How Many Representatives Does the House of Representatives Have
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government and consists of two houses: the lower firm known as the House of Representatives and the upper house known as the Senate. The words "Congress" and "House" are sometimes used colloquially to refer to the Firm of Representatives. There are 535 members of Congress: 100 senators and 435 representatives in the House.
Republicans currently control the Senate (54 to 44 Democrats) and the Firm (246 to 188).
Comparison chart
| | Business firm of Representatives | Senate |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the United States Congress. It is frequently referred to as the House. | The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States Congress. |
| Type | Lower house. Responds to the needs of the people faster since representatives only have a 2 year term. Laws dealing with revenue must start in the Firm. | Upper house. The six yr term means the Senate tin be slower and consider the long-term effects of laws. |
| Seats | 435 voting members, 6 non-voting members: 5 delegates, 1 resident commissioner | 100 |
| Seats apportioned | Based on the population of each state | Two for each country |
| Length of term | two years. All 435 seats are upward for reelection every two years. | 6 years. Hither at that place is a continuous body idea. Just 1/iii of the senate seats are elected every 2 years. So just 34 or 33 senators are up for election at one fourth dimension. |
| Term limits | None | None |
| Leadership | Nancy Pelosi (D) (Speaker); elected by the Firm of Representatives. | The President of the Senate [currently Kamala Harris (D) only votes in example of a tie. When he or she is non available, the President pro tempore, a senator elected past the Senate [currently Patrick Leahy (D)] takes over on his behalf. |
| Bulk Leader | Steny Hoyer (D) | Chuck Schumer (D) |
| Minority Leader | Kevin McCarthy (R) | Mitch McConnell (R) |
| Majority Whip | James Clyburn (D) | John Thune (R) |
| Minority Whip | Steve Scalise (R) | Dick Durbin (D) |
| Political groups | Democratic (219), Republican (211), 5 vacant seats | Republican (48), Autonomous (48), Independent (2) |
| Voting organisation | Beginning-past-the-post | First-past-the-post |
| History | Based on Virginia Plan | Based on New Bailiwick of jersey Programme |
Size of Senate vs. Firm
While there are 100 seats in the Senate (two senators from each state), there are 435 seats in the House of Representatives (one representative from each of the diverse congressional districts, with the number of congressional districts in each state adamant past the population).
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the final number of the House at the current 435, with district sizes adjusted co-ordinate to population growth. Nevertheless, as district borders were never divers definitively, they can and often practise stretch into peculiar shapes due to a do known as gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering is used at the state legislature level to create districts that overwhelmingly favor ane party. Federal and Supreme Court rulings have overturned gerrymandering efforts that take been perceived to be based on race, but otherwise some districts have been reconfigured to give one or some other party an extreme political reward, thus allowing that party to secure more power in the land and in the Firm of Representatives.
A line graph showing which political parties accept controlled the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate over the years. Click to enlarge.
Roles of Representatives and Senators
The House plays a major part in government, mainly that of initiating all revenue-based legislation. Whatever proposal to raise taxes must come from the House, with Senate review and approval. The Senate, on the other manus, has sole power of approval on foreign treaties and cabinet and judicial nominations, including appointments to the Supreme Court.
In cases of impeachment (e.one thousand., Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998), the House determines if charges tin be brought against the official, and a simple bulk vote approves or rejects the filing of charges (the impeachment process). If approved, the Senate and so serves equally the investigative/judicial body to decide if the charges merit removing the accused official from his or her office. Nonetheless, the vote in the Senate has to represent "a significant majority," commonly taken to mean 67 of the 100 votes.
Members of Congress are deemed to be "beyond the power of arrest" while in office, except in cases of treason, murder, or fraud. This stipulation has been used by representatives and senators to avert subpoenas and other judicial procedures. A senator can waive the privilege at any fourth dimension, but a member of the Business firm has to submit his or her petition to a general vote. If a elementary majority approves, the privilege can exist waived.
Congress has the power to amendment whatsoever citizen. Noncompliance with a congressional amendment can carry up to a one-year jail sentence. The example is heard in a judicial forum, and punishment (a sentence) for those found guilty of "antipathy of Congress" is handled strictly by the judicial system.
