U.s. House
House)
Jump to: navigation, search
Type
Lower house
Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, (D)
since January 4, 2007
Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer, (D)
since January 4, 2007
Minority Leader
John Boehner, (R)
since January 4, 2007
Members
435 plus 5 non-voting members
Political groups
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Last elections
November 7, 2006
Meeting place
United States Capitol
Web site
http://www.house.gov
For the current Congress, see 110th United States Congress.
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. Each state receives representation in the House proportional to its population but is entitled to at least one Representative; the most populous state, California, currently has 53 representatives.
The presiding officer of the House is the Speaker, and is elected by the members.
Because its members are generally elected from smaller (an average of 693,000 residents as of 2007) and more commonly homogenous districts than those from the Senate, the House is generally considered by some sources to be a more partisan chamber. The issue of how Congress was to be structured was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention.
James Madison's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral Congress: the lower house would be "of the people," elected directly by the people of the United States and representing public opinion, and a more deliberative upper house that would represent the individual states, and would be less susceptible to variations of mass sentiment, would be elected by the lower house.
The House is often considered to be the "lower house," with the Senate as the "upper house," although the United States Constitution does not use such language. The Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population.
The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states.
Eventually, the Convention reached the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise, under which one house of Congress (the House of Representatives) would provide representation proportional to each state's population, whereas the other (the Senate) would provide equal representation amongst the states. The House began work on April 1, 1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time.
During the first half of the 19th Century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery.
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 the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican-American War.
Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War (1861–1865), which began soon after several southern states attempted to secede from the Union. The war culminated in the South's defeat and in the abolition of slavery.
Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the Senate did not have the balance of power between North and South during the war.
The years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Union's victory in the Civil War. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877; the ensuing era, known as the Gilded Age, was marked by sharp political divisions in the electorate.
Both the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times.
Republican Thomas Brackett Reed, occasionally ridiculed as "Czar Reed," was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the House from 1889–1891 and from 1895–1899.
The late 19th and early 20th Centuries also saw a dramatic increase in the power of the Speaker of the House.
While the Minority Leader was the head of the minority party, the Majority Leader remained subordinate to the Speaker. The Speakership reached its zenith during the term of Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon, 1903 to 1911.
These powers, however, were curtailed in the "Revolution of 1910" because of the efforts of Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans who opposed Cannon's arguably heavy-handed tactics.
The Democratic Party dominated the House of Representatives during the administration of President Franklin D. Both Democrats and Republicans were in power at various times during the next decade.
In the mid-1970s, there were major reforms of the House, strengthening the power of sub-committees at the expense of committee chairmen and allowing party leaders to nominate committee chairs. These actions were taken to undermine the seniority 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 1970s to greater control of the legislative program by the majority party; in particular, the power of party leaders (especially the Speaker) grew considerably.
The Republicans took control of the House in 1995, under the leadership of Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich attempted to pass a major legislative program, the Contract with America on which the House Republicans had been elected, 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 President Bill Clinton, or were substantially altered in negotiations with Clinton. The Republicans would hold on to the House until the United States Congressional elections, 2006, during which the Democrats won back control of both the House of Representatives and, narrowly, the Senate.
Membership and qualifications
Apportionment
Further information: United States congressional apportionment
Under Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states by population, as determined by the census conducted every ten years.
Each state, however, is entitled to at least one Representative.
The only constitutional rule relating to the size of the House says: "The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand." Congress has regularly increased the size of the House to account for population growth; but Congress fixed the number of voting House members at 435 in 1911 The number was temporarily increased to 437 in 1959 upon the admission of Alaska and Hawaii (seating one representative from each of those states without changing existing apportionment), and returned to 435 four years later, after the reapportionment consequent to the 1960 census.
The Constitution does not provide for the representation of the District of Columbia or of territories. However, those places elect non-voting delegates or, in the case of Puerto Rico a Resident Commissioner.
The District of Columbia and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. They may vote in the Committee of the Whole when their votes would not be decisive.
Redistricting
States that are entitled to more than one Representative are divided into single-member districts (see General ticket).
Typically, states redraw these district lines (see redistricting) after each census, though they may do so at other times (see 2003 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 (see Wesberry v. Since over 90% of House members are nearly guaranteed reelection every two years because of lack of electoral competition, elections have been criticized as being contrary to fair competition, one of the principles of democracy.
Qualifications
Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets forth three qualifications for representatives: each representative must be at least twenty-five years old, must have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years, and must be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they represent.
The age and citizenship qualifications for representatives are less stringent than those for senators.
Furthermore, under the Fourteenth Amendment, any 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. The Amendment, however, allows a disqualified individual to serve if they gain consent of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress.
Elections
Elections for representatives are held in every even-numbered year, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (see Election Day (United States)).
Generally, the Republican and Democratic parties choose their candidates for each district in primary elections, which are typically held several months before. Ballot access rules for independent and third-party candidates vary greatly from state to state.
Since 1967, Federal law requires that House races use the single-member-districts, first-past-the-post voting system, explicitiy banning the use of proportional representation.
Seats vacated during a term are filled through special elections, though that election will sometimes not take place until the next general election date. A member chosen in a special election usually takes office as soon thereafter as possible.
Terms
Representatives and delegates serve for two-year terms, while the Resident Commissioner serves for four years.
In the history of the United States, only five members have been expelled from the House; three of them, John Bullock Clark (D-MO), John William Reid (D-MO), and Henry Cornelius Burnett (D-KY), were removed in 1861 for supporting the Confederate States' secession, which led to the Civil War. The House also has the power to formally censure or reprimand its members; censure or reprimand requires only a simple majority, but does not remove a member from office.
