United States House of Representatives facts for kids

How the House of Representatives Was Created

How Seats Are Shared Among States

Congressional Districts and Elections

Comparing the House and the Senate

Life as a Member of Congress

Important Leaders and Officers

A Day on the House Floor

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Balance of Power and Current Standing

Images for kids

The Great Compromise

Debates and the Civil War Era

Strong Leaders in the House

Large and Small State Delegations

Territories and Non-Voting Delegates

Rules to Run for Office

How Elections Work

Pay and Office Allowances

Titles and Traditions

The Speaker of the House

Floor Leaders and Whips

Non-Member Officers

The Ceremonial Mace

Floor Rules and Speaking

How Members Vote

Working in Committees

Special and Joint Committees

The Rules Committee and the Final Vote

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two parts of the United States Congress. Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government, which means it has the job of making laws for the whole country. The House is often called the lower house, while the other part, the United States Senate, is called the upper house. When a legislative body has two separate chambers working together like this, it is called bicameral.

Both chambers meet in the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the nation. The House meets in the large southern wing of the Capitol. Together with the Senate, the House works under Article One of the Constitution of the United States to consider ideas called bills. When both groups agree on a bill, they send it to the President of the United States. If the president signs the bill, it becomes a national law. If the president says no, that refusal is called a veto.

The House has several special powers that belong only to it. All bills that deal with raising money through taxes must start in the House. The House also has the sole authority to start impeachment against federal officials who break their oaths. In very rare cases where no candidate wins enough votes in the Electoral College, the House holds a special vote to choose the president.

There are 435 voting members in the House, and each one represents a specific area of a state called a congressional district. Because the number of lawmakers each state gets is based on its population, larger states have more representatives than smaller states. Lawmakers in the House are elected every two years by the citizens in their home districts. This short term was designed so representatives would stay closely connected to the everyday people who voted for them.

The representation of political parties as a percentage of the House of Representatives, 1788 to 2020

Before the United States had the Constitution, the country was governed by an early agreement called the Articles of Confederation. Under this system, the national government had a single-house legislature known as the Congress of the Confederation. In that unicameral group, each state had exactly one vote, no matter how many people lived there. This early government had very limited powers and found it difficult to pay debts or settle disagreements between states.

In May 1787, leaders from across the country met in Philadelphia for what became known as the Constitutional Convention. Famous Founding Fathers like James Madison and Alexander Hamilton gathered to build a stronger national system. Delegates from large states, such as Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, supported a plan presented by Edmund Randolph called the Virginia Plan. This plan proposed a two-house legislature where a state's representation would depend on its population.

Smaller states worried that the larger states would have too much power under that idea. Leaders from small states supported the New Jersey Plan, which wanted every state to keep equal votes. The delegates argued for weeks about which system was fair.

The convention solved this major disagreement with an agreement known as the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise. The delegates decided to create two separate houses in Congress. The Senate would give two seats to every state, ensuring that small states were treated equally. The House of Representatives would base its seats on population, giving more voice to states with more people.

The new Constitution was approved in 1788 and went into effect on March 4, 1789. The House met for the first time on April 1, 1789, in New York City, which was the first temporary capital. In 1790, the government moved to Philadelphia while workers built the permanent capital in Washington, D.C., where Congress finally moved in 1800.

During the 1800s, deep political arguments divided the nation, especially over regional differences between the North and the South. The North had a much larger population and held more seats in the House. Because every state had two senators, the South fought hard to keep equal power in the Senate.

A major disagreement arose over the spread of unfair labor systems in newly acquired territories. One famous proposal was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban involuntary labor in lands gained during the Mexican–American War. The House approved the measure multiple times, but the Senate blocked it each time.

These tensions eventually led to the Civil War in 1861, when several southern states attempted to secede from the Union. After the war ended in 1865, the country entered the Reconstruction Era. During this period, the Republican Party held large majorities in the House. When Reconstruction ended around 1877, the nation entered the Gilded Age, a time when the Democratic Party and the Republicans frequently traded control of the chamber.

Thomas Brackett Reed, a powerful House leader in the late 1800s.

In the late 1800s, the leader of the House, known as the speaker of the House, gained tremendous authority over daily business. Thomas Brackett Reed, a Republican speaker from Maine, changed the rules so the majority party could pass bills more easily without being blocked by endless debates. People often nicknamed him "Czar Reed" because he ran the chamber with a very firm hand. Around this same time, the roles of majority leader and minority leader were created in 1899 to help guide party strategy.

Another powerful leader was Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon, who led the chamber from 1903 to 1911. Cannon controlled the Rules Committee and decided which members served on every committee. In 1910, a group of lawmakers rebelled against his strict control in an event called the "Revolution of 1910", stripping away some of the speaker's powers and giving more control back to the full membership.

During the Great Depression and World War II, the Democratic Party held large majorities while Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. Democrats controlled the House for most of the years between 1955 and 1995. In 1994, Republicans won control during the Republican Revolution, led by Newt Gingrich, who became speaker and promoted a plan called the Contract with America. In 2007, Democrat Nancy Pelosi made history by becoming the first woman ever elected as speaker of the House.

