( also the US House of Representatives , the House )
the lower and larger of the two houses of the US Congress (the other being the Senate ). The Speaker of the House is its leader. The House has 435 members, who are elected every two years. The states have different numbers of representatives according to the size of their population, so Delaware has only two members while California has 52. House members can introduce a proposal for a law and must approve any new law. If no candidate in an election for US President receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College , the House chooses the President. This has only ever happened twice, in the cases of Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams .