What is the Speaker of the House?

Interestingly, most people do not know what the US Speaker of the House is. This is odd because the Speaker of the House is the second most powerful federal office.

The Speaker is the political and legislative leader of the US House of Representatives. These responsibilities give the Speaker immense power because the Constitution gives the House control over America’s finances. For example, the House writes the federal budget and controls tax policy.

Hence, if the President wants money to run the federal government. She has to work with the House.

Additionally, the House is where America’s laws begin. The House can write legislation and send it to the US Senate. As legislative leader, the Speaker decides which legislation gets passed. Moreover, the Speaker appoints the members of House Committee, some of which have enormous power.

Finally, the Speaker is third in the line-of-succession to the president. Thus, if terrorists kill President Joe Biden (D-Delaware) and Vice President Kamala Harris (D-California), Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-California) becomes president.

British Origins

The Speaker of the House is the only federal office the Founders modeled directly on a British office, the Speaker of the House of Commons.