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation had a single chamber in which each state was represented equally.[^3] Ordinary business required a simple majority of states. Matters listed in the Articles required nine states or more; these included war, treaties, coining or borrowing money, and raising armies.[^3] The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. It acted with the Confederation Congress's sanction to "amend the Articles of Confederation", and every state except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates.[^3] Edmund Randolph's Virginia Plan proposed two chambers, with House seats allocated by population and equal state representation in the Senate. It drew support from large states including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia.[^3] Smaller states backed the New Jersey Plan, which proposed one chamber with equal representation for each state. The convention settled on the Connecticut Compromise, also called the Great Compromise, under which House representation would be proportional to each state's population.[^3] ## Membership, qualifications, and apportionment Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution divides House seats among the states according to the population counted in each ten-year census. Even the least populous state receives one seat.[^4] The Constitution's only rule on the chamber's size is a limit: the number of representatives may not exceed one for every thirty thousand people.[^4] Congress enlarged the House repeatedly as the population grew, then fixed voting membership at 435 in 1911.[^4] When Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union, one member from each was seated without changing the existing apportionment, and the total rose to 437. It fell back to 435 in 1963, following reapportionment under the 1960 census.[^4] Under the apportionment that followed the 2020 census, the average district holds 761,169 people.[^4] The Constitution makes no provision for House representation of the District of Columbia or the territories.[^5] The District, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands each send one non-voting member. Puerto Rico's member is titled resident commissioner, and the office differs from the delegates' only in its four-year term.[^5] These members may take part in debate. Until 2011 they could also vote in committees and in the Committee of the Whole, so long as their votes would not decide the outcome.[^5] ## Comparison to the Senate Some powers are reserved to the Senate, including the "advice and consent" powers to approve treaties and confirm Cabinet members.[^6] The House, for its part, alone may originate revenue measures, bring impeachments, and pick the president when the Electoral College yields no majority.[^6] Senators serve six-year terms, and the Senate has one hundred members, two per state.[^6] Each senator therefore represents more people than a representative does, except in the six states that have only one House seat.[^6] ## Salary and benefits Representatives and senators have each been paid $174,000 a year since December 2014.[^7] Leaders are paid more: the speaker receives $223,500, and the majority and minority leaders receive $193,400, matching Senate leaders. A cost-of-living increase applies each year unless Congress votes to decline it.[^7] Congress sets its members' pay. Under the Twenty-seventh Amendment, however, a pay change other than the cost-of-living adjustment cannot take effect until a new House has been elected.[^7] Members qualify for retirement benefits after five years of service. Outside earnings may not exceed 15% of congressional pay, and income involving a fiduciary duty or a personal endorsement is barred. Pay ends when a member's service ends.[^7] Representatives are styled "The Honorable". A member may be called a representative, congressman or congresswoman.[^8] ## Officers The majority party is the party holding the most House seats, and the party with the next-largest number is the minority party.[^9] The speaker, committee chairs and some other officers usually come from the majority party. The minority has matching posts, such as the ranking member of each committee.[^9] The House elects its own speaker under the Constitution. Every speaker has been a House member, though the Constitution does not require it.[^9] The speaker's duties are set by House rules and custom rather than by the Constitution. Under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the speaker follows the vice president in the line of succession.[^9] The speaker usually delegates the chair to other members. Whoever presides decides which member may speak or move, and rules on points of order; the whole House may overturn those rulings on appeal.[^9] ## Procedure The chamber sits in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Members' seats form a semicircle facing the rostrum, where the speaker, a Speaker pro tempore, or the chair of the Committee of the Whole presides.[^10] By custom, Democrats sit to the presiding officer's left of the center aisle and Republicans to the right.[^10] The House usually sits on weekdays, and sittings are generally open to visitors with a gallery pass.[^10] C-SPAN has carried proceedings live since March 1979. HouseLive, the streaming service run by the Clerk, has done so since 2010.[^10] Stricter rules, including limits on debate time, are often set aside by unanimous consent. Any member may object to such an agreement, though objections seldom occur.[^10] Among its earliest resolutions, the House created the Office of the Sergeant at Arms.[^10] ## Committees and caucuses The whole House formally names committee members, but the parties make the actual choices. They generally follow members' preferences and give priority to seniority.