Questions tagged [house-of-representatives]
Questions related to the policies or governance of a House of Representatives (typically a lower house in a bicameral legislature or the only chamber in a unicameral legislature). Use with a relevant country tag.
240 questions
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Why has the AP still not called some House races that appear mathematically impossible for a candidate to lose at this point?
As of the time of writing (around 11 pm Central Time on Nov 6,) there are currently still 3 races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania for which the Associated Press has ...
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Except/before the IRGC vote/resolution, did the US Congress formally urge the EU to designate other organizations as terrorists?
H. Res. 288 passed by a large majority (411-14) on April 16 urges the EU to designate the IRGC as terrorists. Vote summary:
Urging the European Union to expeditiously designate the Islamic ...
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What motives would Democrats have to vote either in favor or against vacating Mike Johnson's speakership if a motion to vacate were voted on?
Marjorie Taylor Greene is currently floating the idea of issuing a motion to vacate the Speakership of Mike Johnson in the House of Representatives in US Congress. This would be the second such motion ...
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Why don't Democrats let Representative Greene rename post offices, and how do they prevent her from doing so?
After 06:00 in CNN's April 19 18, 2024 MTG says GOP support is ‘growing’ to oust Speaker Johnson there are several quick clips of Democratic representatives suggesting they would not vote to vacate if ...
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Would a viable third party candidate legally have a chance in the House of Representatives?
Suppose there was an American third party candidate, who won a quarter of the popular vote, and a single large state or a handful of smaller ones: specifically with enough electoral votes so that ...
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U.S. Speaker Johnson says the house will take up Ukrainian aid in next few weeks
The House is out of session, and holding a Republican strategy, team building retreat at the Green Briar Hotel in West Virginia. Yesterday Speaker Johnson announced at the retreat that the house would ...
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Why does expelled former American congressperson, George Santos, still have access to the United States of America's Congressional House floor?
Why does disgraced former American congressperson, George Santos (AKA Anthony Devolder AKA Anthony Zabrovsky allegedly AKA Kitara Ravache) still have access to the United States of America's ...
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Is the House of Representatives not allowed to initiate any bills dealing with foreign policy (outside of commerce and budget matters)?
It's been claimed in an unsourced answer here that
It's an "H.R.". Meaning it's a "House Resolution". As such, the bill would not have any power in law. The domain of the foreign ...
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Could the Democrats (almost) unilaterally remove the Republican House Speaker?
My understanding is that, under the current rules, any single house member can force a vote on removing the (Republican) House Speaker, including any Democrat.
Should this happen, a very few ...
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How can speaker Mike Johnson prevent a vote in the House on the Ukraine aid bill?
In The Good Republicans’ Last Stand (The Atlantic, 2024-02-12), discussing bills for aid to Ukraine, David Frum writes
...17 Republican senators joined Democrats to speed assistance to Ukraine, ...
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Have other countries raised serious concerns on Pakistan elections?
Recently Pakistan concluded elections for its National Assembly and provincial assemblies. I have seen the US and UK official statements on these elections raising concerns on fairness.
The European ...
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Why could the House get 250-180 votes on some bill but not "muster the simple majority needed to set the terms for the bill’s debate"?
I find this AP report quite confusing:
Johnson resorted to moving the bill through an expedited process that requires a two-thirds majority for passage. That’s because Republicans were unlikely to ...
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Did the Democrats have an endgame plan when they allowed the Republicans to remove the Speaker of the House? [duplicate]
The Republicans have a slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Last year, eight Republican Congressmen filed a motion to vacate the Speakership,which succeeded, because the former (...
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Can a "minority" party elect, or at least choose the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives?
Suppose the U.S. House of Representatives' 435 seats are narrowly divided something like 220-215 between the two major parties. Normally, the majority party chooses the Speaker of the House.
But ...
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Are the US presidential electors the members of House of Representatives?
My question is about the US presidential election. I read that the Electoral College consists of 435 electors, 100 senators and 3 others. Are the 435 electors the members of the House of ...
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Where can I find the archival records of a US "Committee on Armed Services Hearings" held in 1963?
