Monday, April 29, 2024

House of Representatives Definition, History, & Facts

speaker of the house responsibilities

On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden was “monitoring the situation closely” and that some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior. Biden said that he did not want the National Guard to be deployed to campuses. Some Republicans have called for sending in troops, an idea with a fraught history. Four students were shot and killed at Kent State University by members of the Ohio National Guard during protests over the Vietnam War in 1970.

Democrats and durability

Through these and other rulings, Reed ensured that the Democrats could not block the Republican agenda. Ryan, then just 45, was the youngest speaker in nearly 150 years but had already been party's vice presidential nominee on the 2012 ticket. Once he had Boehner's job, however, he experienced much the same internal strife. Ryan also had a strained relationship with then-President Donald Trump, with whom he had a falling out during the fall 2016 campaign.

PHOTOS: Protesters vandalize PSU office, Pioneer Courthouse

Elected Speaker on April 1, 1789, the day the House convened to start the 1st session of the 1st U.S. 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. The first Speaker of the House was Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, elected during the first session of Congress in 1789.

Services

While it is not required, the Speaker usually belongs to the majority political party. When the House of Representatives convenes at the beginning of a new Congress, its first order of business is to elect a Speaker. Because the House dissolves at the end of a Congress and must start anew at the beginning of each new Congress, the Clerk of the House presides over the House under general parliamentary law until a Speaker is elected. In 1839, this method was changed to election by vive voce, meaning that each Member names aloud whom he or she favors for Speaker.

What role Speaker Mike Johnson's religious views play in his politics - ABC News

What role Speaker Mike Johnson's religious views play in his politics.

Posted: Fri, 27 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The role of the Speaker also extends to the requirement in House Rule V, clause 1, that he or she administer a system for audio and video broadcasting of the proceedings of the House. Rule I, clause 9, provides for the Speaker, in consultation with the minority leader, to devise a system of drug testing in the House. Such a motion to vacate had only been subject to a floor vote once in the House’s history. On two other occasions, lawmakers considered a motion to vacate, but the vote never made it to the House floor. The current controversy over the Speaker of the House of Representatives has highlighted that position’s role as one of the most important elected officials in Washington.

About state leadership positions

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.

Rep. Mike Johnson

The positions that a member has held in Congress, such as service on important committees, are evaluated. Fundraising ability, media prowess, and communications skills are increasingly important criteria for leadership. The ability to forge winning coalitions and the connections that a member has to leaders in the Senate or the executive branch are factored into the decision (Peabody, 1976). From 1977 to 1995, three successive Democratic speakers — Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, Jim Wright and Tom Foley — reinvigorated the speakership. They enlarged the party leadership structure, creating wider networks of loyalty among members of the majority party while strengthening support for their priorities.

The Speaker of the House: House Officer, Party Leader, and Representative

speaker of the house responsibilities

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. 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. The power of the speaker was greatly augmented during the tenure of the Republican Thomas Brackett Reed (1889–1891, 1895–1899). Reed, however, declared that members who were in the chamber but refused to vote would still count for the purposes of determining a quorum.

Both lasted only the minimum two years, the first ending with Democratic Harry S. Truman's surprise White House win in 1948. Martin was back four years later when Eisenhower was first elected president in 1952, but that tour at the top was cut short by his party's sharp losses two years later. Gingrich managed to restore many of the powers of the speakership but clashed repeatedly with Clinton and even with Republican leaders in the Senate. In 1997, in his second Congress as speaker, he barely survived a largely covert challenge from within his own leadership team.

Despite the White House criticism of violent college protests and Biden’s refusal to heed demands to cut off U.S. support for Israel, Republicans blame Democrats for the disorder and have used it as a backdrop for press conferences. His career in elected office began as a county official when he was only 28 years old, and he’s always espoused the political importance of compromise. The Democratic president broke days of silence on the protests with his remarks, which followed mounting criticism from Republicans who have tried to turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel. By focusing on a law-and-order message while defending the right to free speech, Biden is grasping for a middle ground on an intensely divisive issue in the middle of his reelection campaign. Though Johnson has been under heavy fire from conservatives, lawmakers have become skeptical that Greene would call up a motion to vacate against the speaker, a procedural vote that if passed, would oust Johnson. Johnson is currently facing an existential threat to his speakership led by conservative rabble rouser Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who is seeking to force the speaker out from his post for working with Democrats to pass legislation, including Ukraine aid.

The Constitution does not require the speaker to be a member of Congress, although all speakers have been members. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was the first woman Speaker of the House, serving from 2006 to 2010. Media coverage of Pelosi frequently included references to her gender, clothing, emotions, and personal style. Pelosi’s choice of Armani suits was much noted in the press following her selection. Pelosi was replaced by Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) when the Republicans took control of the House following the 2010 midterm elections. Speakers’ personal styles have influenced the evolution of the position.

In addition, the speaker appoints members and chairpersons of regular committees, special or select committees, conference committees, and designates a majority of the Committee on Rules. In contrast, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), who took office in 1999, exhibited an accommodating leadership style and was considered a “nice guy” by most members. He worked behind the scenes to build coalitions and achieve his policy initiatives. After the election of President George W. Bush, Hastert coordinated a communications strategy with the executive branch to promote a Republican policy agenda. His cooperative approach was effective in getting important budget legislation passed (Davidson & Olezek, 2002).

In 1989 Speaker Jim Wright of Texas resigned under pressure following revelations about a book deal the House Ethics Committee saw as circumventing fundraising rules. Longworth's successor, John "Cactus Jack" Garner of Texas, left the office after just over a year to be Franklin Roosevelt's first vice president. Prior to the GOP's 40-year sentence as the minority party, several of its speakers had risen to the top rung largely on their personal popularity among their colleagues. One was Joseph Martin of Massachusetts, who led the party in the House during two brief interludes of majority status after World War II.

The allocation of seats is based on the population within the states, and membership is reapportioned every 10 years, following the decennial census. House members are elected for two-year terms from single-member districts of approximately equal population. The House of Representatives shares equal responsibility for lawmaking with the U.S. As conceived by the framers of the Constitution, the House was to represent the popular will, and its members were to be directly elected by the people. In contrast, members of the Senate were appointed by the states until the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment (1913), which mandated the direct election of senators. Paul Ryan’s House retirement means that a new person will assume his role of Speaker of the House of Representatives next January and become one of the most important elected officials in Washington.

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