Seal, United States House of Representatives

UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States.

The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution.  The House is composed of representatives who sit in congressional districts which are allocated to each of the 50 states on a basis of population as measured by the U.S. Census, with each district entitled one representative.   Since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly.   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; the smallest is shared by seven states: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming, each with a single representative.

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 of which include the power to initiate all bills related to revenue, the impeachment of federal officers, who are sent to trial in 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 two votes given to each state for that purpose.

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.  He and other floor leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences, depending on whichever party has more voting members.  The House meets in the south wing of the United States Capitol.

Representatives and Delegates serve for two-year terms, while the Resident Commissioner serves for four years.  The Constitution permits the House to expel a member with a two-thirds vote. In the history of the United States, only five members have been expelled from the House; in 1861, three were removed for supporting the Confederate states' secession:  John Bullock Clark (D-MO), John William Reid (D-MO), and Henry Cornelius Burnett (D-KY). Michael Myers (D-PA) was expelled after his criminal conviction for accepting bribes in 1980, and James Traficant (D-OH) was expelled in 2002 following his conviction for corruption.   The House also has the power to formally censure or reprimand its members; censure or reprimand of a member requires only a simple majority, and does not remove that member from office.