US House TVIV: Watch me (Whip/nay nay)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > US House TVIV: Watch me (Whip/nay nay)

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Torrannor posted:

I'm not American and only just skimmed the part of the constitution dealing with the House, but it doesn't seem like the requirement to have a Speaker comes from the constitution.

No, it does. Article One, Section 2, Clause 5. The exact scope of the position isn't defined, but its existence is.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2023 09:59

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# ¿ May 13, 2024 07:56

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Torrannor posted:

Although I guess people could interpret the "shall chose" as implying the House needs to follow this command of the constitution before doing anything else.

In a Constitutional context "shall" is in fact imperative, so yes.

And (as AtraMorS points out) it's spelled out in statute. The old House was dissolved at the end of the previous Congress. 2 USC 25 requires that the oath of office be administered to Members of the House by the Speaker before they are seated (and specifies that any member can administer the oath to the Speaker).

So right now the US doesn't have a House of Representatives. It has a bunch of Representatives-elect who need to select a Speaker before they can be formally seated and have their first session.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2023 12:17

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