Questions tagged [speaker]
Questions related to the position of Speaker, typically the person who is the presiding officer or chair of a legislative body. Do not use this for people who are merely making speeches.
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Is US Speaker Johnson's voting pattern on legislation related to individual freedom consistent with his ideology of 7 Core Principles of Conservatism?
In CNN's coverage of the new US House Speaker's "acceptance speech", Speaker Mike Johnson says (after 16:54)
In his farewell address, President Reagan explained the secret of his rapport ...
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Were there lobbyists in the closed-door meeting the night before the floor vote electing the new US Speaker? To whom is Rep. Tim Burchett referring?
In CNN's October 25, 2023 GOP lawmaker says colleagues need to 'get off their butts and get to work (an apparently tired) US representative Tim Burchett discusses the closed door meeting that took ...
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Why don't members of the minority party in the U.S. House of Representative ever force a vote to vacate the Speakership?
My understanding is that the current rules of the U.S. House of Representatives allow any member of the House - including members of the minority party - to offer a motion to vacate the office of ...
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How many votes did Scalise receive for speaker in the full House?
I can find information about how much he earned against Jordan in the Republican-only vote but amazingly not about how much he earned in a straight vote in the full house. I've only read that it's ...
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Why did Democrats vote to vacate the Speaker of the House? [duplicate]
Yesterday the House of Representatives voted to vacate Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. This vote was called by Matt Gaetz, a member of a far-right faction of the Republican caucus, who were ...
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What did the Democrats have to gain by ousting Kevin McCarthy?
The Guardian in the UK reports that:
eight hard-right Republicans joined 208 Democrats in supporting McCarthy’s removal
So it was really the Democrats who ousted McCarthy. But McCarthy seemed as ...
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Can the US House function without a speaker?
For reasons that are off-topic to this question, McCarthy might lose a motion to vacate (some news are calling it a vote of no confidence, which is the wrong term); but it's clear that no other ...
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What happens if a non-representative is elected speaker of the House?
On the seventh and eighth ballots, Matt Gaetz cast a vote for Donald Trump.
What would have happened if Donald Trump (or any other person) had won a majority and had wanted to take that function?
In ...
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Does the election of a Speaker of the US House of Representatives immediately install them, or can they refuse the position?
With all the shenanigans surrounding the election of McCarthy, I got to wondering: does being elected Speaker mean that you immediately become Speaker, or do you have an opportunity to refuse? If ...
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Does anything bind the speaker of the House to a previous concession made for support?
A lot of the holdout for McCarthy seems to be dissolving because of backroom deals. Are these backroom deals binding? Does anything for example force McCarthy to accept a motion to vacate (remove the ...
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If Kevin McCarthy becomes Speaker of the US House of Representatives, can he be removed later? [duplicate]
At present (January 6th 2023) Kevin McCarthy is trying to be elected as Speaker of the House. As there is a majority of Republicans in the new house, you might expect this to be straightforward, but ...
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What is the effect of U.S. House members being sworn in?
In the January 2023 crisis over electing Speaker of the House in the U.S., usually one of the first things mentioned in any coverage is that without a Speaker, "House members can't even be sworn ...
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What is the procedure for electing a Speaker of the House by plurality vote?
In 1849 and 1856, the US House of Representatives elected a speaker by plurality vote after repeated failures to elect one by majority vote (62 failed ballots in 1849, 132 in 1855-1856). What is the ...
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Would it be sensible for the House Democrats to vote for McCarthy as speaker?
It is my understanding that McCarthy is struggling to get elected, because some more extreme Republicans regard him as 'too moderate'. Doesn't that mean that the choice is basically McCarthy or ...
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Exactly what, if anything, can the House do before electing a Speaker?
There's lots of questions currently about how the House elects its Speaker and what happens when it can't, and it's generally accepted that the House can't actually do anything else until a Speaker is ...
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What happens if they don't elect the speaker of the House by the day representatives' terms end? [duplicate]
What happens if they don't elect the speaker of the House by the day representatives' terms end? If new representatives are not sworn in (it's the speaker's job, as I understand it), but old ones are ...
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What is the process for nominating a Speaker of the House?
I've now read that McCarthy has failed 6 times in his bid to be speaker, many in the past few days. Why is it only him that I'm reading about? Can the Democrats nominate someone too, even if they fail ...
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Is there a time limit to elect the Speaker of the House of Representatives?
As Kevin McCarthy is approaching his fifth defeat for a role as Speaker of the House of Representatives, I am interested to know whether there is a time limit (or special measures in place) until ...
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What are the exact voting rules for electing the Speaker of the House of Representatives?
Why did Hakeem Jeffries not become Speaker when he received 212 votes while Kevin McCarthy only received 203 (see news source)? What are the exact voting rules (including the minimum number of votes, ...
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Why would voting for a US House Speaker candidate from a majority party be "taboo" and punishable if you're a member of a minority party?
If I'm a US House representative and a member of the numerical minority party, and the majority party is struggling to get consensus on a candidate for House Speaker that I find particularly ...
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From when & where is Kevin McCarthy quoted as saying "...there's two people I think, Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump."?
The April 28, 2022 Lincoln Project video Laughing includes an audio clip of someone quoting the current US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as follows:
"There's... there's two people, I ...
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How might Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the UK House of Commons "play hardball"?
In a statement to the House of Commons on the 13th December 2021, the Speaker expressed frustration at the Prime Minister's failure to appear in the chamber, following a televised statement the ...
