Monday, April 29, 2024

About the Speaker of the House of Representatives

speaker of the house definition

On the floor of the House, the presiding officer is always addressed as "Mister Speaker" or "Madam Speaker", even if that person is serving as speaker pro tempore. When the House resolves itself into a Committee of the Whole, the speaker designates a member to preside over the committee, who is addressed as "Mister Chairman" or "Madam Chairwoman". The presiding officer also rules on all points of order but such rulings may be appealed to the whole House. The speaker is responsible for maintaining decorum in the House and may order the Sergeant-at-Arms to enforce House rules.

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Elections

The problem was compounded by the fact that the result of the dispute would determine whether the Whigs or the Democrats held the majority. Neither party agreed to permit a speakership election with the opposite party's delegation participating. Finally, it was agreed to exclude both delegations from the election and a speaker was finally chosen on December 17.

Democratic Leadership

speaker of the house definition

A variety of Jewish community organizations have been encouraging lawmakers to exclusively back the IHRA definition. But there’s also been growing opposition to the IHRA definition among progressives both on and off Capitol Hill. Some conservative lawmakers might also be inclined to oppose the bill due to concerns around free speech. Nicholas Longworth, speaker of the House, holds a gun once owned by famous outlaw Jesse James on Jan. 23, 1930. Those eight years actually made Hastert the longest-serving Republican speaker in history. But any luster left after 2006 was lost when he went to prison for bank fraud charges stemming from hush money payments he had made to a former student he admitted to having sexually abused decades earlier.

The Speaker of the House’s Constitutional Role

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Congress, Muhlenberg went on to serve two non-consecutive terms as Speaker, from 1789 to 1791 in the 1st Congress and from 1793 to 1795 in the 3rd Congress. Many, if not all, of the websites in the collection and elements incorporated into the websites (e.g., photographs, articles, graphical representations) are protected by copyright. You are responsible for deciding whether your use of the items in this collection is legal.

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speaker of the house definition

Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York was selected as the Democratic minority leader. The US Constitution established the role of Speaker of the House, which oversees the lower chamber of Congress. The Speaker is both traditionally and historically a sitting member of the majority party, though this is not a constitutional requirement.

After the Republicans lost House seats in 1998 (although retaining a majority) he did not stand for a third term as speaker. His successor, Dennis Hastert, had been chosen as a compromise candidate since the other Republicans in the leadership were more controversial. Hastert played a much less prominent role than other contemporary speakers, being overshadowed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and President George W. Bush. Elected by a simple majority of House members, speakers are the chamber’s leader, presiding officer and administrative head. They appoint members to committees, recognize people to speak during debates and decide which bills get brought to the floor.

Rep. Mike Johnson

The salary of the Speaker is also higher than that of the Majority and Minority Leaders in both the House and Senate. The Constitution does not require that the Speaker be an elected member of Congress. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat who stepped down from the position when Republicans took control of the House on 3 January 2023, was regarded as one of the most effective modern Speakers of the House. The vote kicks off another potentially chaotic process to appoint the next Speaker. It follows a war of words between the two men that broke out after the Speaker passed a bill with the help of Democrats to fund government agencies. A historic drama is playing out in the US House of Representatives after Republican congressman Matt Gaetz's successful attempt to dethrone his party's House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

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The legislative process allows for both the House and Senate to work with each other and the bills must be in exactly the same form when they pass both houses. The debating and voting processes in both Chambers differ because of the size of their memberships. Committee hearings and floor debate help to increase the public’s knowledge of the government and societal issues. Floor debates can garner national attention because of issues like gun control, tax cuts, Social Security reform, healthcare reform, and sending armed troops abroad. The House is set to reconvene Tuesday, when lawmakers will try to elect a new speaker. The last time, it took 15 rounds of voting for McCarthy to win the position.

The House elects a new speaker by roll call vote when it first convenes after a general election for its two-year term, or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. The first politically powerful Speaker, Henry Clay of Kentucky, served between 1810 and 1824. Unlike his predecessors, Clay took part in several heated debates and was influential in winning the passage of legislation he supported, such as the declaration of the War of 1812.

The first Speaker of the House was Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, elected during the first session of Congress in 1789. The Speaker does, however, typically preside over special joint sessions of Congress in which the House hosts the Senate. Typically the head of the majority party in the House, the Speaker outranks the Majority Leader.

Almost all bills are first referred to a committee, and ordinarily the full House cannot act on a bill until the committee has “reported” it for floor action. There are approximately 20 standing (permanent) committees, organized mainly around major policy areas, each having staffs, budgets, and subcommittees. They may hold hearings on questions of public interest, propose legislation that has not been formally introduced as a bill or resolution, and conduct investigations. Among important standing committees are those on appropriations, on ways and means (which handles matters related to finance), and on rules. There are also select and special committees, which are usually appointed for a specific project and for a limited period. The speaker is selected by the full House membership, though the majority party’s voting power ensures that the role is occupied by one of their own.

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About the Speaker of the House of Representatives

Table Of Content Elections Democratic Leadership The Speaker of the House’s Constitutional Role Speaker of the United States House of Repres...