Speaker of the House is one of the most powerful positions in Congress, and a temporary speaker doesn’t have the authority to do much, scholars say.
One of the most powerful positions in Congress is the House speaker, and without someone elected to the job, scholars say the House can’t do much.
The Constitution mentions the need for a speaker but doesn’t say much more about their duties. But over time, the role of the speaker has grown to be a vast one: They call the House to order; they allow members of Congress to deliver remarks in one-minute floor speeches; they decide whether there’s a quorum to allow business to be conducted; they decide what bills get voted on; they appoint key House staff members, such as the parliamentarian and the historian. Most recently, the past two House speakers have announced an impeachment inquiry into the sitting president.
None of that can be done by the representative sitting in place of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.). “His position is temporary by the very name of it,” said Ray Smock, the historian for the House of Representatives in the 1980s and ’90s.
Congress firmed up the role of the temporary speaker after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. They approved new contingency plans in case of a catastrophic event. Now, when the speaker is elected, he or she hands the House clerk a secret list of names to temporarily replace them if they have to leave office for whatever reason. (McHenry was apparently top of the list for McCarthy.