Comparison to the Senate
Many of the Founding Fathers intended the Senate (whose members were originally chosen by the state legislatures) to be a check on the popularly elected House, just as the House was to be a check on the Senate.
The House, however, can initiate spending bills and has exclusive authority to impeach officials and choose the President in an electoral college deadlock. The Senate and its members generally have greater prestige than the House because Senators serve longer terms (six years) in a smaller body and (in all but seven states) represent larger constituencies than Representatives.
Salary and benefits
Salaries
As of January 1, 2008, the annual salary of each Representative is $169,300. The Speaker of the House and the Majority and Minority Leaders earn more.
The Speaker earned $212,100 during the 109th Congress (January 4, 2005-January 3, 2007) while the party leaders earned $183,500 (the same as Senate leaders). A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it.
Representatives are eligible for lifetime benefits after serving for five years, including a pension, health benefits, and social security benefits.
Titles
Representatives use the prefix "The Honorable" before their names. A member of the House is referred to as a "Representative," "Member of Congress," "Congressman" or "Congresswoman." While Senators are technically "Members of Congress," that term is generally used to refer to Members of the House of Representatives exclusively.
Representative from Illinois who served as Speaker of the House until January 2007, calling the House to order at the beginning of a session of Congress.
Member Officials
The party with a majority of seats in the House is known as the majority party; the next-largest party is the minority party. The Speaker, committee chairmen, 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.
The Speaker has a role both as a leader of the House and the leader of his or her party (which need not be the majority party; theoretically, a member of the minority party could be elected as Speaker with the support of a fraction of members of the majority party). Instead, he or she delegates the responsibility of presiding to other members in most cases.
The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the House chamber. Moreover, the presiding officer may rule on any "point of order" (a member's objection that a rule has been breached), but the decision is subject to appeal to the whole House.
The Speaker is the chair of his or her party's steering committee, which chooses the chairmen of standing committees.
Instead, the Speaker is the head of the majority party; the Majority Leader is only the second-highest official. Party leaders decide what legislation members of their party should either support or oppose.
The House's chief officer is the Clerk, who maintains public records, prepares documents, and oversees junior officials, including pages. Another officer is the Chief Administrative Officer, responsible for the day-to-day administrative support to the House of Representatives.
This includes everything from payroll to food service.
The position of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) was created following the 1994 Republican Revolution and replaced the positions of Doorkeeper and Director of Non-Legislative and Financial Services (which had been created only two years prior to provide a nonpartisan management body to administer those functions of the House that should not be under partisan control). The CAO also assumed some of the responsibilities of the House Information Services, which previously had been controlled directly by the Committee on House Administration, at the time headed by Representative Charlie Rose of North Carolina, along with the House "Folding Room."
The Chaplain leads the House in prayer at the opening of the day.
Finally, routine police work is handled by the United States Capitol Police, which is supervised by the Capitol Police Board, a body to which the Sergeant at Arms belongs.
Procedure
The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C. The lower tier of the rostrum is used by clerks and other officials.
Any member may block a unanimous consent agreement, but in practice, objections are rare. In an American tradition adopted from English custom in 1789 by the first Speaker of the House, Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, the House of Representatives’ mace is used both to open all sessions of the House and during the inaugural ceremonies for all Presidents of the United States.
Under the rules and customs of the House, a quorum is always assumed to be present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. An "open rule" permits all germane amendments, but a "closed rule" restricts or even prohibits amendment.
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. An October 2005 vote on facilitating refinery construction was kept open for forty minutes.
The presiding officer may vote, like any other member.
If a vote is tied, the presiding officer does not have a casting vote (unless he has not yet cast his vote). The Committee meets in the House chamber; it may consider and amend bills, but may not grant them final passage.
One advantage of the Committee of the Whole is its ability to include otherwise non-voting members of Congress.
Most committee work is performed by twenty standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a specific field such as Agriculture or International Relations. Each standing committee considers, amends, and reports bills that fall under its jurisdiction.
Other joint committees serve to make advisory reports; for example, there exists a Joint Committee on Taxation. 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; men sometimes had to wait 30 years to get one, but their chairmanship was independent of party leadership.
However, whenever the Senate originates an appropriations bill, the House simply refuses to consider it, thereby settling the dispute in practice. The constitutional provision barring the Senate from introducing revenue bills is based on the practice of the British Parliament, in which only the House of Commons may originate such measures.
Although it cannot originate revenue bills, the Senate retains the power to amend or reject them.
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 both the Senate and the House of Representatives is required for any bill, including a revenue bill, to become law. Both Houses must pass the exact same version of the bill; if there are differences, they may be resolved by a conference committee, which includes members of both bodies.
For the stages through which bills pass in the Senate, see Act of Congress.
The President may veto any bill passed by the House and Senate, unless both chambers have passed the bill by at least a two-thirds majority (see Veto override).
Checks and balances
The Constitution provides that the Senate's "advice and consent" is necessary for the President to make certain appointments and to ratify treaties; however, the House must also confirm the nomination of a new Vice President under the 25th Amendment. Thus, in terms of potential to frustrate Presidential appointments, the powers of the Senate are more extensive than those of the House.
The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal officials for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments.
The Constitution provides that "the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote." Electoral college deadlocks are rare; in the history of the United States, the House has only had to break a deadlock twice. In 1800, it elected Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr; in 1824, it elected John Q.