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Why does US law allow for a speaker that is not elected? [closed]
The question is based on an article from NPR which states that "there's no requirement that the speaker has to be an elected representative." Part of my question was not answered in the ...
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Non Elected House Speaker [duplicate]
This question is related to this article from NPR. The article states that "there's no requirement the speaker has to be an elected representative." This is referring to to US House. The ...
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How does the Speaker of the House know who's who?
In the US House of Representatives, when a member rises to be recognized the Speaker (or whoever is presiding at the time) always addresses the member as the gentleman/woman from (a particular state). ...
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What powers does the speaker of the House of Representatives have?
What official and unofficial powers does the speaker have personally and what powers do they have that require other members’ approval?
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Can Kevin McCarthy realistically be elected Speaker of the House, albeit temporarily?
There are various articles floating around noting that incumbent Speaker Nancy Pelosi faces "tight margins" for the Speaker's election, especially since the coronavirus pandemic may force ...
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Why is the current Presiding Officer in Scottish Parliament a member of Labour Party, and not the Scottish National Party?
As of 2016, the Presiding Officer (i.e. Speaker) in the Scottish Parliament is Ken Macintosh.
The curious thing is that Macintosh is a former member of the Labour Party (Presiding Officers are ...
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In parliamentary systems, why are Speakers of Parliament often granted special independence, despite no such protection is required in Constitution?
In parliamentary systems, the Speaker (once elected by the Parliament) usually cannot be removed by a decision of Parliament, which grants them special independence to act impartially.
However, most ...
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Can the speaker invoke the 25th amendment without the Senate?
With the recent talks that Speaker Pelosi is going to "discuss" the 25th amendment in order to get rid of President Trump, what is the process for this? Does it have to be voted on in ...
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Was the scene depicting a Commons vote won by 3/4 of a vote real in "This House"?
"This House" features a scene where a vote in the Commons is practically tied, but then the Speaker decides that one of the parties' case is stronger and says that they win by 3/4 of a vote.
I've not ...
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Role of Speakers and Deputy Speakers in voting
In the UK House of Commons, the Speaker can only vote to break ties. The Deputy Speakers do not take part in partisan politics either, and can only raise constituency concerns.
Now, suppose the ...
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To whom does "Madam Speaker" refer during the Trump impeachment debate?
Trump impeachment vote is underway. Every representative is making their case for or against the articles of impeachment. Every one of them is addressing the "Madam Speaker".
But what I see is that ...
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Why did the Conservatives yield the Speaker chair?
I know it has been a tradition of sorts for the Speaker to alternate between the main parties, but isn't it rather dangerous for the Conservatives to have allowed a Labour MP (Hoyle) to become speaker,...
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Why is the Speaker of the House of Commons (UK) elected by secret ballot?
In the UK, parliamentary votes are usually public, so that MPs remain accountable for their actions. Since 2009, votes to choose the Speaker of the House of Commons have been taken by secret ballot. I ...
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Does no-one standing against the speaker of the house in UK lead to the local electorate being disenfranchised?
By tradition no-one stands against the speaker of the house in the UK when they are re-elected as an MP.
However if I feel passionately that I want to vote for a particular party and I am in the ...
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Honourable versus Right Honourable Members
I heard John Bercow, the current former Speaker of the British House of Commons, often talk to "the Honourable and Right Honourable Members of Parliament".
Can somebody please explain to me ...
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How does the Speaker vote if there is a tie?
If there is a tie in a vote, how does the Speaker vote? Does the Speaker conventionally vote with the Government?
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How (un)common is it for the speaker to appear on television (parliamentary footage excluded)?
Speaker Bercow recently appeared in a Dutch talk show, however, I haven't seen him appear on any British TV shows (except of course for parliamentary footage in which he appears a lot for obvious ...
JJJ♦
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Do UK voters know if their MP will be the Speaker of the House?
Regarding the office of the Speaker of the House of Commons in the UK, I am wondering if voters know at election time if the MP they are voting for will become the Speaker (in which case, they will ...
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How do the PM, Secretaries of State and the Speaker of the House of Commons help their constituents?
The Prime Minister, Secretaries of State and the Speaker of the House of Commons seem to represent their former constituency even after they become speaker. For example, the current Speaker, John ...
JJJ♦
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Is Bercow still an MP obligated to representing his district?
Is Bercow still obligated to perform his duties representing his constituency in Buckingham while he is speaker?
Does he still get to vote on matters, or is someone else appointed or elected to ...
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Can the Speaker of the House of Representatives be replaced?
What are the requirements to replace the Speaker of the House?
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Why do members of parliament address the speaker instead of speaking normally?
This seems to be a common tradition across many legislatures and houses of parliament, there is a "speaker" (a bit of a misnomer as this person is more of a listener), and the actual person doing the ...
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Does the Speaker of the House of Commons have the power to prevent HM Government allowing the US President to speak in the Palace of Westminster?
John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, has voiced his disapproval of any invitation to Donald Trump to speak to a gathering of both Houses of Parliament.
He justifies his view citing ...
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Why is the speaker of the House of Representatives an MP?
The Speaker of the House of Representatives (Australia) is currently Bronwyn Bishop and there was, the other day, some issues raised over her bias. This led me to pose the question - why is the ...
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What are the legal requirements to be Speaker of the US House of Representatives?
The Speaker of the House in the US is not legally required to be an elected member of the House. For example, recently Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-5) suggested Colin Powell for the role. Given that, are there ...
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