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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. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section II, of the U.S. Constitution.
The House Rules provide that the chairman of a committee presides over its meetings, maintains decorum and ensures that the committee adheres to the House Rules governing committees and generally acts in an administrative role respective to such issues as determining salaries of committee staff, issuing congressional subpoenas for testimony and ...
The House has twenty standing committees; the Senate has sixteen. Standing committees meet at least once each month. [9] Almost all standing committee meetings for transacting business must be open to the public unless the committee votes, publicly, to close the meeting. [9] Open committee meetings may be covered by the media. [9]
The speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House, and is simultaneously the body's presiding officer, the de facto leader of the body's majority party, and the institution's administrative head. [1] Speakers also perform various administrative and procedural functions, all in addition to representing their own congressional ...
The speaker is the presiding officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress (i.e. biennially, after Election Day) or when a speaker dies, resigns, or is removed from the position intra-term. Since 1839, the House has elected speakers by roll call vote. [3]
The presiding officer does not accept a point of order of no quorum during general debate, or when a question is not before the House. [62] During debates, a member may speak only if called upon by the presiding officer. The presiding officer decides which members to recognize, and can therefore control the course of debate. [63]
On April 1, 1789, when the House of Representatives convened with its first quorum, [8] its initial order of business was the election of the speaker, Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, a representative from Pennsylvania. The next order of business was the election of the clerk, John Beckley of Virginia.
As the clerk of the House, Cheryl Johnson oversaw the 2023 election of a speaker as the acting presiding officer. The speaker is the presiding officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress (i.e. biennially, after Election Day) or when a speaker dies, resigns, or is removed from the ...