Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives
Updated: 11/6/2025, 1:00:55 AM Wikipedia source
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 introduce legislation and may vote in a House committee of which they are a member. 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 the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek 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.
Tables
| District | Start | End | Duration (years) |
| Alabama Territory | 1818 | 1819 | 1 |
| Alaska Territory | 1906 | 1959 | 53 |
| Arizona Territory | 1864 | 1912 | 48 |
| Arkansas Territory | 1819 | 1836 | 17 |
| Colorado Territory | 1861 | 1876 | 15 |
| Dakota Territory | 1861 | 1889 | 28 |
| Florida Territory | 1822 | 1845 | 23 |
| Hawaii Territory | 1900 | 1959 | 59 |
| Idaho Territory | 1864 | 1890 | 26 |
| Illinois Territory | 1812 | 1818 | 6 |
| Indiana Territory | 1805 | 1816 | 11 |
| Iowa Territory | 1838 | 1846 | 8 |
| Kansas Territory | 1854 | 1861 | 7 |
| Michigan Territory | 1819 | 1836 | 17 |
| Minnesota Territory | 1849 | 1858 | 9 |
| Mississippi Territory | 1801 | 1817 | 16 |
| Missouri Territory | 1812 | 1821 | 9 |
| Montana Territory | 1865 | 1889 | 24 |
| Nebraska Territory | 1855 | 1867 | 12 |
| Nevada Territory | 1861 | 1864 | 3 |
| New Mexico Territory | 1851 | 1912 | 61 |
| Northwest Territory | 1799 | 1802 | 3 |
| Oklahoma Territory | 1890 | 1907 | 17 |
| Oregon Territory | 1849 | 1859 | 10 |
| Orleans Territory | 1806 | 1812 | 6 |
| Philippines | 1907 | 1946 | 39 |
| Southwest Territory | 1794 | 1796 | 2 |
| Utah Territory | 1851 | 1897 | 46 |
| Washington Territory | 1854 | 1889 | 35 |
| Wisconsin Territory | 1836 | 1848 | 12 |
| Wyoming Territory | 1869 | 1890 | 21 |
| District | Title | Incumbent | Party | House CaucusAffiliation | Firstelected | Constituency map |
| American Samoa at-large | Delegate | Amata Coleman Radewagen | Republican | Republican | 2014 | |
| District of Columbia at-large | Delegate | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Democratic | Democratic | 1990 | |
| Guam at-large | Delegate | James Moylan | Republican | Republican | 2022 | |
| Northern Mariana Islands at-large | Delegate | Kimberly King-Hinds | Republican | Republican | 2024 | |
| Puerto Rico at-large | Resident commissioner | Pablo Hernández Rivera | Popular Democratic | Democratic | 2024 | |
| Virgin Islands at-large | Delegate | Stacey Plaskett | Democratic | Democratic | 2014 | |
References
- "Text searched: FLD003:#1(Rep. Pierluisi Pedro)"https://web.archive.org/web/20200304170539/http://www.congress.gov/
- "Legislation"https://web.archive.org/web/20160316161601/http://pierluisi.house.gov/legislation
- The Hillhttps://thehill.com/capital-living/cover-stories/65959-present-the-houses-non-voting-members-find-some-constructive-ways-to-spend-time-when-their-colleagues-run-to-cast-votes
- "Delegates and Resident Commissioners"http://kids.clerk.house.gov/high-school/lesson.html?intID=36
- 48 U.S.C. § 1715https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/48/1715
- Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Statushttps://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40555.pdf
- The Northwest Ordinance stated: "As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembl
- Gilmore 1887, p. 36, 217–218.
- Gilmore 1887, p. 222.
- "SEVIER, John"http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SEVIER,-John-(S000257)/
- "WHITE, James"http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/W/WHITE,-James-(W000377)/
- Annals of Congress, vol. 4, 3rd Cong., 2nd sess., November 18, 1794, pp. 884–889. cited in Palmer, ibid.
