# The House should elect a speaker who is not a congressman. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 22, 2015, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438 "2015-10-22T08:43:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![snowmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@snowmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowmaster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/1 "2015-10-22T08:43:46Z")
Perhaps one of the Presidential candidates could get a big experience and credibility boost by doing the job for a while. I’d be for one of the FL / OH guys. Kasich? This would really raise his profile and make him a serious contender. Of course, what happens to any new speaker is anyone’s guess. If a candidate/speaker had the party further fragment and congress melt down, his or her Presidential run would be over. This might also be a strategy for traditional republicans to bump Trump out of contention. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/2 "2015-10-22T09:23:14Z")
Don’t you, constitutionally, have to be a Member of the House to be Speaker? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/3 "2015-10-22T09:24:39Z")
With all the candidates running, it would be impossible to line up a majority of Republican congressmen behind any one of them. If there was any clear front runner around to have that level of support, he or she would already have the nomination sewn up and wouldn’t need the job to win it. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/4 "2015-10-22T09:26:24Z")
No, anyone can be Speaker. Tom Cotton suggested Dick Cheney for Speaker, a few days ago. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/5 "2015-10-22T10:37:53Z")
Better yet, Trump for Speaker. It’ll be terrific! ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/6 "2015-10-22T12:00:48Z")
I’ll run for Speaker and insist on family leave for myself while at the same time saying that ordinary people shouldn’t be able to get it. Oh damn, Ryan already is running on that. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/7 "2015-10-22T12:12:05Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ll run for Speaker and insist on family leave for myself while at the same time saying that ordinary people shouldn’t be able to get it. Oh damn, Ryan already is running on that. Never mind. I have no love for the GOP but I hate strawmen like this. Ryan isn’t saying that no one should get family leave or that, like in his case, someone can’t get it as part of a job negotiation. He is saying that it shouldn’t be automatically granted to everyone by law. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/8 "2015-10-22T12:25:31Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > He is saying that it shouldn’t be automatically granted to everyone by law. Which is the only way the common person will ever get it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/9 "2015-10-22T12:32:06Z")
Of course it’s different for Ryan. He’s wealthy and is in a position to make demands like this. Poor people are in no position to make such demands to their employers and must rely on their representatives to, you know, represent their interests. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/10 "2015-10-22T13:00:30Z")
Well, his wife is wealthy, he’s not really all that wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/11 "2015-10-22T13:03:29Z")
If you married wealth, you are wealthy. And as Speaker, he’ll be flown by the military every time he goes to Wisconsin which presumably will be weekly. Remember the outrage over Nancy Pelosi’s trips on military planes? Think this will transfer to Ryan? Didn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/12 "2015-10-22T13:05:47Z")
Anytime you take advantage of your position to get undeserved perks you’ll take heat for it. But Ryan will probably fly commercial. Boehner did: > **[GOP Pledge-O-Meter: | PolitiFact](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/gop-pledge-o-meter/promise/690/boehner-will-fly-commercial/)** > > PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/13 "2015-10-22T13:18:32Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Well, his wife is wealthy, he’s not really all that wealthy. Man, I’d love to be that kind of “not wealthy.” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/14 "2015-10-22T13:20:44Z")
Me too, but he hasn’t been married long and you know how modern marriage is. Ryan could easily be back to relative pauperhood with his mere $400,000 in wealth. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/15 "2015-10-22T13:48:43Z")
Maybe so, but a hypothetical future scenario in which he is no longer wealthy is not the same as a concrete present where he is. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/16 "2015-10-22T13:54:44Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Which is the only way the common person will ever get it. He grew up as a common person. He wasn’t born into wealth. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/17 "2015-10-22T14:01:22Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > He grew up as a common person. He wasn’t born into wealth. So he climbed the ladder and kicked it out from under him when he reached the top. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/18 "2015-10-22T14:11:38Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > So he climbed the ladder and kicked it out from under him when he reached the top. No. It didn’t take it away from anyone. You’re trying to find hypocrisy where none exists. Plenty of companies offer family leave, mine among them. Some states have a form of family leave too. He isn’t trying to end that. There are enough reasons to dislike Ryan’s politics without resorting to somethings that makes for a silly meme. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/19 "2015-10-22T14:12:37Z")
> [@snowmaster](#): > > Perhaps one of the Presidential candidates could get a big experience and credibility boost by doing the job for a while. I’d be for one of the FL / OH guys. Kasich? This would really raise his profile and make him a serious contender. Of course, what happens to any new speaker is anyone’s guess. If a candidate/speaker had the party further fragment and congress melt down, his or her Presidential run would be over. This might also be a strategy for traditional republicans to bump Trump out of contention. > [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > Don’t you, constitutionally, have to be a Member of the House to be Speaker? Wow. Doesn’t anybody (A) remember recent threads, or (B) do a simple search? I did a thread like this just a couple weeks ago. > **[Outsiders for Speaker of the House](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=771596)** > > Since the Speaker of the House doesn’t have to be a member of the House of Representatives, I’ve been amusing myself by thinking of other Republicans who fit the bill. I wonder what the Dope would think about Speaker Limbaugh. 🙂 To keep this... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438/20 "2015-10-22T14:21:34Z")
What is the point of a Speaker who is not a Representative right now? The House has a clear Republican majority, and not one that is going to elect someone that isn’t a strong Republican partisan. Pretty much anybody that gets this job now will be a puppet whether or not they are a House member. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-house-should-elect-a-speaker-who-is-not-a-congressman/735438.md?page=2)