Talk:United States House of Representatives

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Semi-protected edit request on 4 October 2022

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On the bottom, there is a spot on the page where party representation in the House is shown. This spot says there are only 2 vacancies, but there are 3 vacancies now, with the resignation of Representative Ted Deutch of Florida. 206.246.7.180 (talk) 13:30, 4 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. — Paper9oll (🔔 • 📝) 13:09, 8 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 3 November 2022

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The grate compromise is known amongst kids as the big daddy changing machine 162.201.166.18 (talk) 23:12, 3 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. MadGuy7023 (talk) 23:21, 3 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 10 November 2022

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"Seven states have only one representative: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming." This is false as of 10/11/2022. Montana now has 2 representatives. This line should be changed to: "Six states have only one representative: Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming." 192.222.131.25 (talk) 18:42, 10 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Not done:The second representative in Montana won’t be seated until January, so the statement is correct as-is for now. —Eyer (he/him) If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message. 19:39, 10 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 3 January 2023

As of the 3rd of January 2023, the 118th Congress has begun, and Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives. Therefore, the color and maps detailing the composition of the House should be changed. AnthonyNVLe (talk) 17:16, 3 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The 20th Amendment makes clear that the terms of the Representatives and Senators begin at noon on January 3. 2600:4040:2540:A100:3481:A236:8B5D:75D9 (talk) 22:58, 3 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Reverted, but see: https://twitter.com/MattGlassman312/status/1610411842131857411 Etsaloto (talk) 23:15, 3 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

INCORRECT - Its not vacant!!

According to the U.S. Constitution, the members take office at noon Jan 3rd. Regardless of whether a SPEAKER is chosen. If you don't believe me, simply check the U.S. GOVERNMENT WEBSITE that shows thus (house.gov). Jpleden (talk) 23:07, 3 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Reverted, but see: https://twitter.com/MattGlassman312/status/1610411842131857411 Etsaloto (talk) 23:15, 3 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Matt Glassman tweet doesn't override the plain text of the 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution. House.gov official directory has also been updated. 2600:4040:2540:A100:3481:A236:8B5D:75D9 (talk) 02:04, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Currently it says they have yet to be sworn in - I believe that should suffice with the 118th composition. The 118th Congress has not been sworn in and cannot legislate but it has sat and the 117th Congress is no more. Kind of a no mans land but having the disclaimer is the best option. Cliffmore (talk) 03:12, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

RfC on the Start of the terms for Members of the House in 118th Congress

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Did the new members of the US House during the 118th congress actually take office on January 3, 2023? There are many people on Wikipedia who say that the 20th Amendment guarantees that members take office on noon January 3, 2023. However, many prominent legal scholars and news sources (sourced below) say otherwise. The point of this RfC is to put the correct date as agreed to by members of the Wiki community. Bbraxtonlee (talk) 03:33, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Survey

IMO the Representatives have not formally taken office yet. In fact, the new first-time Representatives have not even been sworn in yet. From what I read, they can't be sworn in until there is a Speaker. But IMO this is too trivial a nit to pick, especially for an article which is about the 200-plus-year old institution of Congress, not the situation of the moment. -- MelanieN (talk) 03:41, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The 118th US Congress convened at Noon EST, 3 January 2023. Oath or no oath, the terms of the members of the House & the Senate (who were elected or re-elected in Nov 2022), began. Otherwise, who were those people, voting for the Speaker? GoodDay (talk) 03:48, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

@Reppop and GoodDay: I see yall a lot on the same pages I do, so maybe if yall had thoughts on this I would appreciate lol. Bbraxtonlee (talk) 03:42, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It would likely be resisted, if any editor went around the bios of the newly elected House members & reverted their assumption of seats or went to the re-elected House members & edit them as though they were no longer House members. GoodDay (talk) 03:51, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@GoodDay: yeh thats why I did an RfC because while there is resistance, in the end virtually all members of the Wiki community will follow an RfC even if they hate it. But I get what you are saying. Bbraxtonlee (talk) 03:55, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Ask yourself this. Who were the people voting for the Speaker? If we say that since Noon Est (Jan 3, 2023), there's been no members of the House? Then nobody can be elected Speaker, because there's nobody to vote for Speaker. GoodDay (talk) 03:58, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@GoodDay: That's what I thought about at first, but you really can't use that as an excuse due to the fact that the actual House website says "Representatives-elect". The Rep-elects vote for speaker, which is a confusing concept to think about and makes it so much more complicated & beyond just the 20th Amendement. Bbraxtonlee (talk) 04:04, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Even if it takes them a few days to get this worked out and a Speaker elected, I think their terms can all reasonably be said to have begun on January 3. As I said above, this is a technical and possibly disputable detail, and the actual date can be passed over or assumed, without the need for discussion and formal, legal resolution. -- MelanieN (talk) 04:05, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Sources

Against January 3, 2023:

For January 3, 2023:

The plain text of the amendment states that terms end on January the 3rd, but not that new terms begin at the same time. It seems fair to consider all house members Representatives-elect until sworn in. Yilmaz1001 (talk) 06:45, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]