Kevin McCarthy fought furiously for the job of Speaker of the House. Now Matt Gaetz is challenging him for that position. Why?
I asked my new friend ChatGPT to provide me with a little background.
Where is the Speaker of the House in the Presidential Succession plan?
ChatGPT
The Speaker of the House of Representatives is fairly high in the presidential succession plan in the United States. The presidential succession plan is outlined in the Presidential Succession Act, which establishes the order of individuals who would assume the presidency if the President and Vice President are unable to serve. As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, here is the order of succession:
- Vice President
- Speaker of the House of Representatives
- President pro tempore of the Senate
- Secretary of State
- Secretary of the Treasury
- Secretary of Defense
- Attorney General
- Secretary of the Interior
- Secretary of Agriculture
- Secretary of Commerce
- Secretary of Labor
- Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- Secretary of Transportation
- Secretary of Energy
- Secretary of Education
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Secretary of Homeland Security
So, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is second in line after the Vice President in the presidential succession plan.
Since I have heard rumors that Donald Trump’s name might be submitted for that position by MAGA loyalists, I asked Chat one more background question.
Do you have to be a congressman to be voted Speaker of the House?
ChatGPT
No, you do not have to be a member of the House of Representatives or a congressman to be elected as the Speaker of the House. While historically, the Speaker has typically been a member of the House, the Constitution does not explicitly require the Speaker to be a member of Congress. The Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Representatives from among their own ranks, but there is no constitutional requirement that the Speaker must be a sitting member of the House.
In theory, a non-member could be elected as Speaker, although this would be an extremely rare and unlikely scenario, as the Speaker’s role is closely tied to the legislative process and the leadership of the House of Representatives. Typically, members of the majority party in the House nominate and elect one of their own party members as Speaker. In practice, the Speaker has always been a member of the House.
So, the Speaker of the House is just two heartbeats away from being the President, and the cult of Donald J. Trump has a longshot way to get him back in the Whitehouse, through this back door.
Of course, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris stand in Trump’s way.
So, what does the MAGA crowd decide to do? They opened up hearings to see if there is any way that they can impeach them, starting with Joe Biden. Do they have any evidence of impeachment-worthy High Crimes committed by President Biden? No, but that doesn’t stop them. They are hoping that if they dig and dig and dig, they will find something, anything, that they can pass off to fellow like-minded Republicans as an impeachable offense.
They tried to overthrow the government on January 6th, 2021, and failed, but they didn’t accept defeat and walk away. They continue to try and overthrow the legitimately elected President so that their cult leader can regain the Presidency.
Six of the eight debaters in the GOP Presidential debates raised their hand to acknowledge that if Donald Trump is named as the Republican candidate for President in 2024, they will support him, even if he is convicted of multiple felonies before then. They are under the control of the Donald J. Trump cult, and they have admitted it publicly. At this point in time, the Republicans don’t even have a “lesser of two evils” candidate. They are all submissive to the cult, except for the two candidates who didn’t raise their hands, Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson. Chris Christie is polling at 2.8% of Republicans favoring him. Asa Hutchinson is polling at 0.5% of Republicans. The Cult has a firm hand on 96.7% of the Republican Party candidates, and they will do anything to return their beloved wannabe dictator to power.
Those of us who want to preserve our Democracy cannot sit idly by. Make sure that you are registered to vote. The United States, in its storied history, has dealt with Barbary pirates, Foreign Governments, Nazis, and terrorists. We can deal with crazy cults. 81,283,098 voted to remove Trump from office in 2020. We need even more voters in 2024 to make sure that he and his co-conspirators never return. Register and vote. The Country you save may be your own.
Peace & Love, and all of the above,
Earl
earlthepearl137 
Vote vote vote
Well, dammit Earl – it seems the conspiracy theorists have a conspiracy of their own going on. But I comfort myself in the certainty that those currently in power will always want more of it, so I’m sure there’ll be a free for all tussle among the MAGAns in the House to elevate themselves. I also rely on Trump’s massive ego–that he’d view becoming speaker as beneath him, plus he’s too busy coming unglued over the possibility of losing his New York tax dodges – er I mean “businesses.” But if the whackos try to put him in as Speaker, I hope a blue wave will rise and march (peacefully, unlike the red-capped insurrectionists) to show that the majority of Americans have had enough of these buffoons. They’re supposed to work for us. If you come to work in any other job your and accept your pay for doing nothing, or work only for your own interests, you’d get fired. Vote, volunteer as an election judge, protect the process, and pray that rational heads will prevail.
Thank you. And Congratulations to all the poll workers, who work hard to insure that the will of the people is heard and respected.
Glad to have clarity and still so sad and as my daughter used to say, “frusterating”. Ought to be a word.
Thomas Jefferson said: “I have nothing but contempt for anyone who can spell a word only one way.” My Mother agreed with him. I think “Frusterating” is better than the original.
😀