Fact Check: "The US House of Representatives consists of 435 voting members."
What We Know
The United States House of Representatives is composed of 435 voting members, a number that is fixed by law. Each representative is elected to serve a two-year term and represents a specific congressional district within one of the 50 states. The allocation of these representatives is based on the population of each state, ensuring proportional representation (House.gov). In addition to the 435 voting members, there are also non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as a resident commissioner from Puerto Rico. However, these delegates do not have voting rights in the House (House.gov).
Analysis
The claim that the House of Representatives consists of 435 voting members is accurate and supported by official government sources. The information provided by the House of Representatives website is reliable, as it is the official site for the legislative body and is regularly updated to reflect current membership and rules. The fixed number of 435 voting members has been in place since the Reapportionment Act of 1929, which established the method for distributing congressional seats among the states based on population counts from the decennial census (House.gov).
The presence of additional non-voting delegates and the resident commissioner is also a relevant aspect of the House's composition, but it does not detract from the accuracy of the claim regarding the 435 voting members. The source is credible and free from significant bias, as it is a government entity providing factual information about its structure.
Conclusion
The verdict is True. The claim that "The US House of Representatives consists of 435 voting members" is supported by official documentation and is consistent with the established laws governing the composition of the House. The number of voting representatives is fixed, and while there are additional non-voting members, they do not alter the count of the voting representatives.
