Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

The official title of the leader of the lower house of the United States Congress is Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

According to the United States Constitution the President leads the executive branch, and is the country's official head of state. The Vice President, whose primary duty, according to the Constitution, is to preside over the upper house, the United States Senate, is second in line. The Constitution makes the leader of the House of Representatives the third in line.

Representatives' elections are every two years, and the first order of business for the newly elected Representatives is to elect a new Speaker. Unlike the President, Representatives can replace an unpopular speaker, mid-term.

The Speaker's role not only allows him to break ties, but he or she sets the order in which bills come to the House, for discussion, he or she controls when Representatives get to speak to bills, and he or she has the power to decide a Representtive has breached the rules, and should be ejected from the chamber.

As of 2026 all Speakers have been chosen from among the currently sitting Representatives. However, in theory, the Speaker can be chosen from outside the House. President Donald Trump has suggested he should lead the United States for a third term, even though the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution imposed a two term limit on Presidents, in 1951. Supporters of Trump have suggested that the Republican Party cooperated with this plan, Trump could recruit candidates for President and Vice President who told the public they would resign, in his favor, after they were inaugurated, and he would rely on Republicans,in the House, choosing him to be Speaker of the House. If there were enough Republican Representatives to choose Trump as Speaker, and both the new President and Vice President resigned as promised, Trump supporters assert he would evade the wording of the 22nd amendment, and get a third term.