United States House of Representatives

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	Lower house of the United States Congress
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 3, 2025
Leadership
Speaker	Mike Johnson (R) ; since October 25, 2023
Majority Leader	Steve Scalise (R) ; since January 3, 2023
Minority Leader	Hakeem Jeffries (D) ; since January 3, 2023
Majority Whip	Tom Emmer (R) ; since January 3, 2023
Minority Whip	Katherine Clark (D) ; since January 3, 2023
Structure
Seats	435 voting members; 6 non-voting members; 218 for a majority
Political groups	Majority (218) Republican (218); Minority (214) Democratic (214); Vacant (3) Vacant (3);
Length of term	2 years
Elections
Voting system	Plurality voting in 46 states; Varies in 4 states
Last election	November 5, 2024
Next election	November 3, 2026
Redistricting	State 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 United States (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 the United States 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. States 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 chairman/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. According to the U.S. Constitution, the House of Representatives can kick out, or impeach, one of its representatives by a vote of at least two-thirds of its members.

Members

Every state has members of the House. The Constitution says every state must have at least one, 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 other ones. After each election, Congress has a period of time called a term. These last for 2 years.

There are 2 groups of members, also called Political Parties. These groups aren't just in the House, though, they are also big in the Senate, Presidency, State governments, and more. The groups are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. In the infobox to the right is a chart showing what party the members are a part of. Blue is the Democrats, and Red is the Republicans.

Speaker of the House

At the beginning of every term, the House members vote on a leader. This leader is called the Speaker of the House. They control the schedule of when the members speak.

United States House Of Representatives Media

Representation of all political parties as percentage in House of Representatives over time
Historical graph of party control of the Senate and House as well as the presidency
Republican speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed (1895–1899)
All 435 voting seats of the current House shown grouped by state, largest to smallest (From 2015)
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
House of Representatives salaries
A chart showing the members of the House of Representatives of the United States at the Swearing in on January 3rd, 2025.