The succession society in the federal government is president, vice president and so Speaker of the Firm, the leader of the representatives. The vice president is considered the "president" of the Senate, though he or she is not required or even expected to attend most Senate sessions. The Senate elects a "President Pro Tempore," ofttimes the senior, or longest-serving, senator of the majority political party, who is responsible for managing day-to-day business.
Length of Terms
Senators are elected for a vi-year term, simply Business firm representatives merely have two-year terms before they need to seek reelection. Every member of the House is up for ballot or reelection every two years, but the Senate has a staggered organization wherein just one-third of the Senators are up for election or reelection every 2 years. It is possible for the House to modify to a large extent (in terms of political party control) every ii years, just changes are slower in the Senate. In both chambers, incumbents take a great advantage over challengers, winning more than 90% of all contested races.
Qualifications
To be eligible as a representative, a person needs to be at least 25 years former at the time of the ballot and have lived continuously in the U.Southward. for at least 7 years. To get a senator, one must exist at least thirty years old at the fourth dimension of the election and have lived continuously in the U.S. for at to the lowest degree 9 years. Information technology is not a requirement to exist a natural-born citizen in order to go a member of Congress.
Committees
Most of Congress' work takes place in committees. Both the House and Senate have standing, special, briefing, and articulation committees.
Continuing committees are permanent and provide longer-serving members with power bases. In the Business firm, key committees include Budget, Ways and Means, and Armed Services, while the Senate has Appropriations, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary committees. (Some committees exist in both chambers, such as Budget, Military machine, and Veterans Affairs.) Special committees are temporary, formed to investigate, analyze, and/or evaluate specific issues. Conference committees are formed when legislation is approved in both the House and Senate; they finalize the language in legislation. Articulation committees feature members of the House and Senate, with leadership of each committee alternate betwixt members of each bedroom.
Committees also have subcommittees, which are formed to focus more than closely on certain issues. Some have go permanent, only most are formed for limited time frames. Although useful for zeroing in on key issues, the proliferation of committees, and especially subcommittees, has decentralized the legislative process and significantly slowed it, making Congress less responsive to irresolute trends and needs.
Debating legislation has stricter rules in the House than in the Senate, applicable at both the commission and whole-body levels. In the Business firm, fence time is restricted and topics are set beforehand, with discussions limited to the agenda. In the Senate, the tactic called filibustering is allowed. Once the floor is ceded to a senator, he or she can speak for as long as the senator chooses, on whatever topic; no other business organization can be transacted while the person speaks. A filibuster is used to block potential legislation or Senate decisions until a favorable vote can be chosen. This has resulted in sometimes comically cool efforts on the part of senators. For instance, during a 2013 filibuster over the Affordable Intendance Human activity, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) read from Green Eggs and Ham.
Origins of House and Senate
In general, the Business firm represents the population, while the Senate represents a "landed/big holding" populace. In colonial times, the proposed "legislative trunk" had two models. The Virginia Program, endorsed by Thomas Jefferson, created a grouping of representatives based on population sizes, and so that more populous states would have a greater voice in legislative issues. Opposing it was the New Jersey Plan that limited each state to the same number of representatives; the programme suggested that there exist something between ii to five representatives per country. The New Jersey Plan was criticized for belongings larger states "earnest" to smaller states, as each would take the same power base. This article in The New Yorker dissects it well:
James Madison and Alexander Hamilton absolutely hated the idea that each state should exist entitled to the aforementioned number of senators regardless of size. Hamilton was withering on the topic. "As states are a drove of private men," he harangued his fellow-delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, "which ought nosotros to respect most, the rights of the people composing them, or of the artificial beings resulting from the composition? Nix could be more preposterous or absurd than to cede the quondam to the latter."
Per the Connecticut Compromise at the Ramble Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the United states of america adopted the bicameral system of the English Parliament (i.due east., Business firm of Lords and House of Commons). The compromise was between the Virginia plan (small country) and the New Jersey proposal (large state), two competing ideas on whether each state should get equal representation in the federal government or whether representation should be based on population. The compromise established that representatives in the lower house (House of Representatives) volition exist based on a population number (called a "district") while the upper house (Senate) would contain 2 representative from each land. Information technology was also decided that all classes would be eligible to become senators, subject to age and residency restrictions.
References
- Congress.gov
- The System of Congress - Cliff Notes
- Wikipedia: United states Firm of Representatives
- Wikipedia: Usa Senate
- Wikipedia: Construction of the United states Congress
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