Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: What happens if the Speaker of the House dies?
The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress (i.e. , after a general election) or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. Since 1839, the House has elected speakers by roll call vote. Traditionally, each party's caucus or conference selects a candidate for the speakership from among its senior leaders prior to the roll call. Representatives are not restricted to voting for the candidate nominated by their party, but generally do, as the outcome of the election effectively determines which party has the majority and consequently will organize the House. Moreover, as the Constitution does not explicitly state that the speaker must be an incumbent member of the House, it is permissible for representatives to vote for someone who is not a member of the House at the time, and non-members have received a few votes in various speaker elections over the past several years. Nevertheless, every person elected speaker has been a member.
As a result of the 1980 elections, the New Progressive Party had won 26 seats and the Popular Democratic Party 25, but the latter challenged the results of the 35th Representative District, creating a tie with each party holding 25 seats, pending the final results of that district. Since the new House in 1981 was tied, it was unable to elect a Speaker, as required, by an absolute majority. To complicate matters, Ramón Muñiz (PPD 32nd District) died on the House Floor in January 1981 and Representative-elect Fernando Tonos Florenzán's election was invalidated due to him not having the constitutionally required 25 years to serve in the House, leaving the House with 25 New Progressives and 23 Popular Democrats. House Secretary Cristino Bernazard, who normally would have presided over the House only until it elected its new Speaker in its inaugural session, became the first unelected Acting Speaker of the House. During Bernazard's incumbency, he appointed co-chairs to the House standing committees and required that all House decisions and legislation be approved by consensus. After some political wrangling, in what became known as the Viera-Colberg Pact, the House elected Viera Martinez once again as Speaker for the remainder of 1981 and maverick Popular Democratic Rep. Severo Colberg Ramírez as Speaker from 1982 until 1984. In late 1981, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Popular Democratic candidate in the 35th District, and with the Popular Democrats finally filling in the two vacancies they had, that party gained control of the House, with a majority of 26. In 1982, Viera Martínez once again became the House Minority Leader.
Whenever the office of Chancellor has fallen vacant, which happens if the Chancellor dies or resigns, or if a newly elected "Bundestag" ("Federal Diet", the German Parliament) meets for the first time, the Chancellor is elected by a majority of the members of the "Bundestag" upon the proposal of the President ("Bundespräsident", literally "Federal President") ("1st voting phase"). This vote is one of the few cases in which a decision requires a majority of all elected members of the "Bundestag", not just a majority of those assembled at the time. This is referred to as the "Kanzlermehrheit" ("chancellor majority"), and is intended to ensure the establishment of a stable government. It has in the past occasionally forced ill or pregnant members to attend parliament when a party's majority was only slim.
The resignations happened not long after Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, had on 26 February 2008 blocked calls by the Liberal Democrats for an "in or out" referendum on Britain's EU membership. The Speaker's authority was called into question when, led by Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats marched out of the House of Commons, calling the Speaker's decision a constitutional "outrage". Just moments earlier, frontbench foreign affairs spokesman for the party Ed Davey had been expelled from the chamber by the Speaker's deputy, Sir Michael Lord, for further challenging the ruling.
The position is provided for by Section 17 of the Constitution of Australia. The Senate elects one of its members as president at the start of each new term, or whenever the position is vacant. This is usually—though not necessarily—a member of the party or coalition that holds the most seats in the Senate. The largest party in the Senate is not always the governing party, as government is determined by the House of Representatives. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may consequently be from different parties.
If the president dies, resigns or is otherwise removed from office, a successor is to be elected within thirty days. Horst Köhler, upon his resignation on May 31, 2010, became the first president to trigger this re-election process. Jens Böhrnsen, President of the Senate and Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and at the time President of the Bundesrat, assumed the powers and duties of head of state. Similarly, when Christian Wulff resigned in 2012, it was Horst Seehofer, Minister-President of Bavaria, as President of the Bundesrat, who assumed the powers and duties of head of state. When Heinrich Lübke, on the other hand, announced his resignation in 1968, it only came into effect the following year, a mere three months before the scheduled end of his term and after the expedited election of his successor. Back in 1949 Karl Arnold, at the time Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia and President of the Bundesrat, also acted as head of state for a few days: after the Basic Law had come into effect and he himself was elected as President of the Bundesrat, the first President of Germany was not yet elected and the office therefore vacant.