The average population represented by each House member across the country.

The Constitution says that House seats must be divided, or apportioned, among the states based on how many people live in each one. To make sure the counts are accurate, the national government conducts the United States census every ten years.

Every state is guaranteed at least one representative, no matter how small its population is. As the nation grew, Congress added new seats after every census. By the early 1900s, lawmakers realized the House chamber would become too crowded if they kept adding seats forever. Congress passed the Apportionment Act of 1911 and later the Reapportionment Act of 1929, which permanently set the number of voting seats at 435.

When Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959, the House temporarily expanded to 437 members so both states could have a representative immediately. In 1963, after the next census was completed, the total number returned to 435. Because the national population continues to grow while the seat total stays at 435, the average district now includes over 760,000 citizens.

Because seat counts are tied to population, states with many residents have large groups of representatives, while states with fewer people have small groups.

The state with the most seats is California, which has 52 representatives.
Six states have so few people that they each have only one representative: Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

People living in the nation's capital and its island territories are also part of the American family, but the Constitution does not give them voting representatives. Instead, federal laws allow them to elect non-voting delegates.

These delegates represent the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. The island of Puerto Rico elects an official called a resident commissioner, who serves a four-year term instead of two years.

These delegates can take part in debates, speak on the House floor, and serve on committees where they help shape new proposals. However, they cannot vote when the full House decides whether a bill becomes law.

Map of congressional districts across the United States.

States with more than one representative divide their territory into geographic areas called congressional districts. Under the Uniform Congressional District Act, passed by Congress in 1967, every state must use single-member districts. This rule means each district elects exactly one person to represent the people living inside its boundaries.

States redraw their district maps every ten years following the national census. This process is called redistricting. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the landmark case Wesberry v. Sanders that districts within a state must have roughly equal populations so every person's vote carries equal weight. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also protects minority communities by making it unlawful to draw districts that weaken their voting power.

The Constitution lists three basic requirements for anyone who wants to serve in the House:

The candidate must be at least 25 years old.
The person must have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years.
The person must live in the state they represent at the time of the election.

Lawmakers do not strictly have to live inside the specific district boundaries they represent, although almost all of them do. Under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, anyone who took an oath to support the Constitution but later joined a rebellion against the United States is barred from serving, unless Congress votes by a two-thirds majority to allow it.

Elections for the House take place every two years on Election Day, which is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November during even-numbered years. Most states use plurality voting, where the candidate who gets the most votes wins the seat, even if that person does not win an absolute majority.

A few states use different voting methods. For example, voters in Alaska and Maine use ranked-choice voting, where they rank their favorite candidates in order of preference. In Georgia and Louisiana, if no candidate earns more than half of the votes, a runoff election is held between the top two finishers. If a member steps down or passes away during their two-year term, their home state holds a special election to pick a replacement.

The two chambers of Congress have different roles, rules, and responsibilities. Together, these differences create a balance of power between the people's immediate voices and longer-term planning.

Feature	House of Representatives	United States Senate
Total Voting Members	435 members	100 members (2 per state)
Length of Term	2 years	6 years
Area Represented	A specific district (except small states)	The entire state
Minimum Age	25 years old	30 years old
Special Powers	Starts tax bills; can impeach officials	Confirms judges and officials; approves treaties; conducts impeachment trials

The shorter terms in the House mean representatives are always listening to their local voters. In contrast, senators serve longer six-year terms, allowing them to focus on long-term national policies and foreign agreements.

History of congressional pay rates over recent decades.

Serving in Congress is a full-time job that requires traveling between the lawmaker's home state and Washington, D.C. Representatives spend long days meeting with voters, studying bills, questioning witnesses in hearings, and voting on laws.

The standard annual salary for a member of the House is $174,000. Leaders with more duties earn higher salaries. The speaker of the House receives $223,500, and the floor leaders receive $193,400. Under the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, any change to congressional pay cannot take effect until after the next House election takes place.

Representatives are given an allowance called the Member's Representational Allowance (MRA). This money pays for office space, computers, official mail, and the salaries of staff members who assist the lawmaker. Each representative can hire up to 18 full-time staff workers to research laws and help citizens solve problems with federal agencies.

Members of the House are addressed using the formal title "The Honorable" followed by their name. In conversations and news reports, they are called Representative, Congressman, or Congresswoman. In news reports, lawmakers are often identified by their party and state, such as "R-Texas" for a Republican from Texas or "D-New York" for a Democrat from New York.

Members are expected to follow strict standards of personal conduct. If a representative breaks major rules, the House can vote to censure them, which is a formal public reprimand. In very serious cases, the House can vote by a two-thirds majority to expel a member completely. Only a small handful of members have ever been expelled in American history.

The House has several leaders who manage debates, organize votes, and guide daily business. Most of these leaders belong to the major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The party with the most seats is the majority party, while the other is the minority party.

