Q&A: How does the House pick a new speaker?

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

How does it work?

House Republicans, who are in the majority, will meet Thursday behind closed doors to choose their nominee by secret ballot. Outgoing Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced Monday that the floor vote for speaker would be held Oct. 29, the day before he is set to resign.

How many votes does the winner need?

The new speaker will need 218 votes, or a majority of those present. The Republicans currently hold 247 seats in the House; the Democrats occupy 188. Democrats are likely to vote for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The clerk calls out each member of the House individually on the floor to ask his or her vote for speaker. Usually there's only one round of voting but Fox News' Chad Pergram noted that in 1855, it took 133 ballots to select a speaker.

Who can be speaker?

The Constitution does not specify that the House speaker be an elected member of the House but the body has never elected anyone outside its membership.

Who is running for speaker?

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Daniel Webster of Florida are in the running. McCarthy is the odds-on favorite. Webster ran against Boehner earlier this year but garnered only 12 votes.

What if Chaffetz wins?

Though a long shot, Chaffetz could somehow pull an upset to grab the speakership. He would be the first Mormon speaker (Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., previously was the highest-ranking Latter-day Saint when he served as Senate majority leader). As speaker, though, Chaffetz would hold the No. 2 spot in presidential succession (followed by the No. 3, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the Senate president pro tempore and another Mormon). Chaffetz would, of course, keep his House seat and land a raise (the speaker makes $223,500 compared with the $174,000 rank-and-file members get), as well as around-the-clock security, a fancy office and a pretty big bully pulpit.