[Deschler-Brown Precedents, Volume 17, Chapters 34 - 40]
[Ch. 38. Death]
[Â§ 4. Administration of Memberâs Offices Following Death]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 593-597]
 
                               CHAPTER 38
 
                                 Death
 
Sec. 4. Administration of Member's Offices Following Death

    When a Member of the House dies, staff members are retained on the 
payroll of the House, under the direction of the Clerk, to carry on the 
functions of the deceased Member's office until a new Member is 
elected. This insures continuing congressional service to the Member's 
District. The Clerk has the authority to terminate staff, and with the 
approval of the Committee on House Administration, appoint such staff 
as required to operate the office until a successor is 
elected.(1)
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 1. See Rule II clause 2(i)(1), House Rules and Manual Sec. 653 (2007).
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    The Washington office of a deceased Member remains open until a new 
Member is elected to the vacancy. District offices may be kept open 
until a successor is elected. Any official bills of an office that are 
unpaid at the time of a Member's death will be processed by the Clerk 
of the House.
    The deceased Member's frank can no longer be used after his death. 
The staff will use the Clerk's frank in conducting the official 
business of the office until a new Member is elected.
    No staff travel is authorized after a Member's death, except under 
special circumstances and as approved by the Clerk.
    There is no time limit imposed on the sorting and shipment of a 
deceased Member's personal official papers. Usually a designated office 
employee assists the next of kin in the collection and disposition of 
personal papers.
    Prior to the 108th Congress, when a Speaker died during a session 
of Congress, the Clerk generally called the House to order and presided 
until a new Speaker was elected.(2) Following the 
presumptive death of two Members-elect (including the Majority Leader 
in the 93rd Congress), the House adopted several resolutions to address 
administration of those offices.(3)
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 2. See Sec. Sec. 4.1-4.3, infra; Chs. 1, 6, supra.
 3. See Sec. Sec. 4.3-4.5, 
        infra.                          -------------------
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Death of Speaker

Sec. 4.1 Rule I clause 8(1) provides for a Speaker to 
    designate a Member to act as Speaker pro tempore in a limited 
    capacity in the event of his death. It provides that in the event 
    of a vacancy in the Office of Speaker, including

[[Page 594]]

    one as the result of death, a designated Member acts as Speaker pro 
    tempore until the election of a Speaker or Speaker pro tempore and 
    that pending the election of a Speaker or Speaker pro tempore, the 
    Member acting as Speaker pro tempore may exercise such authorities 
    of the Office of the Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate to 
    that end.
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 1. House Rules and Manual Sec. 632 (2007).
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Sec. 4.2 Prior to the 108th Congress, upon the death of the Speaker, 
    the Clerk called the House to order, announced the death of the 
    Speaker, and presided over the House until the election of a new 
    Speaker.

    On Jan. 10, 1962,(1) the Clerk of the 
House(2) called the House to order, announced the death of 
the Speaker,(3) and presided over the election of a new 
Speaker.
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 1. 108 Cong. Rec. 5, 6, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
 2. Ralph R. Roberts.
 3. Sam Rayburn (TX).
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    Parliamentarian's Note: Speaker Rayburn presided over the House for 
the last time on Aug. 30, 1961. On Aug. 31, 1961,(4) 
Majority Leader John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, was elected (by 
resolution) to be Speaker pro tempore during the absence of the 
Speaker.
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 4. See 107 Cong. Rec. 17765, 17766, 87th Cong. 1st Sess. (H. Res. 
        445).
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    The first session of the 87th Congress adjourned sine die on Sept. 
27, 1961. Speaker Rayburn died on Nov. 16, 1961, in Bonham, Texas.
    In response to inquiries during the adjournment period, the 
Leadership agreed that upon the death of the Speaker the authority of 
the Speaker pro tempore terminated, and that the Clerk was the proper 
official to call the House to order on the day appointed for 
reconvening.(5)
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 5. For other instances in which the Clerk called the House to order 
        upon the death of a Speaker, see 86 Cong. Rec. 12231, 76th 
        Cong. 3d Sess., Sept. 16, 1940 (Speaker Bankhead); 80 Cong. 
        Rec. 9016, 74th Cong. 2d Sess., June 4, 1936 (Speaker Byrns); 
        and 79 Cong. Rec. 9, 74th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1935 
        (Speaker Rainey).
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    On Jan. 10, 1962,(6) the Clerk called the House to 
order:
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 6. 108 Cong. Rec. 5, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        The House met at 12 o'clock noon and was called to order by the 
    Honorable Ralph R. Roberts, Clerk of the House.
        The Clerk. Members of the House of Representatives, the time 
    has arrived for the meeting of the 2d session of the 87th Congress. 
    Since the last session of Congress the great and beloved Speaker of 
    the House has departed this life.