The most influential person in the chamber is the speaker of the House. The whole House votes to pick the speaker at the start of every two-year Congress. The speaker sits at the elevated desk at the front of the room, decides which members may speak, maintains order, and refers new bills to committees.

The speaker is also an important national leader. Under the Presidential Succession Act, the speaker is second in the line of presidential succession, right after the vice president of the United States.

Each political party selects leaders to help plan strategy:

The Majority Leader helps schedule bills for debate and coordinates the majority party's legislative goals.
The Minority Leader speaks for the minority party and presents alternative ideas.
The Whips work like team captains. Their job is to count votes, talk to party members, and make sure lawmakers show up to vote on major bills.

Several non-elected officials help keep the House running smoothly:

The clerk of the House keeps official records, counts votes, and prepares paperwork.
The sergeant at arms is the chief law enforcement officer responsible for security and maintaining order inside the chamber.
The chaplain opens each daily meeting with a prayer and provides guidance to members and staff.
The chief administrative officer oversees technology, finance, and office services.

The House chamber is a large room with rows of seats arranged in a semicircle facing the front desk, called the rostrum. By long tradition, Democrats sit on the left side of the center aisle, and Republicans sit on the right side.

A chart showing how party control of the House and Senate has changed over time.

Every morning, the sergeant at arms carries a historic symbol called the Mace of the United States House of Representatives into the room. This mace is made of thirteen ebony rods bound together with silver bands, topped by a silver globe and an eagle with spread wings.

The mace was adopted in 1789 by the first speaker, Frederick Muhlenberg. It sits on a green marble pedestal to the right of the speaker's chair while the House is in session. If lawmakers ever become too rowdy or argue too loudly, the sergeant at arms lifts the mace and carries it toward the arguing members to remind them to respect the dignity of the House.

Before taking action, the House must have a quorum, which is a majority of members present to conduct business. Members cannot simply speak whenever they want. A lawmaker must stand and wait to be recognized by the presiding officer.

Debates follow strict rules of politeness:

Lawmakers must address all comments to the presiding officer, using phrases like "Mr. Speaker" or "Madam Speaker".
They may not speak directly to other members in an angry tone.
They refer to fellow lawmakers in the third person, using polite phrases like "the gentlewoman from California" or "the gentleman from Ohio".

When the debate finishes, the House decides whether the bill passes. Voting happens in different ways:

Voice Vote: The speaker asks members who support the measure to call out "aye", and those against it to call out "no". The speaker listens to decide which side was louder.
Electronic Vote: If members want an exact count, they use an electronic voting system. Representatives insert a personalized plastic card into one of 46 voting boxes attached to the chairs in the chamber and press a button: green for "yes", red for "no", or amber for "present" (which means choosing not to take a side).
Roll Call Vote: On rare occasions, the clerk calls out every representative's name one by one, and each member speaks their vote aloud.

The public can watch these debates live. Daily floor discussions have been broadcast across the country on C-SPAN since 1979 and streamed online through the House's official websites.

Making a national law takes teamwork, patience, and many steps. Any member of the House can propose a new law by dropping a written copy into a special wooden box near the clerk's desk called the hopper.

Because thousands of bills are introduced every year, the House divides its work among smaller groups called standing committees. Each committee focuses on a specific topic, such as agriculture, armed services, transportation, or foreign affairs.

Committees study proposed bills carefully. They invite experts to testify, suggest improvements, and vote on whether the bill should move forward. If a committee dislikes an idea, it can stop the bill from ever reaching the full House floor.

Besides regular standing committees, the House uses other groups:

The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence oversees national security matters.
Temporary select committees are created to investigate specific short-term problems.
Joint committees include members from both the House and the Senate, such as the group that helps supervise the Library of Congress.

Before a bill goes to the House floor for a final vote, it usually stops at the Rules Committee. This powerful group sets the schedule for the debate, decides how long members can talk, and determines whether lawmakers are allowed to suggest changes, known as amendments.

If the full House votes to approve the bill, it is sent to the Senate. If the Senate makes changes to the text, leaders from both chambers meet in a conference committee to work out a compromise. Both houses must approve the exact same text before the bill is sent to the president's desk.

The balance of political power in the House changes whenever elections take place. The party with at least 218 seats holds the majority and chooses the speaker and committee leaders.

Below is a chart showing the balance of seats following the most recent election cycles:

Affiliation		Members	Delegates/resident commissioner (non-voting)	State majorities
	Republican	219	3	30
	Democratic	213	3	18
	Vacant	3
Total		435	6	50
Majority		2

Through debates, committee investigations, and careful lawmaking, the House of Representatives remains the place where citizens from every corner of the United States are heard in the national government.

Counting vacancies

Republican

Democratic

A chart showing how political parties have shared seats in the House over time.
A historical chart showing party leadership in Congress and the presidency.
House Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed served in the late 1800s.
The average number of citizens represented by each member of the House.
Map showing congressional district lines across the country.
Salaries of representatives from 1983 to recent years.