Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Wikipedia

Table Of Content

• Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• Process and conventions
• Multi-ballot elections
• What some of the speaker candidates are saying after tonight's forum
• House speaker race widens to 9 Republicans vying for nomination
• Mike Johnson
• House GOP ends the day in state of uncertainty as 8 candidates vie for the gavel. Here's what happens next

The majority of speaker contenders have signaled their support for the pledge, with at least six of them signing the commitment. "I'm urging all my colleagues to join this pledge so we can move forward with electing a Speaker and get on with the people's business," Flood said in a statement. Republican House members told CNN that their constituents back home are angry about the dysfunction in Washington as the lawmakers expressed renewed fears that the chaos could cost them their House majority. Meuser said Trump supported his decision to withdraw from the race, adding that he believes the GOP will get a strong speaker.

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Several moderate Republicans have said that McCarthy remains the only viable Republican who can lead the conference during this time, raising the possibility that the California Republican could get some nominating votes from a key bloc of the party. He also formally entered the speakership race by Sunday's deadline for lawmakers, according to Stefanik. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, is running for speaker, according to a spokesperson from his office. "There's a lot of people that appreciated what we did," Scott told USA TODAY about his first speaker campaign.

Process and conventions

October 10, 2023 - Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise run to replace Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker - CNN

October 10, 2023 - Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise run to replace Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.

Posted: Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Some thought he hadn’t done enough to show he could lead all Republicans and not just the far-right flank. And he couldn’t overcome intraparty resentments that have lingered either for years or developed over the past week, particularly after Jordan and his allies’ aggressive campaign to get their votes. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who also had a failed speakership bid, told CNN he had spoken to all the candidates but was not ready to endorse.

Multi-ballot elections

After the 1998 midterm elections where the Republicans lost seats, Gingrich did not stand for re-election. The next two figures in the House Republican leadership hierarchy, Majority Leader Richard Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay chose not to run for the office. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Bob Livingston, declared his bid for the speakership, which was unopposed, making him speaker-designate. It was then revealed, by Livingston himself, who had been publicly critical of President Bill Clinton's alleged perjury during his sexual harassment trial, that he had engaged in an extramarital affair.

Finally, it was agreed to exclude both delegations from the election and a speaker was finally chosen on December 17. Reps. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), and Austin Scott (R-Ga.) have publicly declared they’re running for speaker, with half a dozen other Republicans mulling a bid. Republicans have until Sunday to declare their candidacies and the conference will vote Tuesday to choose a new speaker-designate. John Boehner was elected speaker when the 112th Congress convened on January 5, 2011, and was subsequently re-elected twice, at the start of the 113th and 114th Congresses. This time, a new tool has been added into the mix to ensure the speaker designate, the candidate elected in the initial Tuesday vote, can rally 217 "yeas" on the House floor — the stage that sank previous nominees. Republicans currently have 221 members in the House; Democrats have 212.

House speaker race widens to 9 Republicans vying for nomination

Ousted former speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., endorsed the Minnesota Republican for the speakership in a huge boost for Emmer's candidacy. McCarthy still commands the respect of the vast majority of the House Republican conference. A significant group of Republicans wanted the House to vote on an expected bipartisan resolution that would have empowered Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) to temporarily perform the functions of speaker until Jan. 3, 2024.

Florida's Byron Donalds is now a candidate for U.S. House Speaker • Florida Phoenix - Florida Phoenix

Florida's Byron Donalds is now a candidate for U.S. House Speaker • Florida Phoenix.

Posted: Fri, 20 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The speaker is responsible for maintaining decorum in the House and may order the Sergeant-at-Arms to enforce House rules. As the office has developed historically, however, it has taken on a clearly partisan cast, very different from the speakership of most Westminster-style legislatures, such as the speaker of the United Kingdom's House of Commons, which is meant to be scrupulously non-partisan. The speaker in the United States, by tradition, is the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, outranking the majority leader. However, despite having the right to vote, the speaker usually does not participate in debate and only votes on the most significant bills.

