United States 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.

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 (2025-01-03)
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 (219)   Republican (219) Minority (214)   Democratic (214) Vacant (3)   Vacant (2)
Length of term	2 years
Elections
Voting system	Plurality voting in 46 states[a] Varies in 4 states Alaska and Maine: Instant-runoff voting Georgia & Louisiana:[b] Two-round system
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

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.