[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 3.  Party Organization]
[B. Party Caucus or Conference]
[Â§ 7. Nomination of House Officers]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 169-170]
 
                               CHAPTER 3
 
                           Party Organization
 
                     B. PARTY CAUCUS OR CONFERENCE
 
Sec. 7. --Nomination of House Officers

    The Constitution(20) states that, ``The House of 
Representatives shall chuse their Speaker(1) and other 
Officers.'' Officers include the Clerk, Sergeant at Arms, Doorkeeper, 
Postmaster, and Chaplain,(2) no one of whom has ever been 
chosen from the sitting Membership of the House, and who continue in 
office until their successors are chosen and qualified,(3) 
in one case continuing through the entire Congress succeeding that in 
which they were elected.(4)
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20. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 2.
 1. As to selection by the caucus and conference of candidates for 
        Speaker, see Sec. 6, supra.
 2. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 187.
 3. Id.
 4. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 244, 263. An amendment to the 
        Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 was enacted by the 83d 
        Congress (2 USC Sec. 75a-1) authorizing temporary appointments 
        by the Speaker to fill vacancies in the offices of Clerk, 
        Sergeant at Arms, Doorkeeper, Postmaster, or Chaplain.
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    In practice, each party in its caucus or conference selects its 
candidates for election to the posts of Clerk, Sergeant at Arms, 
Doorkeeper, Postmaster, and Chaplain. The names of the persons selected 
as candidates are then presented to the House in the form of a 
resolution, usually offered by the caucus or conference 
chairman.(5)
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 5. See Sec. 3.9, supra.
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    It is customary for both parties to present their respective can

[[Page 170]]

didates for House offices, the minority party candidates being 
presented in the form of a substitute amendment to the resolution 
offered by the chairman of the majority caucus.(6) There 
have been exceptions, however; in the 89th Congress,(7) no 
substitute amendment was offered, and the resolution offered by the 
caucus chairman pertaining to the election of the House officers was 
immediately agreed to.
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 6. The proceedings relating to the election of House officers are 
        discussed in detail in Sec. 3.9, supra. See also Ch. 6.
 7. 111 Cong. Rec. 20, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1965.
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    A Democratic Caucus rule(8) provides that, ``In the 
Election of Officers and in the Nomination of Candidates for Office in 
the House, a Majority of Those Present and Voting Shall Bind the 
Membership, of the Caucus.''
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 8. Rule 6, Democratic Caucus Rules (July 20, 
        1971).                          -------------------
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Nomination Procedure

Sec. 7.1 The names of the majority party's candidates for House offices 
    are presented to the House by resolution, and a substitute 
    resolution is usually offered by the minority party naming that 
    party's candidates for the offices.

    On Jan. 3, 1969,(9) the Chairman of the Democratic 
Caucus offered a resolution naming selections for Clerk of the House, 
Sergeant at Arms, Doorkeeper, Postmaster, and Chaplain. The Chairman of 
the Republican Conference asked for a division on the question on the 
resolution so as to have a separate vote on the office of Chaplain; 
that portion of the resolution providing for the election of Chaplain 
was then agreed to. The Chairman of the Republican Conference then 
offered a substitute amendment to the remainder of the resolution, 
naming different persons to the posts; the substitute amendment was 
rejected, the original agreed to.(10)
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 9. 115 Cong. Rec. 34, 91st Cong. 1st Sess.
10. See also Sec. 3.9, supra.
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