# Speaker of the House Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958 "2016-06-09T19:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/1 "2016-06-09T19:47:33Z")
In the US Congress does the Speaker of the House have the absolute power to decide which bills, if any, get presented to the House for a debate or vote? In other words, if he/she doesn’t want to present a bill then nobody can override their decision? I would hope there would be a check and balance here. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/2 "2016-06-09T20:10:54Z")
The Speaker, who is the leader of the House’s majority, regularly meets with the majority leadership and discusses what bills to bring to the floor. There are rules for getting bills to the floor even despite the Speaker’s opposition. Different speakers have had more or less actual control, depending on personality, the unity of the majority, leverage over peers and the rules. Some, in the past, were real tyrants. > **[Thomas Brackett Reed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Brackett_Reed#As_Speaker)** > > Thomas Brackett Reed Jr. (October 18, 1839 – December 7, 1902) was an American attorney and Republican Party politician from Maine who served as the 32nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives for three nonconsecutive terms from 1889 to 1891 and 1895 to 1899. His first term was marked by a dramatic expansion of the Speaker's formal authority through changes to the House Rules, and he remains one of the most powerful Speakers in House history. > Prior to his service in Congress, R... > **[Joseph Gurney Cannon | Speaker of the House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gurney_Cannon#Speaker_of_the_House)** > > Cannon wielded the office of Speaker with unprecedented power. At the time of Cannon's election, the Speaker of the House concurrently held the chair of the Rules Committee, which determined under what rules and restrictions bills could be debated, amended, and voted on, and, in some cases, whether they would be allowed on the floor at all. As such, Cannon effectively controlled every aspect of the House's agenda: bills reached the floor of the house only if Cannon approved of them, and then in w... ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/3 "2016-06-09T20:12:52Z")
> [@](#): > > The Speaker rarely presides over regular meetings of the full House, instead [delegating the role](http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/politicalsystem/a/delegateprocess.htm) to another representative. The Speaker does, however, typically presides over special joint sessions of Congress in which the House hosts the Senate. **The Speaker exerts power over the [legislative process](http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa010899.htm) by setting the [House legislative calendar](http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/legislativetermsglossary/g/correctionscal.htm) determining when bills will be debated and voted on. The Speaker often utilizes this power to help fulfill his or her responsibility of making sure bills supported by the majority party are passed by the House.** The Speaker also serves as chair of the majority party’s House steering committee. (Bolding mine.) [About the Speaker of the House of Representatives](http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/speaker.htm) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/4 "2016-06-09T22:47:32Z")
A bill can be brought to the floor without the Speaker’s cooperation (or more commonly without a committee’s cooperation) through the use of a [discharge petition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discharge_petition). Discharge petitions are embarrassing for the leadership, so usually the threat of one (if you can back it up with enough votes) is enough to get the Speaker to cooperate. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/5 "2016-06-09T22:58:12Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > A bill can be brought to the floor without the Speaker’s cooperation (or more commonly without a committee’s cooperation) through the use of a [discharge petition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discharge_petition). > > Discharge petitions are embarrassing for the leadership, so usually the threat of one (if you can back it up with enough votes) is enough to get the Speaker to cooperate. That’s what I was looking for. Alternately you can depose the speaker and pick someone who is more reasonable to work with. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/6 "2016-06-09T23:13:42Z")
Deposing a Speaker would itself probably require a discharge petition, since an incumbent Speaker is unlikely to schedule a vote for his own ouster. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/7 "2016-06-09T23:59:24Z")
I thought Alexander Haig is in control… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zUKW0fL-OqY/hqdefault.jpg "I'm in Control Here") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUKW0fL-OqY) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/8 "2016-06-10T16:35:28Z")
Yeah. Funny how he forget about the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate, though… > **[United States presidential line of succession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession)** > > The United States presidential line of succession is the order in which the vice president of the United States and other officers of the United States federal government assume the powers and duties of the U.S. presidency (or the office itself, in the instance of succession by the vice president) upon an elected president's death, resignation, removal from office, or incapacity. > The order of succession specifies that the office passes to the vice president; if the vice presidency is simultan... ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/9 "2016-06-10T16:40:38Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Deposing a Speaker would itself probably require a discharge petition, since an incumbent Speaker is unlikely to schedule a vote for his own ouster. I assumed that since the majority party elects the Speaker they can also un-elect him and elect someone else instead. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/10 "2016-06-11T01:07:51Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I assumed that since the majority party elects the Speaker they can also un-elect him and elect someone else instead. Not speaking to the House rules specifically but deliberative bodies typically want some stability with their officers so it is normally difficult to remove them from office, especially if they’ve done nothing illegal or immoral. That being said, Boehner was informally forced out once he lost the support of the Republican side of the aisle. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-of-the-house-question/756958/11 "2016-06-11T21:26:02Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yeah. Funny how he forget about the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate, though… > > [United States presidential line of succession - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession) Interestingly though, Al probably learned the constitution in such a way that he thought he was in charge. Succession wasn’t changed to the present configuration until he was 25 years old. He was wrong, of course, but it gives some insight into his thinking. Prior to 1947 he would have had more standing.