The Constitution grants the U.S. House of Representatives a unique set of powers in the federal government, embodying the framers’ intent to make it uniquely responsive to the will of the people. James Madison of Virginia, the father of the Constitution and the House’s most important statesman in the early Congresses, believed the House should have “an immediate dependence on, and intimate sympathy with, the people.” The House is the only branch of government that has been directly elected by American voters since its formation in 1789. Unlike the Senate, the House is not a continuing body. Its Members must stand for election every two years, after which it convenes for a new session and essentially reconstitutes itself—electing a Speaker, swearing-in the Members-elect, and approving a slate of officers to administer the institution. Direct, biennial elections and the size of the membership (currently 435 voting Representatives) have made the House receptive to a continual influx of new ideas and priorities that contribute to its longstanding reputation as the “People’s House.”