document_title: Into the Woods (film)

question_text: who plays the baker in into the woods

question_tokens: who plays the baker in into the woods

text: Into the Woods (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: A baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) wish for a child but suffer under a curse laid upon the baker's family by a Witch (Meryl Streep) who found the baker's father robbing her garden when his mother was pregnant. Because the baker's father also stole some magic beans, the witch was punished with the curse of ugliness by her own mother.  The witch offers to lift the curse but only if the baker and his wife obtain four critical items for her to make a potion: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, a strand of hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. The witch later tells the baker that she asked him to do this task for her because she is not allowed to touch any of the objects.

text: The witch's demands eventually bring the baker and his wife into contact with Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), who is selling his beloved cow, Milky-White, and to whom the baker offers magic beans left him by his father (which were stolen from the witch) which grow into a large beanstalk; with Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), whose blood-red cape the couple noticed when she stopped by the bakery earlier to buy bread and sweets on her way to grandmother's house; with blonde-haired Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), whose tower the baker's wife passes in the woods; and with Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), who also runs into the baker's wife while fleeing from the pursuing prince (Chris Pine) and whose ball outfit includes gold slippers.

text: After a series of failed attempts and misadventures, the baker and his wife are finally able to gather the items necessary to break the spell. Meanwhile, each of the other characters receives a "happy ending": Cinderella marries the prince; Rapunzel is freed from her guardian, the witch, by Cinderella's prince's brother and marries him; Jack provides for his mother by stealing riches from the Giant in the sky, and kills the pursuing giant by cutting down the beanstalk; Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother are saved from the Big Bad Wolf (Johnny Depp); and the witch regains her youth and beauty after drinking the potion.

text: However, each of the characters learns that his/her "happily ever after" is not very happy: the baker is worried that he is a poor father to his newborn baby; the baker's wife is temporarily seduced by the prince; Cinderella is disenchanted by her cheating prince; and the witch learns that she has lost her magic powers with her restored youth and beauty. The growth of a second beanstalk from the last remaining magic bean allows the giant's wife to climb down and threaten the kingdom and its inhabitants if they do not deliver Jack in retribution for killing her husband. The characters attempt to find Jack, but debate the morality of handing Jack over. In the process, Red Riding Hood's mother and grandmother, Jack's mother, and the baker's wife are killed. The characters blame each other for their individual actions that led to the tragedy, ultimately blaming the witch for growing the beans in the first place. She curses them for their inability to accept responsibility for their individual actions. Casting all her remaining beans away, the witch begs her mother to punish her again, hoping to regain her powers, and disappears into a large pit of boiling tar.

text: The remaining characters resolve to kill the threatening giant's wife though Cinderella and the baker try to explain to the distraught Red Riding Hood and Jack the complicated morality of retribution and revenge. The characters lure the giant's wife into stepping in the tar pit where she ultimately trips and falls to her death. With the giant's wife dead, the characters move forward with their ruined lives. The baker, thinking of his wife, is determined to be a good father. Cinderella decides to leave the prince and help the baker, and Jack and Red Riding Hood, now orphans, are living with the baker and Cinderella. The baker comforts his son after he begins to cry by telling the story of the film as the movie ends with the witch's moral, meaning that children can change due to the parent's actions and behaviors.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Meryl Streep as The Witch[8]
Emily Blunt as The Baker's Wife[9]
James Corden as The Baker[10]
Anna Kendrick as Cinderella[11]
Chris Pine as Cinderella's Prince[12]
Tracey Ullman as Jack's Mother[13]
Christine Baranski as Cinderella's Stepmother[14]
Johnny Depp as The Big Bad Wolf[15]
Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood[16]
Daniel Huttlestone as Jack[17]
MacKenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel[18]
Billy Magnussen as Rapunzel's Prince[19]
Tammy Blanchard as Florinda[8]
Lucy Punch as Lucinda[8]
Frances de la Tour as the Giant's Wife[20]
Richard Glover as the Steward[20]
Joanna Riding as Cinderella's Mother[20]
Annette Crosbie as Little Red Riding Hood's Grandmother[20]
Simon Russell Beale as the Baker's Father[20]
Tug as Milky-White[21]

text: Stage-to-screen changes[edit]

text: While it was initially reported that Disney had decided to make some major plot changes for the film version in order to make it more family friendly,[22] Stephen Sondheim revealed that this was not the case and that any changes in the film version had been approved by him and James Lapine.[23][24]

text: Thus the film does slightly differ from the stage production. The songs "I Guess This Is Goodbye",[25] "Maybe They're Magic",[26] "First Midnight" and "Second Midnight" interludes, "Ever After" (Act I finale of the original play),[25] "So Happy",[27] "Into the Woods" Reprise, "Agony" Reprise[25] and "No More" (performed by the baker) were cut from the film,[28] although both "Ever After" and "No More" are used as instrumentals in the film. Meanwhile, many of the songs in the film have slightly different lyrics than their stage counterparts due to the slight tweaking of story lines.