Parliament consists of the Monarch, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In recent times the House of Commons has consisted of more than 600 members elected by the people from single-member constituencies under a first past the post system. Following the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, the House of Lords consists of 26 bishops of the Church of England (Lords Spiritual), 92 representatives of the hereditary peers and several hundred life peers. The power to nominate bishops of the Church of England and to create hereditary and life peers is exercised by the Monarch, on the advice of the prime minister. By the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 legislation may, in certain circumstances, be passed without the approval of the House of Lords. Although all legislation must receive the approval of the Monarch (Royal Assent), no monarch has withheld such assent since 1708.
In the United Kingdom, Parliament consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Monarch. The House of Commons is composed of 650 (soon to be 600) members who are directly elected by British citizens to represent single-member constituencies. The leader of a Party that wins more than half the seats, or less than half but is able to gain the support of smaller parties to achieve a majority in the house is invited by the Monarch to form a government. The House of Lords is a body of long-serving, unelected members: Lords Temporal – 92 of whom inherit their titles (and of whom 90 are elected internally by members of the House to lifetime seats), 588 of whom have been appointed to lifetime seats, and Lords Spiritual – 26 bishops, who are part of the house while they remain in office.
The Lieutenant Governor serves as President of the Oklahoma Senate, but only casts a vote in the case of a tie and presides less frequently since the 1960s. The President Pro Tempore is the one who serves as leader of the Senate and is the head of the majority party. The President Pro Tempore appoints the majority floor leader and the chair of the appropriations committee. Along with the elected officers of the majority caucus (caucus chair, caucus vice chair, three assistant majority leaders and four majority whips), they comprise the leadership of the Senate majority caucus. The leader of the minority caucus is called either the Republican Leader or Democratic Leader, depending on which party is in the minority. Along with the elected officers of the minority party (assistant leaders, assistant whips and the caucus chair and vice chair), they comprise the Senate minority leadership team.
William L. "Bill" O'Brien (born July 20, 1951) is a lawyer and Republican legislator from Mont Vernon, New Hampshire who has been a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives since 2004, representing district Hillsborough-4. O'Brien was elected the Speaker of the House on December 1, 2010, when Republicans took control of the House. When Democrats regained control of the House in the 2012 election, O'Brien did not run for a leadership position.
The corresponding affirmation is:
Those elected to the House of Commons, to the Scottish Parliament, or to the Welsh Assembly who refuse to take the oath or affirmation are barred from participating in any proceedings, and from receiving their salaries. Members of the House of Commons could also be fined £500 and, have their seat declared vacant “as if [they] were dead” if they attempt to do so. Under the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866, any peer voting, or sitting in the House of Lords without having taken the oath, is subject, for every such offence, to a penalty of £500. Members of the Scottish Parliament must take the oath within 2 months of being elected, failing which they cease to be members and their seat is vacated.
A referendum on reducing the term length of Parliament from five to four years was held in the Cook Islands on 7 September 2004. It followed a referendum on the same subject in 1999 that was approved by a majority of voters, but not the two-thirds required to be passed. The proposal would amend article 37 of the constitution, which at the time read "The Queen's Representative shall dissolve Parliament at the expiration of 5 years from the date of the last preceding general election, if it has not sooner been dissolved." The change was approved by 82.27% of voters, passing the two-thirds threshold.
Further reform of the Lords has been proposed; however, reform is not supported by many. Members of the House of Lords all have an aristocratic title, or are from the Clergy. 26 Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England sit as Lords Spiritual, being the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Winchester and the next 21 longest-serving Bishops. It is usual that retiring Archbishops, and certain other Bishops, are appointed to the Crossbenches and given a life peerage. Until 2009, 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary sat in the House as the highest court in the land; they subsequently became justices of the newly created Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. At present, 786 people sit in the House of Lords, with 92 Hereditary, 26 being Bishops or Archbishops (the Lords Spiritual) and the rest being Life Peers. Membership is not fixed and decreases only on the death of a life peer.
Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib is constitutionally the President of the Senate. The current President Pro Tempore is Karen Keiser. The Majority leader is Democrat Sharon Nelson, who assumed office following a special election that gave Democrats a majority. The Minority Leader is Republican Mark Schoesler.
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom however it is an unelected chamber with all members to the House of Lords being appointed. As of August 2018, there are currently 793 members known as "Peers". The House of Lords no longer has the same powers as the House of Commons under the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 especially when it comes to blocking general legislation and the passing of financial legislation.
The Commons, the last of the "estates" of the Kingdom, are represented in the House of Commons, which is formally styled "The Honourable The Commons in Parliament Assembled" ("commons" coming not from the term "commoner", but from "", the old French term for a district). In 2016, the House consists of 650 members. Each Member of Parliament (MP) is chosen by a single constituency by the First-Past-the-Post electoral system. Universal adult suffrage exists for those 18 and over; citizens of the United Kingdom, and those of the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth nations resident in the United Kingdom, are qualified to vote, unless they are in prison at the time of the election. The term of members of the House of Commons depends on the term of Parliament, a maximum of five years; a general election, during which all the seats are contested, occurs after each dissolution (see below).
