House of Representatives:
REFLECTING THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE
Formal Qualifications
 House members are chosen directly by the people
 Members must be at least 25 years old
 Must be a citizen of the U.S. at least 7 years
 Must be a resident in state he/she represents
 House can expel a member with a 2/3 vote
 This has only happened 5 times in U.S. history
 Last happened in 2002, when James Traficant was
convicted of taking bribes/income tax evasion.
Informal Qualifications
 House candidates must be able to appeal to voters in
his or her district.
 The ability to raise money for a campaign is critical –
winning/losing candidates spend $1.5 million
combined on an election.
 Other candidate qualities vary, but may include
wealth, fame, charisma, and military backgrounds
Reapportionment
 Each state gets at least one representative
 Every ten years, the House must be reapportioned, in
which seats are redistributed based on census results
 States that gain population may gain seats; states
that lose population may lose seats
 Congress used to just add seats as the population
grew, but this changed in 1929 when the number of
seats became fixed.
 Recently, southern and western states have gained
seats.
House Leadership
 Speaker of the House – most powerful member and
presiding officer (Nancy Pelosi – 1st female Speaker)
-comes from the majority party; is elected by fellow
members of Congress
 Powers of the Speaker:
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presides over debates and recognizes speakers
assigns bills to particular committees
determines when/how an issue is debated
 Speaker is second in line to Presidential succession
after the vice president
Other Leaders
 Floor leader – one for each party in the House
 -majority leader (floor leader for majority party) is the
assistant to the Speaker of the House
 -minority leader (floor leader for minority party) tries to keep
his or her party united against the majority party.
 Whips – people who encourage fellow party
members to vote as the party leaders desire
 Party caucus – a meeting at the beginning of a term
where party officers are elected
Committees
 Standing Committees: permanent committees that
address major areas under which most laws fall.
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such as agriculture, the budget, and armed services
 Ways and Means Committee – deals with taxes and
other revenue raising measures; oversees programs
like Social Security.
 Standing committees have at least 4 subcommittees,
which focus even more narrowly on an issue.
Other Committees
 Rules Committee: very powerful; acts like a “traffic
cop” for the House
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-it can speed up or delay passage of a bill
Select Committees: usually serve a limited duration;
cover tasks not already covered by existing
committees, such as investigations.
 Joint Committees: address broad issues that affect
both chambers (like a conference committee)
Committee Chairs
 Chairs are chosen by the majority party
 Chairs used to be chosen based on the committee member
who served in the committee longest.
 In the 1970s, Congress began holding elections for
committee chairs.
 Seniority is still important, but is no longer the only factor
considered.
 Today there is a 6-year term limit for chairs.
Committee Membership
 Members request committee assignments.
 May seek a post because it is important to their
constituents or because it is politically powerful or
based on personal interests.
Power of the House
Other Differences between House and
Senate
House
Senate
All Revenue Bills must start in the
House
 All Charges of Impeachment must start
in the House
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House members tend to be younger,
less wealthy, and represent a wider
range of occupations
Many people do not know their
representatives, nor do they think they
are as important as Senators•
Tries all Charges of Impeachment
 Approves all Presidential Appointments
 Approves all foreign treaties
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Senators tend to be older, wealthier,
and are from “professions”
Most people can identify at least 1 of
their Senators
 Senators are often viewed as having
more power and importance in
government
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