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Party leaders and whips of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot. [1] With the Republicans holding a majority of seats and the Democrats holding a minority, the current leaders are: Majority Leader Kevin Mc Carthy, Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer

Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Leaders of the United States House of Representatives)navigation search This article is about political party leaders of the House. For the Speaker, see Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations.

Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2011) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Current leaders Majority Leader Kevin Mc Carthy (R) Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R)Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D)Party Leaders of the U. S. House of Representatives

. Contents [ hide ]1 Job description2 Selection3 Duties4 History5 Minority Leader5.1 Responsibilities5.2 Origin of the post5.2.1 Minority Party Nominees for Speaker, 1865–18975.2.2 Trends5.3 Institutional functions5.4 Party functions6 Party whips and assistant party leaders6.1 Whips6.2 Assistant party leaders7 List of party leaders and whips8 See also9 References10 External links Job description [ edit]This article is part of a series on the United States House of Representatives History of the United States House of Representatives Members Current members ( by seniority by age non-voting)Former members Hill committees ( DCCC NRCC)Congressional districts Speaker of the United States House of Representatives ( list)Party leaders Democratic Caucus Republican Conference Politics and procedure Committee of the Whole Closed session ( list) Saxbe fix Committees ( list) Procedures Origination Clause Quorum call Unanimous consent Salaries Apportionment ( Huntington–Hill method)Redistricting Gerrymandering Articles of impeachment Self-executing rule Rules suspension General ticket Plural district Places United States Capitol House office buildings ( Cannon Ford Longworth Rayburn)v t e Unlike in Westminster style legislatures or as with the Senate Majority Leader, the House Majority Leader's duties and prominence vary depending upon the style and power of the Speaker of the House.

Typically, the Speaker does not participate in debate and rarely votes on the floor. In some cases, Majority Leaders have been more influential than the Speaker; notably, Tom De Lay was more prominent than Speaker Dennis Hastert.

In addition, Speaker Newt Gingrich delegated to Dick Armey an unprecedented level of authority over scheduling legislation on the House floor. [2]The current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi serves as floor leader of the opposition party, and is the counterpart to the Majority Leader. Unlike the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader is on the ballot for Speaker of the House during the convening of the Congress.

If the Minority Leader's party takes control of the House, and the party officers are all re-elected to their seats, the Minority Leader is usually the party's top choice for Speaker for the next Congress, while the Minority Whip is typically in line to become Majority Leader. The Minority Leader usually meets with the Majority Leader and the Speaker to discuss agreements on controversial issues. The Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Majority Whip and Minority Whip all receive special office suites in the United States Capitol.

Selection [ edit]The floor leaders and whips of each party are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot.

[3] The Speaker-elect is also chosen in a closed-door session although they are formally installed in their position by a public vote when Congress reconvenes. [1]Like the Speaker of the House, the Minority Leaders are typically experienced lawmakers when they win election to this position. When Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, became Minority Leader in the 108th Congress, she had served in the House nearly 20 years and had served as minority whip in the 107th Congress.

When her predecessor, Richard Gephardt, D-MO, became minority leader in the 104th House, he had been in the House for almost 20 years, had served as chairman of the Democratic Caucus for four years, had been a 1988 presidential candidate, and had been majority leader from June 1989 until Republicans captured control of the House in the November 1994 elections.

Gephardt's predecessor in the minority leadership position was Robert Michel, R-IL, who became GOP Leader in 1981 after spending 24 years in the House.

Michel's predecessor, Republican John Rhodes of Arizona, was elected Minority Leader in 1973 after 20 years of House service.

By contrast, party leaders of the United States Senate have often ascended to their position despite relatively few years of experience in that chamber, [ citation needed] such as Lyndon B. Johnson, William F. Knowland, and Bill Frist. Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor also had a comparatively quick rise to the post and was the youngest House Majority Leader in American history. [ citation needed]Duties [ edit]The House Majority Leader's duties vary, depending upon the political makeup of the majority caucus.

In several recent sessions of Congress with the notable exception of the Pelosi speakership, the Majority Leader has been primarily responsible for scheduling the House floor's legislative calendar and direct management for all House committees.

One statutory duty, per 19 U. S. C. § 2191 (c) (1), stipulates that an implementing bill submitted by the President of the United States for a fast-track negotiating authority (trade promotion authority) trade agreement must be introduced (by request) in the House by the Majority Leader of the House.

History [ edit]Before 1899, the majority party floor leader had traditionally been the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful committee in the House, as it generates the Bills of Revenue specified in the Constitution as the House's unique power. [4]The office of Majority Leader was created in 1899 and first occupied by Sereno Payne. [5] Speaker David B. Henderson created the position to establish a party leader on the House floor separate from the Speaker, as the role of Speaker had become more prominent, and the size of the House had grown from 105 at the beginning of the century to 356.

[ citation needed]Starting with Republican Nicholas Longworth in 1925, and continued through the Democrats' control of the House from 1931 to 1995, save for Republican majorities in 1947–49 and 1953–55, all majority leaders have directly ascended to the Speakership brought upon by the retirement of the incumbent. The only exceptions during this period were Charles A. Halleck who became Republican House leader and Minority Leader from 1959 to 1965, Hale Boggs who died in a plane crash, and Dick Gephardt who became the Democrats' House leader but as Minority Leader since his party lost control in the 1994 midterm elections.

Since 1995, the only Majority Leader to become Speaker is John Boehner, though indirectly as his party lost control in the 2006 midterms elections. He subsequently served as Republican House leader and Minority Leader from 2007 to 2011 and then was elected Speaker when the House reconvened in 2011.

In 1998, with Speaker Newt Gingrich announcing his resignation, both Majority Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom De Lay did not contest the Speakership which eventually went to Chief Deputy Whip Dennis Hastert.

Traditionally, the Speaker is reckoned as the leader of the majority party in the House, with the Majority Leader as second-in-command. For instance, when the Republicans gained the majority in the House after the 2010 elections, Eric Cantor succeeded Boehner as Majority Leader.

Despite this, Cantor and his successor, Kevin Mc Carthy, have been reckoned as the second-ranking Republicans in the House, since Boehner was still reckoned as the leader of the House Republicans. However, there have been some exceptions. The most recent exception to this rule came when Majority Leader Tom De Lay generally overshadowed Speaker Dennis Hastert from 2003 to 2006.

[6] In contrast, the Minority Leader is the undisputed leader of the minority party. When the Presidency and both Houses of Congress are controlled by one party, the Speaker normally takes a low profile and defers to the President.

[ citation needed] For that situation the House Minority Leader can play the role of a de facto ""leader of the opposition"", often more so than the Senate Minority Leader, due to the more partisan nature of the House and the greater role of leadership.

When the Majority Leader's party loses control of the House, and if the Speaker and Majority Leader both remain in the leadership hierarchy, convention suggests that they would become the Minority Leader and Minority Whip, respectively. As the minority party has one less leadership position after losing the speaker's chair, there may be a contest for the remaining leadership positions. Nancy Pelosi is the most recent example of an outgoing Speaker seeking the Minority Leader post to retain the House party leadership, as the Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 elections. She ran successfully for Minority Leader in the 112th Congress. [7] [8]In 2014, Eric Cantor became the first House Majority Leader to lose a primary election.

Following his primary defeat, Cantor announced his resignation as Majority Leader, effective July 31, 2014, [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] and he subsequently resigned his seat in Congress. [15]Minority Leader [ edit]This article reads like a textbook and may require cleanup. Please help to improve this article to make it neutral in tone and meet Wikipedia's quality standards.

Responsibilities [ edit]From an institutional perspective, the rules of the House assign a number of specific responsibilities to the minority leader.

For example, Rule XII, clause 6, grant the minority leader (or their designee) the right to offer a motion to recommit with instructions; Rule II, clause 6, states the Inspector General shall be appointed by joint recommendation of the Speaker, majority leader, and minority leader; and Rule XV, clause 6, provides that the Speaker, after consultation with the minority leader, may place legislation on the Corrections Calendar. The minority leader also has other institutional duties, such as appointing individuals to certain federal entities.

From a party perspective, the minority leader has a wide range of partisan assignments, all geared toward retaking majority control of the House. Five principal party activities direct the work of the minority leader. The minority leader provides campaign assistance to party incumbents and challengers. The minority leader devises strategies, in consultation with other partisan colleagues, that advance party objectives.

For example, by stalling action on the majority party's agenda, the minority leader may be able to launch a campaign against a ""do-nothing Congress. ""The minority leader works to promote and publicize the party's agenda. The minority leader, if their party controls the White House, confers regularly with the President and the President's aides about issues before Congress, the Administration's agenda, and political events generally.

The minority leader strives to promote party harmony so as to maximize the chances for legislative and political success. The roles and responsibilities of the minority leader are not well-defined. To a large extent, the functions of the minority leader are defined by tradition and custom. A minority leader from 1931 to 1939, Representative Bertrand Snell, R-N. Y., provided this ""job description"": ""He is spokesman for his party and enunciates its policies.

He is required to be alert and vigilant in defense of the minority's rights. It is his function and duty to criticize constructively the policies and programs of the majority, and to this end employ parliamentary tactics and give close attention to all proposed legislation."" [16]Since Snell's description, other responsibilities have been added to the job. These duties involve an array of institutional and party functions.

Before examining the institutional and party assignments of the minority leader, it is worth highlighting the historical origin of this position. Origin of the post [ edit]This article is part of a series on the Politics of the United States of America Federal Government [show]Legislature [show]Executive [show]Judiciary [show]Elections [show]Political parties [show]Federalism [show]Other countries Atlasv t e To a large extent, the minority leader's position is a 20th-century innovation.

Prior to this time congressional parties were often relatively disorganized, so it was not always evident who functioned as the opposition floor leader. Decades went by before anything like the modern two-party congressional system emerged on Capitol Hill with official titles for those who were its official leaders.

However, from the beginning days of Congress, various House members intermittently assumed the role of ""opposition leader."" Some scholars suggest that Representative James Madison of Virginia informally functioned as the first ""minority leader"" because in the First Congress he led the opposition to Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton 's fiscal policies. [17]During this early period, it was more usual that neither major party grouping (Federalists and Democratic-Republicans) had an official leader.

In 1813, for instance, a scholar recounts that the Federalist minority of 36 Members needed a committee of 13 ""to represent a party comprising a distinct minority"" and ""to coordinate the actions of men who were already partisans in the same cause."" [18] In 1828, a foreign observer of the House offered this perspective on the absence of formal party leadership on Capitol Hill: I found there were absolutely no persons holding the stations of what are called, in England, Leaders, on either side of the House....

It is true, that certain members do take charge of administration questions, and certain others of opposition questions; but all this so obviously without concert among themselves, actual or tacit, that nothing can be conceived less systematic or more completely desultory, disjointed.

[19]Internal party disunity compounded the difficulty of identifying lawmakers who might have informally functioned as a minority leader. For instance, ""seven of the fourteen speakership elections from 1834 through 1859 had at least twenty different candidates in the field.

Thirty-six competed in 1839, ninety-seven in 1849, ninety-one in 1859, and 138 in 1855."" [20] With so many candidates competing for the speakership, it is not at all clear that one of the defeated lawmakers then assumed the mantle of ""minority leader."" The Democratic minority from 1861 to 1875 was so completely disorganized that they did not ""nominate a candidate for Speaker in two of these seven Congresses and nominated no man more than once in the other five.

The defeated candidates were not automatically looked to for leadership."" [21]In the judgment of political scientist Randall Ripley, since 1883 ""the candidate for Speaker nominated by the minority party has clearly been the Minority Leader.""

[22] However, this assertion is subject to dispute. On December 3, 1883, the House elected Democrat John G. Carlisle of Kentucky as Speaker. Republicans placed in nomination for the speakership J. Warren Keifer of Ohio, who was Speaker the previous Congress.

[23] Clearly, Keifer was not the Republicans' minority leader. He was a discredited leader in part because as Speaker he arbitrarily handed out ""choice jobs to close relatives ... all at handsome salaries.""

[24] Keifer received ""the empty honor of the minority nomination. But with it came a sting -- for while this naturally involves the floor leadership, he was deserted by his [partisan] associates and his career as a national figure terminated ingloriously."" [25] Representative Thomas Reed, R-ME, who later became Speaker, assumed the de facto role of minority floor leader in Keifer's stead. ""

[A]lthough Keifer was the minority's candidate for Speaker, Reed became its acknowledged leader, and ever after, so long as he served in the House, remained the most conspicuous member of his party. [26]Another scholar contends that the minority leader position emerged even before 1883. On the Democratic side, ""there were serious caucus fights for the minority speakership nomination in 1871 and 1873,"" indicating that the ""nomination carried with it some vestige of leadership.""

[27] Further, when Republicans were in the minority, the party nominated for Speaker a series of prominent lawmakers, including ex-Speaker James Blaine of Maine in 1875, former Appropriations Chairman James A. Garfield of Ohio, in 1876, 1877, and 1879, and ex-Speaker Keifer in 1883.

""It is hard to believe that House partisans would place a man in the speakership when in the majority, and nominate him for this office when in the minority, and not look to him for legislative guidance.""

[27] This was not the case, according to some observers, with respect to ex-Speaker Keifer. In brief, there is disagreement among historical analysts as to the exact time period when the minority leadership emerged officially as a party position. Nonetheless, it seems safe to conclude that the position emerged during the latter part of the 19th century, a period of strong party organization and professional politicians.

This era was ""marked by strong partisan attachments, resilient patronage-based party organizations, and...high levels of party voting in Congress."" [28] Plainly, these were conditions conducive to the establishment of a more highly differentiated House leadership structure.

[29]Minority Party Nominees for Speaker, 1865–1897 [ edit]While the Office of the House Historian only lists Minority Leaders starting in 1899, [30] the minority's nominees for Speaker (at the beginning of each Congress) may be considered their party's leaders before that time.1865: James Brooks ( D - NY)1867: Samuel S. Marshall (D- IL)1869: Michael C. Kerr (D- IN)1871: George W. Morgan (D- OH)1873: Fernando Wood (D-NY)1875: James Gillespie Blaine ( R - ME)1877, 1879: James Abram Garfield (R-OH)1881: Samuel Jackson Randall (D- PA)1883: Joseph Warren Keifer (R-OH)1885, 1887: Thomas Brackett Reed (R-ME)1889: John Griffin Carlisle (D- KY)1891, 1893: Thomas Brackett Reed (R-ME)1895: Charles F. Crisp (D- GA)1897: Joseph W. Bailey (D- TX)Sources: Fighting for the Speakership: The House and the Rise of Party Government, by Jeffery A. Jenkins and Charles Haines Stewart and Archive of Our Campaigns.com Trends [ edit]Two other points of historical interest merit brief mention.

First, until the 61st Congress (1909–1910), ""it was the custom to have the minority leader also serve as the ranking minority member on the two most powerful committees, Rules and Ways and Means."" [31] Today, the minority leader no longer serves on these committees; however, he or she appoints the minority members of the Rules Committee and influences the assignment of partisan colleagues to the Ways and Means Committee.

Second, Democrats have always elevated their minority floor leader to the speakership upon reclaiming majority status. Republicans have not always followed this leadership succession pattern. In 1919, for instance, Republicans bypassed James R. Mann, R-IL, who had been minority leader for eight years, and elected Frederick Gillett, R-MA, to be Speaker.

Mann ""had angered many Republicans by objecting to their private bills on the floor;"" also he was a protégé of autocratic Speaker Joseph Cannon, R-IL (1903–1911), and many Members ""suspected that he would try to re-centralize power in his hands if elected Speaker.""

[32] More recently, although Robert H. Michel was the Minority Leader in 1994 when the Republicans regained control of the House in the 1994 midterm elections, he had already announced his retirement and had little or no involvement in the campaign, including the Contract with America which was unveiled six weeks before voting day.

In the instance when the Presidency and both Houses of Congress are controlled by one party, the Speaker normally assumes a lower profile and defers to the President. For that situation the House Minority Leader can play the role of a de facto ""leader of the opposition"", often more so than the Senate Minority Leader, due to the more partisan nature of the House and the greater role of leadership. Minority Leaders who have played prominent roles in opposing the incumbent President have included Gerald Ford, Richard Gephardt, Nancy Pelosi, and John Boehner. Institutional functions [ edit]The style and role of any minority leader is influenced by a variety of elements, including personality and contextual factors, such as the size and cohesion of the minority party, whether their party controls the White House, the general political climate in the House, and the controversy that is sometimes associated with the legislative agenda.

Despite the variability of these factors, there are a number of institutional obligations associated with this position.

Many of these assignments or roles are spelled out in the House rule book. Others have devolved upon the position in other ways. To be sure, the minority leader is provided with extra staff resources—beyond those accorded him or her as a Representative—to assist in carrying out diverse leadership functions.

Worth emphasis is that there are limits on the institutional role of the minority leader, because the majority party exercises disproportionate influence over the agenda, partisan ratios on committees, staff resources, administrative operations, and the day-to-day schedule and management of floor activities. Under the rules of the House, the minority leader has certain roles and responsibilities. They include the following: Drug Testing. Under Rule I, clause 9, the ""Speaker, in consultation with the Minority Leader, shall develop through an appropriate entity of the House a system for drug testing in the House.

""Inspector General. Rule II, clause 6, states that the ""Inspector General shall be appointed for a Congress by the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader, acting jointly."" This rule further states that the minority leader and other specified House leaders shall be notified of any financial irregularity involving the House and receive audit reports of the inspector general.

Questions of Privilege. Under Rule IX, clause 2, a resolution ""offered as a question of privilege by the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader ... shall have precedence of all other questions except motions to adjourn."" This rule further references the minority leader with respect to the division of time for debate of these resolutions.

Oversight Plans. Under Rule X, clause 2, not later ""than March 31 in the first session of a Congress, after consultation with the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader, the Committee on Government Reform shall report to the House the oversight plans"" of the standing committees along with any recommendations it or the House leaders have proposed to ensure the effective coordination of committees' oversight plans.

Committee on Standards of Official Conduct: Investigative Subcommittees. Rule X, clause 5, stipulates: ""At the beginning of a Congress, the Speaker or his designee and the Minority Leader or his designee each shall appoint 10 Members, Delegates, or Resident Commissioners from his respective party who are not members of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to be available to serve on investigative subcommittees of that committee during that Congress. ""Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. ""The Speaker and Minority Leader shall be ex officio members of the select committee but shall have no vote in the select committee and may not be counted for purposes of determining a quorum."" In addition, each leader may designate a member of his leadership staff to assist him with his ex officio duties.

(Rule X, clause 11). Motion to Recommit with Instructions. Under Rule XIII, clause 6, the Rules Committee may not (except in certain specified circumstances) issue a ""rule"" that prevents the minority leader or a designee from offering a motion to recommit with instructions.

In addition, the minority leader has a number of other institutional functions. For instance, the minority leader is sometimes statutorily authorized to appoint individuals to certain federal entities; he or she and the majority leader each name three Members to serve as Private Calendar objectors; he or she is consulted with respect to reconvening the House per the usual formulation of conditional concurrent adjournment resolutions; he or she is a traditional member of the House Office Building Commission; he or she is a member of the United States Capitol Preservation Commission; and he or she may, after consultation with the Speaker, convene an early organizational party caucus or conference.

Informally, the minority leader maintains ties with majority party leaders to learn about the schedule and other House matters and forges agreements or understandings with them insofar as feasible.

Party functions [ edit]The minority leader has a number of formal and informal party responsibilities. Formally, the rules of each party specify certain roles and responsibilities for their leader. For example, under Democratic rules for the 106th Congress, the minority leader may call meetings of the Democratic Caucus.

He or she is a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; names the members of the Democratic Leadership Council; chairs the Policy Committee; and heads the Steering Committee. Examples of other assignments are making ""recommendations to the Speaker on all Democratic Members who shall serve as conferees"" and nominating party members to the Committees on Rules and House Administration. Republican rules identify generally comparable functions for their top party leader. Informally, the minority leader has a wide range of party assignments.

Lewis Deschler, the late House Parliamentarian (1928–1974), summarized the diverse duties of a party's floor leader: A party's floor leader, in conjunction with other party leaders, plays an influential role in the formulation of party policy and programs. They are instrumental in guiding legislation favored by his party through the House, or in resisting those programs of the other party that are considered undesirable by his own party.

They are instrumental in devising and implementing his party's strategy on the floor with respect to promoting or opposing legislation. They are kept constantly informed as to the status of legislative business and as to the sentiment of his party respecting particular legislation under consideration. Such information is derived in part from the floor leader's contacts with his party's members serving on House committees, and with the members of the party's whip organization.

[33]These and several other party roles merit further mention because they influence significantly the leader's overarching objective: retake majority control of the House. ""I want to get [my] members elected and win more seats,"" said Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-MO.

""That's what [my partisan colleagues] want to do, and that's what they want me to do."" [34]Five activities illustrate how minority leaders seek to accomplish this primary goal. Provide Campaign Assistance. Minority leaders are typically energetic and aggressive campaigners for partisan incumbents and challengers.

There is hardly any major aspect of campaigning that does not engage their attention. For example, they assist in recruiting qualified candidates; they establish ""leadership PACs"" to raise and distribute funds to House candidates of their party; they try to persuade partisan colleagues not to retire or run for other offices so as to hold down the number of open seats the party would need to defend; they coordinate their campaign activities with congressional and national party campaign committees; they encourage outside groups to back their candidates; they travel around the country to speak on behalf of party candidates; and they encourage incumbent colleagues to make significant financial contributions to the party's campaign committee.

""The amount of time that [Minority Leader] Gephardt is putting in to help the DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] is unheard of,"" noted a Democratic lobbyist. ""No DCCC chairman has ever had that kind of support."" [35]Devise Minority Party Strategies. The minority leader, in consultation with other party colleagues, has a range of strategic options that he or she can employ to advance minority party objectives. The options selected depend on a wide range of circumstances, such as the visibility or significance of the issue and the degree of cohesion within the majority party.

For instance, a majority party riven by internal dissension, as occurred during the early 1900s when Progressive and ""regular"" Republicans were at loggerheads, may provide the minority leader with greater opportunities to achieve their priorities than if the majority party exhibited high degrees of party cohesion.

Among the variable strategies available to the minority party, which can vary from bill to bill and be used in combination or at different stages of the lawmaking process, are the following: Cooperation. The minority party supports and cooperates with the majority party in building winning coalitions on the floor. Inconsequential Opposition. The minority party offers opposition, but it is of marginal significance, typically because the minority is so small.

Withdrawal. The minority party chooses not to take a position on an issue, perhaps because of intraparty divisions. Innovation. The minority party develops alternatives and agendas of its own and attempts to construct winning coalitions on their behalf.

Partisan Opposition. The minority party offers strong opposition to majority party initiatives but does not counter with policy alternatives of their own. Constructive Opposition. The minority party opposes initiatives of the majority party and offers its own proposals as substitutes. Participation. The minority party is in the position of having to consider the views and proposals of their president and to assess their majority-building role with respect to his priorities.

[36]A look at one minority leadership strategy—partisan opposition—may suggest why it might be employed in specific circumstances. The purposes of obstruction are several, such as frustrating the majority party's ability to govern or attracting press and media attention to the alleged ineffectiveness of the majority party.

""We know how to delay,"" remarked Minority Leader Gephardt [37] Dilatory motions to adjourn, appeals of the presiding officer's ruling, or numerous requests for roll call votes are standard time-consuming parliamentary tactics.

By stalling action on the majority party's agenda, the minority leader may be able to launch a campaign against a ""do-nothing Congress"" and convince enough voters to put his party back in charge of the House.

To be sure, the minority leader recognizes that ""going negative"" carries risks and may not be a winning strategy if his party fails to offer policy alternatives that appeal to broad segments of the general public. Promote and Publicize the Party's Agenda. An important aim of the minority leader is to develop an electorally attractive agenda of ideas and proposals that unites their own House members and that energizes and appeals to core electoral supporters as well as independents and swing voters.

