Executive Legislative Judicial Executive

The House of Representatives

• Considered the “House of the People.”

• Comprised of 435 Representatives, 

apportioned among the states 

according to population. Five U.S. 

territories and possessions also have 

nonvoting representation in the House: 

the District of Columbia, American 

Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands.

• All Representatives serve two-year terms 

with no limit on the number of terms 

they may serve, and all are elected at the 

same time.

• Each Representative is elected from a 

defi ned geographic area within a state 

called a Congressional District.

• Vacancies in the House of Representatives 

are fi lled only by a special election or in a 

general election.

• The members of the House elect a 

Speaker of the House, who is the 

leading offi cer of the chamber and, in 

practice, is a member of the majority 

party.

Special powers and responsibilities 

of the House not shared with the Senate 

include:

• The power to bring charges of 

impeachment against the President 

and Supreme Court Justices.

• All bills for raising revenue must 

originate in the House.

• The House selects the President in cases 

where no presidential candidate receives 

a majority of electoral votes. In such 

cases, each state delegation has one vote.

Members of the House of Representatives take the 

oath of offi ce in the House chambers in the Capitol in 

January, 1989.

H

OW THE

 U.S. I

S

 G

OVERNED

*In practice, ties are so infrequent that the Vice President 

spends very little time presiding over the Senate. When 

the Vice President is not present, the Senate selects 

a president from its members to preside over daily 

proceedings.

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The Executive Branch is by far the largest 

branch of the federal government. At its 

head is the President, who serves a four-

year term. The Vice President is elected 

at the same time, and is fi rst in line to 

assume the presidency should the Presi-

dent die, become incapacitated, or be 

removed from offi ce upon impeachment 

and conviction.

Although the Executive Branch shares 

powers co-equally with the other two 

branches of government, the President 

is the most powerful individual in the 

government. Among the powers and roles 

of the President are:

• Appointing Supreme Court justices and 

lower federal court judges, all of whom 

must be confi rmed by the Senate;

•Appointing a cabinet of department sec-

retaries and agency heads who must be 

confi rmed by the Senate;

• Acting as Commander-in-Chief of the 

military;

• Acting as titular head of state;

• Negotiating international treaties and 

treaties with American Indian tribes, 

which must be ratifi ed by the Senate;