Speaker of The United States House of Representatives - Partisan Role

Partisan Role

The Constitution does not spell out the political role of the Speaker. As the office has developed historically, however, it has taken on a clearly partisan cast, very different from the speakership of most Westminster-style legislatures, such as the Speaker of the British House of Commons, which is meant to be scrupulously non-partisan. The Speaker in the United States, by tradition, is the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, outranking the Majority Leader. However, despite having the right to vote, the Speaker usually does not participate in debate and rarely votes on the floor.

The Speaker is responsible for ensuring that the House passes legislation supported by the majority party. In pursuing this goal, the Speaker may use his or her power to determine when each bill reaches the floor. They also chair the majority party's House steering committee. While the Speaker is the functioning head of the House majority party, the same is not true of the President pro tempore of the Senate, whose office is primarily ceremonial and honorary.

When the Speaker and the President belong to the same party, the Speaker normally plays a less prominent role as the leader of the majority party. For example, Speaker Dennis Hastert played a very low-key role during the presidency of fellow Republican George W. Bush. Sometimes, however, the Speaker plays a big role even when they belong to the same party as the President, such as when Speaker Nancy Pelosi played a role in continuing the push for health care reform during the presidency of fellow Democrat Barack Obama; subsequently the Republicans targeted her in the 2010 midterm election. The Republicans campaigned against Pelosi and the Democrats' legislation with their "Fire Pelosi Bus Tour"

On the other hand, when the Speaker and the President belong to opposite parties, the public role and influence of the Speaker tend to increase. The Speaker is the highest-ranking member of the opposition party and is normally the chief public opponent of the President's agenda. Examples include Tip O'Neill, who was a vocal opponent of President Ronald Reagan's domestic and defense policies; Newt Gingrich, who fought a bitter battle with President Bill Clinton for control of domestic policy; Nancy Pelosi, who clashed with President George W. Bush over domestic policy and the Iraq War; and current Speaker John Boehner, who regularly clashes with President Barack Obama over budget issues as well as other issues such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.