Despite the minority leader's restricted ability to set the House's agenda, there are still opportunities for him to raise minority priorities.

For example, the minority leader may employ, or threaten to use, discharge petitions to try and bring minority priorities to the floor. [38] If he or she is able to attract the required 218 signatures on a discharge petition by attracting majority party supporters, he or she can force minority initiatives to the floor over the opposition of the majority leadership.

As a GOP minority leader once said, the challenges he confronted are to ""keep our people together, and to look for votes on the other side."" [39]Minority leaders may engage in numerous activities to publicize their party's priorities and to criticize the opposition's. For instance, to keep their party colleagues ""on message,"" they insure that partisan colleagues are sent packets of suggested press releases or ""talking points"" for constituent meetings in their districts; they help to organize ""town meetings"" in Members' districts around the country to publicize the party's agenda or a specific priority, such as health care or education; they sponsor party ""retreats"" to discuss issues and assess the party's public image; they create ""theme teams"" to craft party messages that might be raised during the one-minute, morning hour, or special order period in the House; they conduct surveys of party colleagues to discern their policy preferences; they establish websites that highlight and distribute party images and issues to users; and they organize task forces or issue teams to formulate party programs and to develop strategies for communicating these programs to the public.

House minority leaders also hold joint news conferences and consult with their counterparts in the Senate—and with the president if their party controls the White House. The overall objectives are to develop a coordinated communications strategy, to share ideas and information, and to present a united front on issues.

Minority leaders also make floor speeches and close debate on major issues before the House; they deliver addresses in diverse forums across the country, and they write books or articles that highlight minority party goals and achievements.

They must also be prepared ""to debate on the floor, ad lib, no notes, on a moment's notice,"" remarked Minority Leader Michel. [40] In brief, minority leaders are key strategists in developing and promoting the party's agenda and in outlining ways to neutralize the opposition's arguments and proposals.

Confer With the White House. If their party controls the White House, the minority leader confers regularly with the President and his aides about issues before Congress, the Administration's agenda, and political events generally. Strategically, the role of the minority leader will vary depending on whether the President is of the same party or the other party.

In general, minority leaders will often work to advance the goals and aspirations of their party's President in Congress. When Robert Michel, R-IL, was minority leader (1981–1995), he typically functioned as the ""point man"" for Republican presidents. [41] President Ronald Reagan's 1981 policy successes in the Democratic-controlled House was due in no small measure to Minority Leader Michel's effectiveness in wooing so-called "" Reagan Democrats "" to support, for instance, the Administration's landmark budget reconciliation bill.

There are occasions, of course, when minority leaders will fault the legislative initiatives of their President. On an administration proposal that could adversely affect his district, Michel stated that he might ""abdicate my leadership role [on this issue] since I can't harmonize my own views with the administration's.""

[42] Minority Leader Gephardt, as another example, has publicly opposed a number of President Clinton's legislative initiatives from ""fast track"" trade authority to various budget issues. [43]When the White House is controlled by the House majority party, then the House minority leader assumes a larger role in formulating alternatives to executive branch initiatives and in acting as a national spokesperson for their party.

""As Minority Leader during [President Lyndon Johnson's] Democratic administration, my responsibility has been to propose Republican alternatives,"" said Minority Leader Gerald Ford, R-MI. [44] Greatly outnumbered in the House, Minority Leader Ford devised a political strategy that allowed Republicans to offer their alternatives in a manner that provided them political protection. As Ford explained:""We used a technique of laying our program out in general debate,"" he said. When we got to the amendment phase, we would offer our program as a substitute for the Johnson proposal.

If we lost in the Committee of the Whole, then we would usually offer it as a motion to recommit and get a vote on that.

And if we lost on the motion to recommit, our Republican members had a choice: They could vote against the Johnson program and say we did our best to come up with a better alternative. Or they could vote for it and make the same argument. Usually we lost; but when you're only 140 out of 435, you don't expect to win many.

[45]Ford also teamed with Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, R-IL, to act as national spokesmen for their party. They met with the press every Thursday following the weekly joint leadership meeting. Ford's predecessor as minority leader, Charles Halleck, R-IN, probably received more visibility in this role, because the press and media dubbed it the ""Ev and Charlie Show.""

In fact, the ""Republican National Committee budgeted $30,000 annually to produce the weekly news conference."" [46]Foster Party Harmony. Minority status, by itself, is often an important inducement for minority party members to stay together, to accommodate different interests, and to submerge intraparty factional disagreements.

To hold a diverse membership together often requires extensive consultations and discussions with rank-and-file Members and with different factional groupings. As Minority Leader Gephardt said: We have weekly caucus meetings. We have daily leadership meetings. We have weekly ranking Member meetings. We have party effectiveness meetings. There's a lot more communication.

I believe leadership is bottom up, not top down. I think you have to build policy and strategy and vision from the bottom up, and involve people in figuring out what that is. [47]Gephardt added that ""inclusion and empowerment of the people on the line have to be done to get the best performance"" from the minority party.

[48] Other techniques for fostering party harmony include the appointment of task forces composed of partisan colleagues with conflicting views to reach consensus on issues; the creation of new leadership positions as a way to reach out and involve a greater diversity of partisans in the leadership structure; and daily meetings in the Leader's office (or at breakfast, lunch, or dinner) to lay out floor strategy or political objectives for the minority party.

Party whips and assistant party leaders [ edit]Whips [ edit]A whip manages their party's legislative program on the House floor. The whip keeps track of all legislation and ensures that all party members are present when important measures are to be voted upon.

The Majority Whip is an elected member of the majority party who assists the Speaker of the House and the majority leader to coordinate ideas on, and garner support for, proposed legislation. The Minority Whip is a member of the minority party who assists the minority leader in coordinating the party caucus in its responses to legislation and other matters.

However, the U. S. House of Representatives does not use the term ""minority whip,"" instead calling the position ""Republican Whip"" or ""Democratic Whip"" depending on the minority party. The Chief Deputy Whip is the primary assistant to the whip, who is the chief vote counter for their party. The current chief deputy majority whip is Republican Patrick Mc Henry. Within the House Republican Conference, the chief deputy whip is the highest appointed position and often a launching pad for future positions in the House Leadership.

The House Democratic Conference has multiple chief deputy whips, led by a Senior Chief Deputy Whip, which is the highest appointed position within the House Democratic Caucus. The current senior chief deputy minority whip, John Lewis, has held his post since 1991. Between 1955 and 1973, the Democrats simply had the title Deputy Whip.

[49]List of Republican chief deputy whips: David F. Emery, 1981–1983 (Minority)Tom Loeffler, 1983–1987 (Minority)Edward Rell Madigan, 1987–1989 (Minority)Robert Smith Walker, 1989–1995 (Minority)Dennis Hastert, 1995–1999 (Majority)Roy Blunt, 1999–2003 (Majority)Eric Cantor, 2003–2009 (Majority, 2003–2007) (Minority, 2007–2009)Kevin Mc Carthy, 2009–2011 (Minority)Peter Roskam, 2011–2014 (Majority)Patrick Mc Henry, 2014–present (Majority)List of Democratic Chief Deputy Whips (1955–1962) Hale Boggs (1962–1971) ?

?? (1971–1973) John Brademas, John J. Mc Fall (1973–1977) John Brademas (1977–1981) Dan Rostenkowski (1981–1987) Bill Alexander (1987–1991) David Bonior (1991–1993) Barbara Kennelly, Butler Derrick, & John Lewis (1993–1995) Barbara Kennelly, Butler Derrick, John Lewis, & Bill Richardson (1995–1997) Rosa De Lauro, John Lewis, & Bill Richardson (1997–1999) Rosa De Lauro, Chet Edwards, John Lewis, & Robert Menendez (1999–2002) Chet Edwards, John Lewis, Ed Pastor & Maxine Waters (2002–2003) John Lewis, Ed Pastor, Max Sandlin & Maxine Waters (2003–2005) John Lewis (Senior Chief Deputy Whip), Joe Crowley, Baron Hill, Ron Kind, Ed Pastor, Max Sandlin, Jan Schakowsky, & Maxine Waters (2005–2007) John Lewis (Senior Chief Deputy Whip), Joe Crowley, Diana De Gette, Ron Kind, Ed Pastor, Jan Schakowsky, John Tanner & Maxine Waters (2007–2011) John Lewis (Senior Chief Deputy Whip), G. K. Butterfield, Joe Crowley, Diana De Gette, Ed Pastor, Jan Schakowsky, John Tanner, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, & Maxine Waters (2011–2013) John Lewis (Senior Chief Deputy Whip), Maxine Waters, Ed Pastor, Jan Schakowsky, Joseph Crowley, Diana De Gette, G. K. Butterfield, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jim Matheson, & Peter Welch (2013–2015) John Lewis (Senior Chief Deputy Whip) Ben Ray Lujan, Terri Sewell, Jan Schakowsky, Keith Ellison, Diana De Gette, G. K. Butterfield, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jim Matheson, & Peter Welch (2015–present) John Lewis (Senior Chief Deputy Whip) Jan Schakowsky, Diana De Gette, G. K. Butterfield, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Keith Ellison, Terri Sewell, Kyrsten Sinema, Joaquin Castro & Peter Welch Assistant party leaders [ edit]The position of Assistant Democratic Leader was established on January 3, 2011 and filled by Jim Clyburn to avoid a battle for whip between then-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and then-Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.

It is said to replace the Assistant to the Leader post previously held by Chris Van Hollen, who had attended all leadership meetings but was not in the leadership hierarchy.

List of party leaders and whips [ edit] (≥ and names in Bold indicate the Majority Leader and Majority whip)Congress Years Democratic whip Democratic leader Speaker Republican leader Republican whip56 1899–1901Oscar Underwood [50] ( Alabama)James D. Richardson ( Tennessee)David B. Henderson (R, Iowa) ≥ Sereno E. Payne ( New York) ≥ James Albertus Tawney ( Minnesota)57 1901–1903James Tilghman Lloyd ( Missouri)58 1903–1905John Sharp Williams ( Mississippi)Joe Cannon (R, Illinois)59 1905–1907 ≥ James E. Watson ( Indiana)601907–19081908–1909611909–1911 None Champ Clark ( Missouri) ≥ John W. Dwight ( New York)621911–1913 None ≥ Oscar Underwood ( Alabama)Champ Clark (D, Missouri)James Mann ( Illinois) John W. Dwight ( New York)631913–1915 ≥ Thomas M. Bell ( Georgia) Charles H. Burke ( South Dakota)64 1915–1917 None ≥ Claude Kitchin ( North Carolina) Charles M. Hamilton ( New York)65 1917–1919661919–1921 None Champ Clark ( Missouri)Frederick H. Gillett (R, Massachusetts) ≥ Frank W. Mondell ( Wyoming) ≥ Harold Knutson ( Minnesota)671921–1923William A. Oldfield ( Arkansas) Claude Kitchin ( North Carolina)681923–1925Finis J. Garrett ( Tennessee) ≥ Nicholas Longworth ( Ohio) ≥ Albert H. Vestal ( Indiana)69 1925–1927Nicholas Longworth (R, Ohio) ≥ John Q. Tilson ( Connecticut)70 1927–1929711929–1931 John Mc Duffie ( Alabama) John Nance Garner ( Texas)721931–1933 ≥ John Mc Duffie ( Alabama) ≥ Henry T. Rainey ( Illinois) John Nance Garner (D, Texas)Bertrand Snell ( New York) Carl G. Bachmann ( West Virginia)731933–1935 ≥ Arthur H. Greenwood ( Indiana) ≥ Jo Byrns ( Tennessee)Henry T. Rainey (D, Illinois)Harry L. Englebright ( California)741935–1936 ≥ Patrick J. Boland ( Pennsylvania) ≥ William Bankhead ( Alabama)Jo Byrns (D, Tennessee)1936–1937 ≥ Sam Rayburn ( Texas) William B. Bankhead (D, Alabama)75 1937–1939761939–1940Joe Martin ( Massachusetts)1940–1941 ≥ John W. Mc Cormack ( Massachusetts)Sam Rayburn (D, Texas)771941–19421942–1943 ≥ Robert Ramspeck ( Georgia)781943–19431943–1945Leslie Arends ( Illinois)791945–19451946–1947 ≥ John Sparkman ( Alabama)801947–1949John Mc Cormack ( Massachusetts)Sam Rayburn ( Texas)Joe Martin (R, Massachusetts) ≥ Charles Halleck ( Indiana) ≥ Leslie Arends ( Illinois)81 1949–1951 ≥ Percy Priest ( Tennessee) ≥ John W. Mc Cormack ( Massachusetts)Sam Rayburn (D, Texas)Joe Martin ( Massachusetts)Leslie Arends ( Illinois)821951–1953831953–1955John Mc Cormack ( Massachusetts)Sam Rayburn ( Texas)Joe Martin (R, Massachusetts) ≥ Charles Halleck ( Indiana) ≥ Leslie Arends ( Illinois)84 1955–1957 ≥ Carl Albert ( Oklahoma) ≥ John W. Mc Cormack ( Massachusetts)Sam Rayburn (D, Texas) Joe Martin ( Massachusetts)Leslie Arends ( Illinois)85 1957–195986 1959–1961Charles Halleck ( Indiana)871961–19621962–1963 ≥ Hale Boggs ( Louisiana) ≥ Carl Albert ( Oklahoma)John W. Mc Cormack (D, Massachusetts)88 1963–196589 1965–1967Gerald Ford ( Michigan)90 1967–196991 1969–1971921971–1973 ≥ Tip O'Neill ( Massachusetts) ≥ Hale Boggs ( Louisiana)Carl Albert (D, Oklahoma)931973–1973 ≥ John J. Mc Fall ( California) ≥ Tip O'Neill ( Massachusetts)1973–1975John Rhodes ( Arizona)94 1975–1977Bob Michel ( Illinois)95 1977–1979 ≥ John Brademas ( Indiana) ≥ Jim Wright ( Texas)Tip O'Neill (D, Massachusetts)96 1979–198197 1981–1983 ≥ Tom Foley ( Washington)Bob Michel ( Illinois)Trent Lott ( Mississippi)98 1983–198599 1985–1987100 1987–1989 ≥ Tony Coelho ( California) ≥ Tom Foley ( Washington)Jim Wright (D, Texas)1011989–1989 Dick Cheney ( Wyoming)1989–1991 ≥ William H. Gray III ( Pennsylvania) ≥ Dick Gephardt ( Missouri)Tom Foley (D, Washington)Newt Gingrich ( Georgia)1021991–19911991–1993 ≥ David Bonior ( Michigan)103 1993–1995104 1995–1997David Bonior ( Michigan)Dick Gephardt ( Missouri) Newt Gingrich (R, Georgia) ≥ Dick Armey ( Texas) ≥ Tom De Lay ( Texas)105 1997–1999106 1999–2001Dennis Hastert (R, Illinois)1072001–20022002–2003 Nancy Pelosi ( California)108 2003–2005Steny Hoyer ( Maryland)Nancy Pelosi ( California) ≥ Tom De Lay ( Texas) ≥ Roy Blunt ( Missouri)1092005–20052005–2006 ≥ Roy Blunt ( Missouri) (acting)2006–2007 ≥ John Boehner ( Ohio)1102007–2009 ≥ Jim Clyburn ( South Carolina) ≥ Steny Hoyer ( Maryland)Nancy Pelosi (D, California)John Boehner ( Ohio) Roy Blunt ( Missouri)1112009–2011 Eric Cantor ( Virginia)112 2011–2013Steny Hoyer ( Maryland)Nancy Pelosi ( California)John Boehner (R, Ohio) ≥ Eric Cantor ( Virginia) ≥ Kevin Mc Carthy ( California)1132013–20142014–2015 ≥ Kevin Mc Carthy ( California) ≥ Steve Scalise ( Louisiana)1142015–20152015–2017 Paul Ryan (R, Wisconsin)115 2017–2019Congress Years Democratic whip Democratic leader Speaker Republican leader Republican whip See also [ edit]Government of the United States portal Party leaders of the United States Senate Presidents of the United States and control of Congress References [ edit]This article incorporates public domain material from the Congressional Research Service document ""The Role of the House Minority Leader: An Overview"" by Walter J. Oleszek.^ a b ""N. Y. Dem might vote for Boehner"".

Politico. November 23, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2011.^ ""Majority leader, vus ist?"". JTA. January 5, 2011. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2011.^ Heitshusen, Valerie (April 24, 2017).

Party Leaders in the House: Election, Duties, and Responsibilities (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. pp. 2–3. RS20881. Retrieved July 24, 2017.^ Berg-Andersson, Richard E. (June 7, 2001). ""A Brief History of Congressional Leadership"". The Green Papers (self-published website & blog). Retrieved January 5, 2006.^ ""Majority Leaders of the House (1899 to present)"". U. S. House History, Art & Archives. U. S. House of Representatives. Retrieved June 10, 2014.^ ""Best & Worst of Congress - News & Features"".

washingtonian.com. Retrieved June 7, 2011.^ ""Pelosi wants to remain leader"". Miami Herald. [ dead link]^ Memoli, Michael A. (November 17, 2010). ""Nancy Pelosi is House minority leader"". Los Angeles Times.^ ""Eric Cantor will leave House leadership post after stunning loss"". CNN. June 11, 2014.^ Zeleny, Jeff; Parkinson, John (June 11, 2014). ""Eric Cantor Stepping Down as House Majority Leader"".

ABC News.^ Kim, Clare (June 10, 2014). ""Eric Cantor loses GOP primary to tea party challenger Dave Brat"". MSNBC. Retrieved June 11, 2014.^ ""Cantor's Loss: A Stunning Upset"". The Atlantic. Politico.com. Retrieved June 10, 2014.^ Ostermeier, Eric (June 10, 2014). ""Eric Cantor 1st House Majority Leader to Lose Renomination Bid in History"". Smart Politics.^ Costa, Robert (June 10, 2014). ""Eric Cantor Succumbs to Tea Party Challenger Tuesday"".

The Washington Post.^ ""Eric Cantor Tells Virginia Newspaper He'll Resign in August"". NBCNews.com. August 1, 2014.^ Quoted in Riddick, Floyd M. (1941). Congressional Procedure. Boston: Chapman and Grimes.

p. 346.^ See Nelson, Garrison (Fall 1976). ""Leadership Position-Holding in the United States House of Representatives"". Capitol Studies (4): 17.^ Young, James Sterling (1966). The Washington Community, 1800-1828. New York: Harcourt Brace. pp. 135–136.^ Young, James Sterling (1966). The Washington Community, 1800-1828. New York: Harcourt Brace.

p. 137.^ Nelson, Garrison (Fall 1976). ""Leadership Position-Holding in the United States House of Representatives"". Capitol Studies (4): 18..^ Ripley, Randall B. (1967). Party Leaders in the House of Representatives. Washington, D. C.: The Brookings Institution. pp. 28n.^ Ripley, Randall B. (1967). Party Leaders in the House of Representatives.

Washington, D. C.: The Brookings Institution. p. 28.^ 1883 Congressional Record, Vol. 29, Page 4-5 (December 3, 1883)^ Mc Neil, Neil (1963).

Forge of Democracy: The House of Representatives. New York: David Mc Kay Co. p. 70.^ Herbert Bruce Fuller, The Speakers of the House (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1909), p. 208.^ De Alva Stanwood Alexander, History and Procedure of the House of Representatives (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916), p. 131.^ a b Nelson, Garrison (Fall 1976).

""Leadership Position-Holding in the United States House of Representatives"". Capitol Studies (4): 19.^ Randall Strahan, ""Thomas Brackett Reed and the Rise of Party Government,"" in Roger Davidson, et al., eds., Masters of the House (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1998), p. 36.^ See Polsby, Nelson (September 1968). ""The Institutionalization of the U. S. House of Representatives"". American Political Science Review.

pp. 144–168.^ Office of the Historian: Minority Leaders of the House (1899 to present)^ Charles O. Jones, The Minority Party in Congress (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1970), p. 31.^ Ripley, Randall B.

(1967). Party Leaders in the House of Representatives. Washington, D. C.: The Brookings Institution. pp. 98–99..^ Lewis Deschler, Deschler's Precedents of the United States House of Representatives, Vol. 1 (Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1977), pp. 211-212.^ Guy Gugliotta, ""For Minority Leader, A Matter of Consensus; Inquiry Vote Tests Gephardt's Skills,"" The Washington Post, October 8, 1998, pp. A18.^ Barnes, James A.; Stone, Peter H. (February 26, 2000). ""A Rich Harvest on the Hill"". National Journal. p. 640.^ These strategic options have been modified to a degree and come from Jones, The Minority Party in Congress, p. 20.^ Babson, Jennifer (July 15, 1995). ""Democrats Refine the Tactics of Minority Party Power"". Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. Congressional Quarterly. p. 2037.^ Wallison, Ethan (May 17, 1999). ""Gephardt Plans Petition Strategy"". Roll Call. p. 1.^ Arieff, Irwin (February 28, 1981). ""Inside Congress"". Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. Congressional Quarterly. p. 379.^ 1989 Congressional Record, Vol. 135, Page E3000 (September 12, 1989)^ William F. Connelly, Jr. and John J. Pitney, Jr., Congress' Permanent Minority? Republicans in the U. S. House (Lanham, Maryland: Littlefield Adams, 1994), p. 15.^ Dorothy Collin, ""Michel Plays to Peoria -- and U. S.,"" Chicago Tribune, August 16, 1982, p. 2.^ See Jim Vande Hei, ""White House Sidesteps Gephardt's Leadership,"" Roll Call, July 7, 1997, p. 1.^ James M. Cannon, ""Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives, 1965-1973,"" in Masters of the House, p. 275.^ James M. Cannon, ""Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives, 1965-1973,"" in Masters of the House, p. 271.^ Burdette Loomis, ""The Consummate Minority Leader: Everette M. Dirksen,"" in Richard Baker and Roger Davidson, eds., First Among Equals (Washington, D. C.: CQ Press, 1991), p. 250.^ Eliza Newlin Carney, ""Don't Count Us Out,"" National Journal, April 29, 1995, p. 1024.^ Davidson, et al., Masters of the House, pp.323.^ Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking: The U. S. House of Representatives in the Post-reform Era^ Sources differ on the dates that Underwood served as Whip: One indicates that he served from 1899 to 1901. See ""Democratic Whips"". Office of the Clerk, U. S. House of Representatives. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Another indicates that he served only during 1901. See Heitshusen, Valerie (February 27, 2007). ""Party Leaders in Congress, 1789-2007: Vital Statistics"" (PDF). Congressional Research Service: CRS–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010According to a contemporary newspaper article, ""Representative Underwood has been voluntarily filling that position [Democratic whip] since Congress convened"" (December 4, 1899). See ""Call for a Democratic Caucus"". The New York Times. January 9, 1900. p. 8. External links [ edit]Office of the Majority Leader (Republican Leader)Office of the Majority Whip (Republican Whip)Office of the Democratic Leader (Minority Leader)Office of the Democratic Whip (Minority Whip)Office of the Assistant Democratic Leader (Assistant Minority Whip) [ show]v t e Current leadership of the United States House of Representatives [ show]v t e United States Congress Categories: Leaders of the United States House of Representatives Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives Political whips "

.”Scalise, 51, is the House majority whip. He has represented Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District since 2008 and chairs the House Republican Study Committee. He is married with two children. Scalise's district includes New Orleans. Since he's in leadership, Scalise has a security detail.

Scalise critical, shooter ID'd as James Hodgkinson

"CRIMEScalise critical, shooter ID'd as James Hodgkinson Published June 14, 2017Fox News Now Playing Report: Suspect in Scalise shooting identif

ied A gunman believed to be a supporter of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sprayed a hail of bullets at a GOP baseball practice Wednesday morning, critically wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and injuring four others before U. S. Capitol Police took down the rifle-wielding assailant.