text: Other changes include a major reduction of the significant role of the "mysterious man", who manipulates much of the action in the first act and is eventually revealed to be the baker's father. Also, the character of the narrator is deleted, and the film is instead narrated by the baker.[29] The minor role of Cinderella's father was cut, and he is instead mentioned as deceased.  Due to the film's compressed story line, Rapunzel's pregnancy is eliminated, as is the subplot where the two princes have affairs with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.[29] In the film, the giant's wife attacks during the marriages of Cinderella and Rapunzel to their respective princes, no more than a few weeks after the events of act one; in the stage show, nearly a year passes between the first and second acts. Rapunzel's ultimate fate is also changed: rather than being killed by the giant, she refuses to cooperate with the witch and flees with her prince.[29]

text: Similarly, much of the violence and sexual content is slightly toned down from the original musical. For instance, the death of Jack's mother is less violent in the film. On stage, the steward clubs her to death with his staff; in the film, he simply shoves her to the ground and she hits her head on a log. The death of the baker's wife is not explicitly shown in the film, and the cause of her death is changed from being crushed by a tree in the giant's wife's wake to accidentally backing off the edge of a cliff while fleeing from the wife of the giant.

text: Production[edit]

text: Early development[edit]

text: Early attempts of adapting Into the Woods to film occurred in the early 1990s, with a script written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. A reading was held with a cast that included Robin Williams as the Baker, Goldie Hawn as the Baker's Wife, Cher as the Witch, Danny DeVito as the Giant, Steve Martin as the Wolf, and Roseanne Barr as Jack's Mother.[30] By 1991, Columbia Pictures and Jim Henson Productions were also developing a film adaptation with Craig Zadan as producer and Rob Minkoff as director.[31][32] In 1997, Columbia put the film into turnaround, with Minkoff still attached as director, and Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, and Susan Sarandon reportedly in talks to star.[33] After the report by Variety, a film adaptation of Into the Woods remained inactive for 15 years.

text: Development at Disney[edit]

text: After the critical and commercial success of Chicago in 2002, director Rob Marshall approached Stephen Sondheim as he was interested in adapting one of his musicals such as Follies and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, although Sondheim suggested Into the Woods instead.[34] Marshall concurred, but development of the project was then postponed while he focused on directing Memoirs of a Geisha and Nine. In 2011, Marshall's interest in the project was rekindled when he heard a speech by President Barack Obama on the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks to the families of the 9/11 victims, which seemed to evoke the same message as the musical's most important song, "No One Is Alone".[35] Marshall firmly believed that Into the Woods was “a fairy tale for the post-9/11 generation".[36] In January 2012, Marshall approached Walt Disney Pictures—for whom he had just directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides—and pitched the idea to the studio,[34] with Lapine writing the script and Sondheim "expected" to write new songs.[37] Academy Award-winner Dion Beebe, who previously collaborated with Marshall on Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Nine, served as cinematographer.[38] Sondheim confirmed that a new song had been written for the film.[39]

text: With Disney's backing, a three-day reading of the entire updated screenplay took place in New York in October 2012 under Marshall's direction, with Nina Arianda as the Baker's Wife, Victoria Clark as Cinderella's Mother/Granny/Giant, James Corden as the Baker, Donna Murphy as the Witch, Christine Baranski as Cinderella's Stepmother, Tammy Blanchard as Florinda, Ivan Hernandez as the Wolf, Megan Hilty as Lucinda, Cheyenne Jackson as Rapunzel's Prince, Allison Janney as Jack's Mother, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Michael McGrath as Steward/Mysterious Man, Laura Osnes as Rapunzel, Taylor Trensch as Jack, Casey Whyland as Little Red Riding Hood, and Patrick Wilson as Cinderella's Prince.[40] It was this reading which ultimately convinced Walt Disney Studios president Sean Bailey to green-light the film despite ongoing concerns about the dark nature of the original musical (which Disney executives had begun to understand since Marshall's original pitch).[34]  However, Disney (which self-finances all its films)[41] provided only a relatively small production budget of $50 million (relative to other feature-length fantasy films on its development slate), in turn forcing both cast and crew to accept pay cuts to work on the film.[34]

text: Reports subsequently surfaced in January 2013 that Meryl Streep had been cast to play the Witch.[42][43] Streep had instituted a personal "no witch" rule after she turned 40 and was offered three witch roles, but ultimately broke her own rule to do a Sondheim role again.[34] (As a young Yale University student, she had participated in the original production of Sondheim's The Frogs.) During the same month, it was reported that Janney had been confirmed to join the film as well.[44] Five months later, however, Tracey Ullman was cast as Jack's Mother instead.[13]

text: In April 2013, Johnny Depp was in final negotiations, along with Streep, to join the film.[9][15] The Hollywood Reporter reported that to help make the film on such a tight budget, Depp agreed as a favor to Disney and to Marshall (whom he had just worked with in On Stranger Tides) to a "boarding" arrangement, in which he would appear in a minor role for a fee of $1 million, instead of his typical fee of $20 million for a starring role.[45]  In May, James Corden, who took part in the reading of the screenplay, was in talks to play the role of the Baker.[46] On May 10, 2013, Disney confirmed the casting of Streep, Depp, and Corden as the Witch, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Baker, respectively.[10] That same month, Emily Blunt and Christine Baranski were cast, respectively, as the Baker's Wife and Cinderella's Stepmother.[14][47][48] Marshall later confirmed that Blunt was selected for her "warm[th]" and likeability to ensure the emotional impact of the sudden death of the Baker's Wife: "[T]hat’s very important for that character because it’s the heart of the piece and you really have to love her so when she’s gone it should feel like a kick in the gut."[35] After she was cast, Blunt discovered she was pregnant and her costume and choreography had to be adjusted accordingly.[34][49] However, her "overweight" appearance during production actually fit in with the role of the Baker's Wife;[34] as she explained, "I feel like she would have eaten a lot of carbs working in the bakery."[49]

