What building houses the United States Congress?

The United States Capitol houses the United States Congress, the country’s legislative branch. Located on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., it contains the meeting chambers of both Congress’s divisions: the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Capitol’s central sections were first occupied in 1800, when Congress moved to Washington from Philadelphia. British troops partly burned the building during the War of 1812 in 1814, but it was restored within several years. As the nation and Congress expanded, the building grew new wings: the Senate chamber is in the north wing and the House chamber is in the south wing.

The Capitol is often confused with the White House, which is the president’s official residence and workplace, or the Supreme Court Building, which houses the judicial branch’s highest court. Its famous dome and Rotunda are symbolic national spaces, while much of the day-to-day congressional office work takes place in connected buildings across the Capitol Complex.