Related Image Expand / Collapse The license of Alexandria shooter James Hodgkinson. Scalise was in critical condition Wednesday afternoon, Med Star Washington Hospital tweeted. He had surgery after being shot in the hip and was initially said to be stable. The shooter, who had a violent history including arrests for battery, resisting arrest and drunken driving, was identified as 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson, of Illinois, Fox News confirmed. President Trump said Hodgkinson died from injuries sustained when he was shot by police. ""I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign,"" Sanders said in a statement.

""I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms.""Rep.

Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a true friend and patriot, was badly injured but will fully recover. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.— Donald J. Trump (@real Donald Trump)June 14, 2017President Trump addressed the nation before noon and revealed Hodgkinson died in police custody. Related Image Expand / Collapse Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise speaks with the media in May. (AP)Zack Barth, a congressional aide to Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, and Tyson Foods director of government relations Matt Mika were also injured in the incident.

Mika was shot multiple times and was in critical condition, his family said in a statement. Special Agents David Bailey and Crystal Griner were both wounded in the incident. Griner was shot in the foot or leg and Bailey, who was not shot, sustained another, unspecified injury.“Congressman Scalise is a friend and a very good friend,” Trump said in the White House address.

“He’s a patriot and a fighter. He will recover from this assault. And, Steve, I want you to know that you have the prayers of not only an entire city behind you, but the entire nation – and frankly the entire world.”Williams, who was injured after diving into the dugout, later told reporters on Capitol Hill about his experience.

Related Image Expand / Collapse In this undated file photo, James Hodgkinson holds a sign during a protest outside of a United States Post Office in Belleville, Ill. (Derik Holtmann/Belleville News-Democrat via AP)“I literally dove into that dugout—like diving into a swimming pool with no water,” said Williams.

“Zack came running from the outfield and we landed in each other’s arms—he held me, I held him.“Zack was texting the whole time, letting people know we were under fire and that we needed help.”Rep. Ron De Santis, R-Fla., told Fox News he left just before the shooting. As he walked to his car, a man asked De Santis if it was Republicans or Democrats practicing. About 3 minutes later, at around 7:09 a.m., the shooting began, De Santis said. He later told Fox Business he believed the man who approached him was the shooter.

Related Image Expand / Collapse The location of Wednesday's shooting in Alexandria. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., described the chaotic scene to Fox News: ""We were like sitting ducks. """"Without the Capitol Hill police it would have been a massacre,"" Paul said, calling the scene ""sort of a killing field. ""Hodgkinson was shot by Capitol Police and Alexandria Police, apprehended and taken to the hospital, officials said.

The incident occurred at Simpson Field in Alexandria, about 10 miles from Washington D. C. The FBI was taking over the investigation because a federal official -- Scalise -- was assaulted in the attack.

""An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,"" House Speaker Paul Ryan said in an address from the floor of the House of Representatives. His words were greeted by a bipartisan standing ovation from the gathered legislators. Related Image Expand / Collapse A police officer stands by the Alexandria shooting scene.

(AP)Ryan added: ""We are all one family. These are our brothers and sisters who were in the line of fire.

""FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office Timothy Slater said it was too early to tell if the attack was terror-related. Trump had spoken to Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell, Ryan, Scalise's wife and chief of staff and the chief of the Capitol Hill Police.

The Department of Homeland Security was monitoring the episode. Williams was seen being taken from the field on a stretcher, but he was reportedly injured while jumping into the dugout as the shots rang out. ""Finally, the shooter was shot behind home plate as he was circling around to the first base dugout where there were a number of US congressmen and other folks,"" Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., told FMTALK1065.

""Our security detail was able to incapacitate him at that point. I don't know if he [the shooter] was dead. He was wounded. I don't know how many times he was wounded. ""Brooks reportedly used a belt as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding of an aide who was shot in the leg.

Related Image Expand / Collapse A previous mugshot of James Hodgkinson. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, told Fox News he ""felt like I was in Iraq, but without my weapon. """"Behind third base, I see a rifle... I hear Steve Scalise over near 2nd base scream,"" Brooks said. ""... While all of this is going on, Steve Scalise our whip was lying on the ground near the second base position crawling into right field, leaving a trail of blood.

""Brooks said the gunman was using the dugout as cover and estimated the assailant got off 50-100 shots during the attack on the 15-25 people gathered at the field.“We were there within 3 minutes,” Brown said. “Two of our officers engaged in gunfire and returned fire.”Related Image Expand / Collapse Police investigate the shooting scene in Alexandria. (Reuters)A man walking his dog at a park near the field told Fox News he heard police yelling at the gunman to put the gun down followed by someone in or around the dugout screaming back ""Just shoot him.

""Aside from Scalise, Williams, Paul, Brooks, Wenstrup and De Santis, Sen. Jeff Flake and Reps. Mike Bishop, Jack Bergman, Chuck Fleischmann and Joe Barton were also at the field. A photographer and Bishop's aides were present, too. Alexandria schools were placed on lockdown as the incident unfolded.

There was an uptick in the police presence around the Capitol, however, the building was still open. There was not expected to be any votes held on Wednesday in light of the shooting. Witnesses and residents described a shattered calm Wednesday morning in a normally peaceful neighborhood now plastered with police tape. Reba Winstead, who lives in the area, described hearing a “boom boom boom boom."" She said she was getting her daughter ready for school and then “all of a sudden there was gunfire in our neighborhood

.”Scalise, 51, is the House majority whip. He has represented Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District since 2008 and chairs the House Republican Study Committee. He is married with two children. Scalise's district includes New Orleans. Since he's in leadership, Scalise has a security detail.

ied A gunman believed to be a supporter of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sprayed a hail of bullets at a GOP baseball practice Wednesday morning, critically wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and injuring four others before U. S. Capitol Police took down the rifle-wielding assailant.

"CRIMEScalise critical, shooter ID'd as James Hodgkinson Published June 14, 2017Fox News Now Playing Report: Suspect in Scalise shooting identif

""I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms.""Rep.

Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a true friend and patriot, was badly injured but will fully recover. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.— Donald J. Trump (@real Donald Trump)June 14, 2017President Trump addressed the nation before noon and revealed Hodgkinson died in police custody. Related Image Expand / Collapse Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise speaks with the media in May. (AP)Zack Barth, a congressional aide to Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, and Tyson Foods director of government relations Matt Mika were also injured in the incident.

Mika was shot multiple times and was in critical condition, his family said in a statement. Special Agents David Bailey and Crystal Griner were both wounded in the incident. Griner was shot in the foot or leg and Bailey, who was not shot, sustained another, unspecified injury.“Congressman Scalise is a friend and a very good friend,” Trump said in the White House address.

“He’s a patriot and a fighter. He will recover from this assault. And, Steve, I want you to know that you have the prayers of not only an entire city behind you, but the entire nation – and frankly the entire world.”Williams, who was injured after diving into the dugout, later told reporters on Capitol Hill about his experience.

Related Image Expand / Collapse In this undated file photo, James Hodgkinson holds a sign during a protest outside of a United States Post Office in Belleville, Ill. (Derik Holtmann/Belleville News-Democrat via AP)“I literally dove into that dugout—like diving into a swimming pool with no water,” said Williams.

“Zack came running from the outfield and we landed in each other’s arms—he held me, I held him.“Zack was texting the whole time, letting people know we were under fire and that we needed help.”Rep. Ron De Santis, R-Fla., told Fox News he left just before the shooting. As he walked to his car, a man asked De Santis if it was Republicans or Democrats practicing. About 3 minutes later, at around 7:09 a.m., the shooting began, De Santis said. He later told Fox Business he believed the man who approached him was the shooter.

Related Image Expand / Collapse The location of Wednesday's shooting in Alexandria. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., described the chaotic scene to Fox News: ""We were like sitting ducks. """"Without the Capitol Hill police it would have been a massacre,"" Paul said, calling the scene ""sort of a killing field. ""Hodgkinson was shot by Capitol Police and Alexandria Police, apprehended and taken to the hospital, officials said.

The incident occurred at Simpson Field in Alexandria, about 10 miles from Washington D. C. The FBI was taking over the investigation because a federal official -- Scalise -- was assaulted in the attack.

""An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,"" House Speaker Paul Ryan said in an address from the floor of the House of Representatives. His words were greeted by a bipartisan standing ovation from the gathered legislators. Related Image Expand / Collapse A police officer stands by the Alexandria shooting scene.

(AP)Ryan added: ""We are all one family. These are our brothers and sisters who were in the line of fire.

""FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office Timothy Slater said it was too early to tell if the attack was terror-related. Trump had spoken to Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell, Ryan, Scalise's wife and chief of staff and the chief of the Capitol Hill Police.

The Department of Homeland Security was monitoring the episode. Williams was seen being taken from the field on a stretcher, but he was reportedly injured while jumping into the dugout as the shots rang out. ""Finally, the shooter was shot behind home plate as he was circling around to the first base dugout where there were a number of US congressmen and other folks,"" Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., told FMTALK1065.

""Our security detail was able to incapacitate him at that point. I don't know if he [the shooter] was dead. He was wounded. I don't know how many times he was wounded. ""Brooks reportedly used a belt as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding of an aide who was shot in the leg.

Related Image Expand / Collapse A previous mugshot of James Hodgkinson. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, told Fox News he ""felt like I was in Iraq, but without my weapon. """"Behind third base, I see a rifle... I hear Steve Scalise over near 2nd base scream,"" Brooks said. ""... While all of this is going on, Steve Scalise our whip was lying on the ground near the second base position crawling into right field, leaving a trail of blood.

""Brooks said the gunman was using the dugout as cover and estimated the assailant got off 50-100 shots during the attack on the 15-25 people gathered at the field.“We were there within 3 minutes,” Brown said. “Two of our officers engaged in gunfire and returned fire.”Related Image Expand / Collapse Police investigate the shooting scene in Alexandria. (Reuters)A man walking his dog at a park near the field told Fox News he heard police yelling at the gunman to put the gun down followed by someone in or around the dugout screaming back ""Just shoot him.

""Aside from Scalise, Williams, Paul, Brooks, Wenstrup and De Santis, Sen. Jeff Flake and Reps. Mike Bishop, Jack Bergman, Chuck Fleischmann and Joe Barton were also at the field. A photographer and Bishop's aides were present, too. Alexandria schools were placed on lockdown as the incident unfolded.

There was an uptick in the police presence around the Capitol, however, the building was still open. There was not expected to be any votes held on Wednesday in light of the shooting. Witnesses and residents described a shattered calm Wednesday morning in a normally peaceful neighborhood now plastered with police tape. Reba Winstead, who lives in the area, described hearing a “boom boom boom boom."" She said she was getting her daughter ready for school and then “all of a sudden there was gunfire in our neighborhood

.”Scalise, 51, is the House majority whip. He has represented Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District since 2008 and chairs the House Republican Study Committee. He is married with two children. Scalise's district includes New Orleans. Since he's in leadership, Scalise has a security detail.

les Church bells pealed from St. Catherine of Siena parish one block away. The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise Jason Berry January 3, 2015I went to Siena, which was cast as Perugia, for a cameo role as a television journalist in the film.

Siena

Siena [see- en - uh; Italian sye -nah]Spell Syllables Examplesnoun1. a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, S of Florence: cathedral. Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018. Cite This Source Examples from the Web for Siena Expand Contemporary Examp

What It's Like to Watch Kate Beckinsale Play You in a Movie Barbie Latza Nadeau September 3, 2014In the scenic town of Siena, the resident mortal remains take an even more morbid turn.

Siena’s Disembodied Saint at the Basilica di San Domenico Nina Strochlic September 19, 2013Upon arriving back in Siena, her body parts re-materialized. Siena’s Disembodied Saint at the Basilica di San Domenico Nina Strochlic September 19, 2013So thieves snuck into Rome and smuggled her head and thumb back to Siena.

Siena’s Disembodied Saint at the Basilica di San Domenico Nina Strochlic September 19, 2013Historical Examples It was not so very far from Siena, which she had learnt at school. Where Angels Fear to Tread E. M. Forster It is said that nothing is now talked of in Siena but your frivolity. The Life of Cesare Borgia Raphael Sabatini I have been to Siena since I heard, but I dared not ask too many questions.

Olive in Italy Moray Dalton The danger of war soon drove them from upper Italy to Siena. Erasmus and the Age of Reformation Johan Huizinga With one he went to Siena to assist him in some fresco painting he had to do there. Great Artists, Vol 1. Jennie Ellis Keysor British Dictionary definitions for Siena Expand Siena/ sɪˈɛnə; Italian ˈsjɛːna /noun1.

a walled city in central Italy, in Tuscany: founded by the Etruscans; important artistic centre (13th–14th centuries); university (13th century). Pop: 52 625 (2001)Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © Harper Collins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Cite This Source Discover our greatest slideshows Six words that can ruin your...10 Of The Saddest Words (Or...

The Oldest Words In The English...10 Words That Will Show Your Age Browse more topics on our blog What Is the Difference Between Discreet and Discrete? Learn the correct uses of these two commonly confused homophones. What Character Was Removed from the Alphabet? What mistaken pronunciation gave this character its name? Apostrophes 101This small mark has two primary uses: to signify possession or omitted letters. How Do I Get a Word into the Dictionary? People invent new words all the time, but which ones actually make it?

If the position becomes vacant during a Congress, a new Whip is elected at a subsequent conference. When in the majority, the Whip is the third highest post in the conference. When in the minority the Whip is the second highest position behind the Republican Leader. Of the 17 members who have served as Republican Whip, one later became House Speaker, another Vice President, four served as Republican Leader, and three others as Senators. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana is the current Republican Whip. Information on the current activities of the Republican Whip is available at the House Republican Whip's website.

Republican Whips (1897 to present)

Republican Whips (1897 to present)View Larger Collection of the U. S. House of Representatives About this object Before serving as Chairman of Appropriations, James Tawney of Minnesota served as the first Republican Whip.

The Republican Whip assists the party leadership in managing the party's legislative program on the House floor. The Whip provides a communications network for the Republican members and mobilizes them for important party measures coming up for a vote. The title comes from Great Britain where the House of Commons has had party “whips” since the late 18th century.

The term derives from fox hunting, where the “whipper in” is the person in charge of keeping the pack of foxhounds together. The first Republican Whip was James A. Tawney of Minnesota who kept track of the whereabouts of Republican members for Speaker Thomas B. Reed of Maine.

With only a slim majority, Reed relied upon Tawney to let him know when bills could be brought up for vote when more Republicans were in attendance than Democrats. Since then, subsequent Whips have served as a two-way bridge between the leadership and the rank-and-file members.

The Republican Whip has been an elective post for most of its history (Tawney may have been appointed by Reed). The selection usually comes during the organizing conference of Representatives-elect meeting just prior to the start of a new Congress.

Congress and Years Name State or Territory55th (1897–1899)TAWNEY, James Albertus MN56th (1899–1901)TAWNEY, James Albertus MN57th (1901–1903)TAWNEY, James Albertus MN58th (1903–1905)TAWNEY, James Albertus MN59th (1905–1907)WATSON, James Eli IN60th (1907–1909)WATSON, James Eli IN61st (1909–1911)DWIGHT, John Wilbur NY62nd (1911–1913)DWIGHT, John Wilbur NY63rd (1913–1915)BURKE, Charles Henry SD64th (1915–1917)HAMILTON, Charles Mann NY65th (1917–1919)HAMILTON, Charles Mann NY66th (1919–1921)KNUTSON, Harold MN67th (1921–1923)KNUTSON, Harold MN68th (1923–1925)VESTAL, Albert Henry IN69th (1925–1927)VESTAL, Albert Henry IN70th (1927–1929)VESTAL, Albert Henry IN71st (1929–1931)VESTAL, Albert Henry IN72nd (1931–1933)VESTAL, Albert Henry 1 IN72nd (1931–1933)BACHMANN, Carl George 2 WV73rd (1933–1935)ENGLEBRIGHT, Harry Lane CA74th (1935–1937)ENGLEBRIGHT, Harry Lane CA75th (1937–1939)ENGLEBRIGHT, Harry Lane CA76th (1939–1941)ENGLEBRIGHT, Harry Lane CA77th (1941–1943)ENGLEBRIGHT, Harry Lane CA78th (1943–1945)ENGLEBRIGHT, Harry Lane 3 CA78th (1943–1945)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius 4 IL79th (1945–1947)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL80th (1947–1949)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL81st (1949–1951)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL82nd (1951–1953)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL83rd (1953–1955)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL84th (1955–1957)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL85th (1957–1959)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL86th (1959–1961)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL87th (1961–1963)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL88th (1963–1965)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL89th (1965–1967)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL90th (1967–1969)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL91st (1969–1971)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL92nd (1971–1973)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL93rd (1973–1975)ARENDS, Leslie Cornelius IL94th (1975–1977)MICHEL, Robert Henry IL95th (1977–1979)MICHEL, Robert Henry IL96th (1979–1981)MICHEL, Robert Henry IL97th (1981–1983)LOTT, Chester Trent MS98th (1983–1985)LOTT, Chester Trent MS99th (1985–1987)LOTT, Chester Trent MS100th (1987–1989)LOTT, Chester Trent MS101st (1989–1991)CHENEY, Richard Bruce 5 WY101st (1989–1991)GINGRICH, Newton Leroy 6 GA102nd (1991–1993)GINGRICH, Newton Leroy GA103rd (1993–1995)GINGRICH, Newton Leroy GA104th (1995–1997)DELAY, Thomas Dale TX105th (1997–1999)DELAY, Thomas Dale TX106th (1999–2001)DELAY, Thomas Dale TX107th (2001–2003)DELAY, Thomas Dale TX108th (2003–2005)BLUNT, Roy MO109th (2005–2007)BLUNT, Roy MO110th (2007–2009)BLUNT, Roy MO111th (2009–2011)CANTOR, Eric VA112th (2011–2013)MCCARTHY, Kevin CA113th (2013–2015)MCCARTHY, Kevin 7 CA113th (2013–2015)SCALISE, Steve 8 LA114th (2015–2017)SCALISE, Steve LA115th (2017–2019)SCALISE, Steve LAFootnotes1 Died in office, April 1, 1932.2 Elected Republican Whip on April 8, 1932, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Republican Whip Albert Vestal.3 Died in office, May 13, 1943.4 Elected Republican Whip on June 2, 1943.5 Resigned from the House of Representatives on March 17, 1989, to serve as Secretary of Defense in the presidential administration of George H. W. Bush of Texas.6 Elected Republican Whip on March 22, 1989, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Republican Whip Richard Cheney.7 Elected Majority Leader on June 19, 2014, and assumed office on July 31, 2014, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Majority Leader Eric Cantor.8 Elected Republican Whip on June 19, 2014, and assumed office on July 31, 2014, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Republican Whip Kevin Mc Carthy.

More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate. Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character.

GOP leadership stands by Scalise after white supremacist speech

"GOP leadership stands by Scalise after white supremacist speech By Alexandra Jaffe and Deirdre Walsh, CNNUpdated 2:05 PM ET, Wed December 31, 2014JUST WATCHEDScalise: Speech was a 'mistake'Replay MUST WATCHScalise: Speech was a 'mistake' 02:26Story highlights House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders say they'll stand by Steve Scalise Leaders were initially frustrated with Scalise's first response to the story Scalise called GOP members of the House on Tuesday

House Republican leadership is standing by Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 3-ranking House Republican, in the wake of a firestorm of criticism surrounding his 2002 speech to a white supremacist group.

Scalise's position as House majority whip has been thrown into doubt by the revelation, and the congressman had been calling members to gauge the level of support he had from his party, according to a senior House Republican source. But House Speaker John Boehner, in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, said Scalise has his ""full confidence"" as whip. ""

08. During that period, he was elected Chairman of the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. In the U. S. House of Representatives, Scalise serves the needs of the residences of his District which includes all or parts of Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Terrebonne Parishes. Scalise is married to the former Jennifer Letulle.

Steve Scalise

Steve Scalise LOUISIANA's 1st DISTRICTContact Information2338 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone 202-225-3015 Fax 202-226-0386 scalise.house.gov Leadership Positions Majority Whip

Congressman Steve Scalise was first elected to Congress in a special election in May of 2008 to represent Louisiana’s First Congressional District in the U. S. House of Representatives.

Scalise is known as a staunch conservative who advocates for the principles of fiscal discipline, lower taxes, a comprehensive national energy strategy, a balanced federal budget, and conservative values. As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Scalise has emerged as one of the leaders in Congress in pushing for a strong national energy strategy that increases the supply of American oil and natural gas to lower gas prices at the pump while reducing our dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

Scalise is committed to maintaining an open line of communication with his constituents to better serve them in Congress.

Scalise holds regular town hall meetings in every parish of the First Congressional District to meet with local residents and hear their concerns. Congressman Scalise is a graduate of Louisiana State University. He received his B. S. in Computer Science in 1989 with a minor in Political Science.

Scalise is a former systems engineer. The Congressman’s commitment to service began early as he was twice elected Speaker of LSU’s Student Government Association. He was a member of the Louisiana House and the Louisiana Senate from 1996 to 20

Steve Scalise

Majority and Minority Whips Playing a purely political role, the majority and minority whips in both the House and Senate serve as the main channels of communication between the majority leaders and other party members. The whips and their deputy whips are responsible for marshaling support for bills supported by their party and making sure that any members who are ""on the fence"" vote for the party position.

Congressional Majority and Minority Leaders and Whips

"Humanities ›Issues Congressional Majority and Minority Leaders and Whips Agents of Contention and Compromise Share Flipboard Email Print De Agostini/Archivio J. Lange/Getty Imagesby Robert Longley Updated June 01, 2017While the excruciating battles of partisan politics slow the work of Congress - often to a crawl, the legislative process would probably cease to function at all without the efforts of the House and Senate majority and minority party leaders and whips.

Often, agents of contention, the congressional party leaders are, more importantly, agents of compromise. Intent on separating politics from government, the Founding Fathers, after what was truly a "" Great Compromise ,"" established only a basic framework of the legislative branch in the Constitution.

The only congressional leadership positions created in the Constitution are the Speaker of the House in Article I, Section 2, and the President of the Senate (the Vice President of the United States) in Article I, Section 3.

In Article I, the Constitution empowers the House and Senate to choose their ""other Officers."" Over the years, those officers have evolved into the party majority and minority leaders, and floor whips.

Majority and minority leaders are paid a slightly higher annual salary than rank-and-file members of the House and Senate. ( See: Salaries and Benefits of US Congress Members)Majority Leaders As their title implies, the majority leaders represent the party holding the majority of seats in the House and Senate, while the minority leaders represent the opposing party. In the event each Party holds 50 seats in the Senate, the party of the Vice President of the United States is considered the majority party.

The members of the majority party in both the House and Senate elect their majority leader at the start of each new Congress. The first House Majority Leader, Sereno Payne (R-New York), was elected in 1899. The first Senate Majority Leader, Charles Curtis (R-Kansas) was elected in 1925.

House Majority Leader The House majority leader is second only to the Speaker of the House in the hierarchy of the majority party. The majority leader, in consultation with the Speaker of the House, and party whips schedules bills for consideration by the full House and helps set the House's daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas.

In the political arena, the majority leader works to advance the legislative goals of his or her party. The majority leader often meets with colleagues of both parties to urge them to support or defeat bills.

Historically, the majority leader rarely leads House debates on major bills, but does occasionally serve as the national spokesman for his or her party. Senate Majority Leader The Senate majority leader works with the chairmen and ranking members of the various Senate committees to schedule consideration of bills on the floor of the Senate, and works to keep other Senators of his or her party advised of the upcoming legislative schedule.

Consulting with the minority leader, the majority leader helps create special rules, called ""unanimous consent agreements,"" which limit the amount of time for debate on specific bills.

The majority leader also has the power to file for the supermajority cloture vote needed to end debate during a filibuster. As the political leader of his or her party in the Senate, the majority leader has great power in crafting the contents of legislation sponsored by the majority party.

