The House of Representatives is the lower house of the Congress of the United States, whose upper house is the United States Senate. Together, they comprise the Congress of the United States, whose powers are set forth in Article 1 (particularly Article 1, Section 8) of the United States Constitution. Congress's powers were later supplemented by the post-Civil War amendments to the Constitution (Amendments 13, 14, and 15, each of which authorizes the Congress to enforce its provisions by appropriate legislation), and by the 16th Amendment, which authorizes an income tax.. Other parts of the Constitution--particularly Article 1, Section 9, and the first ten amendments to the Constitution (the "Bill of Rights")--impose limitations on Congress's power.
Members of the House are elected for a term of two years. Seats in the House are apportioned among the states by population, as determined by a decennial census. Members are elected from districts through a first past the post method, and as a result the boundaries of the districts, which must be redrawn by the government of each state after each census, can be particularly contentious.
If a vacancy occurs in a House seat between elections, it may be filled only by a special election.
Presently the House has 435 members from the 50 states, with the delegations ranging from 52 members for the state of California to 1 each for Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. There are also delegates without voting rights from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and certain other territories.
The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the members. In matters of legislation it is essentially co-equal with the Senate, with the exception of the rule provided by the Constitution that "all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.
Because of the large size of the House of Representatives, much of the power of the House is in the committees. The House Committee on Rules is particularly powerful because each bill submitted to the floor of the house must have a rule assigned by the committee which limits the amount of debate and more importantly specifies what amendments can or cannot be allowed in the course of the debate. Another important committee is the House Committee on Ways and Means which is responsible for taxation and is particularly powerful because of the constitutional requirement (in Article 1, Section 7) that bills raising revenue shall originate in the House. The House Committee on Appropriations is another important committee whose power derives from its ability to consider funding for government projects.
Unlike senators, most House members have little individual power, and typically will ally themselves in informal caucuses with other members from similar districts.
The House chamber is located in the north wing of the U. S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C.
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