Speaker of the House

Jordan Loftin

1.     The Constitution does not have a specific role of the Speaker of the House other than that they are chosen by the House of Representatives. The Speaker influences which bills go to which committees, influences committee assignments for new members, appoints the party’s other leaders, and rules on question of parliamentary procedure.

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House of Representatives	Senate
Leadership of the House- Speaker  Job- influence where bills go and if they are made  - appoints party leaders  - rules on parliamentary procedure - presides or leads over speaking on the floor	Leadership of the Senate- President Pro Tempore  Job- selected to take VP's place  - a chair often passed to a junior Senator in a ceremony
Majority Leader  Job- hand picked by speaker  - plans legislative program  - Second ranked member of the majority party	Majority Leader- Vice President  Job- only votes in event of tie  - president of the senate
Minority Leader Job- organizes minority party  - limited influence	Minority Leader

     3.The President and Vice President would both have to die or be removed/impeached for the Speaker to become the President. 

    4. Samuel Rayburn was the longest-serving Speaker in History.

    5. Nancy Plosi became the first woman to be The Speaker of The House in 2007 and she represented the Democratic Party.

    6. Newt Gingrich served as speaker from 1994-1999, he is famous for leading the Republican Revolution in 1994.

    7. John Boehner just resigned as Speaker of the House. He served in Congress for 20 years and was Speaker for 4 years, he quit because he was the leading Republican Party and was not supported by the Democratic Party, which is obvious. But his problem was that he was not supported by his own party, because the Republican Party is so divided. He felt like he could no longer lead the Republican Party

    8. Kevin McCarthy was considered to be a likely successor of John Boehner because he was the second highest ranked republican. But his is no longer the case because he knew hew as not going to win. He called all members of the house and too many refused to support him.

    9. The Republicans of Congress want Paul Ryan to enter the race for Speaker because he has a good reputation with the most conservative members of the Republican Party. He is also physically appealing, which sadly has influence on election. The latest news is that he has said he is not planning to run but he is thinking about it. A little contradicting, huh? 

     10. Paul Ryan currently chairs the Ways and Means Committee. Ways and Means Committee is the chief-tax writing committee in the House. The committee has power over revenues (a states annual income from which public expenses are met) such as Medicare, debt of the United States, Social Security, and more.

     11. There are 48 congressional committees. A congressional committee is a “legislative sub-organization in the US Congress that handles a specific day (rather than the general duties of the Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction.”

     12. Paul Ryan may choose not to take the job because the House is fractured and he says, “there is little chance Republicans can achieve legislative victories while President Obama is still in the White House.”

     13. If I was under Paul Ryan’s position, I think it would be a very difficult and frustrating job to deal with. But at the same time, although the House is broken and mainly democratic, I think I could make a change. Why not put effort into helping your country with what you believe is right? Also, Obama will not be there much longer and if a Republican is elected I believe there is a high chance of putting the pieces of the House back together.

    14. The Speaker of the house has never become president and the Speaker of the House is not a stepping-stone to the White House.

    15. A congressional caucus is “a group of members of the US Congress that meets to pursue common legislative objectives. Formally, caucuses are formed as congressional member organizations (CMOs) through the US House of Representatives and governed under the rules of the chamber.” The difference between a caucus and a committee is that there are about 75 caucuses and that committees have power over specific issues, but caucuses are groups that members form to follow common legislative objectives.

    16. The House of Freedom Caucus is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the US House of Representatives. During the current struggle of leadership, “The House of Freedom Caucus gives a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them. We support open, accountable, and limited government, the Constitution and the real law, and policies that promote liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.” Members want a speaker that will give the people more say in how the House is ran.

       

Never Fails 

    17. Although this current event is not specifically related to the Speaker of the House, I picked a current event on politics. I picked a current event on Trump simply because he is entertaining. After Hillary Clinton bashed Trump outside of his Las Vegas hotel on Saturday, Trump decided to tweet an update throughout the democratic debate. His first tweet was, "At the request of many, and even though I expect it to be a very boring two hours, I will be covering the Democratic debate live on Twitter!" I believe I can relate this current event to the Speaker of the House because Trump is running for power, and he has people who do not support him just like Kevin Mccarthy. Trump has made it much further than McCarthy, but he has made many people mad just like John Boehner. I am interested to see the final decision of the presidential election.