Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Given these several roles and responsibilities, the speaker usually does not personally preside over debates—that duty is instead delegated to members of the House from the majority party—nor regularly participate in floor debates.

[12] In practice, each party's caucus or conference selects a candidate for the speakership from among its senior leaders prior to the roll call.

[14] Upon election, the new speaker is sworn in by the dean of the United States House of Representatives, the chamber's longest-serving member.

[5] As noted by the Congressional Research Service, non-members have, on multiple occasions since 1997, received votes in speaker elections.

[8][18] In 1787, while the proposed Constitution was being considered, Pennsylvania Congress of the Confederation delegate Tench Coxe publicly wrote the following: The house of representatives is not, as the Senate, to have a president chosen for them from without their body, but are to elect their speaker from their own number .

[19]Noting that the Vesting Clause of Article I, Section I states that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives",[20] political scientist Diana Schaub has argued, "Legislative powers cannot be lodged in the hands of a non-legislative person.

"[26] Along with political scientist Matthew J. Franck,[27] Schaub, Ellis, and Dubinsky argue that permitting a Senator or an executive or judicial officer of the federal government to serve as a non-member Speaker would cause a significant breach of the constitutional separation of powers.

[21][23] Schaub, Ellis, and Dubinsky also argue that permitting a non-member to serve as Speaker would effectively exempt Speakers from the eligibility requirements of the House Qualifications Clause of Article I, Section II and from being bound by an oath of office under the Oath or Affirmation Clause of Article VI as opposed to House members.

Representatives before mentioned... and all executive and judicial Officers ... of the United States... shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution".

[29] Like the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in NLRB v. Noel Canning (2014), Ellis and Dubinsky cite an 1819 letter written by James Madison to Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Judge Spencer Roane where Madison stated that "difficulties and differences of opinion [arising] in expounding terms [and] phrases ... used [in the Constitution]... might require a regular course of practice to liquidate [and] settle the meaning of some of them.

"[23][30] In holding in NLRB v. Noel Canning that the Recess Appointments Clause of Article II, Section II does not authorize the President to make appointments while the Senate is in pro forma sessions,[31] the Supreme Court cited Marbury v. Madison (1803) and McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) in concluding that "The longstanding 'practice of the government' ... can inform [the] determination of 'what the law is'".

Scholars are divided as to whether early speakers played largely ceremonial and impartial roles or whether they were more active partisan actors.

Furthermore, several speakers became leading figures in their political parties; examples include Democrats Samuel J. Randall, John Griffin Carlisle, and Charles F. Crisp, and Republicans James G. Blaine, Thomas Brackett Reed, and Joseph Gurney Cannon.

"Czar Reed", as he was called by his opponents,[45] sought to end the obstruction of bills by the minority, in particular by countering the tactic known as the "disappearing quorum".

He also helped ensure the passage of several domestic measures and foreign assistance programs advocated by Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

Albert's successor, Democrat Tip O'Neill, was a prominent speaker because of his public opposition to the policies of President Ronald Reagan.

Republicans made O'Neill the target of their election campaigns in 1980 and 1982 but Democrats managed to retain their majorities in both years.

Hastert led the campaign to elect Tom DeLay, with whom he developed a close and effective partnership, as House Majority Whip.

[50][51] Boehner's tenure as speaker, which ended when he resigned from Congress in October 2015, was marked by multiple battles with the conservatives in his own party related to "Obamacare", appropriations, among other political issues.

Candidates opposing the Democrats had run under a bewildering variety of labels, including Whig, Republican, American (Know Nothing), and simply "Opposition".

After Democrats allied with southern oppositionists to nearly elect the North Carolina oppositionist William N. H. Smith, Sherman finally withdrew in favor of compromise candidate William Pennington of New Jersey, a former Whig of unclear partisan loyalties, who was finally elected speaker on February 1, 1860.

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.

McCarthy ultimately prevailed when the remaining six anti-McCarthy holdouts voted "present" on the 15th ballot, ending the longest multiple-ballot speaker election since before the Civil War.

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.

[76][77] While the speaker is the functioning head of the House majority party, the same is not true of the president pro tempore of the Senate, whose office is primarily ceremonial and honorary.

Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon (under Theodore Roosevelt) was particularly infamous for his marginalization of the minority Democrats and centralizing of authority to the speakership.

In more recent times, Speaker Nancy Pelosi played a role in continuing the push for health care reform during the presidency of fellow Democrat Barack Obama and in pushing for increases in infrastructure and climate spending during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden.

In this scenario, the speaker is known for undercutting the president's agenda by blocking measures by the minority party or rejecting bills by the Senate.

[84] During important debates, the speaker pro tempore is ordinarily a senior member of the majority party who may be chosen for his or her skill in presiding.

Great Seal of the United States House of Representatives
Great Seal of the United States House of Representatives
Patrick McHenry acted as speaker pro tempore in October 2023, following the removal of Kevin McCarthy.
Frederick Muhlenberg (1789–1791, 1793–1795) was the first speaker.
Henry Clay (1811–1814, 1815–1820, 1823–1825) used his influence as speaker to ensure the passage of measures he favored.
Thomas Brackett Reed (1889–1891, 1895–1899) was one of the most powerful speakers.
Joseph Gurney Cannon (1903–1911) is often considered the most powerful speaker.
Sam Rayburn (1940–1947; 1949–1953; and 1955–1961) was the longest serving speaker.
Dennis Hastert (1999-2007) was the longest serving Republican speaker.
Nancy Pelosi (first woman elected as U.S. House Speaker) behind President George W. Bush at the 2007 State of the Union Address
Kevin McCarthy became the first Speaker to be successfully removed from office in October 2023
Speaker Tip O'Neill meeting with President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush on June 1, 1981.
James Polk is the only Speaker (1835–1839) to have also served as President of the United States (1845–1849).
Speaker's office in the U.S. Capitol , during the term of Dennis Hastert (1999–2007)