For example, in March 2013, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada decided a measure banning the sale and possession of assault weapons would not be included in a comprehensive gun control bill sponsored by Senate Democrats on the behalf of the Obama administration.

The Senate majority leader also enjoys the right of ""first recognition"" on the Senate floor. When several senators are demanding to speak during debates on bills, the presiding officer will recognize the majority leader, allowing him or her to speak first. This allows the majority leader to offer amendments, introduce substitute bills and make motions before any other senator.

Indeed, famed former Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-West Virginia), called the right of first recognition ""the most potent weapon in the Majority Leader's arsenal. ""House and Senate Minority Leaders Elected by their fellow party members at the start of each new Congress, the House and Senate minority leaders serve as the spokesmen and floor debate leaders of the minority party, also called the ""loyal opposition.""

While many of the political leadership roles of the minority and majority leaders are similar, the minority leaders represent the policies and legislative agenda of the minority party and often serve as the national spokesmen for the minority party.

Steven Joseph ""Steve"" Scalise (b. October 6, 1965, in New Orleans, La.) is a Republican member of the U. S. House of Representatives representing Louisiana's 1st Congressional District. Scalise was first elected to the House in a 2008 special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Rep. Bobby Jindal.

Steve Scalise

"Steve Scalise Steve Scalise U. S. House Louisiana District 1Tenure Present officeholder Term ends2019Prior offices Louisiana State Senate Louisiana State House of Representatives Republican Party Report an officeholder change Compensation Base salary$174,000/year Net worth (2012) $-12,998.50Elections and appointments Next election November 6, 2018Education High school Rummel High School Bachelor's Louisiana State University Personal Religion Roman Catholic Profession Software Engineer, Marketing Executive Contact Website Facebook Twitter How will 2018 influence the direction of the Republican party?

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On June 14, 2017, Scalise was shot and wounded by a gunman while at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va. Over 50 rounds were reported to have been fired, wounding members of the Capitol Hill police and congressional staffers. [1]Scalise won re-election in 2016. He is the current House majority whip. [2] He beat out Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) and Peter Roskam (R-IL) for the position. [3] [4] [5] The whip post became open when Kevin Mc Carthy (R-CA) took over for Eric Cantor as majority leader.

[6]He previously was a member of the Louisiana State Senate in 2008 and a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1995 to 2007. [7]Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Scalise is one of the most reliable Republican votes, meaning he can be considered a safe vote for the Republican Party in Congress.

Biography Scalise was born in 1965 in New Orleans, La., and graduated from Rummel High School. He earned his B. S. from Louisiana State University and worked as both a software engineer and a technology company marketing executive prior to his political career.

[7]Career Below is an abbreviated outline of Scalise's academic, professional and political career: [7]2008-Present: U. S. Representative from Louisiana's 1st Congressional District2008: Louisiana State Senate1995-2007: Louisiana House of Representatives Committee assignments U. S. House2017-2018At the beginning of the 115th Congress, Scalise was assigned to the following committees: [8]Committee on Energy and Commerce2015-2016Scalise served on the following committees: [9]Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Communications and Technology2013-2014Scalise served on the following committees: [10] [11]Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Power Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations2011-2012Scalise served on the following House committees: [12]Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Energy and Power Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Key votes Key votes: 115th Congress, 2017-2018For detailed information about each vote, click here.

Votes on domestic policy Voted Yea on: Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (HR 36)Bill Passed (237-189) on October 3, 2017Proposed amending the federal criminal code to make it a crime for any person to perform or attempt to perform an abortion if the probable post-fertilization age of the fetus was 20 weeks or more. The bill provided exceptions for an abortion: (1) that was necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, or (2) when the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

[13]Abstained from voting on: Kate's Law (HR 3004)Bill Passed (257-167) on June 29, 2017Proposed increasing criminal penalties for individuals in the country illegally who were convicted of certain crimes, deported, and then re-entered the U. S. illegally.

[14]Abstained from voting on: No Sanctuary for Criminals Act (HR 3003)Bill Passed (228-195) on June 29, 2017Proposed withholding federal funds from states and localities that chose not to follow federal immigration laws.

[15]Voted Yea on: American Health Care Act of 2017 (HR 1628)Bill passed (217-213) on May 4, 2017Proposed modifying the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. [16]Votes on economic affairs and regulations Voted Yea on: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 1625)Bill Passed (256-167) on March 22, 2018Proposed providing appropriations for fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes. [17]Voted Yea on: The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (HR 1892)Bill Passed (240-186) on February 9, 2018Proposed providing appropriations through March 23, 2018.

[18]Voted Yea on: Further Extension Of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 1892)Bill Passed (245-182) on February 6, 2018Proposed providing appropriations through March 23, 2018. [19]Voted Yea on: Making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, and for other purposes.

(HR 195)Bill Passed (266-150) on January 22, 2018Proposed providing further continuing appropriations through February 8, 2018. [20]Abstained from voting on: Making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, and for other purposes. (HR 195)Bill Passed (230-197) on January 18, 2018Proposed providing further continuing appropriations through February 16, 2018.

[21]Voted Yea on: Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 1370)Bill Passed (231-188) on December 21, 2017Proposed providing further continuing appropriations through January 19, 2018. [22]Voted Yea on: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (HR 1)Bill Passed (227-203) on December 19, 2017Proposed providing for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.

[23]Voted Yea on: Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes (HJ Res 123)Bill Passed (235-193) on December 7, 2017Proposed funding the government until December 22, 2017. [24]Voted Yea on: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (HR 1)Bill Passed (227-205) on November 16, 2017Proposed amending the Internal Revenue Code to reduce tax rates and modify policies, credits, and deductions for individuals and businesses.

[25]Voted Yea on: Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2018 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2019 through 2027. (H Con Res 71)Bill Passed (216-212) on October 26, 2017Proposed establishing the congressional budget for the federal government for FY2018 and setting forth budgetary levels for FY2019-FY2027.

(This bill proposed adopting the Senate's budget resolution.) [26]Voted Yea on: Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2018 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2019 through 2027.

(H Con Res 71)Bill Passed (219-206) on October 5, 2017Proposed establishing the congressional budget for the federal government for FY2018 and setting forth budgetary levels for FY2019-FY2027. [27]Abstained from voting on: Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 3354)Bill Passed (211-198) on September 14, 2017Proposed providing FY2018 appropriations for the federal government.

It combined 12 appropriations bills. [28]Abstained from voting on: Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2017 (Included amendments to suspend the debt ceiling and fund the government) (HR 601)Bill Passed (316-90) on September 8, 2017Proposed suspending the debt ceiling and funding the government until December 8, 2017, and providing funding for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma relief efforts.

[29]Abstained from voting on: Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2017 (HR 601)Bill Passed (419-3) on September 6, 2017Proposed providing $7.85 billion for disaster relief requirements, including response and recovery efforts from Hurricane Harvey. [30]Voted Yea on: Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 (HR 10)Bill passed (233-186) on June 8, 2017Proposed amending the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, among other acts.

[31]Voted Yea on: Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 (HR 244)Bill passed (309-118) on May 3, 2017Proposed a $1.2 trillion budget to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2017. [32]Votes on foreign policy and national security issues Voted Yea on: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 695)Bill Passed (250-166) on January 30, 2018Proposed providing appropriations for military functions administered by the Department of Defense and for other purposes, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018.

[33]Voted Yea on: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018—Conference report (HR 2810)Bill Passed (356-70) on November 14, 2017Proposed authorizing FY2018 appropriations and setting forth policies for Department of Defense (DOD) programs and activities, including military personnel strengths. [34]Abstained from voting on: Make America Secure Appropriations Act, 2018 (HR 3219)Bill Passed (235-192) on July 27, 2017Proposed making appropriations for defense, military construction, Veterans Affairs, the Legislative Branch, energy and water development, and for other purposes for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2018.

[35]Abstained from voting on: Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (HR 3364)Bill Passed (419-3) on July 25, 2017Proposed providing congressional review and measures to counter aggression by the governments of Iran, the Russian Federation, and North Korea, and for other purposes.

[36]Abstained from voting on: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (HR 3180, second vote)Bill Passed (380-35) on July 28, 2017Proposed authorizing appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.

[37]Abstained from voting on: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (HR 3180)Bill Failed (241-163) on July 24, 2017Proposed authorizing appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.

[38]Abstained from voting on: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (HR 2810)Bill Passed (344-81) on July 14, 2017Proposed authorizing fiscal year 2018 appropriations and setting forth policies for Department of Defense (DOD) programs and activities, including military personnel strengths. It did not provide budget authority. [39]Voted Yea on: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2017 (HR 1301)Bill passed (371-48) on March 8, 2017The $577.9 billion fiscal year 2017 defense spending bill proposed $516.1 billion in base budget funding and $61.8 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations/ Global War on Terrorism funding.

[40]Key votes: Previous sessions of Congress [ show] Key votes (click ""show"" to expand or ""hide"" to contract)Rep. Steve Scalise (R LA-1) - Legislation Sponsored Cosponsored Voting Record Over Time Filters: Subject Bill Latest Major Action Latest Action Date Total Cosponsors H. R. 781: Free Speech Fairness Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: February 01, 2017 Subject: Taxation Referred to Committee February 01, 201750cosponsors H. R. 599: Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2017 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: January 23, 2017 Subject: Science, Technology, Communications Passed the House January 23, 20172cosponsors H. R. 6195: Free Speech Fairness Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: September 28, 2016 Subject: Taxation Referred to Committee September 28, 20161cosponsors H. R. 6176: To transfer certain items from the United States Munitions List to the Commerce Control List.

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: September 27, 2016Referred to Committee September 27, 201663cosponsors H. Con.

Res. 89: Expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy. Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: October 29, 2015 Subject: Taxation Passed the House June 10, 201682cosponsors H. R. 2557: Promoting New Manufacturing Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: May 21, 2015 Referred to Committee May 21, 2015H.

R. 2246: To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to update certain procedures applicable to commerce in firearms and remove certain Federal restrictions on interstate firearms transactions.

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: May 08, 2015Referred to Committee May 08, 20151cosponsors H. R. 734: Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2015 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: February 04, 2015Referred to Committee February 04, 20152cosponsors H. R. 4795: Promoting New Manufacturing Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: May 30, 2014 Subject: Commerce Passed the House November 20, 201413cosponsors H. R. 5184: National Regulatory Budget Act of 2014 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: July 24, 2014 Subject: Government Operations And Politics Referred to Committee July 24, 20141cosponsors H. Res.

621: Reaffirming the commitment of the House of Representatives to the First Amendment to the Constitution and the vital freedom of speech protections it provides for Americans.

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: June 11, 2014 Subject: Civil Rights And Liberties, Minority Issues Referred to Committee June 11, 201433cosponsors H. R. 4304: Jumpstarting Opportunities with Bold Solutions Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: March 26, 2014 Subject: Economics And Public Finance Referred to Committee March 26, 201453cosponsors H. R. 4064: FAIR Act of 2014 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: February 14, 2014 Subject: Taxation Referred to Committee February 14, 201437cosponsors H. R. 3720: Next Generation Television Marketplace Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: December 12, 2013 Subject: Science, Technology, Communications Referred to Committee December 12, 20131cosponsors H. Res.

431: Calling on the United States Senate to increase sanctions against Iran. Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: December 05, 2013 Subject: International Affairs Referred to Committee December 05, 201364cosponsors H. R. 3335: Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: October 23, 2013 Subject: Crime And Law Enforcement Referred to Committee October 23, 201374cosponsors H. R. 2844: Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2013 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: July 26, 2013 Subject: Science, Technology, Communications Passed the House September 09, 20133cosponsors H. R. 1571: Buffett Rule Act of 2013 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: April 15, 2013 Subject: Taxation Referred to Committee April 15, 201324cosponsors H. Con.

Res. 24: Expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy. Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: March 14, 2013 Subject: Taxation Referred to Committee March 14, 2013155cosponsors H. R. 6410: Buffett Rule Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: September 14, 2012 Subject: Taxation Passed the House September 19, 201215cosponsors H. R. 3173: To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to reform the process for the enrollment, activation, issuance, and renewal of a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) to require, in total, not more than one in-person visit to a designated enrollment center.

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: October 12, 2011 Subject: Emergency Management Passed the House June 28, 201242cosponsors H. R. 3310: Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2012 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: November 02, 2011 Subject: Science, Technology, Communications Passed the House May 30, 20129cosponsors H. R. 3675: Next Generation Television Marketplace Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: December 15, 2011 Subject: Science, Technology, Communications Referred to Committee December 15, 2011H.

R. 3628: To extend the National Flood Insurance Program until May 31, 2012. Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: December 08, 2011 Subject: Finance And Financial Sector Referred to Committee December 08, 20114cosponsors H. J. Res.

85: Disapproving the rule of the Agricultural Marketing Service of the Department of Agriculture with respect to the establishment of a Christmas tree promotion, research, and information program.

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: November 10, 2011 Subject: Agriculture And Food Referred to Committee November 10, 201140cosponsors H. R. 3099: Buffett Rule Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: October 05, 2011 Subject: Taxation Referred to Committee October 05, 201120cosponsors H. R. 3096: Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: October 05, 2011 Subject: Environmental Protection Referred to Committee October 05, 201141cosponsors H. R. 262: Mandatory Returning of Allowances Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: January 12, 2011 Subject: Congress Referred to Committee January 12, 201114cosponsors H. R. 61: Coach Act of 2011 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: January 05, 2011 Subject: Government Operations And Politics Referred to Committee January 05, 201118cosponsors H. R. 60: To repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements for payments of $600 or more to corporations, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: January 05, 2011 Subject: Taxation Referred to Committee January 05, 2011H.

R. 59: Sunset All Czars Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: January 05, 2011 Subject: Government Operations And Politics Referred to Committee January 05, 201160cosponsors H. R. 58: Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: January 05, 2011 Subject: Crime And Law Enforcement Referred to Committee January 05, 2011171cosponsors H. R. 57: Disaster Recovery Improvement Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: January 05, 2011 Subject: Emergency Management Referred to Committee January 05, 20115cosponsors H. R. 56: Gulf Coast Restoration Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: January 05, 2011 Subject: Public Lands And Natural Resources Referred to Committee January 05, 201111cosponsors H. R. 6112: Gulf Coast Restoration Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: September 14, 2010 Subject: Public Lands And Natural Resources Referred to Committee September 14, 20106cosponsors H. Res.

1080: Congratulating the New Orleans Saints upon their winning Super Bowl XLIV. Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: February 09, 2010 Subject: Sports And Recreation Referred to Committee February 09, 201055cosponsors H. R. 4262: CAP the DEBT Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: December 10, 2009 Subject: Economics And Public Finance Referred to Committee December 10, 200984cosponsors H. R. 3569: SAC Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: September 15, 2009 Subject: Government Operations And Politics Referred to Committee September 15, 200951cosponsors H. R. 3513: Prevention and Deterrence of Crimes Against Children Act of 2009 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: July 31, 2009 Subject: Crime And Law Enforcement Referred to Committee July 31, 2009H.

R. 3512: Capturing On-line Predators Act of 2009 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: July 31, 2009 Subject: Crime And Law Enforcement Referred to Committee July 31, 20091cosponsors H. R. 3453: Disaster Recovery Improvement Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: July 31, 2009 Subject: Emergency Management Referred to Committee July 31, 20094cosponsors H. R. 3169: To require the Secretary of the Army to carry out a study to determine the most effective manner by which to carry out the Lake Pontchartrain flood control project, to authorize the Secretary of the Army to construct a new pumping station at Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: July 10, 2009 Subject: Water Resources Development Referred to Committee July 10, 20091cosponsors H. R. 1108: Grow American Supply Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: February 23, 2009 Subject: Energy Referred to Committee February 23, 2009H.

R. 1075: RECOVER Act (Restoring Essential Care for Our Veterans for Effective Recovery) Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: February 13, 2009 Subject: Armed Forces And National Security Referred to Committee February 13, 200919cosponsors H. R. 1074: Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: February 13, 2009 Subject: Crime And Law Enforcement Referred to Committee February 13, 2009182cosponsors H. R. 6945: RECOVER Act (Restoring Essential Care for Our Veterans for Effective Recovery) Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: September 18, 2008 Subject: Armed Forces And National Security Referred to Committee September 18, 2008H.

R. 6602: To provide for the use of amended income tax returns to take into account receipt of certain hurricane-related casualty loss grants by disallowing previously taken casualty loss deductions. Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: July 24, 2008 Subject: Taxation Referred to Committee July 24, 2008H.

R. 6428: Grow American Supply Act Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: July 08, 2008 Subject: Energy Referred to Committee July 08, 200819cosponsors H. Res. 1235: Expressing support for the designation of National D-Day Remembrance Day, and recognizing the spirit, courage, and sacrifice of the men and women who fought and won World War II.

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Scalise [R LA-1] Introduced: June 03, 2008 Subject: Commemorations Passed as a Simple Resolution June 11, 200817cosponsors Sources: Gov Track and 1 more. Show details Hide source details Gov Track ( govtrack.us)Data Sets: Bulk Data Files ( govtrack.us ).the @unitedstates project ( github.com)Data Sets:congress-legislators ( github.com ). Refreshed daily. Members of the United States Congress, 1789-Present, in YAML, as well as committees, presidents, and vice presidents.

Still curious about our data? Contact us directly. Issues Media The following C-Span video was featured on Scalise's campaign website. [105]Scalise on Pelosi's 1,990 page Health Care Bill Your browser does not currently recognize any of the video formats available. Click here to visit our frequently asked questions about HTML5 video. Steve Scalise, ""Scalise on Pelosi's 1,990 page Healthcare Bill"" [106]2016 presidential endorsement✓ Scalise endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican primary in the 2016 U. S. presidential election.

[107]See also: Endorsements for Donald Trump [ show] 2016 Presidential Endorsements by U. S. Representatives Elections2018See also: Louisiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2018The filing deadline is on July 20, 2018, and the general election takes place on November 6, 2018.2016See also: Louisiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2016Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. A total of seven candidates filed to run and competed in the general election on November 8, 2016.

Incumbent Steve Scalise (R) defeated Lee Ann Dugas (D), Danil Ezekiel Faust (D), Joe Swider (D), Howard Kearney (L), Eliot Barron (G), and Chuemai Yang (I) to win the election. [108] [ hide]U. S. House, Louisiana District 1 General Election, 2016Party Candidate Vote % Votes Republican Steve Scalise Incumbent 74.6% 243,645Democratic Lee Ann Dugas 12.8% 41,840Democratic Danil Faust 3.9% 12,708Libertarian Howard Kearney 2.9% 9,405Democratic Joe Swider 2.8% 9,237Green Eliot Barron 2.1% 6,717Independent Chuemai Yang 1% 3,236Total Votes 326,788Source: Louisiana Secretary of State2014See also: Louisiana's 1st Congressional District elections, 2014Scalise ran for re-election to the U. S. House in 2014.

The election took place on November 4, 2014. Steve Scalise won the general election on November 4, 2014.

[ hide]U. S. House, Louisiana District 1 General Election, 2014Party Candidate Vote % Votes Republican Steve Scalise Incumbent 77.56% 189,250Democratic Lee Dugas 8.72% 21,286Democratic Vinny Mendoza 10.15% 24,761Libertarian Jeff Sanford 3.57% 8,707Total Votes 244,004Source: Louisiana Secretary of State2012See also: Louisiana's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012Scalise ran in the 2012 election for the U. S. House to represent Louisiana's 1st District.

Scalise, the incumbent, defeated M. V. Mendoza (D), Gary King (R), David Turknett (I) and Arden Wells (I) in the November 6 blanket primary. [109] Louisiana does not hold a primary before the November 6 general election. If candidates do not receive a majority of the vote on that date, they would have gone to a runoff, held on December 8.

[ hide]U. S. House, Louisiana District 1 General Election, 2012Party Candidate Vote % Votes Republican Steve Scalise Incumbent 66.6% 193,496Democratic Vinny Mendoza 21.2% 61,703Republican Gary King 8.6% 24,844Independent David Turknett 2.1% 6,079Independent Arden Wells 1.5% 4,288Total Votes 290,410Source: Louisiana Secretary of State ""Official Election Results, 2012 General Election""Full history [ show] To view the full congressional electoral history for Steve Scalise, click [show] to expand the section.

Campaign donors Fundraising events Comprehensive donor history Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Why is that? While candidates and parties must file detailed expenditure reports, independent organizations and unions are not required to file reports in every case. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website Comprehensive donor information is shown below.

Based on available campaign finance records, Scalise raised a total of $10,476,566 in elections. Ballotpedia updates the information below in the years following a general election.

[111] [ hide]Steve Scalise Campaign Contribution History Year Office Result Contributions2016 U. S. House, Louisiana District 1 $3,455,7692014 U. S. House (Louisiana, District 1) $2,617,3342012 U. S. House (Louisiana, District 1) $1,436,7512010 U. S. House (Louisiana, District 1) $1,358,0242008 U. S. House (Louisiana, District 1) $1,608,688Grand Total Raised $10,476,566Source: Follow the Money2016Scalise won re-election to the U. S. House in 2016.

During that election cycle, Scalise's campaign committee raised a total of $3,455,769 and spent $3,542,186. [112] This is more than the average $1.46 million spent by U. S. House winners in 2016. [113]Cost per vote Scalise spent $14.54 per general election vote received in 2016.

[ hide]U. S. House, Louisiana District 1, 2016 - Steve Scalise Campaign Contributions Total Raised $3,455,769Total Spent $3,542,186Total Raised by Election Runner-up $7,709Total Spent by Election Runner-up $5,066Top contributors to Steve Scalise's campaign committee Votesane PAC $207,150Entergy Corp $30,500Microsoft Corp $21,750Hess Corp $21,050Altria Group $20,799Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee Oil & Gas $279,100Insurance $228,600Real Estate $209,232Misc Issues $207,540Lobbyists $196,9712014Scalise won re-election to the U. S. House in 2014.

During that election cycle, Scalise's campaign committee raised a total of $2,617,334 and spent $2,735,431. [114] This is more than the average $1.45 million spent by House winners in 2014. [115]Cost per vote Scalise spent $14.45 per general election vote received in 2014.

[ hide]U. S. House, Louisiana District 1, 2014 - Steve Scalise Campaign Contributions Total Raised $2,617,334Total Spent $2,735,431Total Raised by Election Runner-up $0Total Spent by Election Runner-up $0Top contributors to Steve Scalise's campaign committee Edison Chouest Offshore $49,400Entergy Corp $28,500Cajun Industries $15,600Bollinger Shipyards $15,500Koch Industries $15,200Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee Oil & Gas $254,174Health Professionals $134,600Insurance $128,100Electric Utilities $109,000Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $105,700 [ show] To view the breakdown of campaign funding by type click [show] to expand the section.

Below are Scalise's FEC reports. [116] [ show] Steve Scalise (2014) Campaign Finance Reports2012Scalise won re-election to the U. S. House of Representatives in 2012. During that election cycle, Scalise's campaign committee raised a total of $1,436,751 and spent $1,436,751.

[124] This is less than the average $1.5 million spent by House winners in 2012. [125]Cost per vote Scalise spent $7.43 per vote received in 2012. [ show]U. S. House, Louisiana District 1, 2012 - Steve Scalise Campaign Contributions [ show] To view the breakdown of campaign funding by type click [show] to expand the section.2010Scalise won re-election to the U. S. House of Representatives in 2010.

During that re-election cycle, Scalise's campaign committee raised a total of $1,358,024 and spent $1,007,474. [126] [ show]U. S. House, Louisiana District 1, 2010 - Steve Scalise Campaign Contributions [ show] To view the breakdown of campaign funding by type click [show] to expand the section.

Personal Gain Index See also: Personal Gain Index (U. S. Congress)The Personal Gain Index (U. S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U. S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.

It consists of two different metrics: Changes in Net Worth The Donation Concentration Metric PGI: Change in net worth See also: Changes in Net Worth of U. S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by Open Secrets.org, Scalise's net worth as of 2012 was estimated between -$60,996 and $34,999.