text: Also in May, Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Pine entered negotiations to play the Princes.[12] However, Gyllenhaal dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with another film, Nightcrawler, and was subsequently replaced by Billy Magnussen.[19][50] One month later, Anna Kendrick began talks to play Cinderella in the film.[11] In June 2013, Walt Disney Studios publicly announced that the film had been greenlighted, and scheduled a release date for Christmas Day 2014.[6][51]  In July, MacKenzie Mauzy, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch and Daniel Huttlestone joined the cast.[8][17][18] In early August, Sophia Grace Brownlee's representatives announced that she had been cast as Little Red Riding Hood.[52][53] The announcement of Brownlee's casting, which was widely reported but never confirmed by Disney, was criticized as "a stunt" and was met with concern due to her age and the sexual undertones present between Little Red and the Wolf.[54][55][56] Mauzy later revealed that she first auditioned for Cinderella but did not get the part. However, director Marshall saw her audition tape and brought her back in for Rapunzel, after recognizing "the 'vulnerability' and 'emotion' Mauzy could bring to Rapunzel after she read just one line", as he recalled.[57] The film's plot synopsis and the official casting of lead actors Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, and Emily Blunt were revealed at the D23 Expo on August 10, 2013.[58][59] On September 16, 2013, Lilla Crawford was confirmed as playing the character of Little Red Riding Hood, despite previous reports suggesting Brownlee.[16] Crawford auditioned for Marshall via Skype, who offered her the role within two hours; she was on a flight to London the next day.[34] Later on, Dominic Brownlee spoke about the withdrawal of his daughter Sophia Grace from the movie: "After careful consideration, we the parents of Sophia Grace, felt that as rehearsals progressed that she was too young for this part. It was a joint decision between us and the director and producer of Into the Woods to withdraw Sophia Grace from the film."[60] Apart from Crawford, the casting of Richard Glover, Frances de la Tour, Simon Russell Beale, Joanna Riding, and Annette Crosbie in other roles was also separately announced later on September 16.[20]

text: Filming[edit]

text: In July 2013, before filming began, Marshall put the cast through six weeks[34] of rehearsals on a soundstage and blocked their scenes.[2] In August, the cast members visited Angel Recording Studios to separately record their respective parts in the presence of Sondheim himself.[2] Over 90% of the vocal tracks in the final version of the film are from the recording studio sessions, while the rest were recorded on location or on the set.[2]  The advantage of blocking and rehearsing all scenes first was that the cast members could then precisely calibrate their voices in the recording studio to the planned appearance of each scene when later filmed, thereby minimizing the slightly disconcerting disconnection between vocals and choreography typical of music videos.[61]

text: Principal photography took place at London's Shepperton Studios in September 2013, with additional filming taking place at Dover Castle, Hambleden, Waverley Abbey,[62][63][64] and Richmond Park.[65][66] A forest of ancient pine trees in Windsor Great Park was used for many of the scenes in the woods.[67] Marshall struggled with how to stage the melodramatic duet "Agony" in the forest until discovering online that Windsor had an artificial waterfall at Virginia Water Lake, which turned out to be the perfect location for the song.[67] The production was shot digitally, using Arri Alexa cameras configured in a two-camera setup.[61] Footage was edited together in Avid Media Composer.[61] The exterior of Byfleet Manor in Surrey served as Cinderella's home.[68]

text:
The filmmakers spent a whole day shooting scenes which involved Rapunzel's hair being climbed upon.[57] Mauzy claimed that the filmmakers wanted to take advantage of her blonde hair, and that the top of Rapunzel's hair appeared in the film was her own real hair; make-up artists only braided it into the extension.[57] This hair extension was engineered by hair designer Peter King.[69] After testing loose, flowing hair which King found "uncontrollable", he decided to have twenty-seven wefts of real hair woven together into a 30-foot braid, a design which took inspiration from an Arthur Rackham illustration of Rapunzel.[69] In order to bring in enough real Russian hair strands needed for the extension, King and his team had to work with several distributors from Germany and England.[69] The hair-braiding process required three people, each holding a separate strand and weaving in and out.[69] King also dyed the wefts for them to match Mauzy's champagne blonde hair color, and blended together six different shades from ash and strawberry
to create realistic gradations and highlights.[69] Between scenes, Mauzy had to "wrap [the hair] around her arm like huge rolls of wool", as recalled by King.[69] A stuntman was employed to shoot hair-climbing scenes.[57] Thin rope and metal rings were the only additional tools concealed within the braid to hold the weight of a person climbing up.[69]

text: The film's final shot, which essentially merges into and links back to its first shot, actually transitions digitally between three shots: a Technocrane on location lifting as high as possible into the sky, an aerial drone flying down a valley in Wales, and a shot of an overcast sky in Manhattan, New York City.[70] Filming concluded on November 27, 2013.[71]

