The United States House of Representatives

All Representatives from the House of Representatives serve a two year term. This means that the majority in the House can swing drastically on any given election year. The amount of representatives per state in the House of Representatives is determined by the population of the state. There must always be 435 representatives in the house. That means that if one state gains a representative, another state must lose a representative. Here's an example: Your state has 8 representatives. After the census, it is determined that your states population stayed the same while another state had a huge population spike. That state needs to gain a representative, which means another state has to lose one. Your state has the lowest population of all 8 representative states, so as a result your state will lose one representative, and the other state will gain one.

Leaders of the House of Representatives

There are three types of leaders in the House of Representatives. The three types are: The Speaker of the House, the Floor Leaders, and the Floor Whips.

The Speaker of the House

The Speaker of the House is always a member of the majority party in the House of Representatives. He/she is the person that sets the agenda for his/her party. He/she is regarded as the leader of the House. The Speaker of the House is second in the order of presidential succession. The Vice President is the only person that comes before.

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The Floor Leaders

The floor leaders help set the agendas for their respective parties. If they are the majority leader, meaning that they are the leader of the party with the most representatives, they are the second highest ranking official in the House, behind the Speaker of the House. The minority leader has the same responsibilities as the majority leader, except they lead the party with fewer representatives.

The Floor Whips

The responsibility of the floor whips is to make sure that the representatives in their respective parties vote for the bills that the party wants to pass. For example, if a member of the majority party is planning on voting against a majority party bill, the majority whip will talk to that person and try to change his/her mind.

Qualifications

In order to be a Representative in the House you must be all of the following:

-25 years old
-U.S citizen for at least 7 years
-Legal resident of the state you represent