Director of Floor Operations is the title of two staff members in the United States House of Representatives, with the majority director in the speaker's office and the minority director in the minority leader's or minority whip's office. Each director is primarily responsible for informally counting votes and ascertaining the support of their party's members of Congress for particular legislation prior to recorded votes. [1] [2]
Another responsibility of the role is persuading Members of Congress from their party to vote along with their party's Leadership, even when it is unpopular. [2] They may also be charged with coordinating outreach to allied groups of lobbyists, corporations, or unions. [3]
During the 112th Congress (2011–2012), the majority director of floor operations (for the Republicans) was Anne Thorsen [4] and the minority director of floor operations (for the Democrats) was Jerry Hartz. [1] [5]
The director can also have a deputy, who assists with counting votes and running the floor. [6] During the 111th Congress (2009–2010), the majority deputy director of floor operations (for the Democrats) was Catlin O'Neill, [7] [8] granddaughter of former Speaker Tip O'Neill. [6]
The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House and is simultaneously its presiding officer, de facto leader of the body's majority party, and the institution's administrative head. 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 positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate. They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference.
The House of Representatives of the Philippines is the lower house of Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the Senate of the Philippines as the upper house. The lower house is usually called Congress, although the term collectively refers to both houses.
John Andrew Boehner is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 8th congressional district from 1991 to 2015. The district included several rural and suburban areas near Cincinnati and Dayton.
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representatives elected from individual legislative districts for two-year terms with no limits; redistricted every 10 years, based on the 2010 U.S. census each representative represents approximately 108,734 people.
The Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Ohio. Summit County Council President Elizabeth Walters has been the party's chairwoman since January 2021.
The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 2000 U.S. census.
The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 days before the end of the presidential term to which Barack Obama was elected in 2008. Senators elected to regular terms in 2006 completed those terms in this Congress. This Congress included the last House of Representatives elected from congressional districts that were apportioned based on the 2000 census.
Kevin Owen McCarthy is an American politician who is the 55th and current speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, McCarthy is in his ninth House term, serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013, the 23rd district from 2013 to 2023, and the 20th district since 2023. Concurrent with his house terms, he served as House Minority Leader from 2019 to 2023 and as House Majority Leader from 2014 to 2019 under Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.
The speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, more popularly known as the House speaker, is the presiding officer and the highest-ranking official of the lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives, as well as the fourth-highest official of the government of the Philippines.
The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together, they comprise the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
Floor Services Chief is the title of the staff member in the speaker's or majority leader's office who runs the majority cloakroom in the United States House of Representatives. The current floor services chief is Timothy J. Harroun, appointed by Republican Speaker John Boehner. His predecessor is Barry K. Sullivan, who was appointed by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sullivan's predecessor was Harroun, who was appointed by Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert. When Harroun is floor services chief, Sullivan is minority cloakroom manager. Similarly, when Sullivan was floor services chief, Harroun was minority cloakroom manager.
United States House of Representatives Page Program was a program run by the United States House of Representatives, under the office of the Clerk of the House, in which high school students acted as non-partisan federal employees in the House of Representatives, providing supplemental administrative support to House operations in a variety of capacities in Washington, D.C., at the United States Capitol. The program ended in 2011, although the Senate Page program continued. Pages served within the U.S. House of Representatives for over 180 years.
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are elected every two years in secret balloting of their party caucuses or conferences: the House Democratic Caucus and the House Republican Conference. Depending on which party is in power, one party leader serves as majority leader and the other as minority leader.
The Hastert Rule, also known as the "majority of the majority" rule, is an informal governing principle used in the United States by Republican Speakers of the House of Representatives since the mid-1990s to maintain their speakerships and limit the power of the minority party to bring bills up for a vote on the floor of the House. Under the doctrine, the Speaker will not allow a floor vote on a bill unless a majority of the majority party supports the bill.
On October 29, 2015, during the 114th United States Congress, an election for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was necessitated by the impending resignation of John Boehner, set for October 30. Boehner was the first speaker to resign in the middle of a Congressional term since Jim Wright in 1989.
The 118th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2023, and is scheduled to continue until January 3, 2025, during the final two years of President Joe Biden's current term.
On January 6, 2015, the first day of the 114th United States Congress and two months after the 2014 U.S. House elections, the incoming House members held an election for its speaker. This was 123rd speaker election since the office was created in 1789. The incumbent, John Boehner, received 216 votes, a majority of the votes cast and was re-elected to office, despite a coordinated effort by Freedom Caucus Republicans to oust him.
On January 3, 2019, the first day of the 116th United States Congress and two months after the 2018 U.S. House elections, the incoming members of the U.S. House of Representatives held an election for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. This was the 126th U.S. speaker election since the office was created in 1789.