House speaker before newt

The speaker of the United States House of Representatives , commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker , is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives , the lower chamber of the United States Congress. Speakers also perform various other administrative and procedural functions. 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.

The Constitution does not explicitly require the speaker to be an incumbent member of the House of Representatives, although every speaker thus far has been, and as a member the speaker also represents their district and retains the right to vote.

Speaker of the house republican

The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress, biennially , after a general election , or when a speaker dies, resigns, or is removed from the position during a congressional term. At the start of a new Congress, those voting to elect the speaker are representatives-elect, as a speaker must be selected before members are sworn in to office; the House of Representatives cannot organize or take other legislative actions until a speaker is elected.

Since , the House has elected speakers by roll call vote. To be elected speaker, a candidate must receive a majority of votes from the members present and voting. If no candidate wins a majority, the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected. Representatives who choose to vote for someone other than their party's nominee usually vote for someone else in their party or vote " present ", in which case their vote does not count in tallying the vote positively or negatively.

Anyone who votes for the other party's candidate could face serious consequences, as was the case when Democrat James Traficant voted for Republican Dennis Hastert in th Congress.