text: On July 14, 2014, Steve Baldwin posted on a social networking site that reshoots were made during the whole month of July.[72] The following month, however, Rob Marshall denied the film went through re-shoots.[73] Instead, they spent three days shooting new material that had been cut and re-added to the script after Disney screened the movie.[73] For his role as the Wolf, Depp worked closely with the film's costume designer Colleen Atwood to create a Tex Avery-inspired costume, complete with zoot suit and fedora.[74]

text: Music[edit]

text: As noted above, the majority of the songs were pre-recorded by the cast.[2] Music producer Mike Higham, who had previously worked with Sondheim on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, recorded the film's score with the London Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic.[21] Music supervisor and conductor Paul Gemignani instructed the actors on how to sing, including singing live to a camera on set, to prerecorded music in studio, and with a live studio orchestra. Jonathan Tunick orchestrated Sondheim's original music.[21] The key to the song, "Hello, Little Girl," was altered to better suit Johnny Depp's lower vocal range. In regards to the song's musical arrangement, Higham explained, "we emphasized the woodwinds to make it feel a little lighter, especially the flutes. And we just made it a little jazzier — played more on the walking bass line. Inherently, when it has a jazz feel, it just feels lighter."[75] The film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on December 15, 2014.[76]

text: While it was initially reported that the film version would feature two new songs: a duet for the Baker and his Wife, titled "Rainbows"—originally written for a 1992 film adaptation that was never made—and a new song for the Witch, eventually titled "She'll Be Back".[77] In the end, neither song appears in the finished film: "Rainbows" was cut before shooting began and "She'll Be Back", though filmed, was cut from the film on the grounds that it slowed the story down. "She'll Be Back" was included as a bonus feature on the film's home media release.[78][79]

text: Release[edit]

text: The first official company presentation took place at the 2013 Disney D23 expo.[80] The official teaser trailer debuted on July 31, 2014.[81][82] A featurette was released showing behind-the-scenes clips and the vocals of Streep, Kendrick, Blunt and others.[83] A second trailer was released on November 6, 2014.[84]

text: The film held its world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 8, 2014.[85] It was released theatrically in the United States on December 25, 2014.

text: Home media[edit]

text: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download in North America on March 24, 2015.[86] The film debuted in second place on the home media charts behind The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.[87] The home media version includes Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's original song "She'll Be Back".[79]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Into the Woods grossed $128 million in North America, and $85.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $213.1 million, against a budget of $50 million.[3]

text: Into the Woods began playing across North American theaters on December 24, 2014, and earned $1.1 million from late-night Christmas Eve showings[88][89] and $15.08 million on its opening day (including previews) from 2,440 theaters.[90] Its opening day gross was the fourth-biggest Christmas Day debut and the sixth-biggest Christmas Day gross ever.[91] The film was among one of four films put into wide release on December 25, 2014, the other three being Universal Pictures' Unbroken (3,131 theaters), Paramount Pictures' The Gambler (2,478 theaters), and TWC's Big Eyes (1,307 theaters).[92] It earned $31.1 million in its traditional three-day opening ($46.1 million including its Christmas Day gross) debuting at #2 at the box office behind The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, achieving the highest opening weekend for a film based on a Broadway musical (previously held by Mamma Mia!).[93][94] The film's $3.5 million debut in Japan marked the largest opening for a 21st-century live-action musical film.[95]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 70% based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's consensus reads: "On the whole, this Disney adaptation of the Sondheim classic sits comfortably at the corner of Hollywood and Broadway—even if it darkens to its detriment in the final act."[96] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, calculate a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[97] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[98]

text: Streep was immensely applauded for her performance as the Witch, with many critics and audiences believing she was the film's heart. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post called her and Blunt's portrayals as "two of the greatest female performances of the year".  For her performance, Streep received Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Broadcast Film Critics Association Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

text: The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "benefits from respect for the source material, enticing production values and a populous gallery of sharp character portraits from a delightful cast".[99] Stephen Holden of The New York Times lauded the film, writing; "Into the Woods, the splendid Disney screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical, infuses new vitality into the tired marketing concept of entertainment for 'children of all ages'".[100] Leonard Maltin called the movie as "one of the year's best films". Similarly, Pete Hammond of Deadline praised the film as "the most dazzling movie musical since Marshall's own Chicago." and praised the performance of the cast, particularly Streep. Lou Lumerick of the New York Post called the film "this century's best musical" and lauded the performances of Streep and Blunt as the best female performances of the year. Scott Mendelson of Forbes gave a positive review declaring the film "Rob Marshall's best movie ever" and praised it for its genuine entertainment and strong cast performances.[101] Richard Corliss of Time gave a positive review, stating that the film was a "smart, appealing, upside-down children’s story for adults of all ages".[102] Gregory Ellwood of HitFix tipped Streep as an Academy Award contender in the Best Supporting Actress category, and also praised the performance of Chris Pine.[103]

text: Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair,[104] Karen D'Souza of the San Jose Mercury News,[105] and Dana Stevens of Slate[106] all published critical reviews of the film.  All three found much to like in the acting (especially Blunt and Pine's performances), but all three also concluded that after the various cuts and changes, the final version of the film had failed to adequately preserve the power of the dark existentialist message at the heart of the original musical's second act.[104][105][106] Stevens characterized the result as a "generic dystopian bummer,"[106] while Lawson criticized the film as a "dutiful but perfunctory adaptation" which lacked "genuine heart".[104] Paul Katz of The Huffington Post felt the change in tone between the last two acts was too abrupt, and also criticized the film's faithfulness to the stage musical.[107] Conversely, Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post disliked the performances by Streep and Depp, while simultaneously calling the film's first two acts a "surprising delight".[108]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
List of awards and nominations

