House of Representatives

## Meeting Place

House of Representatives ChamberUnited States Capitol
Washington, D.C.
United States of America

The **United States House of Representatives** is the lower house of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper house. Together they compose the national legislature of the United States.

The composition of the House is established by Article One of the United States Constitution. The House is composed of representatives who sit in congressional districts that are allocated to each of the 50 states on a basis of population as measured by the U.S. Census, with each district entitled to one representative. Since its inception in 1789, all representatives have been directly elected. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435. As of the 2010 Census, the largest delegation is that of California, with fifty-three representatives. Seven states have only one representative: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

The House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the president for consideration. In addition to this basic power, the House has certain exclusive powers, among them the power to initiate all bills related to revenue; the impeachment of federal officers, who are sent to trial before the Senate; and, in cases wherein no candidate receives a majority of electors for president, the duty falls upon the House to elect one of the top three recipients of electors for that office, with one vote given to each state for that purpose. The House meets in the south wing of the United States Capitol.

The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof (and is therefore traditionally the leader of the controlling party). The speaker and other floor leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conference, depending on whichever party has more voting members.

## Members

### Qualifications

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for representatives. Each representative must: (1) be at least twenty-five years old; (2) have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years; and (3) be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they represent. Members are not required to live in the districts they represent, but they traditionally do.

### Elections

Between Week 1 and Week 8 in any even-numbered year, there will be a post on the Jobs tab, that will allow you to run for U.S. Representative. At times, you may be challenged by other members of your party, which will lead to a primary election on Week 19. All elections, however, will be processed on Week 45.

### Terms

Members serve two-year terms, starting from Week 1 of the year following the election, to Week 1 of the year following the succeeding election. For instance, If Rep. Donald Trump was elected in 2022, he would then serve from 2023 to with his term ending in 2025, unless he won re-election in 2024.

## Districts

There are 435 congressional districts across the 50 states, each electing their own representative. For an analysis of the district configuration, see Vote Counting in the House of Representatives.

## Committees

A **congressional committee** is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction. As "little legislatures", the committees monitor ongoing governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to their parent body.

### List of Committees

#### Exclusive Committees

Members cannot serve on more than 1 Exclusive Committee.

#### Non-Exclusive Committees

The player can only serve on 2 non-exclusive committees(or two committees total) as well as 4 sub committees.

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