this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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That's true, all members are sworn in and committees are still in place
I don't think that part is true. Every time someone quotes House rules on this, that says that the temporary Speaker can run the chamber, they leave out the bits where the temporary powers are "pending the election of a Speaker". And in this case, "pending" means "in anticipation", and implies that the only thing this temporary Speaker can do is call to elect a permanent one.
The House is the final authority of it's own rules. If they say the Speaker Pro Tempore can conduct house business, then he can. End of discussion.
Not quite. The Constitution says that there must be a Speaker, chosen by its members. The Speaker Pro Tem was picked by a single member, the outgoing speaker, based on a list he provided prior to exiting. He does not meet the Constitutional requirement to fill the chair, and will not unless the entire body chooses him.
He is Speaker for the present. Constitutionally he fulfills the position of speaker of the house. At this point the house can decide how they want to proceed.
No, he does not.
That implies a vote among the whole membership, not some list some guy made.
The house has chosen the new speaker. He is an interim because of the agreement of the house to hold another vote at some point. But he is for all intents and purposes the new speaker. The house members voted to replace the former speaker with a temporary one, that is how they chose. Additionally the voting system can be anything the house wants it to be. If the house says that the current speaker gets to choose the new speaker, that would fulfill the requirement. There is not specific method the house has to use to choose the new speaker.
They could have foot race, and the winner of that foot race is the new speaker. Totally constitutionally legal. They can also choose a new speaker in any manner they wish.
As far as how the current speaker of the house was chosen. From the public timeline of the The House (reverse chronological order):
04:46:55 PM The House received a message from the Acting Clerk. The Acting Clerk notified the House that the Honorable Patrick T. McHenry is the first name on the letter he received pursuant to clause 8(b)(3)(B) of rule I.
04:46:33 PM The Chair announced that the Office of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant.
04:45:30 PM H. Res. 757 On agreeing to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 216 - 210 (Roll no. 519).
https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/documents/117-House-Rules-Clerk.pdf clause 8(b)(3)(B) of rule I
"(A) In the case of a vacancy in the Office of Speaker, the next Member on the list described in subdivision (B) shall act as Speaker pro tempore until the election of a Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore. Pending such election the Member acting as Speaker pro tempore may exercise such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate to that end. (B) As soon as practicable after the election of the Speaker and whenever appropriate thereafter, the Speaker shall deliver to the Clerk a list of Members in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore under subdivision"
So to translate. According to the rules of the current session of congress (117th) that was ratified by the house of representatives after they were seated in January 2022. If the Speaker has been declared vacant by the majority of representatives, then Rule 1 Section 8 will be invoked. So that list that "some guy" made, is the actual and constitutional next speaker of the house. End of story. There is nothing magic about it. It was just the agreed upon rules of this congress from 10 months ago.
This is so, so wrong. The motion was to "vacate the chair", not to play musical chairs. The chair is still vacant. There is no constitutionally empowered Speaker, just a guy the House agrees can help it choose the next one, once he gets around to it.
Is that PowerCrazy guy still arguing about it? I blocked his nonsense so I can only assume that’s what’s happening here.
edit: tbf, it could be someone or something else
Can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink. I hope you don't vote.