ORGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
UNIT THREE- BA
* Organization of the House of Representatives
• The House of Representatives
• After each census, every ten years, each state decides how to draw the districts
given to them based on the census population records. A state may gain, or lose
representatives in this process, known as reapportionment. For example, Illinois
had 19 districts in 2011, but due to the 2010 census they now have 18.
• In history there have been several times that the party in power in each state has
tried to draw the districts so as to favor their party, this is called gerrymandering.
• The Supreme Court ruled in 1964 that districts
must have roughly the same number of people so
that one person's vote in an election is worth the
same as another's. This is known as the "one
person, one vote" principle. Still, the majority
party often tries to draw the boundaries to
maximize the chances for its candidates to win
elections.
• Currently the number of representatives in the House is
set by law at 435, who are divided out amongst the states
based on population.
* Organization of the House of Representatives
• The elected head of the U.S. House of
Representatives is Rep. Paul Ryan (RWisconsin)
• The Speaker is also an elected Congressional
Representative from his home district, in his
home state. Paul Ryan was elected by the
people of the 1st Congressional District of
Wisconsin.
• The Speaker is elected by the members of the
House of Representatives once the newly
elected House meets in January every two
years.
• The Speaker has a lot of power in Congress as
it is he who decides the agenda, makes
parliamentary rulings, and determines who
will chair what committees.
• The Speaker is also the chair of the Rules
Committee which determines the rules of how
debates are done on proposed bills, and the
voting procedures on them.
* Organization of the House of Representatives
• The Speaker of the House
• The Speaker of the House is the second in line to the Presidency, right behind
the Vice President
• The Speaker is also responsible for supervising the elected and unelected
offices of the House, including the:
• Sergeant At Arms (in charge of the security of the House)
• Parliamentarian (the legal expert on parliamentary procedure)
• Chief Administrative Officer (in charge of paid staffs and clerks)
• Clerk of the House (in charge of the paperwork of the House)
• Historian (in charge of compiling the history of the House)
• Chaplain of the House (religious leader and counselor of the House)
• Legal Counselors (the lawyers and legal advisers of the House)
* Organization of the House of Representatives
• The Minority Leader
• The Minority Leader in the House is the ranking, and elected leader, of the
minority party, or the party with less members in the House.
• Each party has its own “club” of its members that meet and vote on priorities,
and leadership of their party in the House. These “clubs” are called caucuses
(though the Republicans call theirs a conference). Each party caucus votes for
their leader, in the majority party that leader most often becomes the Speaker of
the House, the leader of the minority party is the Minority Leader
• Party is very important in Congress, as it is the party leadership that assigns
office space, committee assignment, what legislation they propose that is
put on the agenda, what campaign money and support they receive from
the party, and what leadership positions they receive.
• Unless you are a “team player” within the party, then you have little to
no power in Congress.
• The current Minority Leader was the former Speaker of the House,
Nancy Pelosi
* Organization of the House of Representatives
• The Majority Leader
• Although the title is Majority Leader, he is actually the second in charge of the
majority party, and the Speaker’s top assistant.
• The responsibilities of the Majority Leader include:
• Scheduling the House Floor’s legislative calendar
• Assisting the Speaker when need be
• The current Majority Leader is
Kevin McCarthy
* Organization of the House of Representatives
• The Whips
• The Majority Whip is the third in charge of the majority party in the House
• His or her duties include keeping track of all legislation and ensuring that all
party members are present when important measures are to be voted upon.
Republican Majority Whip
Steve Scalise
Democrat Minority Whip
Steny Hoyer