Award

Date of ceremony

Category

Recipient(s) and nominee(s)

Result

Academy Awards[109]

February 22, 2015

Best Supporting Actress

Meryl Streep

Nominated

Best Production Design

Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

Nominated

Best Costume Design

Colleen Atwood

Nominated

AACTA International Awards[110]

January 31, 2015

Best Supporting Actress

Meryl Streep

Nominated

Art Directors Guild Awards[111]

January 31, 2015

Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Film

Dennis Gassner

Nominated

American Cinema Editors[112]

January 30, 2015

Best Edited Feature Film – Comedy or Musical

Wyatt Smith

Nominated

American Film Institute[113]

December 9, 2014

Top Eleven Films of the Year

Into the Woods

Won

British Academy Film Awards[114]

February 8, 2015

Best Costume Design

Colleen Atwood

Nominated

Best Makeup and Hair

Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland

Nominated

Broadcast Film Critics Association[115]

January 15, 2015

Best Supporting Actress

Meryl Streep

Nominated

Best Acting Ensemble

The Cast of  Into the Woods

Nominated

Best Art Direction

Dennis Gassner/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator

Nominated

Best Costume Design

Colleen Atwood

Nominated

Best Hair & Makeup

Nominated

Casting Society of America[116]

January 22, 2015

Big Budget Comedy

Francine Maisler, Bernard Telsey, Tiffany Little Canfield

Nominated

Chicago Film Critics Association

December 15, 2014

Best Art direction/Production Design

Dennis Gassner,  Anna Pinnock

Nominated

Costume Designers Guild[117]

February 17, 2015

Excellence in Fantasy Film

Colleen Atwood

Won

Detroit Film Critics Society

December 15, 2014

Best Ensemble

The Cast of Into the Woods

Nominated

Empire Awards[118]

March 29, 2015

Best Male Newcomer

Daniel Huttlestone

Nominated

Florida Film Critics Circle

December 19, 2014

Best Art Direction/Production Design

Dennis Gassner,  Anna Pinnock

Nominated

Golden Globe Awards[119]

January 11, 2015

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Into the Woods

Nominated

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Emily Blunt

Nominated

Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

Meryl Streep

Nominated

Kids' Choice Awards[120]

March 28, 2015

Best Villain

Meryl Streep

Nominated

MPSE Golden Reel Awards[121]

February 15, 2015

Feature Musical

Mike Higham, Jennifer Dunnington

Nominated

MTV Movie Awards[122][123]

April 12, 2015

Best Villain

Meryl Streep

Won

San Diego Film Critics Society

December 15, 2014

Best Production Design

Dennis Gassner,  Anna Pinnock

Nominated

Satellite Awards[124][125]

February 15, 2015

Best Ensemble – Motion Picture

Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, MacKenzie Mauzy, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Billy Magnussen, and Frances de la Tour

Won

Best Costume Design

Colleen Atwood

Nominated

Best Sound (Editing and Mixing)

Blake Leyh, John Casali, Michael Keller, Michael Prestwoood Smith, and Renee Tondelli

Nominated

Best Visual Effects

Christian Irles, Matt Johnson, and Stefano Pepin

Nominated

Saturn Awards[126]

June 25, 2015

Best Fantasy Film

Into the Woods

Nominated

Best Supporting Actress

Meryl Streep

Nominated

Best Production Design

Dennis Gassner

Nominated

Best Costume

Colleen Atwood

Nominated

Best Make-up

Peter King and Matthew Smith

Nominated

Screen Actors Guild Awards[127]

January 25, 2015

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Meryl Streep

Nominated

St. Louis Film Critics

December 15, 2014

Best Music Soundtrack

Nominated

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards[128]

December 8, 2014

Best Ensemble

Nominated

Best Art Direction

Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock

Nominated

Young Artist Awards[129]

May 15, 2015

Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor

Daniel Huttlestone

Nominated

Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress

Lilla Crawford

Won


document_title: Bran Stark

question_text: who pushed the boy in game of thrones

question_tokens: who pushed the boy in game of thrones

root

text: Bran Stark

text: Character description[edit]

text: Bran is seven years old at the beginning of A Game of Thrones (1996). He is the fourth child and second son of Eddard "Ned" Stark and his wife Lady Catelyn, and has four siblings: an older brother Robb, two older sisters Sansa and Arya, a younger brother Rickon, and an illegitimate older half-brother Jon Snow. Bran is constantly accompanied by his direwolf Summer, the simpleton stableboy Hodor (who carries him around after his crippling), and the Reed siblings Meera and Jojen.

tag: p

text: Martin describes Bran as favoring his mother in appearance, having the thick auburn hair and deep blue eyes of the Tullys.[3] According to Martin, Bran is a strong willed, but sweet and thoughtful boy, well-loved by everyone at Winterfell. He enjoys climbing and exploring the walls and ramparts of the castle;[4][5] he is also dutiful and tough-minded.