- An act further to regulate the territories of the United States, and their electing delegates to congresshttp://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage
- The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898
- www.congress.govhttps://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF11792
- fnhttps://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20060706_RL32340_eb57f631b56aab0702dadd024d9b0a1f0c5fa89f.pdf
- Congressional Quarterlyhttps://web.archive.org/web/20081109031849/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002982727
- Sunia, Fofō I. F. (1998). The Story of the Legislature of American Samoa: In Commemoration of the Golden Jubilee 1948–19
- Elections A to Zhttps://books.google.com/books?id=x1ai7Vtiiu0C&pg=PA165
- NPRhttps://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-trial-live-updates/2021/02/10/966551148/stacey-plaskett-is-first-non-voting-house-delegate-to-argue-an-impeachment-trial
- Saipan Tribunehttps://web.archive.org/web/20120214004706/http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=85430&cat=1
- Broken Landscape: Indians, Indian Tribes, and the Constitutionhttps://books.google.com/books?id=DbNdwTo2ENEC&pg=PA333
- YES! Magazinehttps://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/the-cherokee-nation-is-entitled-to-a-delegate-in-congress-but-will-they-finally-send-one-20170104
- Muskogee Phoenixhttps://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/oklahoma_news/country-s-largest-tribal-nation-seeks-congressional-delegate/article_740fe0ea-840b-58cb-b1c5-71b50dc08da7.html
- "Peter P. Pitchlynn Collection", Western Histories Collection, University of Oklahoma Librarieshttp://libraries.ou.edu/locations/docs/westhist/Pitchlynn.htm
- The Oklahomanhttps://oklahoman.com/article/5640602/teehee-hopes-for-congressional-collaboration-on-seating-her-as-cherokee-nation-delegate
- Essays on the Present Crisis in the Condition of the American Indianshttps://books.google.com/books?id=ueuS0f3wG2wC
- The Yale Law Journalhttps://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/promises-of-nonstate-representatives
- The Oklahomanhttps://www.oklahoman.com/story/opinion/2022/12/15/delawarecherokee-nation-delegate-to-congress-cannot-represent-all-tribes/69725240007/
- "Brief History of Indian Legislative Representatives"https://legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/history-of-tribal-representation-in-maine/9261
- Bangor Daily Newshttp://bangordailynews.com/2015/05/26/politics/passamaquoddy-penobscot-tribes-withdraw-from-maine-legislature/
- Boston University Public Interest Law Journalhttps://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=842647
- "Legal and Procedural Issues Related to Seating a Cherokee Nation Delegate in the House of Representatives"https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47190
- "The Cherokee Nation wants a representative in Congress"https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/25/politics/cherokee-nation-congressional-delegate-treaty/index.html
- Tulsa Worldhttps://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/citing-treaties-cherokees-call-on-congress-to-seat-delegate-from/article_9da9a5d4-69a1-52d8-bad6-beea75a2e17e.html
- Cherokee Phoenixhttps://www.cherokeephoenix.org/news/cn-leaders-view-dismissive-remarks-as-teaching-moment/article_8eb9b144-b18c-11eb-83d7-e7614d178ff7.html
- news.yahoo.comhttps://news.yahoo.com/cherokee-chief-ancestors-were-promised-120109051.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
- "The Cherokee Nation is renewing its push for a nonvoting delegate in Congress"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/24/1124945834/cherokee-nation-delegate-congress
- KANDIT News Grouphttps://kanditnews.com/proposal-for-guam-delegate-to-u-s-senate-gains-powerful-allies/
- www.congress.govhttps://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6941
- guampdn.comhttps://www.guampdn.com/news/local/del-michael-san-nicolas-introduces-bill-to-establish-territory-representatives-in-senate/article_8c3fa9c4-f807-50d4-a906-32bae1e2f32c.html
- Section 891, of Title 48 of the U. S. Code
- Hudiburg, Jane A. (March 1, 2022). Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status (Report). Congressional Research Service.
- Hispanic Americans in Congress 1822–2012https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CDOC-108hdoc225/pdf/GPO-CDOC-108hdoc225-2-7.pdf
- The New York Timeshttps://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1992/12/10/238692.html?zoom=14.870000000000001
- H.Res. 6, 104th Congresshttps://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-resolution/6
- H.Res. 78, 110th Congresshttps://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-resolution/78
- H.Res. 5, 112th Congresshttps://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-resolution/5
- Roll Callhttp://www.rollcall.com/news/-202127-1.html
- Roll Callhttps://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/house-adopts-rules-package-democratic-defections-paygo-provision