No speaker. Does it matter?

It’s been 100 years. And McCarthy is only the second.

The last and only other time a speaker of the House wasn’t elected on the first ballot was in 1923. Like today’s 222 of a total 435 seats, in 1923 Republicans also had a slim majority, so while it’s very unlikely, with such stark division within the troops a minority-party speaker is at least a theoretical possibility.

Usually, it takes a majority of the House's 435 members, 218 votes, to become speaker. That statement was qualified because a speaker could win, and some have, without that majority if some members are absent or take the neutral option of simply saying “present” during the vote.

Without a speaker, the newly reopened House of Representatives can’t fully function. Speakers name committee chairmen (who have a crucial role in moving draft legislation forward), manage floor proceedings and launch any planned investigations.

The speaker is the presiding officer of the House, elected with each new two-year term of Congress. According to governing law and House rules, the speaker maintains order, manages proceedings and essentially takes care of House business. It’s meant to be an impartial role, including a duty to equally protect the rights of majority and minority parties. For a while, Congress imposed term limits, so a speaker could only serve four consecutive terms. That was repealed in 2005.

While a few days delay probably won’t affect the country much, let’s hope this isn’t like 1849. That year the House had been in session nearly three weeks and tried 58 times to elect a speaker. Finally, after the 59th, they adopted a resolution allowing the speaker to be elected by plurality, then confirmed it with a regular majority vote.

Over the years, speakers or parties have reached beyond their procedural purviews only to be reined in. According to the rules, a speaker can’t interpret the legal effect of a pending measure or comment on its merits. They can’t get involved in committee reports or member floor presentations (except to maintain order). The rules state they’re not supposed to respond to hypothetical questions or say how they’d decide something in advance, unless the matter is officially presented. In some ways, while they remain partisan as elected officials, the rules suggest they must maintain certain neutralities and distance almost like a judge in a courtroom.

For a full description, see the official guide at govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-108/html/GPO-HPRACTICE-108-35.htm.

And of course, the speaker is second in line to a vacated presidency, after the vice president. With no speaker, next up would be the president pro tempore of the Senate (currently neighboring Washington’s Patty Murray).

Stay tuned, America. This could be interesting.

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Sholeh Patrick, J.D., is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network and former state lobbyist. Email sholeh@cdapress.com.