That averages to -$12,998.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican representatives in 2012 of $6,956,438.47. Scalise ranked as the 420th most wealthy representative in 2012. [127] Between 2007 and 2012, Scalise's calculated net worth [128] decreased by an average of 21 percent per year.

Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent. [129] [ hide] Steve Scalise Yearly Net Worth Year Average Net Worth2007 $421,4382012 $-12,998.50Growth from 2007 to 2012: -103%Average annual growth: -21% [130]Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.

[131]The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

PGI: Donation Concentration Metric See also: The Donation Concentration Metric (U. S. Congress Personal Gain Index)Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate. Using campaign filings and information calculated by Open Secrets.org, Ballotpedia calculated the percentage of donations by industry received by each incumbent over the course of his or her career (or 1989 and later, if elected prior to 1988).

Scalise received the most donations from individuals and PACs employed by the Oil & Gas industry. From 1999-2014, 27.42 percent of Scalise's career contributions came from the top five industries as listed below.

[132] [ hide]Steve Scalise Campaign Contributions Total Raised $6,388,588Total Spent $5,308,203Top five industries that contributed to campaign committee Oil & Gas $522,584Real Estate $385,978Health Professionals $309,930Sea Transport $295,249Lawyers/Law Firms $237,735% total in top industry 8.18%% total in top two industries 14.22%% total in top five industries 27.42%Analysis Congressional staff salaries See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Scalise paid his congressional staff a total of $989,730 in 2011. He ranked 59th on the list of the highest paid Republican representative staff salaries and ranked 183rd overall of the lowest paid representative staff salaries in 2011.

Overall, Louisiana ranked 37th in average salary for representative staff. The average U. S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.

[133]Ideology and leadership See also: Gov Track's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by Gov Track, Scalise was a "" far-right Republican leader ,"" as of August 4, 2014.

This was the same rating Scalise received in June 2013. [134]Like-minded colleagues The website Open Congress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party. [135]Scalise most often votes with: Steve Chabot Jim Matheson Scalise least often votes with: Chris Gibson Janice Schakowsky Lifetime voting record See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives According to the website Gov Track, Scalise missed 76 of 5,415 roll call votes from May 2008 to September 2015.

This amounts to 1.4 percent, which is lower than the median of 2.2 percent among current representatives as of September 2015.

[136]National Journal vote ratings See also: National Journal vote ratings Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year.2013Scalise ranked 4th in the conservative rankings in 2013.

[137]2012Scalise ranked 5th in the conservative rankings in 2012. [138]2011Scalise ranked 11th in the conservative rankings in 2011. [139]Voting with party The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus.2014Scalise voted with the Republican Party 94.9 percent of the time, which ranked 91st among the 234 House Republican members as of August 2014.

[140]2013Scalise voted with the Republican Party 98.4 percent of the time, which ranked 20th among the 233 House Republican members as of June 2013. [141]Personal Scalise and his wife Jennifer (neé Letulle) have two children. [142]Noteworthy events White-supremacist gathering (2014)On December 29, 2014, Scalise confirmed that he spoke at a white-supremacist gathering in 2002 when he was a Louisiana state representative.

Scalise, through an adviser, confirmed he spoke at a meeting organized by the European-American Unity and Rights Organization. Scalise's adviser however denied that the congressman knew of the group's affiliation with white-supremacy and neo-nazi activity at the time. When speaking with the Times-Picayune, Scalise said, ""For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous.

""The timing of this news had congressional Democrats questioning whether Scalise should remain in his leadership post as House Majority Whip. Scalise's office had however stated that he did not know the implications of his actions and that his office was understaffed at the time. Therefore, he had little knowledge of the groups that asked him to speak at events. [143]RSC fires director (2013)The Republican Study Committee fired its longtime executive director Paul Teller in December 2013 and accused him of leaking conversations with lawmakers.

[144]Scalise, the chairman of the RSC, reportedly asked Teller for his resignation, and announced the termination at a December 11, 2013, RSC meeting on Capitol Hill. [144]“Paul was divulging private, member level conversations and actively working against strategies developed by RSC members,” said the senior GOP aide.

“Trust between senior staff and RSC members is paramount. No staffer is above a member.” [144]Free trip to Israel (2013)Scalise was one of seven members of Congress and their spouses to receive free travel to Israel at the beginning of November 2013. [145] The week long trip in November 2013 for Scalise and his wife cost an estimated $23,352. [145]The sponsor of the trip, the U. S. Israel Education Association, previously named the American Israel Educational Association, paid for the members of Congress and a family member to travel to Israel between November 1 and November 10, 2013. The purpose of the trip was to receive briefings on the U. S.-Israel relationship and Israel’s relationship to other countries in the region. [145]Although trips are not supposed to be paid for by lobbyists or those hiring lobbyists, the trip approval forms and agenda do include a listing of each member invited, their committee assignments, and specific bills sponsored or co-sponsored, relating to Israel. [145]The other travelers included Michele Bachmann and her son, Robert Aderholt and his spouse, Jim Jordan and his spouse, James Lankford and his spouse, Mike Mc Intyre and his spouse, and Ted Poe and his spouse.

[145]Presidential preference (2012)2012See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election Steve Scalise endorsed Rick Perry in the 2012 presidential election.

[146]Recent news This section links to a Google news search for the term Steve + Scalise + Louisiana + House Steve Scalise News Feed See also Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Louisiana's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012Louisiana's 1st Congressional District elections, 2014United States House of Representatives External links Suggest a link Social media: Facebook You Tube Biographies: U. S. Congress Wikipedia Political profiles: Gov Track Congress Merge Open Congress Project Vote Smart Roll Call Financial (federal level): FEC contributions Open Secrets.org Legi Storm.com Financial (state level): Follow The Money Interest group ratings: Project Vote Smart Issue positions: On The Issues Project Vote Smart Public statements: Project Vote Smart Voting record: Project Vote Smart Washington Post Media appearances: C-SPANMedia coverage: Washington Post Footnotes↑ Politico, ""House Majority Whip Scalise wounded in Northern Virginia shooting, others also shot,"" June 14, 2017↑ Politico, ""Kevin Mc Carthy, Steve Scalise vault into GOP leadership,"" accessed June 19, 2014↑ Breitbart, ""Hensarling Bows Out Of Majority Leader Race, Stuzman Launches Whip Bid,"" accessed June 12, 2014↑ Roll Call, ""Labrador Announces Candidacy for Majority Leader (Updated),"" accessed June 14, 2014↑ Politico, ""The battle to become whip,"" accessed June 16, 2014↑ Politico, ""Lynn Westmoreland, Pete Sessions weigh whip bid,"" accessed June 16, 2014↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Biographical Guide to Members of Congress, ""Steve Scalise,"" accessed November 15, 2011↑ U. S. House Clerk, ""Official Alphabetical List of the House of Representatives of the United States One Hundred Fifteenth Congress,"" accessed February 2, 2017↑ U. S. House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk, ""Committee Information,"" accessed February 18, 2015↑ CQ.com, ""House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress,"" accessed March 3, 2013↑ U. S. House of Representatives, ""Committee assignments,"" accessed March 31, 2014↑ U. S. Congress House Clerk, ""House of Representatives Committee Assignments,"" accessed November 12, 2011↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 549,"" October 3, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 344,"" June 29, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 342,"" June 29, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 256,"" May 4, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 127,"" March 22, 2018↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 69,"" February 9, 2018↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 60,"" February 6, 2018↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 44,"" January 22, 2018↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 33,"" January 18, 2018↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 708,"" December 21, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 692,"" December 19, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 670,"" December 7, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 637,"" November 16, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 589,"" October 26, 2017↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 557,"" October 5, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 528,"" September 14, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 480,"" September 8, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 441,"" September 6, 2017↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 299,"" June 8, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 249,"" May 3, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 49,"" January 30, 2018↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 631,"" November 14, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 435,"" July 27, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 413,"" July 25, 2017↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 437,"" July 28, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 407,"" July 24, 2017↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results For Roll Call 378,"" July 14, 2017↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 136,"" March 8, 2017↑ Congressional Record, ""Resume of Congressional Activity, First Session of the 113th Congress,"" accessed April 29, 2015↑ Congressional Record, ""Resume of Congressional Activity, Second Session of the 114th Congress,"" accessed January 5, 2017↑ Congressional Record, ""Resume of Congressional Activity, First Session of the One Hundred Fourteenth Congress,"" April 13, 2015↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 361,"" June 12, 2015↑ The Atlantic, ""A Big Win for Big Labor,"" June 12, 2015↑ Roll Call, ""Deadline for TAA Do-Over Vote Extended to July 30,"" June 15, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 362,"" June 12, 2015↑ The Atlantic, ""A Big Win for Big Labor,"" June 12, 2015↑ Roll Call, ""Deadline for TAA Do-Over Vote Extended to July 30,"" June 15, 2015↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 374,"" June 18, 2015↑ Politico, ""Trade turnaround: House backs new power for Obama,"" June 18, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 388,"" June 24, 2015↑ The Hill, ""Obama signs trade bills,"" June 29, 2015↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 239,"" accessed May 27, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""H. R. 1735,"" accessed May 27, 2015↑ The Hill, ""Redone defense policy bill sails through House,"" accessed November 12, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""S. 1356,"" accessed November 12, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 618,"" accessed November 12, 2015↑ Senate.gov, ""On the Motion (Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to S. 1356),"" accessed November 12, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""S. Con.

Res.11,"" accessed May 5, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 183,"" accessed May 5, 2015↑ The Hill, ""Republicans pass a budget, flexing power of majority,"" accessed May 5, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""HR 1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015,"" accessed November 1, 2015↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 579,"" accessed November 1, 2015↑ Senate.gov, ""On the Motion (Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H. R. 1314),"" accessed November 1, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""H. R.1191 - Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015,"" accessed May 16, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 226,"" accessed May 16, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""HR 3461,"" accessed September 11, 2015↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 493,"" accessed September 11, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""HR 3460,"" accessed September 10, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 494,"" accessed September 11, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""H Res 411,"" accessed September 10, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 492,"" accessed September 10, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""HR 597,"" accessed November 2, 2015↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 576,"" accessed November 2, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""H. R.2048,"" accessed May 26, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 224,"" accessed May 26, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""HR 36 - the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,"" accessed May 16, 2015↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""HR 36,"" accessed May 16, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""HR 1731,"" accessed November 2, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 173,"" accessed November 2, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""HR 1560 - Protecting Cyber Networks Act,"" accessed November 1, 2015↑ Clerk.

House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 170,"" accessed November 1, 2015↑ Congress.gov, ""HR 4038 - the American SAFE Act of 2015,"" accessed November 20, 2015↑ Clerk. House.gov, ""Final Vote Results for Roll Call 643,"" accessed November 20, 2015↑ Congressional Record, ""Resume of Congressional Activity, First Session of the 112th Congress,"" accessed September 5, 2013↑ Congressional Record, ""Resume of Congressional Activity, Second Session of the 113th Congress,"" accessed March 4, 2014↑ 88.0 88.1 88.2 88.3 88.4 88.5 88.6 88.7 Project Vote Smart, ""Steve Scalise Key Votes,"" accessed October 14, 2013↑ The Library of Congress, ""Bill Summary & Status - 113th Congress (2013 - 2014) - H. R.624,"" accessed August 27, 2013↑ Clerk of U. S. House, ""Roll Call Vote 31: H. R. 2642,"" accessed February 12, 2014↑ Politico, ""House clears farm bill,"" accessed February 12, 2014↑ 92.0 92.1 New York Times, ""Senate passes long-stalled Farm Bill, With clear winners and losers,"" accessed February 12, 2014↑ 93.0 93.1 CNN.com, ""House passes compromise $1.1 trillion budget for 2014,"" accessed January 20, 2014↑ 94.0 94.1 94.2 U. S. House, ""Roll Call Vote 21,"" accessed January 20, 2014↑ Roll Call, ""House Passes $1.1 Trillion Omnibus,"" accessed January 20, 2014↑ Clerk of the U. S. House, ""Final vote results for Roll Call 504,"" accessed October 31, 2013↑ Buzzfeed, ""Government Shutdown: How We Got Here,"" accessed October 1, 2013↑ Clerk of the U. S. House, ""Final vote results for Roll Call 504,"" accessed October 31, 2013↑ The Washington Post, ""Reid, Mc Connell propose bipartisan Senate bill to end shutdown, extend borrowing,"" accessed October 16, 2013↑ U. S. House, ""Final vote results for Roll Call 550,"" accessed October 31, 2013↑ U. S. House, ""House Resolution 676,"" accessed July 30, 2014↑ Yahoo News, ""Suing Obama: GOP-led House gives the go-ahead,"" accessed July 30, 2014↑ Washington Post, ""House clears way for lawsuit against Obama,"" accessed July 30, 2014↑ U. S. House, ""Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff,"" accessed January 4, 2013↑ Scalise's Official Campaign Website, ""News,"" accessed 2012 ( dead link) ( dead link)↑ You Tube channel, ""Video,"" accessed 2012↑ The Atlantic, ""Which Republicans Oppose Donald Trump? A Cheat Sheet,"" September 8, 2016↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, ""Candidate Inquiry,"" accessed July 25, 2016↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, ""Candidate List,"" accessed October 22,2012↑ U. S. Congress House Clerk, ""Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010,"" accessed March 28, 2013↑ The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties, likely representing only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. See this page for more details.↑ Open Secrets, ""Career Fundraising for Steve Scalise,"" accessed May 11, 2017↑ Open Secrets, ""Winning vs. Spending,"" accessed March 22, 2016↑ Open Secrets, ""Steve Scalise 2014 Election Cycle,"" accessed April 6, 2015↑ Open Secrets, ""Winning vs. Spending,"" accessed April 6, 2015↑ Federal Election Commission, ""Steve Scalise 2014 Summary reports,"" accessed October 28, 2013↑ Federal Election Commission, ""April Quarterly,"" accessed July 25, 2013↑ Federal Election Commission, ""July Quarterly,"" accessed July 25, 2013↑ Federal Election Commission, ""October Quarterly,"" accessed October 28, 2013↑ Federal Election Commission, ""Year End Report,"" accessed February 17, 2014↑ Federal Election Commission, ""April Quarterly,"" accessed April 21, 2014↑ Federal Election Commission, ""July Quarterly,"" accessed October 23, 2014↑ Federal Election Commission, ""October Quarterly,"" accessed October 20, 2014↑ Open Secrets, ""2012 Re-Election Cycle,"" accessed February 16, 2013↑ Open Secrets, ""Election 2012: The Big Picture Shows Record Cost of Winning a Seat in Congress,"" accessed June 19, 2013↑ Open Secrets, ""Steve Scalise 2010 Re-Election Cycle,"" accessed November 15, 2011↑ Open Secrets, ""Scalise, (R-LA), 2012,"" accessed February 18, 2014↑ This figure represents the total percentage growth from either 2004 (if the member entered office in 2004 or earlier) or the member's first year in office (as noted in the chart below).↑ This number was found by dividing each member's total net worth growth percentage by the number of years included in the calculation.↑ This figure represents the total percentage growth divided by the number of years for which there are net worth figures for each member.↑ This figure was calculated using median asset data from the Census Bureau. Please see the Congressional Net Worth data for Ballotpedia spreadsheet for more information on this calculation.↑ Open Secrets.org, ""Rep. Steve Scalise,"" accessed September 24, 2014↑ Legi Storm, ""Steve Scalise,"" accessed 2012↑ Gov Track, ""Steve Scalise,"" accessed August 4, 2014↑ Open Congress, ""Rep. Steve Scalise,"" accessed October 1, 2015↑ Gov Track, ""Rep. Steve Scalise (R),"" accessed October 1, 2015↑ National Journal, ""2013 Congressional Vote Ratings,"" accessed August 1, 2014↑ National Journal, ""TABLE: House Liberal Scores by Issue Area,"" February 26, 2013↑ National Journal, ""Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House,"" accessed February 23, 2012↑ Open Congress, ""Voting With Party,"" accessed July 2014↑ Open Congress, ""Voting With Party,"" accessed July 2014↑ Official Campaign Site, ""Biography,"" accessed November 15, 2011↑ Washington Post, ""House Majority Whip Scalise confirms he spoke to white supremacists in 2002,"" December 29, 2014↑ 144.0 144.1 144.2 Politico, ""RSC fires executive director,"" accessed December 11, 2013↑ 145.0 145.1 145.2 145.3 145.4 Roll Call, ""Rep. Michele Bachmann Takes Son on Free Trip to Israel,"" accessed November 27, 2013↑ The Hill, ""2012 GOP Lawmaker Endorsements for President,"" accessed November 22, 2011Only the first few references on this page are shown above. Click to show more. Political offices Preceded by Bobby Jindal U. S. House of Representatives - Louisiana District 1 2008–present Succeeded by -Preceded by ' Louisiana State Senate 2008 Succeeded by 'Preceded by ' Louisiana House of Representatives 1995–2007 Succeeded by ' [ show]v e Louisiana's current delegation to the United States Congress [ show]v e State of Louisiana Baton Rouge ( capital) "

Party leaders and whips of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot. [1] With the Republicans holding a majority of seats and the Democrats holding a minority, the current leaders are: Majority Leader Kevin Mc Carthy, Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedianavigation search This article is about political party leaders of the House. For the Speaker, see Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations.

Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2011) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Current leaders Majority Leader Kevin Mc Carthy (R) Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R)Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D)Party Leaders of the U. S. House of Representatives

Typically, the Speaker does not participate in debate and rarely votes on the floor. In some cases, Majority Leaders have been more influential than the Speaker; notably, Tom De Lay was more prominent than Speaker Dennis Hastert.

In addition, Speaker Newt Gingrich delegated to Dick Armey an unprecedented level of authority over scheduling legislation on the House floor. [2]The current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi serves as floor leader of the opposition party, and is the counterpart to the Majority Leader. Unlike the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader is on the ballot for Speaker of the House during the convening of the Congress.

If the Minority Leader's party takes control of the House, and the party officers are all re-elected to their seats, the Minority Leader is usually the party's top choice for Speaker for the next Congress, while the Minority Whip is typically in line to become Majority Leader. The Minority Leader usually meets with the Majority Leader and the Speaker to discuss agreements on controversial issues. The Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Majority Whip and Minority Whip all receive special office suites in the United States Capitol.

Selection [ edit]The floor leaders and whips of each party are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot.

[3] The Speaker-elect is also chosen in a closed-door session although they are formally installed in their position by a public vote when Congress reconvenes. [1]Like the Speaker of the House, the Minority Leaders are typically experienced lawmakers when they win election to this position. When Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, became Minority Leader in the 108th Congress, she had served in the House nearly 20 years and had served as minority whip in the 107th Congress.

When her predecessor, Richard Gephardt, D-MO, became minority leader in the 104th House, he had been in the House for almost 20 years, had served as chairman of the Democratic Caucus for four years, had been a 1988 presidential candidate, and had been majority leader from June 1989 until Republicans captured control of the House in the November 1994 elections.

Gephardt's predecessor in the minority leadership position was Robert Michel, R-IL, who became GOP Leader in 1981 after spending 24 years in the House.

Michel's predecessor, Republican John Rhodes of Arizona, was elected Minority Leader in 1973 after 20 years of House service.

By contrast, party leaders of the United States Senate have often ascended to their position despite relatively few years of experience in that chamber, [ citation needed] such as Lyndon B. Johnson, William F. Knowland, and Bill Frist. Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor also had a comparatively quick rise to the post and was the youngest House Majority Leader in American history. [ citation needed]Duties [ edit]The House Majority Leader's duties vary, depending upon the political makeup of the majority caucus.

In several recent sessions of Congress with the notable exception of the Pelosi speakership, the Majority Leader has been primarily responsible for scheduling the House floor's legislative calendar and direct management for all House committees.

One statutory duty, per 19 U. S. C. § 2191 (c) (1), stipulates that an implementing bill submitted by the President of the United States for a fast-track negotiating authority (trade promotion authority) trade agreement must be introduced (by request) in the House by the Majority Leader of the House.

Since 1995, the only Majority Leader to become Speaker is John Boehner, though indirectly as his party lost control in the 2006 midterms elections. He subsequently served as Republican House leader and Minority Leader from 2007 to 2011 and then was elected Speaker when the House reconvened in 2011.

In 1998, with Speaker Newt Gingrich announcing his resignation, both Majority Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom De Lay did not contest the Speakership which eventually went to Chief Deputy Whip Dennis Hastert.

Traditionally, the Speaker is reckoned as the leader of the majority party in the House, with the Majority Leader as second-in-command. For instance, when the Republicans gained the majority in the House after the 2010 elections, Eric Cantor succeeded Boehner as Majority Leader.

Despite this, Cantor and his successor, Kevin Mc Carthy, have been reckoned as the second-ranking Republicans in the House, since Boehner was still reckoned as the leader of the House Republicans. However, there have been some exceptions. The most recent exception to this rule came when Majority Leader Tom De Lay generally overshadowed Speaker Dennis Hastert from 2003 to 2006.

[6] In contrast, the Minority Leader is the undisputed leader of the minority party. When the Presidency and both Houses of Congress are controlled by one party, the Speaker normally takes a low profile and defers to the President.

[ citation needed] For that situation the House Minority Leader can play the role of a de facto ""leader of the opposition"", often more so than the Senate Minority Leader, due to the more partisan nature of the House and the greater role of leadership.

Following his primary defeat, Cantor announced his resignation as Majority Leader, effective July 31, 2014, [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] and he subsequently resigned his seat in Congress. [15]Minority Leader [ edit]This article reads like a textbook and may require cleanup. Please help to improve this article to make it neutral in tone and meet Wikipedia's quality standards.

Responsibilities [ edit]From an institutional perspective, the rules of the House assign a number of specific responsibilities to the minority leader.

For example, Rule XII, clause 6, grant the minority leader (or their designee) the right to offer a motion to recommit with instructions; Rule II, clause 6, states the Inspector General shall be appointed by joint recommendation of the Speaker, majority leader, and minority leader; and Rule XV, clause 6, provides that the Speaker, after consultation with the minority leader, may place legislation on the Corrections Calendar. The minority leader also has other institutional duties, such as appointing individuals to certain federal entities.

From a party perspective, the minority leader has a wide range of partisan assignments, all geared toward retaking majority control of the House. Five principal party activities direct the work of the minority leader. The minority leader provides campaign assistance to party incumbents and challengers. The minority leader devises strategies, in consultation with other partisan colleagues, that advance party objectives.

For example, by stalling action on the majority party's agenda, the minority leader may be able to launch a campaign against a ""do-nothing Congress. ""The minority leader works to promote and publicize the party's agenda. The minority leader, if their party controls the White House, confers regularly with the President and the President's aides about issues before Congress, the Administration's agenda, and political events generally.

The minority leader strives to promote party harmony so as to maximize the chances for legislative and political success. The roles and responsibilities of the minority leader are not well-defined. To a large extent, the functions of the minority leader are defined by tradition and custom. A minority leader from 1931 to 1939, Representative Bertrand Snell, R-N. Y., provided this ""job description"": ""He is spokesman for his party and enunciates its policies.

He is required to be alert and vigilant in defense of the minority's rights. It is his function and duty to criticize constructively the policies and programs of the majority, and to this end employ parliamentary tactics and give close attention to all proposed legislation."" [16]Since Snell's description, other responsibilities have been added to the job. These duties involve an array of institutional and party functions.

Before examining the institutional and party assignments of the minority leader, it is worth highlighting the historical origin of this position. Origin of the post [ edit]This article is part of a series on the Politics of the United States of America Federal Government [show]Legislature [show]Executive [show]Judiciary [show]Elections [show]Political parties [show]Federalism [show]Other countries Atlasv t e To a large extent, the minority leader's position is a 20th-century innovation.

Prior to this time congressional parties were often relatively disorganized, so it was not always evident who functioned as the opposition floor leader. Decades went by before anything like the modern two-party congressional system emerged on Capitol Hill with official titles for those who were its official leaders.