[[Page 595]]

        The Clerk of the House, in conformity with the rules, has 
    called the House to order for the purpose of electing a Speaker. 
    The roll will be called to ascertain whether a quorum is present.
        The Clerk will call the 
    roll.                          -------------------

                             CALL OF THE HOUSE

        The Clerk called the roll. . . .
        The Clerk. Four hundred and eleven Members having answered to 
    their names, a quorum is present.

    Inasmuch as election of a new Speaker is the first order of 
business in the House when a vacancy in this office has occurred, 
Members-elect do not participate either in the alphabetical call of the 
roll or in the election of the Speaker since they had not yet been 
sworn into office. Resignations tendered during the adjournment sine 
die were not laid before the House prior to the vote for Speaker, but 
the names of those who had resigned were stricken from the roll and 
were not called to establish the quorum or to elect the Speaker.
    This corrects an anomaly in 1 Hinds Sec. 224, where, in 1820, 
several unsworn Members-elect were permitted to vote for Speaker to 
fill a vacancy in the second session. That instance runs contrary to 
the precedent cited herein.

Presumptive Death of Members-elect

Sec. 4.3 The House agreed to a resolution offered from the floor which, 
    in part, continued on the clerk-hire rolls the clerical assistants 
    in the employ of the Majority Leader at the close of the preceding 
    Congress until such time as the vacancy caused by his absence (and 
    presumptive death) could be filled by a special election.

    On Jan. 3, 1973,(1) House Resolution 8 was offered by 
Mr. F. Edward Hebert, of Louisiana. The clause pertinent to retention 
of the late Majority Leader's employees read as follows:
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 1. 119 Cong. Rec. 27, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Resolved, That there shall be paid from the contingent fund of 
    the House, until otherwise provided by law, such sums as may be 
    necessary to compensate the clerical assistants designated by 
    former Representative Hale Boggs in the 92nd Congress and borne 
    upon the clerk hire pay rolls of the House of Representatives at 
    the close of the 92nd Congress at the rates of compensation then 
    payable to said clerical assistants, until a successor is elected 
    to fill the vacancy in the Second Congressional District of the 
    State of Louisiana caused by the absence of Representative-elect 
    Hale Boggs: Provided, that the Clerk is authorized to make, from 
    time to time, such salary adjustments as he deems advisable with 
    respect to all of the aforementioned employees.

Sec. 4.4 The House by unanimous consent considered and

[[Page 596]]

    agreed to a resolution offered from the floor which, in part, 
    directed the Clerk to appoint to the House clerk-hire rolls two 
    designated employees of a former Majority Leader until the vacancy 
    caused by his death could be filled.

    On Jan. 3, 1973,(1) House Resolution 8 was offered by 
Mr. F. Edward Hebert, of Louisiana. The clause pertaining to Majority 
Hale Boggs' employees is as follows:
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 1. Ibid.
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        Resolved, That effective January 3, 1973, the Clerk of the 
    House is authorized and directed to appoint James T. Nickens and 
    Harry D. Debuys, two clerks on the pay roll of the Office of the 
    Majority Leader at the close of the 92nd Congress, to the clerk 
    hire pay rolls of the House of Representatives at the rates of 
    compensation then payable to said clerks, until a successor is 
    elected to fill the vacancy caused by the absence of 
    Representative-elect Hale Boggs: Provided, that the Clerk is 
    authorized to make, from time to time, such salary adjustments as 
    he deems advisable with respect to the aforementioned two 
    employees.
        The resolution was agreed to.