text: With his dreams of being a knight dashed by the crippling attempt on his life in A Game of Thrones, duty forces Bran to overcome his new limitations and embrace his new abilities.[6] His gradual acceptance of his seemingly-prophetic visions (called the "greensight") and his ability to psychically inhabit his direwolf Summer (which marks him as a type of skinchanger known as a warg) show his growing maturity and his worth beyond the loss of his legs.[6] He also manages to enter the mind of the stableboy Hodor, and later skinchanges into crows and even weirwood trees under the mentorship of the Three-Eyed Raven.

text: Overview[edit]

text: The very first — and youngest — point of view character in the novels, Bran was set up by Martin as a young hero of the series. Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone noted in 2014 that the moment in A Game of Thrones in which Jaime Lannister pushes Bran to his likely death "grabs you by the throat".[1] Martin commented in the interview:

text: I've had a million people tell me that was the moment that hooked them, where they said, "Well, this is just not the same story I read a million times before." Bran is the first viewpoint character. In the back of their heads, people are thinking Bran is the hero of the story. He's young King Arthur. We're going to follow this young boy–and then, boom: You don't expect something like that to happen to him. So that was successful [laughs].[1]

text: In 2000, Martin called Bran the hardest character to write:

text: Number one, he is the youngest of the major viewpoint characters, and kids are difficult to write about. I think the younger they are, the more difficult. Also, he is the character most deeply involved in magic, and the handling of magic and sorcery and the whole supernatural aspect of the books is something I'm trying to be very careful with. So I have to watch that fairly sharply. All of which makes Bran's chapters tricky to write.[7]

text: Booklist cited Bran as a notable character in 1999,[8] and the Publishers Weekly review of A Game of Thrones noted, "It is fascinating to watch Martin's characters mature and grow, particularly Stark's children, who stand at the center of the book."[9]

text: Noting Bran's absence in 2005's A Feast for Crows, James Poniewozik of Time wrote in his review of A Dance with Dragons (2011):

text: Some favorite characters were MIA for eleven long years. ADWD brings them back—bastard warrior Jon Snow, exiled dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen, fugitive dwarf Tyrion Lannister and crippled, mystical Bran Stark, among others—and almost from the get-go that gives it a narrative edge over its companion book. Each, in his or her own way, is dealing with a question of power.[10]

text: Storylines[edit]

text: A Game of Thrones[edit]

text: In A Game of Thrones (1996), Bran accidentally sees Queen Cersei Lannister and her brother Ser Jaime having sex; whereupon he is pushed from the window by Jaime to keep the incest a secret, but he survives in a coma.[5] While Bran remains unconscious, an attempt is made on his life,[11] and Catelyn delays the assassin long enough for Bran’s direwolf, Summer, to kill him. Senseless, Bran dreams of his falling from the tower and of a three-eyed crow that offers to teach him to fly. With the crow's guidance, Bran wakes; but having been crippled by the fall, he is unable to walk. Thereafter he relies on the giant simpleton Hodor, and a harness designed by Tyrion Lannister, to move. When Robb rides south to relieve Ned's arrest in King's Landing, Bran becomes the acting Lord of Winterfell.

text: A Clash of Kings[edit]

text: 1998's A Clash of Kings finds Robb named King in the North, and Bran, as Robb's heir, rules the castle in his brother's absence.[6] When Theon Greyjoy betrays the Starks and captures Winterfell, Bran and Rickon escape, aided by the wildling Osha. To hide his failure, Theon has two other children murdered and proclaims them to be Bran and Rickon. Theon himself is betrayed by Ramsay Snow, the bastard son of Roose Bolton. Having been hiding in the crypts of Winterfell, Bran and his companions emerge to find the castle in ruins. They come upon a mortally wounded Maester Luwin, who advises their traveling party to split. Osha takes Rickon in the direction of White Harbor, while Bran, Hodor, Meera, and Jojen Reed set off north to seek the three-eyed crow. Meanwhile, Bran has slowly accepted the veracity of his dreams, and his ability to psychically inhabit Summer, which makes him a type of skin-changer known as a warg.[6]

text: A Storm of Swords[edit]

text: Bran, Hodor, Meera and Jojen travel north to the Wall in search of the three-eyed crow in A Storm of Swords (2000).

text: A Dance with Dragons[edit]

text: In A Dance with Dragons (2011), Bran, Hodor, Meera and Jojen are joined by the mysterious Coldhands, and a Child of the Forest named Leaf takes them to the three-eyed crow (actually a human telepath), who in turn offers to train Bran in clairvoyance.

text: Family tree of House Stark[edit]

text:
[hide]

v
t
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Descendants of Rickard Stark

Rickard[a]

Lyarra[b]

Brandon[a]

Catelyn
Tully[c]

Eddard[a]

Lyanna[a][d]

Benjen[a]

Robb[c]

Jeyne
Westerling[e]

Sansa[c]

Tyrion
Lannister[f]

Arya[c]

Brandon[c]

Rickon[c]

Jon
Snow[c][d]

Notes:

^ Jump up to: a b c d e Martin, George R. R. (1996). "Chapter 4: Eddard". A Game of Thrones. pp. 36–45. ISBN 978-0-553-89784-5.
Jump up ^ Martin, George R. R.; García Jr., Elio M.; Antonsson, Linda (2014). "Appendix: Stark Lineage". The World of Ice & Fire. ISBN 978-0-553-80544-4.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Martin. "Appendix: House Stark". A Game of Thrones. pp. 785–786.
^ Jump up to: a b In the TV series Game of Thrones, Jon is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna
Jump up ^ Martin, George R. R. (2000). "Chapter 14: Catelyn". A Storm of Swords. pp. 192–193. ISBN 978-0-553-89787-6.
Jump up ^ Martin, George R. R. (2000). "Chapter 28: Sansa". A Storm of Swords. pp. 382–393. ISBN 978-0-553-89787-6.

