The House
435 voting members, elected every two years. 10 questions, each answer with its official source.
Test Yourself FirstHow many voting members does the House have?
435
The House has had 435 voting seats since 1913, apart from a brief increase after Alaska and Hawaii joined. A 1929 law, now at 2 U.S.C. 2a, keeps the number at 435 when seats are reapportioned after each census.
How long is a House term?
Two years
Article I, Section 2 provides that members of the House are chosen every second year, so all 435 seats are on the ballot every two years.
What is the minimum age to serve in the House?
25
Article I, Section 2 requires a representative to be at least 25, a citizen for seven years and an inhabitant of the state they represent.
How are House seats divided among the states?
By population, after each census
Article I, Section 2 and Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment apportion representatives by population, counted every ten years. Each state gets at least one seat.
Who chooses the Speaker of the House?
The House itself
Article I, Section 2 says the House shall choose its Speaker and other officers. The Speaker is elected by a vote of the full House.
Does the Constitution require the Speaker to be a member of the House?
No, although every Speaker so far has been a member
Article I, Section 2 only says the House chooses its Speaker. It sets no membership requirement, but in practice the House has always elected one of its own.
With all 435 seats filled and every member voting, how many votes make a majority?
218
A simple majority of 435 is 218. With vacancies or absences the number needed drops, because a majority is counted among those voting.
How many nonvoting members serve in the House?
Six: five delegates and the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico
Delegates represent the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. They can serve and vote in committee but not on final passage of bills.
How is a vacant House seat filled?
The state's governor calls a special election
Article I, Section 2 says the state's executive shall issue writs of election to fill House vacancies. Unlike the Senate, there are no appointed representatives.
How many members make a quorum to do business in the House?
A majority of the members
Article I, Section 5 makes a majority of each chamber a quorum. When the House sits as the Committee of the Whole, its rules set a quorum of 100.
Other Topics
- How Congress WorksHow a Bill Becomes LawFrom introduction to the president's desk
- How Congress WorksThe SenateTwo senators per state, six-year terms
- How Congress WorksCommitteesWhere most bills are studied, amended or left to wait
- How Congress WorksFloor Votes and Roll CallsHow members vote and how votes are recorded
- How Congress WorksThe Filibuster and ClotureExtended debate in the Senate and how to end it
- How Congress WorksVetoes and OverridesThe president's no, and how Congress can overcome it
- How Congress WorksThe Budget and AppropriationsHow Congress decides what the government can spend
- How Congress WorksImpeachmentHow Congress can charge and remove federal officials
- How Congress WorksTreaties and NominationsThe Senate's advice and consent