This is the full citation:
U.S., Congress, House, Committee on Armed Services, Hearings on the Military Posture, 88th Cong., 1st sess., 30 January 1963
I looked for it here - Congressional Hearings -...
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Who were the Republicans who signed off on the Santos report? Are any of them part of the Freedom Caucus?
CNN
A statement from the committee accompanying the report said the panel unanimously voted to adopt the report. The committee said it uncovered additional “uncharged and unlawful conduct” by Santos ...
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How is this continuing resolution different from what got McCarthy vacated?
CBS:
House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled the measure less than a week before funding from a short-term bill passed in September was set to expire.
But dissent from within his own party over its lack ...
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Why do they keep saying 217 is what's needed to elect the Speaker of the House?
There are 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The smallest absolute majority, if all members are present is 218, not 217.
Are there 2 seats that are empty (with an election planned)? ...
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Why don't members of the minority party in the U.S. House of Representative ever force a vote to vacate the Speakership?
My understanding is that the current rules of the U.S. House of Representatives allow any member of the House - including members of the minority party - to offer a motion to vacate the office of ...
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Has Jim Jordan said what he intends to do to pass the Republican objectives into law?
Jim Jordan, one of the founders of the Freedom Caucus, often described as the "hard right" in some of the press, is the Republican speaker-nominee (was thus elected by secret ballot of the ...
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What does a hideaway office or an unmarked haven in the Capitol look like?
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4237209-mchenry-orders-pelosi-to-leave-capitol-office-in-first-acts-as-speaker/ says:
A small number of senior representatives have “hideaway offices” inside the ...
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Why did Democrats vote to vacate the Speaker of the House? [duplicate]
Yesterday the House of Representatives voted to vacate Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. This vote was called by Matt Gaetz, a member of a far-right faction of the Republican caucus, who were ...
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What would happen if Matt Gaetz is expelled from the House?
Following the successful motion to vacate the chair, Matt Gaetz is not a popular person within the GOP (or really anybody as best I can tell). The Washington Post has indicated that there are ...
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What did the Democrats have to gain by ousting Kevin McCarthy?
The Guardian in the UK reports that:
eight hard-right Republicans joined 208 Democrats in supporting McCarthy’s removal
So it was really the Democrats who ousted McCarthy. But McCarthy seemed as ...
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Is every house vote taken one vote at a time?
The US House of Representatives appear to be currently voting on retaining the current Speaker of the House in his position.
LIVE: The House is now voting on ousting Kevin McCarthy as speaker https://...
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Origin & purpose of the "magic minute" floor speech in the US House and why would Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries use one to delay the vote by an hour?
In ABC News' October 1 2023 Rep. Bowman says triggering fire alarm ahead of House spending bill vote was 'innocent mistake' there is an embedded short video of House vote-related background material. ...
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Secrecy of House Votes for Member Safety
Historically, during events like presidential impeachment proceedings, certain House members have expressed safety concern due to the public exposure of their votes, leading to a desire for secret ...
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Can the US House function without a speaker?
For reasons that are off-topic to this question, McCarthy might lose a motion to vacate (some news are calling it a vote of no confidence, which is the wrong term); but it's clear that no other ...
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Who are all of the "Democrats in Menendez’s chamber" and for that matter, what exactly is a "chamber" in this context?
CNN's September 23, 2023 Rep. Andy Kim announces he’ll run against NJ Sen. Bob Menendez in wake of his indictment includes the following passage:
Many New Jersey Democrats swiftly called for the ...
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What was the tipping point district for the 2020 presidential election under 2022 House lines?
In American politics, a tipping point state is a state that provides the first electoral vote to reach a majority. This concept can also be applied to House districts. For example in 2022's House ...
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Why did Democrats on the House Rules Committee vote against the debt ceiling bill?
Yesterday the House Rules Committee advanced a bill to raise the debt ceiling, but with no Democratic support. From the New York Post:
The GOP-controlled committee voted 7-6 to move the 99-page piece ...
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Origin of "longtime House Republican principle that states no bill should pass without a 'majority of the majority' on board"?
