Can Donald Trump be the next Speaker of the House even if he is not a member of Congress?
Some GOP House members are throwing former President Donald Trump’s name around as a candidate for Speaker of the House. Can non-members be Speaker?
With the historic ousting of Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (CA-R), the race is on to see who can unify the GOP caucus. Interest in the position has grown after Rep. McCarthy announced that he would step aside and allow a new Speaker to be elected.
Some leaders are looking outside of the membership of the House for possible candidates, and one name that various leaders have tossed around is former president Donald Trump. One of those making the case for Donald Trump is Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has made several posts on X, formally known as Twitter.
On Thursday, 5 October, the Georgia congresswoman said that if Trump were to become Speaker, “the House chamber would be like a Trump rally everyday!!”
Qualifications to become Speaker of the House
The question is, can a non-member of the House of Representatives serve as Speaker?
The short answer is yes, but only because no rule says specifically that the Speaker must be chosen from within the membership of the chamber.
Trump responded to calls for him to serve as Speaker approvingly, posting on Truth Social that he “will do whatever is necessary to help with the Speaker of the House selection process until the final selection of a GREAT REPUBLICAN SPEAKER is made.” Though Rep. Taylor Greene may have thought that he would be willing to step into the role of Speaker, Trump endorsed Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-R) for the position late on Thursday.
Speaker of the House is one of the most politically challenging roles on Capitol Hill. Keeping one’s caucus unified, whipping votes, and guiding a policy agenda is a difficult task for even the smoothest DC operators. Donald Trump may recognize that his power in the Republican Party is better used outside of Congress and instead could choose to make the candidacy of other GOP members more challenging by throwing his weight behind Rep. Jordan.