Donald Trump?

I told my colleagues if you want someone who's honest, who's got courage and a strong work ethic, I would love to be your speaker. After roughly two and a half hours, the GOP House speaker candidate forum has ended. The process will continue until there are only two candidates left or until one candidate receives a majority of the votes, whichever comes first. The lawmakers vying for the job include the No. 3 House Republican, a leader of House conservatives and a sophomore. None have the kind of commanding national profile normally required of the speaker, who is not only second in line to the presidency but a key fund-raiser for their party’s efforts to protect and expand its majority.

House GOP ends the day in state of uncertainty as 8 candidates vie for the gavel. Here's what happens next

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.

For example, from 1839 to 1863 there were eleven speakers, only one of whom served for more than one term. James K. Polk is the only speaker of the House who was later elected president of the United States. In 1997, several Republican congressional leaders tried to force Speaker Newt Gingrich to resign. However, Gingrich refused since that would have required a new election for speaker, which could have led to Democrats along with dissenting Republicans voting for Democrat Dick Gephardt (then minority leader) as speaker.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker earlier this month, following an uprising by far-right members of his own party. The unprecedented move left the House without a replacement, plunging the lower chamber into legislative paralysis with no clear path forward. He was shot at a practice of the House GOP baseball team back in 2017 and almost died. More recently, he announced he's being treated for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Scalise ideologically is also considered to the right of McCarthy in terms of how conservative he's considered.

Until a permanent Speaker is selected, legislative work in the House remains in limbo, meaning Congress can’t make progress on the appropriations bills that must be passed by mid-November to fund the government or send more military aid to Israel following the attacks by militants this weekend. Scalise, the House Majority Leader, has racked up roughly two dozen GOP endorsements while Jordan, who leads the House Judiciary Committee, is backed by former President Donald Trump and has more than 40 endorsements, though neither currently has enough votes to win the speakership. McCarthy also didn’t rule out the idea of joining the race to win back his job, telling reporters on Monday that he would seek re-election if the conference nominated him—a reversal from his vow last week that he wouldn’t enter the race. The speaker is responsible for ensuring that the House passes legislation supported by the majority party. In pursuing this goal, the speaker may use their influence over the Rules committee, which is in charge of the business of the House. Historically, there have been several controversial elections to the speakership, such as the contest of 1839.

WASHINGTON – After House Republicans voted to drop Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as their speaker nominee, a mad dash for the top job has started within the deeply divided House Republican conference. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) also could not earn the necessary 217 votes on the House floor to wield the speaker’s gavel, leading him to drop out of the race last week and paving the way for Jordan to try to secure the votes this week. On January 3, 2021, the 1st day of the 117th Congress and 2 months after the 2020 U.S. It was the 127th U.S. speaker election since the office was created in 1789. House Republicans are concerned that none of the declared speaker candidates will be able to get the requisite 217 votes on the House floor. Following the forum, Rep. Pete Sessions — one of the eight candidates — called the meeting “productive” and said it “really helped getting us prepared for tomorrow,” when the conference will vote for its third candidate to succeed Kevin McCarthy.

Asked if he wanted to resume serving as Speaker, McCarthy said that the decision was not up to him, and that he would support whatever his fellow Republicans wanted. He was diagnosed with blood cancer over the summer and is currently undergoing intensive treatment. In 2017, he survived an assassination attempt during a congressional baseball practice, sustaining serious injuries that continue to affect him today, including a limp. "Congressman Sessions believes he can forge a positive path as a conservative leader who can unite the Conference," Sessions' office said in a statement. "We need a different type of leader who has a proven track record of success, which is why I'm running for Speaker of the House," Hern said in a statement. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., began making calls to run for speaker after Jordan's exit from the race, according to a source familiar.

A number of House Republicans were still undecided on whom they will back as speaker as they headed into a forum where the candidates will make their pitch. “I think people are so discouraged by what's happened the last three weeks, that they want to come together. They're making some great cases, and I think we'll have a speaker tomorrow night.