Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives
Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives (called either delegates or resident commissioner, in the case of Puerto Rico) are representatives of their territory in the House of Representatives, who do not have a right to vote on legislation in the full House but nevertheless have floor privileges and are able to participate in certain other House functions. Non-voting members may vote in a House committee of which they are a member and introduce legislation.[1][2][3]
There are currently six non-voting members: a delegate representing the District of Columbia, a resident commissioner representing Puerto Rico, as well as one delegate for each of the other four permanently inhabited U.S. territories: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A seventh delegate, representing the Cherokee Nation, has been formally proposed but not yet seated, while an eighth, representing the Choctaw Nation, is named in a treaty but has neither been proposed nor seated. As with voting members, delegates are elected every two years, except the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, who is elected every four years.
Privileges of delegates[edit]
Non-voting members serve exclusively in the House of Representatives; the Senate has no non-voting members (with the exception of the Vice President of the United States, who may vote only to break ties) and no members representing the territories or the District of Columbia. All delegates serve a term of two years, while resident commissioners serve a term of four years.[4] They receive compensation, benefits, and franking privileges (the ability to send outgoing U.S. Mail without a stamp) similar to full House members.[5] The rules governing the rights of a non-voting member are set forth in the House Rules adopted in each congress (i.e., every two years). Since 1993, they have changed three times, and current delegates—along with the resident commissioner—enjoy privileges that they did not have previously.[6]
Expanding (and contracting) voting rights[edit]
The positions of non-voting delegates are now a more or less permanent fixture of the House of Representatives, having been supported by legislation.[37] However, this legislation stipulates that "...the right to vote in the committee shall be provided by the Rules of the House." Under Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution, the House establishes its rules, which allows a majority of the House to change the powers of delegates. Since the 1970s, delegates have served on Congressional committees with the same powers and privileges as members of Congress, including the right to cast votes, but since 1993 their ability to vote on the floor of the House has changed several times.[38]
In 1993, the 103rd Congress approved a rule change that allowed the four delegates and the resident commissioner to vote on the floor of the House, but only in the Committee of the Whole. However, if any measure passed or failed in the Committee of the Whole because of a delegate's vote, a second vote—excluding the delegates—would be taken. In other words, delegates were permitted to vote only if their votes had no effect on a measure's ultimate outcome. This change was denounced by Republicans (all five of the delegates either were Democrats or were allied with the Democrats at the time) as a case of partisanship;[39] the Democrats had lost a dozen House seats in the 1992 elections, and Republicans charged allowing delegates to vote would inflate Democratic vote totals.[40] In 1995, this rule was reversed by the newly seated Republican majority in the 104th Congress; stripping the delegates, all of whom caucused with the Democrats, of even non-decisive voting privileges.[41] Upon re-gaining control of the House in January 2007, Democrats revived the 1993–1995 status for delegates during both the 110th and 111th Congresses.[42] After taking back control of the House in 2011, Republicans revoked the right of delegates to vote in the Committee of the Whole during the term of the 112th Congress.[43][44] In 2019, Democrats took back control of the House and delegates have retained the right to vote in the Committee of the Whole since the 116th United States Congress. In a contrast from previous GOP majorities, delegate voting in the Committee of the Whole remains in place for the 118th Congress. [45]