A House Democrat announced legislation that would deny former President Donald Trump the speaker’s gavel.
Rep. Brendan Boyle’s offering would “require that only elected Members or Delegates be eligible to serve as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.” As it stands now, the U.S. Constitution does not require the speaker of the House to be a member of Congress, though every speaker in U.S. history has been an elected member.
“The Speaker of the U.S. House is second in the United States presidential line of succession. That Donald Trump’s name would even be tossed around as a potential speaker in the people’s house should serve as an alarm bell that our current requirements need to be amended in the name of protecting our nation and our democracy,” Boyle said. “As such, our laws should mandate that the Speaker be a member of the U.S. House.”
TRUMP SAYS HE IS ‘PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION’ TO ‘LOSER RINO LIZ CHENEY’
In recent weeks, there has been chatter about Trump replacing Rep. Nancy Pelosi as speaker if Republicans win back the House in 2022.
“My commitment to you is that my vote for the U.S. House of Representatives will go to Donald J. Trump,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Trump ally, told a crowd on July 3.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appeared to say in a June 18 Fox News interview that Trump wanted to be speaker, which he later clarified to mean Trump wants McCarthy to become speaker.
The former president has even teased the possibility himself, calling the notion “very interesting.”
Democrats have fundraised off the idea in recent weeks. On July 8, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent out an email Thursday that read “SPEAKER DONALD TRUMP ALERT,” noting Gaetz’s pledge.
“The situation is dire. Trump himself has already expressed interest in becoming Speaker,” the email claimed. “And his mega donors have already rushed him $85 MILLION to put his plans into action.”
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Boyle previously proposed legislation seemingly aimed at Trump.
In 2018, the Pennsylvania Democrat proposed the “STABLE GENIUS Act,” which would “require that all presidential candidates undergo a standardized medical examination and publicly disclose its results before the election.”
Trump used the term “stable genius” earlier that year in describing his fitness to serve.