tag: table

text: TV adaptation[edit]

text: Bran Stark is played by Isaac Hempstead Wright in the television adaption of the series of books.

text: Storylines[edit]

text: Brandon "Bran" Stark is the second son and fourth child of Eddard and Catelyn Stark. He was named after his deceased uncle, Brandon.

text: Season 1[edit]

text: Bran receives one of a litter of recovered direwolves given to the Stark children and names him Summer. During the King's visit to Winterfell, Bran accidentally interrupts the Queen, Cersei, having sex with her brother, Jaime, who shoves him from the window. While he is unconscious and recovering from his injuries, Summer kills an assassin sent to murder Bran. When he awakens Bran cannot recall the events before his fall and finds that he is crippled from the waist down, forced to be carried everywhere by the stableboy Hodor. Slowly, he realizes that he has gained the ability to assume Summer's consciousness, making him a warg or a skinchanger. After his older brother, Robb, is crowned King in the North, Bran becomes Robb's heir and the Lord of Winterfell.

text: Season 2[edit]

text: After Theon Greyjoy captures Winterfell, Osha helps Bran and his younger brother Rickon go into hiding. To cement his claim on Winterfell, Theon kills two orphan boys and passes their bodies off as Bran and Rickon. After Theon's men betray him and Winterfell is sacked, Bran, Rickon, Hodor, Osha and their direwolves head north to find his older brother Jon Snow for safety.

text: Season 3[edit]

text: Bran and his group encounter Jojen and Meera Reed, two siblings who aid them in their quest. Jojen shares Bran's "greensight", and tutors him in his prophetic visions. After coming close to the wall, Osha departs with Rickon for Last Hearth while Bran insists on following his visions beyond the Wall. He also encounters Sam and Gilly, who tries to persuade him not to, but Bran claims it is his destiny and leaves through the gate with Hodor and the Reeds.

text: Season 4[edit]

text: During their travels beyond the Wall, Bran and his group stumble across Craster's Keep, where they are captured and held hostage by the Night's Watch mutineers led by Karl Tanner. Night's Watch rangers led by Jon eventually attack Craster's Keep to kill the mutineers, but Locke, a new recruit but secretly a spy for Roose Bolton, attempts to take Bran away and kill him elsewhere. Bran wargs into Hodor and kills Locke by snapping his neck, but Bran and his group are forced to continue on their journey without alerting Jon, whom Jojen claims would stop them. Bran's group eventually reaches the heart tree, but are set upon by wights outside the entrance. Jojen is killed in the attack, but the Children of the Forest destroy the wights and lead Bran and his company into the cave to meet the Three-Eyed Raven. The Three-Eyed Raven declares that he will not walk again, but will fly instead.

text: Season 6[edit]

text: As part of his training, Bran is shown several visions of the past, including Ned Stark and Howland Reed confronting Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower at the Tower of Joy, and learns of how the Children of the Forest injected one of the First Men with dragonglass in a ritual to create the Night King, the first White Walker, as a defense against the other First Men. However, the Three-Eyed Raven is always quick to withdraw Bran from the visions, warning that he may become trapped in them if he stays too long. Growing bored with his slow progress, Bran enters a vision on his own and witnesses the Night King in the present day, who sees Bran and marks him, making the Three-Eyed Raven's cave vulnerable to the White Walkers' magic.

text: The Three-Eyed Raven enters Bran into another vision of Winterfell's past to impart all his knowledge, but before the transfer is completed the White Walkers attack the cave, killing the Three-Eyed Raven, Summer, and the Children of the Forest. Bran, still caught in the vision, wargs into Hodor through his younger self (named Wylis), and he and Meera flee as he carries his unconscious body out of the cave. Meera carries Bran into the forest and Hodor gives his life to hold back the cave door against the army of wights until they overwhelm him. Bran witnesses how his warging accidentally linked Hodor's past and present mind, inducing a seizure in young Wylis and causing him to repeat Meera's command to "hold the door" until he can only slur the word "Hodor".

text: After the wight army catches up to them again, Bran and Meera are rescued by Bran's uncle Benjen Stark, who had been killed by the White Walkers several years prior but was revived by the Children. Benjen whisks the duo to safety, telling Bran that he is now the Three-Eyed Raven and must learn to control his powers before the Night King attacks the Seven Kingdoms. Benjen leaves Bran and Meera at the weirwood in the Haunted Forest, as the Wall's magic prevents the dead from passing. Bran touches the weirwood and witnesses the rest of the vision of Ned Stark at the Tower of Joy. He discovers that Lyanna Stark died giving birth to Rhaegar Targaryen's son Aegon, who Ned found and raised as Jon Snow at Lyanna's dying request.

