Delegate (United States Congress)

Currently, three U.S. territories are represented by delegates: American Samoa, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands. The District of Columbia, otherwise known as Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is technically a federal district, not a territory, but for purposes of representatation in Congress is treated as one. Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth, is represented by a resident commissioner who holds similar status within the House. The Resident Commissioner, unlike the Delegates, serves a four-year term.

Delegates serve only in the House of Representatives; the Senate does not include any counterpart representatives from U.S. territories.

In 1993, the 103rd Congress approved a rule change that allowed the four Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to vote on the floor of the House in the Committee of the Whole. However, if any measure passed or failed because of a delegate's vote, a second vote excluding the deciding delegate would be taken. In other words, delegates were permitted to vote only if their votes had no effect on a measure's ultimate outcome. In 1995, this rule change was reversed by the 104th Congress, stripping the delegates of even non-decisive votes. This change was denounced as a case of partisanship by Democrats, which all five of the Delegates either were or were allied to at the time, and which was made after Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 40 years. Republicans stated that the former rules essentially gave the Democrats five more votes to which they were not constitutionally entitled.

Though currently not allowed to vote on the House floor, delegates may vote in any legislative committee to which they belong.