    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 104th Congress]
    [104th Congress]
    [House Document 103-342]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 336-337]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 336]]

                                    Rule II.

                              ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

    Sec. 635. Election, oath, and removal of
    officers.

      There  shall be elected by a viva voce vote, at the commencement of
    each Congress, to continue in office until their successors are chosen
    and qualified, a Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Chief Administrative Officer,
    and Chaplain, each of whom shall take an oath to support the
    Constitution of the United States, and for the true and faithful
    discharge of the duties of his office to the best of his knowledge and
    ability, and to keep the secrets of the House; and each shall appoint
    all of the employees of his department provided for by law. The Clerk,
    Sergeant-at-Arms, and Chief Administrative Officer may be removed by the
    House or by the Speaker.

      A rudimentary form of this rule was adopted in 1789, and was amended
    several times prior to 1880, when it assumed the form it retained for
    more than a century (I, 187). During the 102d Congress, section 2 of the
    House Administrative Reform Resolution of 1992 amended the rule to
    abolish the office of the Postmaster (see Sec. 654a, infra) and to
    empower the Speaker to remove elected officers (H. Res. 423, Apr. 9,
    1992, p. ----). The 104th Congress made conforming changes to the rule
    to reflect the abolishment of the Office of the Doorkeeper and the
    establishment of an elected Chief Administrative Officer (sec. 201(a),
    H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). For a discussion of the former Office
    of the Doorkeeper, see Sec. 651d, infra; and for a discussion of the
    evolution of the Chief Administrative Officer (an elected officer) from
    the former Director of Non-legislative and Financial Services (an
    officer appointed jointly by the Speaker and the Majority and Minority
    Leaders under clause 1 of rule VI of the 103d Congress), see Sec. 651e,
    infra.

    [[Page 337]]
    of both Houses of Congress (VI, 23). The act of 1789 provides that the
    oath of office shall be administered to the Speaker by any Member and by
    the Speaker to the Clerk (I, 130). The Speaker also at the same time
    administers the oath to the other elective officers (I, 81). The Member
    of longest continuous service has traditionally administered the oath to
    the Speaker (I, 131). However, on some occasions the Speaker has
    selected the Member to administer the oath (VI, 6, 7). The requirement
    that the officers be sworn to keep the secrets of the House had become
    obsolete (I, 187), but the 104th Congress adopted a requirement that
    Members, officers, and employees subscribe an oath of secrecy regarding
    classified information (clause 13 of rule XLIII).
      The House having discarded a theory that the rules might be imposed by
    one House on its successor (V, 6743-6745), it follows that this rule is
    not operative at the organization. The House, by order or usage, elects
    its Speaker viva voce on a roll call (I, 204, 208); but the officers
    mentioned in the rule are usually chosen by resolution, which is not a
    viva voce election (I, 193, 194). A majority vote is required for the
    election of officers

      The House has declined to interfere with the Clerk's power of removing
    his subordinates (I, 249). Employees under the clerk and other officers
    are to be assigned only to the duties for which they are appointed (V,
    7232). The Sergeant-at-Arms having died, the Clerk was elected by the
    House to serve temporarily also as Sergeant-at-Arms without additional
    compensation (July 8, 1953, p. 8242). An amendment to the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946 was enacted by the 83d Congress (2 U.S.C.
    75a-1) authorizing temporary appointments by the Speaker to fill
    vacancies in the offices of Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper,
    Postmaster, or Chaplain. Lyle O. Snader, who was serving
    contemporaneously as Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms, having resigned as
    Sergeant-at-Arms, the Speaker appointed a temporary Sergeant-at-Arms
    (Jan. 6, 1954, p. 8). Other temporary appointments of a Sergeant-at-Arms
    were made pursuant to this authority in the 92d Congress (June 30, 1972,
    p. 23665), in the 96th Congress (Feb. 28, 1980, pp. 4349-50), and in the
    102d Congress (Mar. 12, 1992, p. ----). The Speaker has also appointed a
    temporary Chaplain (Mar. 14, 1966, p. 5712), a temporary Doorkeeper
    (Dec. 20, 1974, p. 41855), and a temporary Clerk (Nov. 15, 1975, p.
    36901).