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Title 2 — The CongressRelease 119-73

§5341 Representational allowance for Members of House of Representatives

Title 2 › Chapter CHAPTER 53— - HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - EXPENSES AND ALLOWANCES › § 5341

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The House gives each Member one fund called the Members’ Representational Allowance. It must pay for a Member’s or Member‑elect’s official and representational work in the district they represent. The older Clerk Hire, Official Expenses, and Official Mail allowances as they existed on August 31, 1995 were merged into this single allowance. A "Member" means a Representative, a Delegate, or a Resident Commissioner to Congress. The House Oversight Committee can make rules to run the allowance, including rules about the duties of a member‑elect who is not an incumbent re‑elected to the next Congress. The change took effect on September 1, 1995 and applies to duties on or after that date.

Full Legal Text

Title 2, §5341

The Congress — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)There is established for the House of Representatives a single allowance, to be known as the “Members’ Representational Allowance”, which shall be available to support the conduct of the official and representational duties of a Member or Member-elect of the House of Representatives with respect to the district from which the Member or Member-elect is elected.
(b)The Clerk Hire Allowance, the Official Expenses Allowance, and the Official Mail Allowance, as in effect on the day before September 1, 1995, are merged into the Members’ Representational Allowance.
(c)As used in this section, the term “Member of the House of Representatives” means a Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.
(d)The Committee on House Oversight of the House of Representatives shall have authority to prescribe regulations to carry out this section, including regulations establishing under subsection (a) the official and representational duties during a Congress of a Member-elect of the House of Representatives who is not an incumbent Member re-elected to the ensuing Congress.
(e)This section shall take effect on September 1, 1995 and shall apply with respect to official and representational duties carried out on or after that date.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 57b of this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

2020—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–260, § 117(a), substituted “a Member or Member-elect” for “a Member” and “the Member or Member-elect” for “the Member”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–260, § 117(b), substituted “, including

Regulations

establishing under subsection (a) the official and representational duties during a Congress of a Member-elect of the House of Representatives who is not an incumbent Member re-elected to the ensuing Congress.” for period at end.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on House Oversight of House of Representatives changed to Committee on House Administration of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Jan. 6, 1999.

Effective Date

of 2020 Amendment Pub. L. 116–260, div. I, title I, § 117(c), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 1641, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [amending this section] shall apply with respect to Members-elect of the House of Representatives for the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress and each succeeding Congress.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

2 U.S.C. § 5341

Title 2 — The Congress

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73