Earth Humans House of Representatives
Earth Humans House of Representatives | |
|---|---|
| Earth Humans Acting Congress | |
| Type | |
| Type | Lower House of the United States of Earth Humans Congress |
Term limits | None |
| History | |
| Founded | January 6, 2019 |
New session started | January 21, 2019 |
| Leadership | |
Speaker | Teri Fisher (I) since January 17, 2019 |
Majority Leader | Lois Lacey (I) since January 17, 2019 |
Major-Minority Leader | Elizabeth Friar (L) since January 17, 2019 |
Minor-Minority Leader | Terrance Puckett (C) since January 17, 2019 |
Majority Whip | Kevin Ortega (I) since January 17, 2019 |
Major-Minority Whip | Eleanor Nelson (L) since January 17, 2019 |
Minor-Minority Whip | Joseph Brill (C) since January 17, 2019 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 135 voting members 14 non-voting members 68 for a majority 90 for a 2/3 majority |
 | |
Political groups | Majority (85)
Major-Minority (41) Minor-Minority (9) |
Length of term | 1 year (Acting Congress) 6 years (after Acting Congress) |
| Elections | |
| Plurality (method) First-past-the-post (system) | |
Last election | January 17, 2019 |
Next election | November 7, 2019 (135) |
| Constitution | |
| United States of Earth Humans Constitution | |
The Earth Humans House of Representatives, previously known as the Council, is the lower chamber of the Earth Humans Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they comprise the legislature of the Earth Humans. Members of the House are called Representatives.
The composition of the House is established by Article I, Section 2 of the Earth Humans Constitution. The House is composed of Representatives who sit in congressional districts that are allocated to each of the 12 states on a basis of population as measured by the Census, with each district entitled to one representative. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 135, however, one of the tasks of the Acting Congress is to create more congressional districts and admit new states into the Nation to increase the number of Representatives in the House. In February 2019, it was decided that after all the territories are granted statehood, the number of seats in the House will increase to 375 Representatives.
The House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are then 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 and the impeachment of federal officers, who are sent to trial before the Assembly.
The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by member thereof and is therefore traditionally the leader of the controlling party. The Speaker and other floor leaders are chosen by the Liberal Caucus, the Independent Caucus, or the Conservative Conference, depending on whichever party has more voting members. The House meets in the east wing of the Earth Humans Capitol.
History
Originally the lower house was named the "Council" but on January 28, 2019, a bill was passed in Congress that would allow the government to let Congress rename the two houses. On February 8, 2019, the Assembly was renamed to "Senate" and the Council of Representatives was renamed to "House of Representatives."
Membership
There are currently 135 seats in the House. Sometime during the second session of Congress, the House will redraw the districts for the states, they will also include districts for territories in the event of Congress granting statehood to any of the territories.
Qualifications
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 they represent. Members are not required to live in the districts they represent, but they traditionally do. The age and citizenship qualifications for representatives are less than those for senators.
Elections
Elections for representatives are held in every odd-numbered year, on Election Day the first Thursday after the first Wednesday in November. By law, Representatives must be elected from single-member districts. After a census is taken (in a year ending in 9), the year ending in 1 is the first year in which elections for E.H. House districts are based on that census (with Congress based on those districts starting its term on the following Jan. 3).
In all the states, major party candidates for each district are nominated in primary elections, typically held in the spring.
Terms
Representatives serve for two-year terms. A term starts on January 3 following the election in November. The E.H. Constitution requires that vacancies in the Council be filled with a special election. The term of the replacement member expires on the date that the original member"s would have expired.
The Constitution permits the Council to expel a member with a two-thirds vote. No representative presently has been removed.
The Council also has the power to formally reprimand its members; reprimand of a members request only a simple majority and does not remove that member from office.
Procedure
Daily Sessions
The House meets on weekdays and does not typically meet on weekends unless otherwise specified. The Representatives can submit bills to the floor, debate them, and vote on them. After a bill has been voted through it must then be sent to the Senate for a vote. If the bill is passed in the Senate it is then sent to the President for their signature. The president may veto the bill, then send it back to the House with footnotes on how to rewrite the bill to attain the signature. If the bill is vetoed by the president, the revised version must be voted on by both houses of Congress.
Passage of legislation
Representatives may submit bills to the floor, the top officials in the House will then decide on a day to debate the bill, after the debate concludes the bill in question is put to a vote. In order for a bill to pass, sixty-eight Representatives must vote "yes." If a bill receives sixty-eight "no's," then the bill is rejected and goes into limbo until a new Congress convenes, only then may the bill be resubmitted.
If in the Senate a bill does not reach the majority of votes it still will be sent to the Council, which a 2/3 majority is needed in order to override the Senate and send the bill to the President. The president is allowed to veto the bill without being required to send it back to Congress for revision because of the Council's ability to override the Senate. This is an example of the checks and balances of the government. The presidential vetoed bill (that was overridden by the House) will be in the "Bill Que" until the Senate can reach a majority vote.