However, from the beginning days of Congress, various House members intermittently assumed the role of ""opposition leader."" Some scholars suggest that Representative James Madison of Virginia informally functioned as the first ""minority leader"" because in the First Congress he led the opposition to Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton 's fiscal policies. [17]During this early period, it was more usual that neither major party grouping (Federalists and Democratic-Republicans) had an official leader.

In 1813, for instance, a scholar recounts that the Federalist minority of 36 Members needed a committee of 13 ""to represent a party comprising a distinct minority"" and ""to coordinate the actions of men who were already partisans in the same cause."" [18] In 1828, a foreign observer of the House offered this perspective on the absence of formal party leadership on Capitol Hill: I found there were absolutely no persons holding the stations of what are called, in England, Leaders, on either side of the House....

It is true, that certain members do take charge of administration questions, and certain others of opposition questions; but all this so obviously without concert among themselves, actual or tacit, that nothing can be conceived less systematic or more completely desultory, disjointed.

[19]Internal party disunity compounded the difficulty of identifying lawmakers who might have informally functioned as a minority leader. For instance, ""seven of the fourteen speakership elections from 1834 through 1859 had at least twenty different candidates in the field.

Thirty-six competed in 1839, ninety-seven in 1849, ninety-one in 1859, and 138 in 1855."" [20] With so many candidates competing for the speakership, it is not at all clear that one of the defeated lawmakers then assumed the mantle of ""minority leader."" The Democratic minority from 1861 to 1875 was so completely disorganized that they did not ""nominate a candidate for Speaker in two of these seven Congresses and nominated no man more than once in the other five.

The defeated candidates were not automatically looked to for leadership."" [21]In the judgment of political scientist Randall Ripley, since 1883 ""the candidate for Speaker nominated by the minority party has clearly been the Minority Leader.""

[22] However, this assertion is subject to dispute. On December 3, 1883, the House elected Democrat John G. Carlisle of Kentucky as Speaker. Republicans placed in nomination for the speakership J. Warren Keifer of Ohio, who was Speaker the previous Congress.

[23] Clearly, Keifer was not the Republicans' minority leader. He was a discredited leader in part because as Speaker he arbitrarily handed out ""choice jobs to close relatives ... all at handsome salaries.""

[24] Keifer received ""the empty honor of the minority nomination. But with it came a sting -- for while this naturally involves the floor leadership, he was deserted by his [partisan] associates and his career as a national figure terminated ingloriously."" [25] Representative Thomas Reed, R-ME, who later became Speaker, assumed the de facto role of minority floor leader in Keifer's stead. ""

[A]lthough Keifer was the minority's candidate for Speaker, Reed became its acknowledged leader, and ever after, so long as he served in the House, remained the most conspicuous member of his party. [26]Another scholar contends that the minority leader position emerged even before 1883. On the Democratic side, ""there were serious caucus fights for the minority speakership nomination in 1871 and 1873,"" indicating that the ""nomination carried with it some vestige of leadership.""

[27] Further, when Republicans were in the minority, the party nominated for Speaker a series of prominent lawmakers, including ex-Speaker James Blaine of Maine in 1875, former Appropriations Chairman James A. Garfield of Ohio, in 1876, 1877, and 1879, and ex-Speaker Keifer in 1883.

""It is hard to believe that House partisans would place a man in the speakership when in the majority, and nominate him for this office when in the minority, and not look to him for legislative guidance.""

[27] This was not the case, according to some observers, with respect to ex-Speaker Keifer. In brief, there is disagreement among historical analysts as to the exact time period when the minority leadership emerged officially as a party position. Nonetheless, it seems safe to conclude that the position emerged during the latter part of the 19th century, a period of strong party organization and professional politicians.

This era was ""marked by strong partisan attachments, resilient patronage-based party organizations, and...high levels of party voting in Congress."" [28] Plainly, these were conditions conducive to the establishment of a more highly differentiated House leadership structure.

First, until the 61st Congress (1909–1910), ""it was the custom to have the minority leader also serve as the ranking minority member on the two most powerful committees, Rules and Ways and Means."" [31] Today, the minority leader no longer serves on these committees; however, he or she appoints the minority members of the Rules Committee and influences the assignment of partisan colleagues to the Ways and Means Committee.

Second, Democrats have always elevated their minority floor leader to the speakership upon reclaiming majority status. Republicans have not always followed this leadership succession pattern. In 1919, for instance, Republicans bypassed James R. Mann, R-IL, who had been minority leader for eight years, and elected Frederick Gillett, R-MA, to be Speaker.

Mann ""had angered many Republicans by objecting to their private bills on the floor;"" also he was a protégé of autocratic Speaker Joseph Cannon, R-IL (1903–1911), and many Members ""suspected that he would try to re-centralize power in his hands if elected Speaker.""

[32] More recently, although Robert H. Michel was the Minority Leader in 1994 when the Republicans regained control of the House in the 1994 midterm elections, he had already announced his retirement and had little or no involvement in the campaign, including the Contract with America which was unveiled six weeks before voting day.

Despite the variability of these factors, there are a number of institutional obligations associated with this position.

Many of these assignments or roles are spelled out in the House rule book. Others have devolved upon the position in other ways. To be sure, the minority leader is provided with extra staff resources—beyond those accorded him or her as a Representative—to assist in carrying out diverse leadership functions.

Worth emphasis is that there are limits on the institutional role of the minority leader, because the majority party exercises disproportionate influence over the agenda, partisan ratios on committees, staff resources, administrative operations, and the day-to-day schedule and management of floor activities. Under the rules of the House, the minority leader has certain roles and responsibilities. They include the following: Drug Testing. Under Rule I, clause 9, the ""Speaker, in consultation with the Minority Leader, shall develop through an appropriate entity of the House a system for drug testing in the House.

""Inspector General. Rule II, clause 6, states that the ""Inspector General shall be appointed for a Congress by the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader, acting jointly."" This rule further states that the minority leader and other specified House leaders shall be notified of any financial irregularity involving the House and receive audit reports of the inspector general.

Questions of Privilege. Under Rule IX, clause 2, a resolution ""offered as a question of privilege by the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader ... shall have precedence of all other questions except motions to adjourn."" This rule further references the minority leader with respect to the division of time for debate of these resolutions.

Oversight Plans. Under Rule X, clause 2, not later ""than March 31 in the first session of a Congress, after consultation with the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader, the Committee on Government Reform shall report to the House the oversight plans"" of the standing committees along with any recommendations it or the House leaders have proposed to ensure the effective coordination of committees' oversight plans.

(Rule X, clause 11). Motion to Recommit with Instructions. Under Rule XIII, clause 6, the Rules Committee may not (except in certain specified circumstances) issue a ""rule"" that prevents the minority leader or a designee from offering a motion to recommit with instructions.

Informally, the minority leader maintains ties with majority party leaders to learn about the schedule and other House matters and forges agreements or understandings with them insofar as feasible.

Party functions [ edit]The minority leader has a number of formal and informal party responsibilities. Formally, the rules of each party specify certain roles and responsibilities for their leader. For example, under Democratic rules for the 106th Congress, the minority leader may call meetings of the Democratic Caucus.

He or she is a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; names the members of the Democratic Leadership Council; chairs the Policy Committee; and heads the Steering Committee. Examples of other assignments are making ""recommendations to the Speaker on all Democratic Members who shall serve as conferees"" and nominating party members to the Committees on Rules and House Administration. Republican rules identify generally comparable functions for their top party leader. Informally, the minority leader has a wide range of party assignments.

Lewis Deschler, the late House Parliamentarian (1928–1974), summarized the diverse duties of a party's floor leader: A party's floor leader, in conjunction with other party leaders, plays an influential role in the formulation of party policy and programs. They are instrumental in guiding legislation favored by his party through the House, or in resisting those programs of the other party that are considered undesirable by his own party.

They are instrumental in devising and implementing his party's strategy on the floor with respect to promoting or opposing legislation. They are kept constantly informed as to the status of legislative business and as to the sentiment of his party respecting particular legislation under consideration. Such information is derived in part from the floor leader's contacts with his party's members serving on House committees, and with the members of the party's whip organization.

[33]These and several other party roles merit further mention because they influence significantly the leader's overarching objective: retake majority control of the House. ""I want to get [my] members elected and win more seats,"" said Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-MO.

""That's what [my partisan colleagues] want to do, and that's what they want me to do."" [34]Five activities illustrate how minority leaders seek to accomplish this primary goal. Provide Campaign Assistance. Minority leaders are typically energetic and aggressive campaigners for partisan incumbents and challengers.

""The amount of time that [Minority Leader] Gephardt is putting in to help the DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] is unheard of,"" noted a Democratic lobbyist. ""No DCCC chairman has ever had that kind of support."" [35]Devise Minority Party Strategies. The minority leader, in consultation with other party colleagues, has a range of strategic options that he or she can employ to advance minority party objectives. The options selected depend on a wide range of circumstances, such as the visibility or significance of the issue and the degree of cohesion within the majority party.

For instance, a majority party riven by internal dissension, as occurred during the early 1900s when Progressive and ""regular"" Republicans were at loggerheads, may provide the minority leader with greater opportunities to achieve their priorities than if the majority party exhibited high degrees of party cohesion.

Among the variable strategies available to the minority party, which can vary from bill to bill and be used in combination or at different stages of the lawmaking process, are the following: Cooperation. The minority party supports and cooperates with the majority party in building winning coalitions on the floor. Inconsequential Opposition. The minority party offers opposition, but it is of marginal significance, typically because the minority is so small.

Withdrawal. The minority party chooses not to take a position on an issue, perhaps because of intraparty divisions. Innovation. The minority party develops alternatives and agendas of its own and attempts to construct winning coalitions on their behalf.

Partisan Opposition. The minority party offers strong opposition to majority party initiatives but does not counter with policy alternatives of their own. Constructive Opposition. The minority party opposes initiatives of the majority party and offers its own proposals as substitutes. Participation. The minority party is in the position of having to consider the views and proposals of their president and to assess their majority-building role with respect to his priorities.

[36]A look at one minority leadership strategy—partisan opposition—may suggest why it might be employed in specific circumstances. The purposes of obstruction are several, such as frustrating the majority party's ability to govern or attracting press and media attention to the alleged ineffectiveness of the majority party.

""We know how to delay,"" remarked Minority Leader Gephardt [37] Dilatory motions to adjourn, appeals of the presiding officer's ruling, or numerous requests for roll call votes are standard time-consuming parliamentary tactics.

By stalling action on the majority party's agenda, the minority leader may be able to launch a campaign against a ""do-nothing Congress"" and convince enough voters to put his party back in charge of the House.

To be sure, the minority leader recognizes that ""going negative"" carries risks and may not be a winning strategy if his party fails to offer policy alternatives that appeal to broad segments of the general public. Promote and Publicize the Party's Agenda. An important aim of the minority leader is to develop an electorally attractive agenda of ideas and proposals that unites their own House members and that energizes and appeals to core electoral supporters as well as independents and swing voters.

Despite the minority leader's restricted ability to set the House's agenda, there are still opportunities for him to raise minority priorities.

For example, the minority leader may employ, or threaten to use, discharge petitions to try and bring minority priorities to the floor. [38] If he or she is able to attract the required 218 signatures on a discharge petition by attracting majority party supporters, he or she can force minority initiatives to the floor over the opposition of the majority leadership.

House minority leaders also hold joint news conferences and consult with their counterparts in the Senate—and with the president if their party controls the White House. The overall objectives are to develop a coordinated communications strategy, to share ideas and information, and to present a united front on issues.

Minority leaders also make floor speeches and close debate on major issues before the House; they deliver addresses in diverse forums across the country, and they write books or articles that highlight minority party goals and achievements.

They must also be prepared ""to debate on the floor, ad lib, no notes, on a moment's notice,"" remarked Minority Leader Michel. [40] In brief, minority leaders are key strategists in developing and promoting the party's agenda and in outlining ways to neutralize the opposition's arguments and proposals.

Confer With the White House. If their party controls the White House, the minority leader confers regularly with the President and his aides about issues before Congress, the Administration's agenda, and political events generally. Strategically, the role of the minority leader will vary depending on whether the President is of the same party or the other party.

In general, minority leaders will often work to advance the goals and aspirations of their party's President in Congress. When Robert Michel, R-IL, was minority leader (1981–1995), he typically functioned as the ""point man"" for Republican presidents. [41] President Ronald Reagan's 1981 policy successes in the Democratic-controlled House was due in no small measure to Minority Leader Michel's effectiveness in wooing so-called "" Reagan Democrats "" to support, for instance, the Administration's landmark budget reconciliation bill.

There are occasions, of course, when minority leaders will fault the legislative initiatives of their President. On an administration proposal that could adversely affect his district, Michel stated that he might ""abdicate my leadership role [on this issue] since I can't harmonize my own views with the administration's.""

[42] Minority Leader Gephardt, as another example, has publicly opposed a number of President Clinton's legislative initiatives from ""fast track"" trade authority to various budget issues. [43]When the White House is controlled by the House majority party, then the House minority leader assumes a larger role in formulating alternatives to executive branch initiatives and in acting as a national spokesperson for their party.

""As Minority Leader during [President Lyndon Johnson's] Democratic administration, my responsibility has been to propose Republican alternatives,"" said Minority Leader Gerald Ford, R-MI. [44] Greatly outnumbered in the House, Minority Leader Ford devised a political strategy that allowed Republicans to offer their alternatives in a manner that provided them political protection. As Ford explained:""We used a technique of laying our program out in general debate,"" he said. When we got to the amendment phase, we would offer our program as a substitute for the Johnson proposal.

If we lost in the Committee of the Whole, then we would usually offer it as a motion to recommit and get a vote on that.

And if we lost on the motion to recommit, our Republican members had a choice: They could vote against the Johnson program and say we did our best to come up with a better alternative. Or they could vote for it and make the same argument. Usually we lost; but when you're only 140 out of 435, you don't expect to win many.

[45]Ford also teamed with Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, R-IL, to act as national spokesmen for their party. They met with the press every Thursday following the weekly joint leadership meeting. Ford's predecessor as minority leader, Charles Halleck, R-IN, probably received more visibility in this role, because the press and media dubbed it the ""Ev and Charlie Show.""

In fact, the ""Republican National Committee budgeted $30,000 annually to produce the weekly news conference."" [46]Foster Party Harmony. Minority status, by itself, is often an important inducement for minority party members to stay together, to accommodate different interests, and to submerge intraparty factional disagreements.

To hold a diverse membership together often requires extensive consultations and discussions with rank-and-file Members and with different factional groupings. As Minority Leader Gephardt said: We have weekly caucus meetings. We have daily leadership meetings. We have weekly ranking Member meetings. We have party effectiveness meetings. There's a lot more communication.

I believe leadership is bottom up, not top down. I think you have to build policy and strategy and vision from the bottom up, and involve people in figuring out what that is. [47]Gephardt added that ""inclusion and empowerment of the people on the line have to be done to get the best performance"" from the minority party.

[48] Other techniques for fostering party harmony include the appointment of task forces composed of partisan colleagues with conflicting views to reach consensus on issues; the creation of new leadership positions as a way to reach out and involve a greater diversity of partisans in the leadership structure; and daily meetings in the Leader's office (or at breakfast, lunch, or dinner) to lay out floor strategy or political objectives for the minority party.

Party whips and assistant party leaders [ edit]Whips [ edit]A whip manages their party's legislative program on the House floor. The whip keeps track of all legislation and ensures that all party members are present when important measures are to be voted upon.

The Majority Whip is an elected member of the majority party who assists the Speaker of the House and the majority leader to coordinate ideas on, and garner support for, proposed legislation. The Minority Whip is a member of the minority party who assists the minority leader in coordinating the party caucus in its responses to legislation and other matters.

However, the U. S. House of Representatives does not use the term ""minority whip,"" instead calling the position ""Republican Whip"" or ""Democratic Whip"" depending on the minority party. The Chief Deputy Whip is the primary assistant to the whip, who is the chief vote counter for their party. The current chief deputy majority whip is Republican Patrick Mc Henry. Within the House Republican Conference, the chief deputy whip is the highest appointed position and often a launching pad for future positions in the House Leadership.

The House Democratic Conference has multiple chief deputy whips, led by a Senior Chief Deputy Whip, which is the highest appointed position within the House Democratic Caucus. The current senior chief deputy minority whip, John Lewis, has held his post since 1991. Between 1955 and 1973, the Democrats simply had the title Deputy Whip.

[49]List of Republican chief deputy whips: David F. Emery, 1981–1983 (Minority)Tom Loeffler, 1983–1987 (Minority)Edward Rell Madigan, 1987–1989 (Minority)Robert Smith Walker, 1989–1995 (Minority)Dennis Hastert, 1995–1999 (Majority)Roy Blunt, 1999–2003 (Majority)Eric Cantor, 2003–2009 (Majority, 2003–2007) (Minority, 2007–2009)Kevin Mc Carthy, 2009–2011 (Minority)Peter Roskam, 2011–2014 (Majority)Patrick Mc Henry, 2014–present (Majority)List of Democratic Chief Deputy Whips (1955–1962) Hale Boggs (1962–1971) ?

It is said to replace the Assistant to the Leader post previously held by Chris Van Hollen, who had attended all leadership meetings but was not in the leadership hierarchy.

Politico. November 23, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2011.^ ""Majority leader, vus ist?"". JTA. January 5, 2011. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2011.^ Heitshusen, Valerie (April 24, 2017). Party Leaders in the House: Election, Duties, and Responsibilities (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service.

pp. 2–3. RS20881. Retrieved July 24, 2017.^ Berg-Andersson, Richard E. (June 7, 2001). ""A Brief History of Congressional Leadership"". The Green Papers (self-published website & blog). Retrieved January 5, 2006.^ ""Majority Leaders of the House (1899 to present)"". U. S. House History, Art & Archives. U. S. House of Representatives. Retrieved June 10, 2014.^ ""Best & Worst of Congress - News & Features"".

washingtonian.com. Retrieved June 7, 2011.^ ""Pelosi wants to remain leader"". Miami Herald. [ dead link]^ Memoli, Michael A. (November 17, 2010). ""Nancy Pelosi is House minority leader"". Los Angeles Times.^ ""Eric Cantor will leave House leadership post after stunning loss"". CNN. June 11, 2014.^ Zeleny, Jeff; Parkinson, John (June 11, 2014). ""Eric Cantor Stepping Down as House Majority Leader"".

ABC News.^ Kim, Clare (June 10, 2014). ""Eric Cantor loses GOP primary to tea party challenger Dave Brat"". MSNBC. Retrieved June 11, 2014.^ ""Cantor's Loss: A Stunning Upset"". The Atlantic. Politico.com. Retrieved June 10, 2014.^ Ostermeier, Eric (June 10, 2014). ""Eric Cantor 1st House Majority Leader to Lose Renomination Bid in History"". Smart Politics.^ Costa, Robert (June 10, 2014). ""Eric Cantor Succumbs to Tea Party Challenger Tuesday"".

The Washington Post.^ ""Eric Cantor Tells Virginia Newspaper He'll Resign in August"". NBCNews.com. August 1, 2014.^ Quoted in Riddick, Floyd M. (1941). Congressional Procedure. Boston: Chapman and Grimes.

p. 346.^ See Nelson, Garrison (Fall 1976). ""Leadership Position-Holding in the United States House of Representatives"". Capitol Studies (4): 17.^ Young, James Sterling (1966). The Washington Community, 1800-1828. New York: Harcourt Brace. pp. 135–136.^ Young, James Sterling (1966). The Washington Community, 1800-1828. New York: Harcourt Brace.

p. 137.^ Nelson, Garrison (Fall 1976). ""Leadership Position-Holding in the United States House of Representatives"". Capitol Studies (4): 18..^ Ripley, Randall B. (1967). Party Leaders in the House of Representatives. Washington, D. C.: The Brookings Institution. pp. 28n.^ Ripley, Randall B. (1967). Party Leaders in the House of Representatives.

Washington, D. C.: The Brookings Institution. p. 28.^ 1883 Congressional Record, Vol. 29, Page 4-5 (December 3, 1883)^ Mc Neil, Neil (1963).

Forge of Democracy: The House of Representatives. New York: David Mc Kay Co. p. 70.^ Herbert Bruce Fuller, The Speakers of the House (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1909), p. 208.^ De Alva Stanwood Alexander, History and Procedure of the House of Representatives (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916), p. 131.^ a b Nelson, Garrison (Fall 1976).

""Leadership Position-Holding in the United States House of Representatives"". Capitol Studies (4): 19.^ Randall Strahan, ""Thomas Brackett Reed and the Rise of Party Government,"" in Roger Davidson, et al., eds., Masters of the House (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1998), p. 36.^ See Polsby, Nelson (September 1968). ""The Institutionalization of the U. S. House of Representatives"". American Political Science Review.

pp. 144–168.^ Office of the Historian: Minority Leaders of the House (1899 to present)^ Charles O. Jones, The Minority Party in Congress (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1970), p. 31.^ Ripley, Randall B.

The current majority whip in the House of Representatives is Steve Scalise, who is a member of the Republican Party. The current minority whip is Steny Hoyer, who is a member of the Democratic Party. The whip is supported by chief deputy whips.

United States House of Representatives

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedianavigation search For the current United States Congress, see 115th United States Congress. For state-level Houses of Representatives in the United States, see List of United States state legislatures.

United States House of Representatives115th United States Congress Seal of the House Flag of the U. S. House of Representatives Type Type Lower house of the United States Congress Term limits None History New session started January 3, 2017Leadership Speaker Paul Ryan ( R) Since October 29, 2015Majority Leader Kevin Mc Carthy ( R) Since August 1, 2014Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ( D) Since January 3, 2011Majority Whip Steve Scalise ( R) Since August 1, 2014Minority Whip Steny Hoyer ( D) Since January 3, 2011Structure Seats 435 voting members 6 non-voting members 218 needed for control Political groups Majority (237)Republican (237)Minority (193)Democratic (193)Vacant (5)Vacant (5)Length of term Two years Elections Voting system First-past-the-post in most states; nonpartisan blanket primary with a majoritarian second round in 3 states Last election November 8, 2016Next election November 6, 2018Redistricting State legislatures or redistricting commissions, varies by state Meeting place House of Representatives chamber United States Capitol Washington, D. C., United States Websitewww .house .gov This article is part of a series on the Politics of the United States of America Federal Government [show]Legislature [show]Executive [show]Judiciary [show]Elections [show]Political parties [show]Federalism [show]Other countries Atlasv t e The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber.

Together they compose the legislature of the United States. The composition of the House is established by Article One of the United States Constitution.

The House is composed of Representatives who sit in congressional districts that are allocated to each of the 50 states on a basis of population as measured by the U. S. Census, with each district entitled to one representative. Since its inception in 1789, all Representatives have been directly elected. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435. [1] As of the 2010 Census, the largest delegation is that of California, with fifty-three representatives.

Seven states have the smallest delegation possible, a single representative: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. [2]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 which include the power to initiate all bills related to revenue, the impeachment of federal officers, who are sent to trial before 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 one vote given to each state for that purpose.

[3] [4]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.

The Speaker and other floor leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conference, depending on whichever party has more voting members.

The House meets in the south wing of the United States Capitol. Contents [ hide ]1 History2 Membership, qualifications and apportionment2.1 Apportionments2.2 Redistricting2.3 Qualifications2.4 Elections2.5 Non-voting delegates2.6 Terms3 Comparison to the Senate4 Salary and benefits4.1 Salaries4.2 Titles4.3 Pension4.4 Tax deductions4.5 Health benefits4.6 Personnel, mail and office expenses4.7 Travel allowance5 Officers5.1 Member officials5.1.1 Leadership and partisanship5.2 Non-member officials6 Procedure6.1 Daily procedures6.2 Passage of legislation7 Committees8 Legislative functions9 Checks and balances10 Latest election results and current party standings10.1 Current standing10.2 End of previous Congress11 See also12 References12.1 Surveys12.2 Notes13 External links History [ edit]Main article: History of the United States House of Representatives Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a unicameral body in which each state was equally represented, and in which each state had a veto over most action.

