January 13, 2006

The Constitutional Speaker

Absent amid the chatter that House GOPers may hold elections for their entire leadership slate and not just Maj Leader is one small matter -- the election of the Speaker is ordained by the Constitution, not the GOP Conference.

Article I, Section 2 makes no mention of "Whips" or "Majority Leaders," but it does say that the "House of Representatives shall choose" its Speaker. In other words, the possibility of a top-to-bottom leadership election is more complicated than it sounds.

We write this knowing full well that that the odds are against even a push to hold elections for Speaker. Heavily against, we should say.

But with the issue raised but not explained, we thought it was worth putting on our Civics cap and examining exactly how such a mid-Congress election for Speaker could occur.

So we asked Richard Cohen of the National Journal, one of the preeminent Congressional chroniclers of our time, for some help with the history and rules.

It's complicated, but here's what we think happens, absent a death or vacancy.

The very short answer as to how an election would occur is this: the Speaker, himself, calls for one.

The longer, and politically more improbable, answer is that a member of the House GOP Conference would first have to, in a meeting of the Conference, make a motion to vacate the nomination of the Speaker.

Upon that motion passing, there would then be a vote in the Conference on vacating the office. That would then trigger the Conference voting on a new nominee for Speaker. (Minority Leader Pelosi could also make this motion.)

The party's nominee chosen, the action would then move out of the Conference and into the Congress, so to speak. This would take place upon the -- in this hypothetical case -- GOP Conference Chair submitting a privileged resolution on the floor of the House calling on the Speakership to be vacated.

If such a measure were to pass, the full House would then vote on a new Speaker based upon the nominees selected by each party in their respective Conferences/caucuses.

The only time in recent history that something like this has taken place, was in the 101st Congress in '89 when Speaker Jim Wright (D-TX) created a vacancy by resigning as Speaker -- and later from Congress -- during the session. Wright, though, resigned.

A move to vacate the office without the consent of the sitting (or should we say standing?) Speaker would be unprecedented. Not to mention very, very unlikely.

In any event, now you know.

Posted at 12:53 PM

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