# Trump as Speaker of the House...need not even win an election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 22, 2021, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020 "2021-07-22T01:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/1 "2021-07-22T01:07:58Z")
Someone please tell me this cannot happen (tl;dr: if Republicans gain control of the House in the next election they can name anyone to be Speaker and could choose Trump…no need for him to be a member of Congress). > **[PolitiFact - Trump fans pose a hypothetical: Could Donald Trump become...](https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/mar/03/could-donald-trump-become-speaker-then-president-2/)** > > A recent Facebook post offered a hopeful scenario for supporters of former President Donald Trump: It laid out a plan by ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/2 "2021-07-22T01:18:12Z")
> [@Can a private citizen become Speaker of the House?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-private-citizen-become-speaker-of-the-house/946347): > > Trump is currently pushing a reinstatement plan that involves replacing Nancy Pelosi as Speak of the House with him. Once he is Speaker, Biden and Harris are impeached and removed and voilà, Trump is President. Can Trump, private citizen, be installed as Speaker of the House if he is not an elected Congressman? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/3 "2021-07-22T01:20:13Z")
I missed that. I ask because this is in the news now: > **[Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Prevent Trump Becoming Unelected Speaker of House](https://truthout.org/articles/lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-prevent-trump-becoming-unelected-speaker-of-house/)** > > The Constitution doesn't prevent nonmembers of Congress from being selected by lawmakers to become Speaker of the House. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/4 "2021-07-22T01:20:33Z")
Yes, the House can select whomever it wishes to be Speaker, it is not limited to only House members. This has been confirmed a number of times in U.S. history when the issue has been investigated or considered for various reasons. It has never been done. Edit to add: Keep in mind other parts of this “plot”: 1. “Expose” that Biden stole the election, which will lead the Congressional Black Caucus to agree to caucus with the GOP. (The fact that anyone thinks this would happen is insane.) This is what gives them the majority necessary to select a speaker. 2. Impeach and then remove Biden and Harris from power due to again, the “proven election theft”, and the supposition that these wild conspiracy theories made sans any evidence will convince something like 20 Democrat Senators to sign on board for removing Biden/Harris from office. Trump being appointed Speaker isn’t even the craziest or least likely part of this nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/5 "2021-07-22T01:21:58Z")
Do you think the law suggested (just above your post) would work (assuming it passed)? What about a House rule? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/6 "2021-07-22T01:24:32Z")
An interesting and plausible hypothetical, but why would that worry you? Why would Trump take up the role? He’ll have to work. Not play golf. Work with other people. Sit on or refer to committees. Can’t issue executive orders. Not play golf. Can’t direct lots of government bodies to use his facilities at penalty rates. Not play golf. Now if his fans want to make him monarch, then you’d have something to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/7 "2021-07-22T01:25:46Z")
So if Trump is Speaker, then the GOP is only two assassinations away from getting the White House back again? …Wild times. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/8 "2021-07-22T01:26:18Z")
Because he is a cruel and vindictive person. He’d do it just to stick it to people he doesn’t like. He need not actually do anything even though he is supposed to if he became Speaker. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/9 "2021-07-22T01:30:23Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So if Trump is Speaker, then the GOP is only two assassinations away from getting the White House back again? If somehow Trump became Speaker I would think Biden and Harris should be a lot more scared for their lives. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/10 "2021-07-22T01:31:10Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Because he is a cruel and vindictive person. And he’d be a 100% lousy Speaker so hell if I was a Democratic President, or a Democrat or even just an American. I reckon that’d be a very effective way to throw a monkey wrench into the workings of the alt-right political machine. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/11 "2021-07-22T01:31:37Z")
A House rule would work, I’m unsure on a law. The Constitution fairly clearly states that the respective houses of Congress get to set their own rules and procedures internally. I think that legislation clearly overriding that would probably have to be very narrowly crafted to pass constitutional muster. I’m not familiar with this specifically being challenged as an area of constitutional law, but I do know that in most cases involving procedure within the houses, the courts give near-absolute deference to the legislatives houses themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/12 "2021-07-22T01:35:09Z")
I’m not so sure. Trump would be a puppet for others in Congress and simply do their bidding. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/13 "2021-07-22T01:36:58Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > if Trump is Speaker, then the GOP is only two assassinations away from getting the White House back You’ve just gotta applaud the deep institutional commitment of the USA to those core democratic principles as espoused by the Founding Fathers. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/14 "2021-07-22T01:41:51Z")
Want to get really weird? Say they make Trump Speaker of the House. Then Trump, during the State of the Union address, shoots Biden and Harris, killing them. Trump becomes president and since the US seems weirdly reluctant to prosecute a sitting president the law can’t touch him. The Republican controlled senate refuses to impeach. An extreme set of events (and I do NOT think it would happen) but not sure that it could not happen. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/15 "2021-07-22T01:42:18Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > A House rule would work, I’m unsure on a law. The Constitution fairly clearly states that the respective houses of Congress get to set their own rules and procedures internally. I think that legislation clearly overriding that would probably have to be very narrowly crafted to pass constitutional muster. I’m not familiar with this specifically being challenged as an area of constitutional law, but I do know that in most cases involving procedure within the houses, the courts give near-absolute deference to the legislatives houses themselves. A House rule wouldn’t work. By definition, if there are enough votes to make Trump the speaker, there are enough votes to overturn a rule. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/16 "2021-07-22T01:43:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I’m not so sure. > > Trump would be a puppet for others in Congress and simply do their bidding. That’s clearly what a lot of party bigwigs thought would happen with a President Trump. It didn’t exactly turn out like they thought it would. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/17 "2021-07-22T01:45:35Z")
It turned out better for them than not. The alternative was Clinton as president. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/18 "2021-07-22T01:52:19Z")
I’m not so sure about that. But that’s beside the point. My point was, I see no reason why Speaker Trump would be a puppet for others in Congress. We’ve had four years of evidence for what happens when Donald Trump gains political power. He was _not_ a puppet. He seized control of the Republican Party. Speaker Trump would just reinforce his hold on the party. As President, he had Congressional Republicans cowed and afraid to cross him. Imagine what he would do with actual institutional power over them. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/19 "2021-07-22T01:57:17Z")
Job #1 for congrersscritters is to remain congresscritters. Getting behind Trump on this would put their base supporters on crack and keep them in power. As long as you were not the person who objected you’re set. I doubt they even give a shit what happens. Republicans have been conspicuous in their willingness to not govern at all. Just keep them dollars flowing. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020/20 "2021-07-22T01:59:09Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If somehow Trump became Speaker I would think Biden and Harris should be a lot more scared for their lives. Trump has over 70,000,000 supporters. It would only take one… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-as-speaker-of-the-house-need-not-even-win-an-election/947020.md?page=2)