A referendum on reducing the term length of Parliament from five to four years was held in the Cook Islands on 29 June 1999. The proposal would amend article 37 of the constitution, which at the time read "The Queen's Representative shall dissolve Parliament at the expiration of 5 years from the date of the last preceding general election, if it has not sooner been dissolved." The change was approved by 64.5% of voters, but this was below the two-third majority required to modify the constitution. A second referendum in 2004 was passed by the majority required.
The bicameral Parliament of Australia consists of two Houses, the lower house is called the House of Representatives and the upper house is named the Senate. The lower house currently consists of 150 members, each elected from single member constituencies, known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats") using full-preference Instant-runoff voting. This tends to lead to the chamber being dominated by two major parties, the Liberal/National Coalition and the Labor Party. The government of the day must achieve the confidence of this House to gain and hold power.
In Brazil, when the Vice President dies, resigns or is removed from office, or when a Vice President succeeds to the Presidency, the Vice Presidency remains vacant until the inauguration of the Vice President chosen in the next election. That election is usually the presidential election held in the last year of the presidential term to choose the President and Vice President that will serve in the next four-year presidential term. Only when both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency become vacant at the same time are special elections summoned to elect a new President and Vice President to complete the pending presidential term.
30 March 2015 was the first time Parliament had ever dissolved automatically, as opposed to being dissolved by Royal Proclamation (although provision was made by the Septennial Act 1715 for Parliament to dissolve automatically after seven, and later five years, in practice dissolution was always effected shortly before the end of the five-year period by means of a Royal Proclamation). Although Prime Minister David Cameron met the Queen on the day of the dissolution, the only business discussed was the calling of the new Parliament, and not a request for a dissolution, as had happened at every such meeting historically, and the subsequent Royal Proclamation made on 30 March simply called for the holding of the next Parliament (and therefore the holding of the general election).
In the UK and Canada, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the respective upper house of parliament. The leader of the majority party in the House of Commons usually becomes the prime minister. Since 2010 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has had 650 elected members, and since 2015 the House of Commons of Canada has had 338 members. The Commons' functions are to consider through debate new laws and changes to existing ones, authorise taxes, and provide scrutiny of the policy and expenditure of the Government. It has the power to give a Government a vote of no confidence.
Ratification of the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967, with its mechanism for filling an intra-term vice presidential vacancy, has made calling on the speaker, president pro tempore, or a cabinet member to serve as acting president unlikely to happen, except in the aftermath of a catastrophic event. However, only a few years after it went into effect, in October 1973, at the height of Watergate, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned. With Agnew's unexpected departure, and the state of Richard Nixon's presidency, Speaker of the House Carl Albert was suddenly first in line to become acting president. The vacancy continued until Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president on December 6, 1973. Albert was also next in line from the time Ford assumed the presidency on August 9, 1974, following Nixon's resignation from office, until Ford's choice to succeed him as vice president, Nelson Rockefeller, was confirmed by Congress four months later.
Before the House was first elected in 1867 the role of Speaker was assumed to be for life. Thus when Edward Moore Gawne resigned in 1867, he was the first Speaker not to die in office. Since then, although it is possible to resign the office, or nowadays even to fail to be re-elected, all Speakers died in office until Sir Charles Kerruish in 1990, with the exception of John Robert Kerruish, who was elected to the Legislative Council in 1919. Since then none have died in office.
Cornwall was the first Speaker of the House of Commons to die in office. He sat in the Speaker's chair for the last time on 29 December 1788, before falling ill with a "feverish cold." He remained absent from the House for two days, but expected to return soon. On 2 January 1789 the "Commons Journal" records that "the Clerk at the Table acquainted the House that we was extremely sorry to inform them that Mr Speaker died this morning." An autopsy was carried out where "a large quantity of cold water was found in his stomach; and one of his collar bones turning with a sharp point to his lungs, had formed an abscess and occasioned his death."
The day after the incident, House Speaker Tip O'Neill condemned the behavior, and said he told Dornan, "You can settle it on the street, but don't settle it on the House floor." He also told reporters that "discipline" would ensue if "anything like that" happened again. That day, Downey stated again, "Congressman Dornan owes me and the House of Representatives an apology." Dornan responded, "Apologize for what? For calling him a wimp? I am willing to concede that perhaps he just walks, talks and acts like a little arrogant wimp. But maybe it's disinformation. Maybe he really wears a black leather jacket by night that I don't know about."