After eight years of a more limited confederal government under the Articles, numerous political leaders such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton initiated the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which received the Confederation Congress's sanction to ""amend the Articles of Confederation"".

All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates. Representation of all political parties as percentage in House of Representatives over time Historical graph of party control of the Senate and House as well as the presidency [5]The issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention.

Edmund Randolph 's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral Congress: the lower house would be ""of the people"", elected directly by the people of the United States and representing public opinion, and a more deliberative upper house that would represent the individual states, and would be less susceptible to variations of mass sentiment, would be elected by the lower house.

[6]The House is referred to as the lower house, with the Senate being the upper house, although the United States Constitution does not use that terminology. Both houses' approval is necessary for the passage of legislation. The Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population.

The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states. [6]Eventually, the Convention reached the Connecticut Compromise or Great Compromise, under which one house of Congress (the House of Representatives) would provide representation proportional to each state's population, whereas the other (the Senate) would provide equal representation amongst the states.

[6] The Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states (nine out of the 13) in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4, 1789. The House began work on April 1, 1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time. During the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery.

The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives. However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed.

Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery. One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War.

Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War (1861–1865), which began soon after several southern states attempted to secede from the Union. The war culminated in the South's defeat and in the abolition of slavery. All southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, and therefore the Senate did not hold the balance of power between North and South during the war.

The years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Union's victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877; the ensuing era, known as the Gilded Age, was marked by sharp political divisions in the electorate. The Democratic Party and Republican Party each held majorities in the House at various times. Republican Speaker of the House, Thomas Brackett Reed (1895–1899)The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw a dramatic increase in the power of the Speaker of the House.

The rise of the Speaker's influence began in the 1890s, during the tenure of Republican Thomas Brackett Reed. ""

Czar Reed"", as he was nicknamed, attempted to put into effect his view that ""The best system is to have one party govern and the other party watch."" The leadership structure of the House also developed during approximately the same period, with the positions of Majority Leader and Minority Leader being created in 1899.

While the Minority Leader was the head of the minority party, the Majority Leader remained subordinate to the Speaker. The Speakership reached its zenith during the term of Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon, from 1903 to 1911.

The powers of the Speaker included chairmanship of the influential Rules Committee and the ability to appoint members of other House committees. These powers, however, were curtailed in the ""Revolution of 1910"" because of the efforts of Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans who opposed Cannon's arguably heavy-handed tactics.

The Democratic Party dominated the House of Representatives during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945), often winning over two-thirds of the seats. Both Democrats and Republicans were in power at various times during the next decade. The Democratic Party maintained control of the House from 1955 until 1995. In the mid-1970s, there were major reforms of the House, strengthening the power of sub-committees at the expense of committee chairs and allowing party leaders to nominate committee chairs.

These actions were taken to undermine the seniority system, and to reduce the ability of a small number of senior members to obstruct legislation they did not favor.

There was also a shift from the 1990s to greater control of the legislative program by the majority party; the power of party leaders (especially the Speaker) grew considerably. The Republicans took control of the House in 1995, under the leadership of Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich attempted to pass a major legislative program, the Contract with America, on which the House Republicans had been elected, and made major reforms of the House, notably reducing the tenure of committee chairs to three two-year terms.

Many elements of the Contract did not pass Congress, were vetoed by President Bill Clinton, or were substantially altered in negotiations with Clinton.

The Republicans held on to the House until 2006, when the Democrats won control and Nancy Pelosi was subsequently elected by the House as the first female Speaker.

The Republicans retook the House in 2011, with the largest shift of power since the 1930s. [7]Membership, qualifications and apportionment [ edit]This article is part of a series on the United States House of Representatives History of the United States House of Representatives Members Current members ( by seniority by age non-voting)Former members Hill committees ( DCCC NRCC)Congressional districts Speaker of the United States House of Representatives ( list)Party leaders Democratic Caucus Republican Conference Politics and procedure Committee of the Whole Closed session ( list) Saxbe fix Committees ( list) Procedures Origination Clause Quorum call Unanimous consent Salaries Apportionment ( Huntington–Hill method)Redistricting Gerrymandering Articles of impeachment Self-executing rule Rules suspension General ticket Plural district Places United States Capitol House office buildings ( Cannon Ford Longworth Rayburn)v t e Apportionments [ edit]Main article: United States congressional apportionment Under Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states by population, as determined by the census conducted every ten years.

Each state is entitled to at least one Representative, however, small its population. The only constitutional rule relating to the size of the House states: ""The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.""

[8] Congress regularly increased the size of the House to account for population growth until it fixed the number of voting House members at 435 in 1911.<, ref name="" USPL 62-5 ""/> In 1959, upon the admission of Alaska and Hawaii, the number was temporarily increased to 437 (seating one Representative from each of those states without changing existing apportionment), and returned to 435 four years later, after the reapportionment consequent to the 1960 census.

The Constitution does not provide for the representation of the District of Columbia or of territories. The District of Columbia and the territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U. S. Virgin Islands are each represented by one non-voting delegate.

Puerto Rico elects a Resident Commissioner, but other than having a four-year term, the Resident Commissioner's role is identical to the delegates from the other territories. The five Delegates and Resident Commissioner may participate in debates; prior to 2011, [9] they were also allowed to vote in committees and the Committee of the Whole when their votes would not be decisive.

[10]Redistricting [ edit]Main article: Redistricting States that are entitled to more than one Representative are divided into single-member districts. This has been a federal statutory requirement since 1967. [11] Prior to that law, general ticket representation was used by some states.

States typically redraw district boundaries after each census, though they may do so at other times, such as the 2003 Texas redistricting. Each state determines its own district boundaries, either through legislation or through non-partisan panels. "" Malapportionment "" is unconstitutional and districts must be approximately equal in population (see Wesberry v. Sanders ).

Additionally, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits redistricting plans that are intended to, or have the effect of, discriminating against racial or language minority voters.

[12] Aside from malapportionment and discrimination against racial or language minorities, federal courts have allowed state legislatures to engage in gerrymandering for the benefit of political parties or incumbents. [13] [14] In a 1984 case, Davis v. Bandemer, the Supreme Court held that gerrymandered districts could be struck down on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause, but the Court did not articulate a standard for when districts are impermissibly gerrymandered.

However, the Court overruled Davis in 2004 in Vieth v. Jubelirer, and Court precedent currently holds gerrymandering to be a political question. According to calculations made by Burt Neuborne using criteria set forth by the American Political Science Association, about 40 seats, less than 10% of the House membership, are chosen through a genuinely contested electoral process, given partisan gerrymandering.

[15] [16]Qualifications [ edit]Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for representatives. Each representative must: (1) be at least twenty-five years old; (2) have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years; and (3) be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state he or she represents.

Members are not required to live in the districts they represent, but they traditionally do. [17] The age and citizenship qualifications for representatives are less than those for senators.

The constitutional requirements of Article I, Section 2 for election to Congress are the maximum requirements that can be imposed on a candidate. [18] Therefore, Article I, Section 5, which permits each House to be the judge of the qualifications of its own members does not permit either House to establish additional qualifications.

Likewise a State could not establish additional qualifications. Disqualification: under the Fourteenth Amendment, a federal or state officer who takes the requisite oath to support the Constitution, but later engages in rebellion or aids the enemies of the United States, is disqualified from becoming a representative.

This post–Civil War provision was intended to prevent those who sided with the Confederacy from serving. However, disqualified individuals may serve if they gain the consent of two-thirds of both houses of Congress.

Elections [ edit]All 435 voting seats of the current House shown grouped by state, largest to smallest Population per U. S. Representative allocated to each of the 50 states and D. C., ranked by population.

Since D. C. (ranked 50th) receives no voting seats in the House, its bar is absent. Current U. S. congressional districts Elections for representatives are held in every even-numbered year, on Election Day the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. By law, Representatives must be elected from single-member districts. After a census is taken (in a year ending in 0), the year ending in 2 is the first year in which elections for U. S. House districts are based on that census (with the Congress based on those districts starting its term on the following Jan. 3).

In most states, major party candidates for each district are nominated in partisan primary elections, typically held in spring to late summer.

In some states, the Republican and Democratic parties choose their respective candidates for each district in their political conventions in spring or early summer, which often use unanimous voice votes to reflect either confidence in the incumbent or the result of bargaining in earlier private discussions. Exceptions can result in so-called floor fight—convention votes by delegates, with outcomes that can be hard to predict.

Especially if a convention is closely divided, a losing candidate may contend further by meeting the conditions for a primary election. The courts generally do not consider ballot access rules for independent and third party candidates to be additional qualifications for holding office and there are no federal regulations regarding ballot access. As a result, the process to gain ballot access varies greatly from state to state, and in the case of a third party may be affected by results of previous years' elections.

In 1967, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Congressional District Act, which requires almost all representatives be elected from single-member-districts, [19] [20] Following the Wesberry v. Sanders decision, Congress was motivated by fears that courts would impose at-large plurality districts on states that did not redistrict to comply with the new mandates for districts roughly equal in population, and Congress also sought to prevent attempts by southern states to use such voting systems to dilute the vote of racial minorities.

[21] Several states have used multi-member districts in the past, although only two states (Hawaii and Maine) used multi-member districts in 1967.

[20] Hawaii and Maine were made exempt from the Uniform Congressional District Act, and are free to use multi-member districts, although neither state chooses to do so. [20]Louisiana is unique in that it holds an all-party ""primary election"" on the general Election Day with a subsequent runoff election between the top two finishers (regardless of party) if no candidate received a majority in the primary.

The states of Washington and California now use a similar (though not identical) system to that used by Louisiana.

Seats vacated during a term are filled through special elections, unless the vacancy occurs closer to the next general election date than a pre-established deadline. The term of a member chosen in a special election usually begins the next day, or as soon as the results are certified. Non-voting delegates [ edit]This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2018) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Additionally, Washington D. C. and the five inhabited U. S. territories each elect a non-voting delegate. With the exception of the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, each representative and delegate serves for a two-year term.

They have a voice and can introduce bills on the floor, but cannot vote there. Terms [ edit]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. [22] 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.

Comparison to the Senate [ edit]As a check on the regional, popular, and rapidly changing politics of the House, the Senate has several distinct powers. For example, the "" advice and consent "" powers (such as the power to approve treaties) are a sole Senate privilege.

[23] The House, however, has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue, to impeach officials, and to choose the President in the event that a presidential candidate fails to get a majority of the Electoral College votes. [24] The Senate and House are further differentiated by term lengths and the number of districts represented: the Senate has longer terms of six years, fewer members (currently one hundred, two for each state), and (in all but seven delegations) larger constituencies per member.

The Senate is informally referred to as the ""upper"" house, and the House of Representatives as the ""lower"" house.

Salary and benefits [ edit]Salaries [ edit]As of December 2014, the annual salary of each Representative is $ 174,000. [25] [26] The Speaker of the House and the Majority and Minority Leaders earn more: $223,500 for the Speaker and $193,400 for their party leaders (the same as Senate leaders).

[26] A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it. Congress sets members' salaries; however, the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits a change in salary (but not COLA [27]) from taking effect until after the next election of the whole House. Representatives are eligible for retirement benefits after serving for five years. [28] Outside pay is limited to 15% of congressional pay, and certain types of income involving a fiduciary responsibility or personal endorsement are prohibited.

[26]Titles [ edit]Representatives use the prefix "" The Honorable "" before their names. A member of the House is referred to as a representative, congressman, or congresswoman. While senators are members of Congress, the terms congressman and congresswoman are not generally used by them. Pension [ edit]All members of Congress are automatically (without the option of withdrawal) enrolled in the Federal Employees Retirement System, a pension system also used for federal civil servants.

They become eligible to receive benefits after five years of service (two and one-half terms in the House).

The FERS is composed of three elements: Social Security The FERS basic annuity, a monthly pension plan based on the number of years of service and the average of the three highest years of basic pay The Thrift Savings Plan, a 401 (k) -like defined contribution plan for retirement account into which participants can deposit up to a maximum of $18,000 in 2017.

[ needs update] Their employing agency matches employee contributions up to 5% of pay. Members of Congress may retire with full benefits at age 62 after five years of service, at age 50 after twenty years of service, and at any age after twenty-five years of service. They may retire with reduced benefits at ages 55 to 59 after five years of service. Depending on birth year, they may receive a reduced pension after ten years of service if they are between 55 years and 57 years of age.

[29]Tax deductions [ edit]Members of Congress are permitted to deduct up to $3,000 of living expenses per year incurred while living away from their district or home state.

[30]Health benefits [ edit]Prior to 2014, members of Congress and their staff had access to essentially the same health benefits as federal civil servants; they could voluntarily enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), an employer-sponsored health insurance program, and were eligible to participate in other programs, such as the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS).

[31]However, Section 1312 (d) (3) (D) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided that the only health plans that the federal government can make available to members of Congress and certain congressional staff are those created under the ACA or offered through a health care exchange.

The Office of Personnel Management promulgated a final rule to comply with Section 1312 (d) (3) (D).

[31] Under the rule, effective January 1, 2014, members and designated staff are no longer able to purchase FEHBP plans as active employees. [31] However, if members enroll in a health plan offered through a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchange, they remain eligible for an employer contribution toward coverage, and members and designated staff who are eligible for retirement may enroll in a FEHBP plan upon retirement.

[31]The ACA and the final rule do not affect members' or staffers' eligibility for Medicare benefits.

[31] The ACA and the final rule also do not affect members' and staffers' eligibility for other health benefits related to federal employment, so current members and staff are eligible to participate in FSAFEDS (which has three options within the program), the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, and the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program. [31]There is an Office of the Attending Physician at the U. S. Capitol, which current members may seek health care from for an annual fee.

[31] The attending physician provides routine exams, consultations, and certain diagnostics, and may write prescriptions (although it does not dispense them). [31] The office does not provide vision or dental care. [31]Current members (but not their dependents, and not former members) may also receive medical and emergency dental care at military treatment facilities.

[31] There is no charge for outpatient care if it is provided in the National Capital Region, but members are billed at full reimbursement rates (set by the Department of Defense) for inpatient care. [31] (Outside the National Capital Region, charges are at full reimbursement rates for both inpatient and outpatient care).

[31]Personnel, mail and office expenses [ edit]House members are eligible for a Member's Representational Allowance (MRA) to support them in their official and representational duties to their district. [32] The MRA is calculated based on three components: one for personnel, one for official office expenses and one for official or franked mail.

The personnel allowance is the same for all members; the office and mail allowances vary based on the members' district's distance from Washington, D. C., the cost of office space in the member's district, and the number of non-business addresses in their district. These three components are used to calculate a single MRA that can fund any expense—even though each component is calculated individually, the franking allowance can be used to pay for personnel expenses if the member so chooses. In 2011 this allowance averaged $1.4 million per member, and ranged from $1.35 to $1.67 million. [33]The Personnel allowance was $944,671 per member in 2010.

Each member may employ no more than 18 permanent employees. Members' employees' salary is capped at $168,411 as of 2009. [33]Travel allowance [ edit]Each member-elect and one staffer can be paid for one round trip between their home in their congressional district and Washington, D. C. for organization caucuses.

[33]Officers [ edit]Member officials [ edit]The party with a majority of seats in the House is known as the majority party. The next-largest party is the minority party. The Speaker, committee chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority party; they have counterparts (for instance, the ""ranking members"" of committees) in the minority party. Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Then Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Then Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller confer with President Barack Obama at the Oval Office in 2009.

The Constitution provides that the House may choose its own Speaker. [34] Although not explicitly required by the Constitution, every Speaker has been a member of the House. The Constitution does not specify the duties and powers of the Speaker, which are instead regulated by the rules and customs of the House.

Speakers have a role both as a leader of the House and the leader of their party (which need not be the majority party; theoretically, a member of the minority party could be elected as Speaker with the support of a fraction of members of the majority party). Under the Presidential Succession Act (1947), the Speaker is second in the line of presidential succession behind the Vice President.

The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House but does not preside over every debate. Instead, s/he delegates the responsibility of presiding to other members in most cases.

The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the House chamber. The powers of the presiding officer are extensive; one important power is that of controlling the order in which members of the House speak. No member may make a speech or a motion unless s/he has first been recognized by the presiding officer. Moreover, the presiding officer may rule on a "" point of order "" (a member's objection that a rule has been breached); the decision is subject to appeal to the whole House. Speakers serve as chairs of their party's steering committee, which is responsible for assigning party members to other House committees. The Speaker chooses the chairmen of standing committees, appoints most of the members of the Rules Committee, appoints all members of conference committees, and determines which committees consider bills. Each party elects a floor leader, who is known as the Majority Leader or Minority Leader. The Minority Leader heads their party in the House, and the Majority Leader is their party's second-highest-ranking official, behind the Speaker. Party leaders decide what legislation members of their party should either support or oppose. Each party also elects a Whip, who works to ensure that the party's members vote as the party leadership desires.

The current majority whip in the House of Representatives is Steve Scalise, who is a member of the Republican Party. The current minority whip is Steny Hoyer, who is a member of the Democratic Party. The whip is supported by chief deputy whips.

In the 112th Congress, the Democratic Party has an additional Assistant Minority Leader, Jim Clyburn, who ranks between the whips and the caucus/conference chair. After the whips, the next ranking official in the House party's leadership is the Party Conference Chair (styled as the Republican Conference Chair and Democratic Caucus Chair). After the Conference Chair, there are differences between each party's subsequent leadership ranks.

After the Democratic Caucus Chair is the Campaign Committee Chair ( Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ), then the co-chairs of the Steering Committee. For the Republicans it is the Chair of the House Republican Policy Committee, followed by the Campaign Committee Chairman (styled as the National Republican Congressional Committee ).

The chairs of House committees, particularly influential standing committees such as Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Rules, are powerful but not officially part of House leadership hierarchy. Until the post of Majority Leader was created, the Chair of Ways and Means was the de facto majority leader.

Leadership and partisanship [ edit]When the Presidency and Senate are controlled by a different party from the one controlling the House, the Speaker can become the de facto ""leader of the opposition"".

Some notable examples include Tip O'Neill in the 1980s, Newt Gingrich in the 1990s, and John Boehner and Paul Ryan in the 2010s. Since the Speaker is a partisan officer with substantial power to control the business of the House, the position is often used for partisan advantage.

In the instance when the Presidency and both Houses of Congress are controlled by one party, the Speaker normally takes a low profile and defers to the President. For that situation the House Minority Leader can play the role of a de facto ""leader of the opposition"", often more so than the Senate Minority Leader, due to the more partisan nature of the House and the greater role of leadership.

Non-member officials [ edit]The House is also served by several officials who are not members. The House's chief such officer is the Clerk, who maintains public records, prepares documents, and oversees junior officials, including pages, until the junior position's discontinuation in 2011.

The Clerk also presides over the House at the beginning of each new Congress pending the election of a Speaker. Another officer is the Chief Administrative Officer, responsible for the day-to-day administrative support to the House of Representatives.

This includes everything from payroll to foodservice. The position of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) was created by the 104th Congress following the 1994 mid-term elections, replacing the positions of Doorkeeper and Director of Non-Legislative and Financial Services (created by the previous congress to administer the non-partisan functions of the House). The CAO also assumed some of the responsibilities of the House Information Services, which previously had been controlled directly by the Committee on House Administration, then headed by Representative Charlie Rose of North Carolina, along with the House ""Folding Room"". The Chaplain leads the House in prayer at the opening of the day. There is also a Sergeant at Arms, who as the House's chief law enforcement officer maintains order and security on House premises. Finally, routine police work is handled by the United States Capitol Police, which is supervised by the Capitol Police Board, a body to which the Sergeant at Arms belongs, and chairs in even-numbered years.

Procedure [ edit]Main article: Procedures of the United States House of Representatives Daily procedures [ edit]Like the Senate, the House of Representatives meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D. C. At one end of the chamber of the House is a rostrum from which the Speaker, Speaker Pro Tempore, or (when in the Committee of the Whole) the Chair presides.

[35] The lower tier of the rostrum is used by clerks and other officials. Members' seats are arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern facing the rostrum and are divided by a wide central aisle. [36] By tradition, Democrats sit on the left of the center aisle, while Republicans sit on the right, facing the presiding officer's chair.

[37] Sittings are normally held on weekdays; meetings on Saturdays and Sundays are rare. Sittings of the House are generally open to the public; visitors must obtain a House Gallery pass from a congressional office. [38] Sittings are broadcast live on television and have been streamed live on C-SPAN since March 19, 1979, [39] and on House Live, the official streaming service operated by the Clerk, since the early 2010s.

The procedure of the House depends not only on the rules, but also on a variety of customs, precedents, and traditions.

In many cases, the House waives some of its stricter rules (including time limits on debates) by unanimous consent. [40] A member may block a unanimous consent agreement; in practice, objections are rare. The presiding officer, the Speaker of the House enforces the rules of the House, and may warn members who deviate from them. The Speaker uses a gavel to maintain order. [41] The box in which legislation is placed to be considered by the House is called the hopper.

[42]In one of its first resolutions, the U. S. House of Representatives established the Office of the Sergeant at Arms.

In an American tradition adopted from English custom in 1789 by the first Speaker of the House, Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, the Mace of the United States House of Representatives is used to open all sessions of the House.

It is also used during the inaugural ceremonies for all Presidents of the United States. For daily sessions of the House, the sergeant at Arms carries the mace in front of the Speaker in procession to the rostrum. It is placed on a green marble pedestal to the Speaker's right. When the House is in committee, the mace is moved to a pedestal next to the desk of the Sergeant at Arms.

[43]The Constitution provides that a majority of the House constitutes a quorum to do business. [44] Under the rules and customs of the House, a quorum is always assumed present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. House rules prevent a member from making a point of order that a quorum is not present unless a question is being voted on. The presiding officer does not accept a point of order of no quorum during general debate, or when a question is not before the House.

[45]During debates, a member may speak only if called upon by the presiding officer. The presiding officer decides which members to recognize, and can therefore control the course of debate. [46] All speeches must be addressed to the presiding officer, using the words ""Mr. Speaker"" or ""Madam Speaker"".

Only the presiding officer may be directly addressed in speeches; other members must be referred to in the third person. In most cases, members do not refer to each other only by name, but also by state, using forms such as ""the gentleman from Virginia"", ""the distinguished gentlewoman from California"", or ""my distinguished friend from Alabama"".

There are 448 permanent seats on the House Floor and four tables, two on each side. These tables are occupied by members of the committee that have brought a bill to the floor for consideration and by the respective party leadership. Members address the House from microphones at any table or ""the well,"" the area immediately in front of the rostrum.

[47]Passage of legislation [ edit]Per the constitution, the House determines the rules according to which it passes legislation.

The rules are in principle open to change with each new Congress, but in practice each new session amends a standing set of rules built up over the history of the body in an early resolution published for public inspection. [48] Before legislation reaches the floor of the House, the Rules Committee normally passes a rule to govern debate on that measure (which then must be passed by the full House before it becomes effective). For instance, the committee determines if amendments to the bill are permitted. An ""open rule"" permits all germane amendments, but a ""closed rule"" restricts or even prohibits amendment.

Debate on a bill is generally restricted to one hour, equally divided between the majority and minority parties. Each side is led during the debate by a ""floor manager"", who allocates debate time to members who wish to speak.

On contentious matters, many members may wish to speak; thus, a member may receive as little as one minute, or even thirty seconds, to make his/her point. [49]When debate concludes, the motion in question is put to a vote. In many cases, the House votes by voice vote; the presiding officer puts the question, and members respond either ""yea"" or ""aye"" (in favor of the motion) or ""nay"" or ""no"" (against the motion).

The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote. A member may however challenge the presiding officer's assessment and ""request the yeas and nays"" or ""request a recorded vote"".

