Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House and is simultaneously its presiding officer, de facto leader of the body's majority party, and the institution's administrative head. Speakers also perform various other administrative and procedural functions. Given these several roles and responsibilities, the speaker usually does not personally preside over debates—that duty is instead delegated to members of the House from the majority party—nor regularly participate in floor debates.[4]
| Speaker of the United States House of Representatives | |
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Seal of the speaker | |
| United States House of Representatives | |
| Style |
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| Status | Presiding officer |
| Seat | United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. |
| Nominator | Major parties (normally) |
| Appointer | House of Representatives |
| Term length | At the House's pleasure; elected at the beginning of the new Congress by a majority of the representatives-elect, and upon a vacancy during a Congress.[1] |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of the United States |
| Formation | March 4, 1789; 234 years ago (1789-03-04) |
| First holder | Frederick Muhlenberg |
| Succession | Second (3 U.S.C. § 19)[2] |
| Salary | $223,500 annually[3] |
| Website | www |
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| This article is part of a series on the |
| United States House of Representatives |
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| History of the House |
| Members |
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| Congressional districts |
| Politics and procedure |
| Places |
 United States portal |
The Constitution does not explicitly require the speaker to be an incumbent member of the House of Representatives, although every speaker thus far has been.[5][6] The speaker is second in the United States presidential line of succession, after the vice president and ahead of the president pro tempore of the Senate.[2]
The current House speaker is Kevin McCarthy of California. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected on January 7, 2023, at the beginning of the 118th Congress, and is the 55th person to serve as speaker.