[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 3.  Party Organization]
[B. Party Caucus or Conference]
[Â§ 6. Specific Functions - Selection of Leaders]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 164-169]
 
                               CHAPTER 3
 
                           Party Organization
 
                     B. PARTY CAUCUS OR CONFERENCE
 
Sec. 6. Specific Functions--Selection of Leaders

    The caucus and conference organize at the beginning of a Con

[[Page 165]]

gress(16) electing their respective chairmen(17) 
and attending to preliminary business.
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16. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. Sec. 3602-3604a. For discussion of 
        procedures recently adopted with respect to calling meetings of 
        the caucus for organizational purposes prior to the convening 
        of a new Congress, see supplements to this edition as they 
        appear.
17. See 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. Sec. 3603, 3604a; and Cannon's 
        Procedure, H. Doc. No. 122, 86th Cong. 1st Sess. (1959), p. 
        187. See also Riddick, Floyd M., Congressional Procedure, 
        Chapman and Grimes (Boston, 1941), p. 32.
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    An important function of the caucus or conference early in the 
Congress is to select the party's candidate for Speaker.(18) 
Each party then selects its floor leader;(19) customarily, 
it is understood that the minority party's candidate for Speaker will 
become Minority Leader upon the election of the other party's candidate 
for Speaker.(20)
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18. See Sec. Sec. 6.1-6.3, infra.
            If a Speaker dies in office, the caucus and conference 
        nominate candidates for the vacant office. See Sec. 3.2, supra.
19. See Sec. 6.4, infra.
20. See Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Congress of the United 
        States, Congressional Quarterly Service (Washington, D.C., 
        1971), p. 140 (discussion of Minority Leader). See also, 
        Riddick, Floyd M., Congressional Procedure, Chapman and Grimes 
        (Boston, 1941), p. 34.
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    The Republican Conference selects its party whip.(1)
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 1. See Sec. 6.6, infra. The Democratic whip is appointed by the 
        Democratic floor leader (See Sec. 23, infra).
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    A Democratic Caucus rule (2) provides that, ``In the 
Election of Officers and in the Nomination of Candidates for Office in 
the House, the Majority of Those Present and Voting Shall Bind the 
Membership of the Caucus.''
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 2. Rule 6, Democratic Caucus Rules (July 20, 1971).
            See also Ripley, Randall B., Party Leaders in the House of 
        Representatives, The Brookings Institution (Washington, D.C., 
        1967), pp. 58-61, 64, 72, and 76 (functions of party caucuses 
        and committees).                          -------------------
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Selection of Candidate for Speaker

Sec. 6.1 Prior to the beginning of a Congress, the Democratic Caucus 
    and the Republican Conference select their respective candidates 
    for Speaker.

    In the 92d Congress,(3) as in prior 
Congresses,(4) the Clerk

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called on the first day of the Congress for nominations for Speaker; 
the chairmen of the caucus and conference then presented to the House 
the names of the persons nominated by
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 3. 117 Cong. Rec. 10, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 21, 1971.
 4. For further examples of announcements made by caucus and conference 
        chairmen in prior Congresses respecting the selection of 
        candidates for Speaker, see Sec. Sec. 3.1-3.3, supra. the 
        respective parties. The proceedings were as follows:
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        The Clerk: The next order of business is the election of a 
    Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 92nd Congress. 
    Nominations are now in order.
        Mr. [Olin E.] Teague of Texas: Mr. Clerk, as Chairman of the 
    Democratic Caucus, I am directed by the unanimous vote of that 
    caucus to present for election to the office of the Speaker of the 
    House of Representatives of the 92nd Congress the name of the 
    Honorable Carl Albert, a Representative-elect from the State of 
    Oklahoma.
        Mr. [John B.] Anderson of Illinois: Mr. Clerk, as Chairman of 
    the Republican Conference and by authority, by direction, and by 
    unanimous vote of the Republican Conference, I nominate for Speaker 
    of the House of Representatives the Honorable Gerald R. Ford, a 
    Representative-elect from the State of Michigan.
        The Clerk: . . . are there further nominations? (After a 
    pause.) There being no further nominations, the Clerk will appoint 
    tellers.

Role in Filling Vacancy in Office

Sec. 6.2 Upon the death of a Speaker, the caucus and conference select 
    their respective candidates for Speaker, and the names of the 
    candidates are presented to the House as at the beginning of a 
    Congress.

    Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, died prior to the second session of 
the 87th Congress. Proceedings in the second session for selection of a 
new Speaker are set forth in  3.2, supra.
    Parliamentarian's Note: In the case of the Speaker's absence, the 
Chair may be assumed by one who has been designated Speaker pro tempore 
by the Speaker.(5) In a case where the Speaker was to be 
absent for an uncertain length of time, the Chairman of the Democratic 
Caucus, having been requested to do so by the Speaker, offered in the 
House a resolution electing the Majority Leader as Speaker pro 
tempore.(6)
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 5. See Ch. 6, infra.
 6. See the proceedings set forth in Sec. 3.4, supra.
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Third-Party Candidate for Speaker

Sec. 6.3 A third party may organize as a conference and name its 
    candidate for Speaker, and the chairman of such conference 
    announces to the House his

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    party's candidate for the Speakership.

    In the 75th Congress, the chairman of the Farmer-Labor-Progressive 
party's conference, Gardner R. Withrow, of Wisconsin, presented to the 
House the name of his party's candidate for Speaker, George J. 
Schneider.(7)
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 7. See the proceedings set forth in Sec. 3.3, supra. For references 
        relating to third parties generally, see Sec. 2, supra.
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Election of Floor Leader

Sec. 6.4 The caucus and conference elect their respective party floor 
    leaders.

