“Speakerless Republicans: Should We Do Away with the Post?

The Republican Party has been split in recent years, with a dramatic shift in views and focus for the party. However, some Republicans are making waves lately by saying that they don’t believe that the position of Speaker of the House is even necessary. This point of view has been pushed forward by some prominent Republicans, such as Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan. He expressed this point of view on Twitter stating, “The concept of theSpeaker no longer fits our constitutional design nor the reality of divided government.” Amash believes that theSpeaker position is essentially a ruse to keep power in the hands of the political elite. Others, like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, have spoken out in support of Amash’s view and predicted that any group that gets elected to the House will likely be smart enough to name a functioning majority leader, without getting into the drama of vote-casting for a speaker. Proponents of scrapping the Speaker position entirely argue that it encourages government stalemates and limits the effectiveness of the legislative body. Additionally, it is hard to deny that the role of speaker oftentimes leads to political drama, unnecessary standoffs, and a waste of time. However, it is worth noting that the Speaker position does create structure and accountability to ensure that legislation is voted on and debated in an orderly fashion. It also gives the leader of the party an opportunity to bring their views and ideas to the table to guide debates and possible compromises. Regardless of where one stands on this debate, it is clear that there are people in the Republican party that are passionate about this issue and are not backing down. It is yet to be seen if this point of view will gain any traction among fellow Republicans, or if the traditional roles of the House will remain unchallenged. The Republican Party has been split in recent years, with a dramatic shift in views and focus for the party. However, some Republicans are making waves lately by saying that they don’t believe that the position of Speaker of the House is even necessary. This point of view has been pushed forward by some prominent Republicans, such as Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan. He expressed this point of view on Twitter stating, “The concept of theSpeaker no longer fits our constitutional design nor the reality of divided government.” Amash believes that theSpeaker position is essentially a ruse to keep power in the hands of the political elite. Others, like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, have spoken out in support of Amash’s view and predicted that any group that gets elected to the House will likely be smart enough to name a functioning majority leader, without getting into the drama of vote-casting for a speaker. Proponents of scrapping the Speaker position entirely argue that it encourages government stalemates and limits the effectiveness of the legislative body. Additionally, it is hard to deny that the role of speaker oftentimes leads to political drama, unnecessary standoffs, and a waste of time. However, it is worth noting that the Speaker position does create structure and accountability to ensure that legislation is voted on and debated in an orderly fashion. It also gives the leader of the party an opportunity to bring their views and ideas to the table to guide debates and possible compromises. Regardless of where one stands on this debate, it is clear that there are people in the Republican party that are passionate about this issue and are not backing down. It is yet to be seen if this point of view will gain any traction among fellow Republicans, or if the traditional roles of the House will remain unchallenged.