The request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth of the members present. In practice, however, members of congress second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy.

Some votes are always recorded, such as those on the annual budget. [50]A recorded vote may be taken in one of three different ways. One is electronically. Members use a personal identification card to record their votes at 46 voting stations in the chamber. Votes are usually held in this way. A second mode of recorded vote is by teller. Members hand in colored cards to indicate their votes: green for ""yea"", red for ""nay"", and orange for ""present"" (i.e., to abstain).

Teller votes are normally held only when electronic voting breaks down. Finally, the House may conduct a roll call vote.

The Clerk reads the list of members of the House, each of whom announces their vote when their name is called. This procedure is only used rarely (such as for the election of a Speaker) because of the time consumed by calling over four hundred names.

[50]Voting traditionally lasts for, at most, fifteen minutes, but it may be extended if the leadership needs to ""whip"" more members into alignment. [50] The 2003 vote on the prescription drug benefit was open for three hours, from 3:00 to 6:00 a.m., to receive four additional votes, three of which were necessary to pass the legislation.

[51] The 2005 vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement was open for one hour, from 11:00 p.m. to midnight. [52] An October 2005 vote on facilitating refinery construction was kept open for forty minutes. [53]Presiding officers may vote like other members.

They may not, however, vote twice in the event of a tie; rather, a tie vote defeats the motion. [54]Committees [ edit]Further information: United States congressional committee and List of current United States House of Representatives committees The House uses committees and their subcommittees for a variety of purposes, including the review of bills and the oversight of the executive branch.

The appointment of committee members is formally made by the whole House, but the choice of members is actually made by the political parties.

Generally, each party honors the preferences of individual members, giving priority on the basis of seniority. Historically, membership on committees has been in rough proportion to the party's strength in the House as a whole, with two exceptions: on the Rules Committee, the majority party fills nine of the thirteen seats; [55] and on the Ethics Committee, each party has an equal number of seats.

[56] However, when party control in the House is closely divided, extra seats on committees are sometimes allocated to the majority party. In the 109th Congress, for example, the Republicans controlled about 53% of the House as a whole, but had 54% of the Appropriations Committee members, 55% of the members on the Energy and Commerce Committee, 58% of the members on the Judiciary Committee, and 69% of the members on the Rules Committee.

The largest committee of the House is the Committee of the Whole, which, as its name suggests, consists of all members of the House. The Committee meets in the House chamber; it may consider and amend bills, but may not grant them final passage. Generally, the debate procedures of the Committee of the Whole are more flexible than those of the House itself.

One advantage of the Committee of the Whole is its ability to include otherwise non-voting members of Congress. Most committee work is performed by twenty standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a specific set of issues, such as Agriculture or Foreign Affairs. Each standing committee considers, amends, and reports bills that fall under its jurisdiction. Committees have extensive powers with regard to bills; they may block legislation from reaching the floor of the House.

Standing committees also oversee the departments and agencies of the executive branch. In discharging their duties, standing committees have the power to hold hearings and to subpoena witnesses and evidence. The House also has one permanent committee that is not a standing committee, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and from time to time may establish committees that are temporary and advisory in nature, such as the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

This latter committee, created in the 110th Congress and reauthorized for the 111th, has no jurisdiction over legislation and must be chartered anew at the start of every Congress.

The House also appoints members to serve on joint committees, which include members of the Senate and House. Some joint committees oversee independent government bodies; for instance, the Joint Committee on the Library oversees the Library of Congress. Other joint committees serve to make advisory reports; for example, there exists a Joint Committee on Taxation.

Bills and nominees are not referred to joint committees. Hence, the power of joint committees is considerably lower than those of standing committees.

Each House committee and subcommittee is led by a chairman (always a member of the majority party). From 1910 to the 1970s, committee chairs were powerful. Woodrow Wilson in his classic study, [57] suggested: Power is nowhere concentrated; it is rather deliberately and of set policy scattered amongst many small chiefs.

It is divided up, as it were, into forty-seven seigniories, in each of which a Standing Committee is the court-baron and its chairman lord-proprietor.

These petty barons, some of them not a little powerful, but none of them within the reach of the full powers of rule, may at will exercise almost despotic sway within their own shires, and may sometimes threaten to convulse even the realm itself. From 1910 to 1975 committee and subcommittee chairmanship was determined purely by seniority; congressmembers sometimes had to wait 30 years to get one, but their chairship was independent of party leadership.

The rules were changed in 1975 to permit party caucuses to elect chairmen, shifting power upward to the party leaders. In 1995, Republicans under Newt Gingrich set a limit of three two-year terms for committee chairs.

The chairman's powers are extensive; he controls the committee/subcommittee agenda, and may prevent the committee from dealing with a bill. The senior member of the minority party is known as the Ranking Member. In some committees like Appropriations, partisan disputes are few. Legislative functions [ edit]Most bills may be introduced in either House of Congress. However, the Constitution states, ""All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives"".

As a result of the Origination Clause, the Senate cannot initiate bills imposing taxes. This provision barring the Senate from introducing revenue bills is based on the practice of the British Parliament, in which only the House of Commons may originate such measures.

Furthermore, congressional tradition holds that the House of Representatives originates appropriation bills. Although it cannot originate revenue bills, the Senate retains the power to amend or reject them. Woodrow Wilson wrote the following about appropriations bills: [58] [T]he constitutional prerogative of the House has been held to apply to all the general appropriations bills, and the Senate's right to amend these has been allowed the widest possible scope.

The upper house may add to them what it pleases; may go altogether outside of their original provisions and tack to them entirely new features of legislation, altering not only the amounts but even the objects of expenditure, and making out of the materials sent them by the popular chamber measures of an almost totally new character.

The approval of the Senate and the House of Representatives is required for a bill to become law. Both Houses must pass the same version of the bill; if there are differences, they may be resolved by a conference committee, which includes members of both bodies. For the stages through which bills pass in the Senate, see Act of Congress. The President may veto a bill passed by the House and Senate.

If he does, the bill does not become law unless each House, by a two-thirds vote, votes to override the veto. Checks and balances [ edit]The Constitution provides that the Senate's "" advice and consent "" is necessary for the President to make appointments and to ratify treaties. Thus, with its potential to frustrate Presidential appointments, the Senate is more powerful than the House.

The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal officials for "" Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors "" and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments. The House may approve ""articles of impeachment"" by a simple majority vote; however, a two-thirds vote is required for conviction in the Senate. A convicted official is automatically removed from office and may be disqualified from holding future office under the United States.

No further punishment is permitted during the impeachment proceedings; however, the party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of law. In the history of the United States, the House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted. (Another, Richard Nixon, resigned after the House Judiciary Committee passed articles of impeachment but before a formal impeachment vote by the full House.)

Only two Presidents of the United States have ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House has the power to elect the President if no presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College. The Twelfth Amendment requires the House to choose from the three candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. The Constitution provides that ""the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote.""

It is rare for no presidential candidate to receive a majority of electoral votes. In the history of the United States, the House has only had to choose a President twice. In 1800, which was before the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment, it elected Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr.

In 1824, it elected John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson and William H. Crawford. (If no vice-presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the Senate elects the Vice President from the two candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes.

)Latest election results and current party standings [ edit]See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2016 and 115th United States Congress Current standing [ edit]Affiliation Members Delegates/resident commissioner (non-voting)State majorities Republican Party 237 2 32Democratic Party 192 3 12Independent 0 1 0Vacant 6 0Total 435 6End of previous Congress [ edit]Affiliation Members Delegates/resident commissioner (non-voting)State majorities Republican Party 246 0Democratic Party 187 5Independent 0 1 [59] 0Vacant 2 0Total 435 6See also [ edit]Government of the United States portal House Trade Working Group United States Presidents and control of Congress U. S. representative bibliography (congressional memoirs)Third-party members of the United States House of Representatives Women in the United States House of Representatives At-large References [ edit]^ See Public Law 62-5 of 1911, though Congress has the authority to change that number.

The Reapportionment Act of 1929 capped the size of the House at 435.^ United States House of Representatives, Ballotpedia. Accessed November 23, 2016. ""There are seven states with only one representative: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming .

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Accessed February 19, 2017. ""While some believed the Articles should be 'corrected and enlarged as to accomplish the objects proposed by their institution,' the Virginia Plan called for completely replacing it with a strong central government based on popular consent and proportional representation....

The Virginia Plan received support from states with large populations such as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and South Carolina.

A number of smaller states, however, proposed the 'New Jersey Plan,' drafted by William Paterson, which retained the essential features of the original Articles: a unicameral legislature where all states had equal representation, the appointment of a plural executive, and a supreme court of limited jurisdiction.... The committee’s report, dubbed the Great Compromise, ironed out many contentious points. It resolved the delegates’ sharpest disagreement by prescribing a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House and equal state representation in the Senate.

After two more months of intense debates and revisions, the delegates produced the document we now know as the Constitution, which expanded the power of the central government while protecting the prerogatives of the states.

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Price, David E. (1992). The Congressional Experience: A View from the Hill. Westview., Political scientist who served in House. Remini, Robert V. (1992). Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union.. Speaker for most of 1811–1825Rohde, David W. (1991). Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House. Univ. of Chicago Press. Rohde, David W.; Shepsle, Kenneth A. (1987). ""Leaders and Followers in the House of Representatives: Reflections on Woodrow Wilson's Congressional Government"".

Congress & the Presidency. 14. Schickler, Eric (2001). Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U. S. Congress. Schooley, C. Herschel (1977). Missouri's Cannon in the House. Marceline, Missouri: Walsworth., Chaired Appropriations in the 1960s Shelley II, Mack C. (1983). The Permanent Majority: The Conservative Coalition in the United States Congress. Sinclair, Barbara (1982). Congressional Realignment, 1925–1978. Univ. of Texas Press. Sinclair, Barbara (1995). Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking: The U. S. House of Representatives in the Postreform Era. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. Steinberg, Alfred (1975). Sam Rayburn: A Biography. Hawthorn., popular biography Stewart, Charles H., III (1989). Budget Reform Politics: The Design of the Appropriations Process in the House of Representatives, 1865–1921. Cambridge Univ. Press. Story, Joseph (1891). Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (2 vol.). Boston: Brown & Little. Strahan, Randall; Moscardelli, Vincent G. (2000). ""The Clay Speakership Revisited"". Polity. 32 (4): 561–593. doi: 10.2307/3235293., uses roll call analysis Strahan, Randall (1990). New Ways and Means: Reform and Change in a Congressional Committee. Univ. of North Carolina Press. Trefousse, Hans L. (1997). Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian., majority leader in the 1860s Van Beek, Stephen D. (1995). Post-Passage Politics: Bicameral Resolution in Congress. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press. Waller, Robert A. (1977). Rainey of Illinois: A Political Biography, 1903–34. Univ. of Illinois Press., Democratic Speaker 1932–1934Wilson, Woodrow (1885). Congressional Government. New York: Houghton Mifflin.,Zelizer, Julian E. (2006). On Capitol Hill : The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948–2000. External links [ edit]Listen to this article ( info/dl )This audio file was created from a revision of the article "" United States House of Representatives "" dated August 4, 2006, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ( Audio help)More spoken articles Official website Clerk of the House of Representatives Chief Administrative Office of the House Office of the Majority Leader Office of the Speaker of the House Kids in the House Educational site Official list of current members Rules of the House Legislative information and archives for US House and Senate, via Congress.gov Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825Complete Downloadable List of U. S. Representative Contact Information, via Agg Data LLC [ show]v t e United States Congress [ show]v t e Legislatures of the United States [ show]v t e United States articles [ show]v t e Lower houses of national legislatures Authority control World Cat Identities LCCN: n79107874 GND: 35623-2Coordinates: 38°53′20″N 77°0′32″WCategories: United States House of Representatives National lower houses "

e Confidence votes 6The difference between a floor leader and a whip is the floor leader is the majority leader or minority leader in either the Senate or the House of Representatives. Where as the whip is The party official who rounds up party votes3

What is the difference between a floor leader and a whip?

"Answers.com ® Wiki Answers ® Categories History, Politics & Society History History of the United States What is the difference between a floor leader and a whip? Flag What is the difference between a floor leader and a whip? Answer by Britnyann

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. The gunman, James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old unemployed home inspector from southern Illinois, died after the shootout. Two Capitol Police officers assigned to Scalise’s security detail were wounded.

Lawmaker Steve Scalise is critically injured in GOP baseball shooting; gunman James T. Hodgkinson is killed by police

A man angry with President Trump unleashed a barrage of gunfire Wednesday morning at Republican members of Congress as they held a baseball practice at a park in Alexandria, wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others in a frenzied scene that included a long gun battle with police

Hodgkinson, who had been living in his van in Alexandria for the past few months, had posted anti-Trump rhetoric on his Facebook page and had written letters to his hometown newspaper blaming Republicans for what he considered an agenda favoring the wealthy. The shooting, coming amid harsh political rancor and a divided country, reverberated through Washington and beyond, as Trump and members of Congress began talking about unity for the first time since the presidential election.

The targeted lawmakers were practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game, a charity competition against a team of Democrats.

The game will be played on Thursday night at Nationals Park as planned.0:00Copy The scene after a gunman fired on a GOP congressional baseball team practice in Alexandria View Photos The gunman, who was identified by law enforcement as James T. Hodgkinson, pictured, unleashed a barrage of gunfire at a park in Alexandria, Va. Several congressmen at the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria praised the officers who engaged Hodgkinson, including two Capitol Police officers who were injured.

One lawmaker said the baseball team members would have been sitting ducks had the gunman been able to make it onto the field.“It would have been a bloodbath,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.).

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), a former Marine Corps general, said, the shooter was kept off the field by a chain-link fence, which was locked. “If he had been able to gain entrance to the field, it would have been a whole different story.”As of Wednesday evening, Scalise (La.)

remained in critical condition after undergoing surgery at Med Star Washington Hospital Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. A lobbyist, a congressional aide and a Capitol Police officer also were shot, while a second officer was struck by shrapnel. Rep. Roger Williams (R-Tex.) injured his ankle while helping others take cover. [ Gunman repeatedly criticized Republican lawmakers for favoring ‘super rich’]In a televised statement from the White House, Trump called for people to come together and commended the injured officers.“Many lives would have been lost if not for the heroic actions of the two Capitol Police officers who took down the gunman despite sustaining gunshot wounds during a very, very brutal assault,” he said.

What happened at the GOP baseball shooting, in maps and photos View Graphic Trump said he spoke with Scalise’s wife and offered his full support to the congressman’s family, calling Scalise a friend, patriot and fighter.

He also thanked the first responders.“We may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, they love our country,” Trump said.

Lawmakers and bystanders described a horrific attack that began shortly after 7 a.m., when the shooter began firing more than 50 rounds from a military-style rifle and a handgun, taking aim through the chain-link fence.

Scalise was felled by a bullet to the hip as he fielded grounders at second base, witnesses said. Then the aide and the lobbyist were struck as the gunman moved methodically around the fence and toward the home-plate backstop. As Scalise crawled across the field, leaving a trail of blood, the gunman advanced toward a dugout, where several people were hiding. Congressmen said the Capitol Police officers emerged from the dugout, moving toward the gunfire. A woman walking her dog said she heard a female officer scream, “Drop your weapon,” before the gunman “shot her and she fell to the ground.” House Majority Leader Kevin Mc Carthy (R-Calif.) said the officers “went out into the fire to draw the fire.

The shooter was moving toward the dugout where the members were, and they were able to take him down.”Authorities said five people were taken to hospitals, including Hodgkinson. Matt Mika, a lobbyist for Tyson Foods, was in critical condition at George Washington University Hospital, a spokeswoman said.

Zach Barth, a legislative correspondent for Williams, was shot in the leg and released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon. The House speaker’s office identified the injured Capitol Police officers as Special Agents David Bailey, who was treated and released from a hospital, and Crystal Griner, who was struck in the ankle and hospitalized in good condition.

Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa said both are expected to recover fully. Police identified a third officer who participated as Special Agent Henry Cabrera. They did not say which officers fired their weapons. Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown said two city officers who arrived at the scene opened fire, joining Capitol Police officers who already were in a gun battle with Hodgkinson.

Scalise’s office said in a statement that the congressman was in good spirits and speaking to his wife, Jennifer, by phone before he went in for surgery. Wednesday night, the hospital said Scalise was shot in the left hip and that the bullet fractured bones and struck internal organs.

They said Scalise had lost a lot of blood and would need additional surgeries. He has been in Congress since 2008 and represents a district that includes some New Orleans suburbs and bayou parishes.

He and his wife have two children. [ Rep. Steve Scalise and the long, awful history of gunned-down lawmakers]Verderosa said it “will take a while to sort through all the details” during the investigation, which is now being led by the FBI. Tim Slater, the special agent in charge, said it is “too early to tell whether anyone was targeted.

. . . It’s really raw now.”But focus immediately turned to political statements Hodgkinson had made on social media, interactions he had had with lawmakers, and run-ins he had had with law enforcement officials near his home in Belleville, Ill., a suburb of St. Louis.

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S. C.) told reporters that, just before the shooting, he spoke briefly with a man he believes was Hodgkinson and that the man “asked me if the team practicing was a Democrat or Republican team.” Duncan added, “I told him they were Republicans. He said, ‘Okay, thanks,’ and turned around.“I’m shaken up. My colleagues were targeted today.”Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Hodgkinson volunteered on his 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, although an aide said that he had no formal role and that no one could remember him.

Sanders denounced the shooting, saying on the Senate floor that he was “sickened by this despicable act.”Hodgkinson had sent letters to his local newspaper in Illinois decrying income inequality, encouraging the government to tax the rich and supporting President Barack Obama, according to the Belleville News-Democrat. “A strong middle class is what a country needs to prosper,” he wrote in one of his letters to the editor.

“The only thing that has trickled down in the last 30 years came from Mitt Romney’s dog.”Police in Belleville reported responding in March to a complaint that Hodgkinson was shooting at the end of his street, firing 50 rounds “in the pine trees.” Police said that he had a valid license for the weapon, and that he agreed to stop when they told him to.

Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), who represents the district where Hodgkinson lived, said that Hodgkinson had contacted his office 14 times via email or by telephone and that although he never made threats, “he was always angry.”Stephen Brennwald, a lawyer who lives in Alexandria, said he realized after seeing Hodgkinson’s photo on the news that he was the same man who had been hanging out for at least the past several weeks in the lobby of a YMCA adjacent to Simpson field.

Brennwald said Hodgkinson would regularly show up first thing in the morning — about the same time the shooting took place — and look at his laptop or stare out the window.“He never worked out. He never talked to anybody. He never did anything,” Brennwald said. Authorities said Hodgkinson used a rifle and a handgun in the attack.

They are investigating whether they were obtained legally. The shooting started at 7:09 a.m. at the popular park on East Monroe Avenue in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, near Old Town Alexandria and the Potomac Yard shopping complex on Route 1. The Republican lawmakers were holding their final practice before Thursday night’s game, a traditional event designed to bolster goodwill between two sides of the partisan aisle.

Scalise, who plays second base, was accompanied by members of the Capitol Police’s executive protection unit because as majority whip, he is the third-highest-ranking member of the House. His security detail was positioned behind the first base dugout; witnesses said the shooter started on the other side of the diamond. About 20 people were on the field at the time, many catching fly balls from batting practice, and when the gunfire started, players and onlookers took cover in dugouts, under a sport-utility vehicle or in the open on the ground.

Barton, the team manager, said the gunman, dressed in blue jeans and a blue shirt, shot at Scalise at second base and fired toward the third baseman, Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.).

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) saw the shooter and described the scene as “bedlam.” Brooks had just stepped up to home plate with a bat in his hand when he heard the first two or three shots. He heard Scalise scream and then go down. Brooks said he ran behind the batting cage and watched Scalise drag himself toward the outfield.

Brooks lay down in the dirt with two or three others, but then realized that if the shooter moved, “he’d have a clear shot.” So he ran to the first base dugout. There, he found Barth, who had been shot in the leg. Brooks said he used his belt as a tourniquet.

He said two officers emerged from the dugout and advanced toward the oncoming bullets. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), still wearing a red and white baseball shirt with “Republicans” on it, said he recalled seeing the rifle and then hearing shots.

He said the gunman was firing “at anybody he could hit. I don’t know if anybody was targeted, but I just remember seeing some of the gravel bounce up as gunfire hit.”Katie Fillus of Alexandria had just gotten out of her car to walk her dogs in the park when she said she heard “very, very loud popping sounds.” She said, “Everybody started screaming, ‘Hit the ground! Hit the ground!’ ”Fillus said she lay flat in the field as the gunshots grew louder — “like he was walking across the field toward all of us.”She said she watched an officer yell at the gunman and then get shot.“She fell on the ground in front of us,” Fillus said.

“And I belly crawled, dragging through the mud. I got to the car and I ducked under the car.”Bullet holes were left in windows of the YMCA, and bullets were in the swimming pool.

On Wednesday evening, about 100 people gathered at a church in Del Ray for a community prayer service. Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, visited the hospital where Scalise and Griner were being treated.

Aides carried in flowers. [ The Congressional Baseball Game has been ‘a great bipartisan tradition’ for 100 years]Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and Barton — managers of the respective teams — said they will still take to the field Thursday night.“We’re united not as Republicans and Democrats but as United States representatives,” Barton said. “It will be ‘play ball’ tomorrow night, 7:05.”This story has been updated to reflect that Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) is a former Marine Corps general.

.”Majority Whip: In effect, the assistant majority leader, in either the House or Senate. The Majority Whip’s job is to help marshal majority forces in support of party strategies and legislation. The party caucus elects the whip. Minority Whip: Performs duties of whip for the minority party. Members of the minority party elect the Minority Whip.

Whip, Majority Whip, Minority Whip (CongressionalGlossary.com)

Whip, Majority Whip, Minority Whip (Congressional Glossary.com)From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Whip, Majority Whip, Minority Whip Whipping Cream, by RLHyde In addition to the majority and minority party leaders, each party elects assistant leaders, or “Whips.” Assistants to the floor leaders who are also elected by their party conferences. The majority and minority whips (and their assistants) are responsible for mobilizing votes within their parties on major issues.

In the absence of a party floor leader, the whip often serves as acting floor leader. The Whips assist the leadership in managing the party’s legislative program on the floor of the House and provides information to party members about important legislative-related matters. The Whips keep track of all politically important legislation and ensure that all members of their parties are present when important measures are to be voted upon.

When a vote appears to be close, the Whips contact absent members of their party and advise them of the vote. Due to the larger number of members in the House of Representatives, House Whips appoint “deputy whips” to assist them in their activities.

In addition, the House Democrats elect a number of “zone whips,” chosen by Democrats from particular regions of the country to assist in the informational activities of party leadership. Colloquially, “whipping” is called “herding cats

More Congressional Leadership at Congress Leaders.com House Democratic Whip House Republican Whip House Democratic Whips, 1901 to present – Clerk of the House House Republican Whips, 1897-present – Clerk of the House“ Senate Leadership Structure: Overview of Party Organization ,” CRS Report RS20933“ Party Leaders in the House: Election, Duties, and Responsibilities ,” CRS Report RS20881“ Guide to Individuals Seated on the House ,” CRS Report 98-396§ 5.61, The Parties’ Whip Structures, Congressional Deskbook Congressional Whip Count Database – Prof. C. Lawrence Evans, College of William and Mary Whip (politics) – Wikipedia Courses Congressional Operations Briefing – Capitol Hill Workshop Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process Drafting Federal Legislation and Amendments Understanding Congressional Budgeting and Appropriations Advanced Legislative Procedure Publications Legislative Drafter’s Deskbook: A Practical Guide Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials: Citizen Advocacy in State Legislatures and Congress: A Guide for Citizen Lobbyists and Grassroots Advocates Testifying Before Congress The Federal Budget Process: A description of the federal and congressional budget processes, including timelines Congressional Glossary.com, from The Capitol.

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