text: Season 7[edit]

text: Bran returns to Winterfell, which has been rebuilt and reoccupied by the remaining Starks. Although Jon has traveled to Dragonstone to meet with Daenerys Targaryen, he is reunited with Sansa and Arya, both of whom are concerned by Bran's knowledge about their tribulations following Ned's execution. Meera leaves Winterfell to return to Greywater Watch; when Bran is indifferent to her departure, she realises that Bran "died" in the Three-Eyed Raven's cave. Bran remains aloof to his siblings, but uses his greenseeing abilities to discover Littlefinger's betrayal of Ned. When Sansa confronts Littlefinger about his treason towards House Stark, Bran corroborates the accusations leveled against him, and Littlefinger is executed by Arya.

text: Samwell Tarly arrives in Winterfell and comes to visit Bran. Bran tells him that he has discovered that Jon is the bastard son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, but Sam mentions a former High Septon's record of annulling Rhaegar's marriage to Elia Martell so that he could marry Lyanna. Bran uses greenseeing to confirm that the marriage took place, and then revisits the vision of the Tower of Joy, discovering that's Jon's real name is Aegon Targaryen. Bran declares that Jon is therefore the true heir to the Iron Throne


document_title: United States House of Representatives

question_text: what is the length of term for a representative

question_tokens: what is the length of term for a representative

text: United States House of Representatives

text: History[edit]

text: 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.

text: 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.[5]

text: 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.[5]

text: Eventually, the Convention reached the Connecticut Compromise, or the 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.[5] 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.

text: 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.

text: 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. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the Senate did not have the balance of power between North and South during the war.

text: 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 and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times.

text: 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 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, 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.

text: 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.

text: 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]

text: Membership, qualifications and apportionment[edit]

text:
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)

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text: Apportionment[edit]

text: 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, however, is entitled to at least one Representative.

text: 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.[1] The number was temporarily increased to 437 in 1959 upon the admission of Alaska and Hawaii (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.

text: 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]

text: Redistricting[edit]

text: 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.

text: 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 bipartisan gerrymandering.[15][16]

text: Qualifications[edit]

text: 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 district 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.

text: 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.

text: Elections[edit]

text: 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).

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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]

text: 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.

text: Non-voting delegates[edit]

text: 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 on the floor, but cannot vote there.

text: Terms[edit]

text: 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.

text: Comparison to the Senate[edit]

text: 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.

text: Salary and benefits[edit]

text: Salaries[edit]

text: As of December 2014[update], 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]

text: Titles[edit]

text: 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.

text: Pension[edit]

text: 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:

text:
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 $17,000 in 2012.[needs update] Their employing agency matches employee contributions up to 5% of pay.

tag: ol

text: 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]

text: Tax deductions[edit]

text: 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]

text: Health benefits[edit]

text: 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]

text: 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]

text: 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]

text: 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]

text: 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]

text: Personnel, mail and office expenses[edit]

text: House members are eligible for a Member's Representational Allowance (MRA) to support them in their official and representational duties to their district. 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.[32]

text: 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.[32]

text: Travel allowance[edit]

text: 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.[32]

text: Officers[edit]

text: Member officials[edit]

text: 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.

text: The Constitution provides that the House may choose its own Speaker.[33] 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.

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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).

text: 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).

text: 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.

text: Leadership and partisanship[edit]

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: Non-member officials[edit]

text: The House is also served by several officials who are not members. The House's chief 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.

text: 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".

text: 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.

text: Procedure[edit]

text: Daily procedures[edit]

text: 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.[34] 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.[35] By tradition, Democrats sit on the left of the center aisle, while Republicans sit on the right, facing the presiding officer's chair.[36] 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.[37] Sittings are broadcast live on television and have been streamed live on C-SPAN since March 19, 1979,[38] and on HouseLive, the official streaming service operated by the Clerk, since the early 2010s.

text: 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.[39] 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.[40] The box in which legislation is placed to be considered by the House is called the hopper.[41]

text: 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.[42]

text: The Constitution provides that a majority of the House constitutes a quorum to do business.[43] 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.[44]

text: 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.[45] 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".

text: 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.[46]

text: Passage of legislation[edit]

text: 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.[47] 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.[48]

text: 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.[49]

text: 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.[49]

text: Voting traditionally lasts for, at most, fifteen minutes, but it may be extended if the leadership needs to "whip" more members into alignment.[49] 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.[50] The 2005 vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement was open for one hour, from 11:00 p.m. to midnight.[51] An October 2005 vote on facilitating refinery construction was kept open for forty minutes.[52]

text: 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.[53]

text: Committees[edit]

text: 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;[54] and on the Ethics Committee, each party has an equal number of seats.[55] 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.

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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,[56] suggested:

text: 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.

text: 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 chairs, 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 chair's powers are extensive; they control 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.

text: Legislative functions[edit]

text: 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.

text: Although it cannot originate revenue bills, the Senate retains the power to amend or reject them. Woodrow Wilson wrote the following about appropriations bills:[57]

text: [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.

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: Checks and balances[edit]

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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.

text: 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 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.

text: Latest election results and current party standings[edit]

text: Current standing[edit]

text:
Affiliation
Members
Delegates/resident
commissioner
(non-voting)
State
majorities

Republican Party
240
2
32

Democratic Party
194
3
12

Independent
0
1
0

Vacant
1
0

Total
435
6

text: End of previous Congress[edit]

text:
Affiliation
Members
Delegates/resident
commissioner
(non-voting)
State
majorities

Republican Party
246
0

Democratic Party
187
5

Independent
0
1[58]
0

Vacant
2
0

Total
435
6