U.S. Constitution · Article I, Section 2, Clause 2

House Qualifications Clause

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Also known as: House Qualifications Clause

This provision sets three requirements for House members: age 25, seven years of United States citizenship, and residence in the electing state when elected.

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The text

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

National Archives transcription (public domain; original spelling and capitalization). archives.gov

SI explainer

What it means

This provision sets the minimum requirements for serving in the United States House of Representatives. A person must be at least 25 years old, must have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years, and must live in the state that elects that person at the time of the election. If a candidate meets these three requirements, this provision does not impose any additional test based on wealth, birth, religion, or job. The requirements are minimum standards, not the only rules that affect House elections. Other parts of the Constitution govern how often Representatives are elected, how seats are divided among the states, how elections are run, and who may vote. Congress and the states may regulate election procedures, but they may not add new qualifications for Representatives beyond the age, citizenship, and residence requirements stated here. No later amendment has changed the wording of this provision. Later amendments changed related matters, including the abolition of slavery, the protection of voting rights, and the requirement that Representatives be chosen by the people, but the three qualifications for individual Representatives remain as written.

Original meaning

The generation that wrote and ratified the Constitution understood this provision to set three exclusive conditions for service in the House: twenty-five years of age, seven years of citizenship, and inhabitancy in the state of election when elected. Madison wrote in The Federalist No. 57 that the Constitution imposed no additional barrier based on wealth, birth, religion, or occupation, presenting that openness as a safeguard for the people’s choice. The provision left the details of elections largely to political judgment, while fixing a low and uniform threshold meant to ensure maturity, attachment to the country, and connection to the state represented.

“No qualification of wealth, of birth, of religious faith, or of civil profession is permitted to fetter the judgement or disappoint the inclination of the people.” James Madison, The Federalist No. 57 (1788-02-19)

How the Supreme Court has read it

Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969)

The Court held that the House could not exclude a duly elected member who met the age, citizenship, and residence qualifications stated in this provision. The Court also held that the claim was justiciable.
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995)

The Court held that states may not impose qualifications for members of Congress beyond those stated in the Constitution, invalidating an Arkansas term-limit provision. Both the majority opinion and the dissent relied extensively on founding-era history while reaching opposite conclusions about reserved powers.

Two schools of interpretation

Originalist / textualist reading

Originalists and textualists read the three requirements as both necessary and exclusive because the text states them as fixed conditions and the founding-era explanation treats them as the whole list. Madison’s statement that wealth, birth, religious faith, or profession could not limit the people’s choice supports the conclusion that neither Congress nor the states may add qualifications such as property ownership, religious tests, or term limits. Later changes in election law and democratic practice do not alter that original public meaning.

Living-constitutionalist reading

Living-constitutionalist and pragmatist readers emphasize that the three stated requirements have remained fixed while the House has grown from a small body elected by a limited electorate into a national legislature chosen through broad democratic participation. On this view, courts have properly treated the list as exclusive in order to protect the voters’ choice, prevent shifting majorities or states from adding new barriers to service, and allow democratic practice to develop within stable constitutional boundaries. The fixed text supplies continuity, while later democratic expansion and judicial enforcement give practical effect to open and representative government.

Open questions

Whether Congress or the states may regulate matters related to candidacy, such as ballot access, disclosure, or disqualification under other constitutional provisions, without adding to the three stated qualifications. How other constitutional requirements and disqualifications interact with this provision also remains subject to further interpretation.

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Values for America Constitution Explorer, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution (text: National Archives transcription, public domain), Article I, Section 2, Clause 2, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution/article-1/section-2/clause-2

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