Sec. 4.5 The House considered and agreed to a resolution which 
    provided, in part, that those clerical assistants employed by a 
    deceased Member-elect at the close of the preceding Congress be 
    carried on the clerk-hire rolls until the vacancy in the new 
    Congress caused by his death could be filled by special election. 
    The resolution also authorized the Clerk to fill two vacancies on 
    the deceased Member's staff and to adjust the salaries of all the 
    employees in that office.

    The relevant paragraph of House Resolution 9, offered by Mr. Thomas 
P. O'Neill, Jr., of Massachusetts, on Jan. 3, 1973,(1) 
appears below:
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 1. Ibid.
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            Resolved, That there shall be paid out of the contingent 
        fund of the House, until otherwise provided by law, such sums 
        as may be necessary to compensate the clerical assistants 
        designated by the late Nick Begich and borne upon the clerk 
        hire payrolls of the House of Representatives at the close of 
        the 92d Congress at the rates of compensation then payable to 
        said clerical assistants, until a successor is elected to fill 
        the vacancy caused by the death of the said Nick Begich; 
        Provided, That the Clerk of the House is hereby authorized to 
        employ two additional employees, to fill the vacancy on the 
        staff of the late Nick Begich caused by the death of Russell L. 
        Brown of Alaska and to fill the other vacancy on that staff 
        which has occurred since the death of the late Nick Begich, and 
        there shall be paid from the contingent fund such additional 
        sums as may be required to compensate the employees so 
        designated at a rate to be determined by the Clerk: Provided 
        further, that the

[[Page 597]]

        Clerk is authorized to make, from time to time, such salary 
        adjustments as he deems advisable with respect to all of the 
        aforementioned employees. . . .

        The resolution was agreed to.

Sec. 4.6 By unanimous consent, the House considered a resolution 
    offered from the floor which, in part, provided for payment from 
    the contingent fund of necessary office and travel expenses of a 
    former Member until the vacancy caused by his death was filled.

    On Jan. 3, 1973,(1) Mr. Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, rose to offer House Resolution 9, which dealt both with 
authorizing expenditures in connection with the widow's gratuity and as 
well with expenses for the office of the late Member-elect Nick Begich, 
of Alaska. The relevant portion of the resolution stated as follows:
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 1. Ibid.
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            Resolved, That there shall be paid from the contingent fund 
        of the House, until a successor is elected to fill the vacancy 
        caused by the death of Representative-elect Nick Begich, such 
        sums as may be required for the Clerk of the House to:
            (1) pay all necessary expenses required to maintain in 
        operation the three offices in the State of Alaska, and the one 
        office in the District of Columbia, operated by the late 
        Representative Nick Begich at the close of the 92d Congress;
            (2) provide such office expenses, including telephone 
        allowance, equipment rental, stationery, and postage, as the 
        Clerk deems essential to the operation of these aforementioned 
        offices;
            (3) pay the expenses of travel between Washington, D.C., 
        and the State of Alaska, and within the State of Alaska, for 
        such personnel as the Clerk may specifically designate and 
        authorize to travel in connection with their official duties as 
        clerical assistants in the aforementioned offices.

        The resolution was agreed to.

    Parliamentarian's Note: The Speaker received written requests from 
Mr. Begich's staff for appointment of additional interim staff to 
handle constituent problems in Alaska pending election of a new 
Representative. (Mr. Begich had been elected at-large.) In one letter, 
Mr. Begich's administrative aide requested he be authorized by 
resolution to hire additional interim staff. The Speaker decided to 
confer that authority upon the Clerk of the House, who was also 
empowered to make pay adjustments pursuant to the five percent cost-of-
living adjustment available as of Jan. 1, 1973.