PALIN as Speaker of the House... ??!?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

I'd like to see that for the pure outrage, hilarity, and exploding heads.
It'd be a f'ing circus. :rofl:

Technically, ANYONE can be voted Speaker of the House.
It does not have to be an elected member of the House of Representatives.
Although I do not believe such an individual would be allowed to participate in voting.

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Edited for spelling

[glen123098]

1. no

[spanone]

2. you have to get elected first. then the hilarity begins

[Ter]

10. No you don't

They could give it to me and I'd be Speaker if I had the votes.

[eleny]

3. Where did you learn about that?

And btw - good grief.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

6. There is no requirement in the Constitution that the speaker must also be a current member of the...

... House of Representatives to serve as speaker. In practice though, every speaker elected HAS been an elected representative. Basically, it's not against the rules/requirements of the position... but highly unlikely.
If you are aware of any such requirement to hold the position of Speaker, let me know, but I think I might be right, here.

[eleny]

7. I asked because I didn't know even though I had civics classes ages ago

So this was new news to me. Thanks for your reply.

Even the probability of her being in that position gives me chills.

[daa]

4. Palin winners 27 LOSERS 33

The knives will be out for her, she cost them the Senate.

[gkhouston]

5. She'd get bored and quit in less than a week. n/t

[Contrary1]

8. First, she would have to learn to speak...

English.

[KamaAina]

9. The Constitutional clause in question is rather vague.

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec2

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

I read that as implying, though not directly stating, that the Speaker, along with the other officers, shall be a member of the House. But do we really want that to go to the Extreme Court? :scared:

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

11. I honestly see no implicatations anywhere.

It would be incredibaly easy to word the clause such that the HoR must choose one of their peers... but it is not mentioned anywhere. Whether the HoR chooses an elected official or outsider, all conditions of the clause are met. Therefore either course of action presents no constitutional violation. Without any clear violation of constitutional law... I'm not even sure such a case would make it to SCOTUS.

I actually think it would be a pretty savvy move to elect a non-representative Speaker into a HoR that is almost equally divided. This means ALL of the majority party members can be expected to vote without breaking decorum and the Speaker can focus 100% on leading the Majority Party. If the non-representative Speaker had prior Congressional experience... it would make even more sense.