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 of Representatives, and is simultaneously the House's 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. Neither does the speaker regularly participate in floor debates.
The president pro tempore of the United States Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. Article One, Section Three of the United States Constitution provides that the vice president of the United States is the president of the Senate, and mandates that the Senate must choose a president pro tempore to act in the vice president's absence. Unlike the vice president, the president pro tempore is an elected member of the Senate, able to speak or vote on any issue. Selected by the Senate at large, usually by a resolution which is adopted by unanimous consent without a formal vote, the president pro tempore has enjoyed many privileges and some limited powers. During the vice president's absence, the president pro tempore is empowered to preside over Senate sessions. Except when necessary or to highlight important votes, the vice president and the president pro tempore rarely preside; instead, the duty of presiding officer is rotated among junior U.S. senators of the majority party to give them experience in parliamentary procedure.
Nancy Patricia Pelosi is an American politician serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019, and previously from 2007 to 2011. Pelosi has served as a U.S. representative from California since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the only woman in U.S. history to serve as Speaker and, until the inauguration of Kamala Harris as vice president, was the highest-ranking female elected official in United States history. As House Speaker, Pelosi is second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president.
Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg was an American minister and politician who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A delegate to the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and a Lutheran pastor by profession, Muhlenberg was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania. His home, known as The Speaker's House, is now a museum and is currently undergoing restoration to restore its appearance during Muhlenberg's occupancy.
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn was an American politician who served as the 43rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House Speaker, former House Majority Leader, two-time House Minority Leader, and a 24-term congressman, representing Texas's 4th congressional district as a Democrat from 1913 to 1961. He holds the record for the longest tenure as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving for over 17 years.
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 2nd Congress took place in 1790 and 1791, in the middle of President George Washington's first term. While formal political parties still did not exist, coalitions of pro-Washington (pro-Administration) representatives and anti-Administration representatives each gained two seats as a result of the addition of new states to the union.
The Clerk of the United States House of Representatives is an officer of the United States House of Representatives, whose primary duty is to act as the chief record-keeper for the House.
The United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the lower chamber of the United States Congress, along with the United States Senate, commonly known as the upper chamber, are the two parts of the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. Like its counterpart, the House was established by the United States Constitution and convened for its first meeting on March 4, 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City. The history of this institution begins several years prior to that date, at the dawn of the American Revolutionary War.
The House Democratic Caucus is a congressional caucus composed of all Democratic Representatives in the United States House of Representatives and is responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic Party leadership in the chamber. In its roles as a party conference, the caucus writes and enforces rules of conduct and discipline for its members, approves committee assignments, and serves as the primary forum for development of party policy and legislative priorities. It hosts weekly meetings for these purposes and to communicate the party's message to members. The caucus has a Caucus Chairman and Caucus Vice-Chair.
The United States House of Representatives is the lower house of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper house. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The electoral history of Nancy Pelosi spans more than three decades, from the mid-1980s to the present. A member of the Democratic Party in the United States, Nancy Pelosi was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a 1987 special election after the death of Congresswoman Sala Burton that February. In the Democratic primary, Pelosi defeated San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt, considered the more progressive candidate, with 36 percent of the vote to his 32 percent. In the subsequent runoff she defeated Republican Harriet Ross, her closest competitor, by more than a 2–1 margin.
Party leaders and whips of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot. With the Democrats holding a majority of seats and the Republicans holding a minority, the current leaders are: Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise.
The 1792 United States elections elected the members of the 3rd United States Congress. Congress was broadly divided between a Pro-Administration faction supporting the policies of George Washington's administration and an Anti-Administration faction opposed to those policies. Due to this, the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party were starting to emerge as the distinct political parties of the First Party System. In this election, the Pro-Administration faction maintained control of the Senate, but lost its majority in the House.
The 1794 United States elections occurred in the middle of President George Washington's second term. Members of the 4th United States Congress were chosen in this election. Tennessee was admitted as a state during the 4th Congress. The election took place at the beginning of the First Party System, with the Democratic-Republican Party and Federalist Party emerging as political parties, succeeding the anti-administration faction and the pro-administration faction.
The October 2015 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election took place on October 29, 2015, during the 114th United States Congress. This unusual intra-term election for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was necessitated by the impending resignation of John Boehner from the speakership and the House, set for October 30. Boehner was the first speaker to resign in the middle of a Congressional term since Jim Wright in 1989.
The January 2015 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, the first of two Speaker of the United States House of Representatives elections held that year, took place on January 6, 2015, at the start of the 114th Congress, two months after the 2014 elections. 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.
The 2019 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election took place on January 3, 2019, on the opening day of the 116th United States Congress, two months after the United States 2018 elections. This was the 126th Speaker of the House of Representatives election since the office was created in 1789. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi received 220 votes, a majority of the chamber, to become its speaker. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy garnered 192 votes, with 18 more going to others. As only 430 representatives in the 435-member House cast a vote, 216 votes were necessary in order to win.
Debra Anne Haaland is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative from New Mexico's 1st congressional district since 2019. The district includes most of Albuquerque, along with most of its suburbs. Haaland is a former chairwoman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. Along with Sharice Davids, she is one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. Congress. Haaland is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo and a 35th-generation New Mexican. Haaland is a political progressive who supports the movements to abolish ICE and to implement the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.
The 2021 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election was held on January 3, 2021, on the opening day of the 117th United States Congress, two months after the 2020 elections for the United States House of Representatives. This was the 127th Speaker of the House of Representatives election since the office was created in 1789.