[^11] Committee seats have historically been divided roughly in line with each party's share of the House. There are two exceptions: the majority party holds nine of the thirteen Rules Committee seats, and the two parties hold equal numbers on the Ethics Committee.[^11] When the House is closely divided, the majority party is sometimes given extra committee seats.[^11] In the 109th Congress, Republicans held about 53% of House seats. Their shares of committee seats were higher: 54% on Appropriations, 55% on Energy and Commerce, and 58% on Judiciary.[^11] The Committee of the Whole includes every member and meets in the House chamber. It can take up and amend bills but cannot pass them, and non-voting members may take part in it.[^11] The bulk of committee work falls to twenty standing committees, each responsible for a defined subject area such as agriculture or foreign affairs.[^11] ## Legislative functions Either chamber may introduce most bills. Under the Origination Clause, however, "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives", so tax bills cannot begin in the Senate.[^12] The clause follows British parliamentary practice, in which only the House of Commons may originate such measures. By congressional tradition, appropriation bills also start in the House. The Senate may still amend or reject revenue bills.[^12] A bill becomes law only when both chambers pass identical text. A conference committee drawn from both chambers may reconcile differing versions.[^12] The president may veto a bill passed by both chambers. A veto stands unless two-thirds of each chamber vote to override it, and a pocket veto cannot be overridden.[^12] ## Checks and balances The Constitution requires the Senate's "advice and consent" for presidential appointments and for treaties.[^13] It empowers the House to impeach federal officials for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, and the Senate to try them.[^13] The House adopts articles of impeachment by simple majority, and the Senate needs two-thirds to convict. A convicted official is removed from office and may be barred from future federal office, and may also face criminal prosecution in the ordinary courts.[^13] The House has impeached seventeen officials, and seven of them were convicted.[^13] Richard Nixon resigned after the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment, before the full House voted.[^13] Three presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019 and again in 2021. Each trial ended in acquittal. In Johnson's trial, the Senate was one vote short of the two-thirds needed to convict.[^13] Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House chooses the president when no candidate wins an Electoral College majority. It must pick from the three candidates with the most electoral votes, and each state's delegation casts one vote.[^14] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), lead — the House as the lower chamber; Article One legislative authority; presentment to the president; exclusive House powers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), lead — two-year terms; Uniform Congressional District Act; direct election since 1789; 435 seats since 1913, 437 in 1959–1963; Reapportionment Act of 1929; delegates and resident commissioner; California's 52 seats after the 2020 census; six single-seat states; south wing of the Capitol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "History" — Confederation Congress voting rules; Constitutional Convention, May 25 to September 17, 1787; Virginia and New Jersey Plans; Connecticut Compromise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Membership, qualifications, and apportionment" — Article I, Section 2 apportionment; one-per-thirty-thousand limit; 435 fixed in 1911; 437 after Alaska and Hawaii; return to 435 in 1963; 761,169 average per district. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Membership, qualifications, and apportionment" — non-voting delegates and resident commissioner; their committee voting before 2011. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Comparison to the Senate" — Senate advice-and-consent powers; House exclusive powers; six-year Senate terms; one hundred senators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Salary and benefits" — $174,000 salary since December 2014; $223,500 for the speaker and $193,400 for party leaders; cost-of-living adjustment; Twenty-seventh Amendment; five-year retirement eligibility; 15% outside-pay limit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Salary and benefits", subsection "Titles" — forms of address for members. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Officers" — majority and minority parties; election and duties of the speaker; Presidential Succession Act (1947); recognition and points of order. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Procedure" — chamber layout and seating; public sittings; C-SPAN since March 1979; HouseLive since 2010; unanimous consent; Office of the Sergeant at Arms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Committees and caucuses" — committee assignment practice; Rules and Ethics Committee ratios; 109th Congress committee shares; Committee of the Whole; twenty standing committees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Legislative functions" — Origination Clause text; appropriation-bill tradition; conference committees; veto override; pocket veto. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Checks and balances" — advice and consent; impeachment and conviction thresholds; seventeen impeachments and seven convictions; Nixon's resignation; presidential impeachments of 1868, 1998, 2019 and 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States House of Representatives* (revision 1382002643, retrieved 26 October 2026), "Checks and balances" — the Twelfth Amendment contingent election. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives