Voting the Speaker of the House out of his position made major history this past week in the United States. In fact, it is the first time in history that a Speaker of the U.S. Congress was ousted by majority vote. Beleaguered Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy had held the position for little less than a year, but thanks to his detractors, he no longer holds that gavel. In fact, no one does at the moment. The vote is “The only time in House history in which a sitting Speaker was removed from office by a floor vote.” The only other time when there was a vote on a motion to oust the House Speaker was in 1910 when a similar rebellion by members of the Republican Party ganged up on Speaker Joe Cannon. However, the vote to oust Cannon did not succeed, so he was not removed from the position.
Nicknamed “Uncle Joe,” Cannon faced criticism that he was too resistant to attempts to reform the way the government worked.
Another effort to boot the House Speaker, while a government shutdown loomed, happened in 2015 when Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina tried to unseat Republican Speaker John Boehner. The effort to remove the Ohio Congressman, John Boehner, from the powerful position of Speaker of the House was not introduced on the floor. After all that effort to save John Boehner’s job back then, he managed to hang on, but only for a minute–so to speak. Because just two months later, he quit being a Congressman.
Meanwhile, news stations are reporting that there are a few lawmakers in D.C. who have already tried to convince Donald Trump to come back to the Capitol, this time as Speaker of the House.
How could that possibly happen? Don’t you have to be a United States Congressperson to even be considered for that position? Keep reading.
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The Speaker is both the political and parliamentary leader, according to a history of the House. Early on, some Speakers played mostly a ceremonial role, but more recently, they have set the agenda for the House and their party. They oversee House committee assignments, work with the House Rules Committee to structure debate on the floor to advance their priorities, and are responsible for accounting and procurement. The United States Constitution specifically mandates that the U.S. Congress have a Speaker of the House.
Article 1 of the Constitution states: “The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers, and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.”
So, how is the Speaker of the House selected? The Constitution requires that a Speaker be chosen but does not specify how. House rules say that under modern practice, the election begins with nominations from each party’s caucus, then moves on to a voice vote or “viva voce” by members-elect by surname if a quorum is present. The Speaker wins by a majority.
Currently, there are 435 members of the House, split between 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats.
This whole idea of anyone trying to float Donald Trump’s name for Speaker teaches me that I’m still learning. I incorrectly thought you had to be an elected member of Congress to be considered for that role. I learned this past week that my thinking was wrong. I don’t mind admitting when I’m wrong.
Truly, right now, it is unclear who the next Speaker of the House will be. By government rules, because Republicans have the majority in Congress, the Speaker of the House most assuredly will be another Republican lawmaker. The question is who? There are two Republican lawmakers, both already in Congress, who have put their names out there, expressing they want to be the next Speaker.
— Congressmen Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio. Time will tell if either of them actually becomes the next Speaker or if is there another name that will be made public over the next number of days. As crazy as it may sound to some of us political watchers, Donald Trump’s name has been floated too. Although the former president and GOP front-runner for 2024 did not entirely dismiss the suggestion, he did say he was focused on the presidency.
Bottom line. As long as there’s no Speaker of the House, no real business can get done by our lawmakers. That is not good.
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On another news note about a Speaker of the House, Canada has just voted in its first Black Speaker of the House this past week. Canada’s House of Commons elected Greg Fergus to be the first Black Speaker for their nation,…
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