Politico's March 22, 2023 McCarthy’s newest challenge: Keeping the House GOP peace on war power includes the following:
Should a standalone war powers repeal bill come up, only a handful of ...
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What chance do the Republicans have of passing their recently proposed legislation without having the Senate or the presidency?
The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives announced a set of bills concerning budget, taxing, and abortion, in terms and contents which seem to be red-line for Democrats.
Even if ...
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Would a non-member Speaker of the House get paid?
This question asks what happens if a non-member of the US House of Representatives is elected Speaker. The accepted answer calls it a "thankless" task. Is it?
Specifically, does the Speaker ...
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What happens if a non-representative is elected speaker of the House?
On the seventh and eighth ballots, Matt Gaetz cast a vote for Donald Trump.
What would have happened if Donald Trump (or any other person) had won a majority and had wanted to take that function?
In ...
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What are the rules governing the House of Representatives after expiry of the preceding Congress and before or absent of rules being adopted?
The Rules of the House are adopted usually shortly after the election of the Speaker and of the various officers of the House. I'm interested in what - apart from the Constitution of course - governs ...
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Who limits what sensitive/secret information is shared with the US House Armed Services Committee? Can they get whatever they want for "oversight"?
Background; elected officials considered "vetted" by election and receive no formal background check before receiving sensitive/secret information
Politico's January 5, 2023 Speaker debacle ...
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Does the election of a Speaker of the US House of Representatives immediately install them, or can they refuse the position?
With all the shenanigans surrounding the election of McCarthy, I got to wondering: does being elected Speaker mean that you immediately become Speaker, or do you have an opportunity to refuse? If ...
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Does anything bind the speaker of the House to a previous concession made for support?
A lot of the holdout for McCarthy seems to be dissolving because of backroom deals. Are these backroom deals binding? Does anything for example force McCarthy to accept a motion to vacate (remove the ...
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If Kevin McCarthy becomes Speaker of the US House of Representatives, can he be removed later? [duplicate]
At present (January 6th 2023) Kevin McCarthy is trying to be elected as Speaker of the House. As there is a majority of Republicans in the new house, you might expect this to be straightforward, but ...
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US Representatives salary & expenses without being sworn in (no Speaker)
It is my understanding (BBC Summary), that the the first order of business for the US House of Representatives, is to appoint the Speaker. After this, the Representatives are sworn in.
Before being ...
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What is the effect of U.S. House members being sworn in?
In the January 2023 crisis over electing Speaker of the House in the U.S., usually one of the first things mentioned in any coverage is that without a Speaker, "House members can't even be sworn ...
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What is the procedure for electing a Speaker of the House by plurality vote?
In 1849 and 1856, the US House of Representatives elected a speaker by plurality vote after repeated failures to elect one by majority vote (62 failed ballots in 1849, 132 in 1855-1856). What is the ...
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Would it be sensible for the House Democrats to vote for McCarthy as speaker?
It is my understanding that McCarthy is struggling to get elected, because some more extreme Republicans regard him as 'too moderate'. Doesn't that mean that the choice is basically McCarthy or ...
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Exactly what, if anything, can the House do before electing a Speaker?
There's lots of questions currently about how the House elects its Speaker and what happens when it can't, and it's generally accepted that the House can't actually do anything else until a Speaker is ...
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What happens if they don't elect the speaker of the House by the day representatives' terms end? [duplicate]
What happens if they don't elect the speaker of the House by the day representatives' terms end? If new representatives are not sworn in (it's the speaker's job, as I understand it), but old ones are ...
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Who ordered the US House chamber metal detectors removed, and under what authority?
It has recently been reported (see e.g., https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3796927-metal-detectors-removed-from-outside-the-house-chamber/) that the metal detectors that were outside the house ...
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What is the process for nominating a Speaker of the House?
I've now read that McCarthy has failed 6 times in his bid to be speaker, many in the past few days. Why is it only him that I'm reading about? Can the Democrats nominate someone too, even if they fail ...
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Why was the primary for the NY-3 district canceled, allowing George Santos to run as a Republican uncontested?
According to Ballotpedia:
The Republican primary election was canceled. George Devolder-Santos advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 3.
Why was it canceled? Did no ...
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