[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).