    At the beginning of each Congress, the caucus and conference 
chairmen announce the election by their respective parties of the floor 
leaders. Thus, in the 75th Congress,(8) the following 
announcements were made:
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 8. 81 Cong. Rec. 15, 75th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 5, 1937.
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        Mr. [Robert L.] Doughton [of North Carolina]: Mr. Speaker, the 
    Democratic Caucus at a meeting yesterday elected Hon. Sam Rayburn, 
    of Texas, as floor leader of the Seventy-fifth Congress. [Applause]
        Mr. [Roy O.] Woodruff [of Michigan]: Mr. Speaker, I take this 
    opportunity to announce that by the authority and direction of the 
    Republican Conference the honorable gentleman from New York, Mr. 
    Bertrand H. Snell, has been selected as minority leader of this 
    House. [Applause]
        Mr. [Gardner R.] Withrow [of Wisconsin]: Mr. Speaker, I 
    announce to the House that the Farmer-Labor-Progressive Party's 
    Conference by unanimous consent selected Hon. Gerald J. Boileau, of 
    Wisconsin, as floor leader for the Seventy-fifth Congress. 
    [Applause]

    In the 92d Congress,(9) the announcements were as 
follows:
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 9. 117 Cong. Rec. 13, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 21, 1971.
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        Mr. [Olin E.] Teague of Texas: Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the 
    Democratic caucus, I have been directed to report to the House that 
    the Democratic Members have selected unanimously as majority leader 
    the gentleman from Louisiana, the Honorable Hale Boggs.
        Mr. [John B.] Anderson of Illinois: Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of 
    the Republican Conference, I am directed by that conference to 
    officially notify the House that the gentleman from Michigan, the 
    Honorable Gerald R. Ford, has been unanimously selected as the 
    minority leader of the House.(10)
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10. Substantially the same proceedings have taken place in other 
        Congresses. See Sec. 3.5, supra.
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Sec. 6.5 When a vacancy occurs in the office of floor leader, the 
    caucus or conference elects a new floor leader, whose name is 
    presented to the House in the usual manner.

    On Jan. 10, 1962,(11) the Chairman of the Democratic 
Caucus an

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nounced the selection of Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, as Majority Leader, 
to replace John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, who had been elevated 
to the Speakership after the death of Speaker Rayburn. The announcement 
was made as follows:
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11. 108 Cong. Rec. 5, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. [Francis E.] Walter [of Pennsylvania]: Mr. Speaker, as 
    Chairman of the Democratic Caucus I am directed to report to the 
    House that the Democratic Members have selected as Majority Leader 
    the gentleman from Oklahoma, the Honorable Carl Albert.

Selection of Republican Whip

Sec. 6.6 The members of the Republican(12) Conference select 
    their party whip.(13)
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12. The Democratic whip is appointed by the Democratic floor leader. 
        See Sec. 23, infra.
13. See, in addition to the discussion in this section, 8 Cannon's 
        Precedents Sec. 3615, in which Mr. Guy U. Hardy, of Colorado, 
        is quoted as remarking, (69 Cong. Rec. 8439, 1st Sess. 70th 
        Cong., May 11, 1928), ``The Republican Whip was formerly 
        appointed by the Speaker, but is now chosen by the party 
        caucus.''
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    Announcements traditionally made in the House with respect to the 
selection of the Republican whip have generally indicated that such 
selection is made by the party members in their conference. There is 
reference in some authorities(14) to a practice, at least at 
one time, whereby the Republican party's Committee on Committees would 
recommend to the Republican Conference the name of the person to be 
designated Republican whip. The role of the Committee on Committees was 
reflected, for example, in the announcement by Mr. Charles A. Halleck, 
of Indiana, in the 83d Congress:(15)
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14. See Riddick, Floyd M., Congressional Procedure, Chapman and Grimes 
        (Boston, 1941), pp. 36, 37.
15. 99 Cong. Rec. 134, 83d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 6, 1953.
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        Mr. Halleck: Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on 
    Committees, I hereby wish to announce the selection of Hon. Leslie 
    C. Arends, of Illinois, as majority whip.

    In other announcements, reference has been made to the ``approval'' 
by the Republican Conference of the Republican whip. In the 88th 
Congress,(16) for example, the conference chairman announced 
as follows:
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16. 109 Cong. Rec. 506, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 17, 1963.
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        Mr. [Gerald R.] Ford [of Michigan]: Mr. Speaker, as the 
    chairman of the Republican Conference, it is my privilege to report 
    to the House that the Republican conference has unanimously 
    approved the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Arends] as minority whip. 
    . . .

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    In the 82d Congress,(17) Joseph W. Martin, Jr., the 
Minority Leader, announced:
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17. 97 Cong. Rec. 40, 82d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1951.
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        Mr. Speaker, I would like to announce to the House that the 
    gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Leslie C. Arends, has been elected 
    Republican whip.
More recent announcements have been as follows:

        Mr. [John B.] Anderson of Illinois: Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of 
    the Republican Conference, I am directed by that conference to 
    notify the House officially that the Republican Members have 
    selected as minority whip the gentleman from Illinois, the 
    Honorable Leslie C. Arends.(18)
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18. 115 Cong. Rec. 34, 91st Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1969.

And in the 90th Congress:

        Mr. [Melvin R.] Laird [of Wisconsin]: Mr. Speaker, as Chairman 
    of the Republican Conference, I am directed by that conference to 
    notify the House officially that the Republican Members have 
    selected as minority whip the gentleman from Illinois, the 
    Honorable Leslie C. Arends.(19)
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19. 113 Cong. Rec. 27, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 10, 1967.
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