How is the Speaker of the House chosen??
815259
She's not automatically the Speaker.  SHe is currently the minority leader, which makes her a clear choice to be elected once the Congress meets in January.  It is unlikely that they will choose anyone else.
957081
They are voted in by the majority party of the House.\nIf the Dems take the house. Pelosi will be the speaker of the House.
875490
please you are a democrat pretending to be a republican.  in case you haven't been watching the news.. the polls are turning and it may not be the landslide the liberal media has been boasting about.  as a matter of fact Nancy Pelosi may NOT be the next speaker of the house..
708610
There was a time when Speakers of the House were all powerful. Those days are long gone. Nevertheless, Speakers still possess a few formidable powers worth noting:\n\n1. The Speaker is the chair of the steering committee that chooses all committee chairs.\n\n2. The Speaker directs all bills to their respective committees. (This is a HUGE power -- as if the Speaker hates the bill he can send it to a committee he knows will kill it -- or vice versa).\n\n3. The Speaker is personally responsible for elevating members to the all powerful (and never to be messed with) "Rules Committee".\n\n4. The Speaker is responsible for organizing floor debates, ruling on the acceptability of floor motions, and recognizing members who wish to address the House.\n\n5. In any dealings with the Senate, the Speaker appoints all members of conference committees.\n\n6. Because of all of these things, the Speaker is the agenda setter of the House. What bills are heard? What bills simply get thrown away? What policies do we wish to impact, and how? These are all questions that only the Speaker gets to answer.\n\nAs I said, there was a time when Speakers could singlehandedly destroy members. Those days have passed; but still the Speaker is the primary person for creating the rhythm and flow of the House. And that's not bad.\n\nHope this answer helps. Cheers, mate.
830835
Actually, Murtha is planning to run for majority leader, not speaker. There is a difference.\n\nI'd love to know what aspects of appearance and demeanor you mean. The fact that she is outspoken and opinionated? Or the fact that she is a woman? \n\nAnyway, why are you so worried about Pelosi as speaker? What on earth does the speaker do? What has Denny Hastert done over the past six years?
372862
While the person above is correct in saying that the Speaker has a large influence in saying what bills reach the floor of the House, its the Rules Committee that makes the decision.  This is why the Speaker usually keeps the Rules Committee under pretty tight control (it's nickname is commonly the Speaker's Committee).  The Rules committee can decide how long debate is open on the bill, as well as whether or not amendments will be accepted.
474086
Senate:\nRepublicans:\nMajority Leader: Bill Frist (TN)\nMajority Whip: Mitch McConnell (KY)\nPresident Pro Tempore: Ted Stevens (AK)\n\nDemocrats:\nMinority Leader: Harry Reid (NV)\nMinority Whip: Dick Durbin (IL)\n\nHouse:\nRepublicans: \nSpeaker of the House: Dennis Hastert (IL)\nMajority Leader: John Boehner (OH)\nMajority Whip: Roy Blunt (MO)\n\nDemocrats: \nMinority Leader: Nancy Pelosi (CA)\nMinority Whip: Steny Hoyer (MD)\n\nThe Majority Leaders in both houses are in charge directing legislation onto the Floor of their chambers.  They lead their parties and determine what position their party will take on any particular legislation.  The Whips are in charge of rounding up votes.  They must ensure that the party members are going to vote with the party, and they can tally what legislation can and can't pass.\n\nThe Speaker of the House is the 3rd in the line of Constitutional succession after the President and Vice-President.  He presides over the House of Representatives and conducts affairs.  He also has control over the powerful Rules Committee, which determines what legislation gets to the floor of the House and what kind of debate it can have.\n\nThe President Pro Tempore is the presiding officer of the Senate when the Vice President is not around.  He doesn't really have much power outside of that.
838696
It's not like in the British system where there's a party leader in parliament, and the losing party head retains some status. I'd say Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean are party leaders.\n\nWould you spell check your nickname? It will add credibility to your questions, which are often quite good!
65072
Every year, a different member of the President's cabinet is chosen to not be present during the State of Union Address.\n\nTonight, that cabinet member is the Secretary of the Department of Veteran's Affairs, Mr. James Nicholson.  He was kept in a secure, undisclosed location during the speech.
556863
Leadership\n\nThe floor leaders and whips of each party are elected by a majority vote of all the Senators of their party assembled in a conference or, as it sometimes is called, a caucus. The practice has been to choose the leader for a two-year term at the beginning of each Congress. The majority and minority leaders are the elected spokespersons on the Senate floor for their respective political parties.\n  \nFloor Leadership\n\nThe positions of the majority and the minority leader, as we know them today, are of recent development in the history of the Senate, although individual Senators since 1789 assumed leading roles in determining the Senate schedule.\n\nFloor leaders - The Majority Leader and Minority Leader are elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Senate spokesmen for their parties and to manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate. By custom, the Presiding Officer gives the floor leaders priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate. \n\nCurrent Leadership of the Senate:\n\nPresident of the Senate - Richard Cheney\nU.S. Vice President  President Pro Tempore\nTed Stevens - Republican, Alaska \nMajority Leader - Bill Frist Republican, Tennessee  Assistant Majority Leader \n(Republican Whip) Mitch McConnell Republican, Kentucky  \nMinority Leader Harry Reid Democrat, Nevada \n\nhttp://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Leadership_vrd.htm
858926
There will be problem in choosing the candidate because the voter will be selecting from many names.  Further, the counting machine or election people will have a hard time counting and tabulating the many votes for different positions.
973503
The US President selects a nominee, who is then questioned by the US Senate Judicial Committee, which then votes whether or not to allow a Senate Floor vote on the nominee.\n\nIf the committee does allow for a Senate Floor vote, the Senators vote on the confirmation. If 51 Senators (or 50 Senators and a tie-breaking vote by the Vice President) vote in favor of confirmation, then the President's nominee is confirmed, and the nominee takes a seat in the US Supreme Court.
748924
The speaker of the house is the third in line to become president if both the president and vice president are incapasitated.
126404
Speaker of the House...so currently that is Dennis Hastert
462121
two houses- senate and house of representatives.... v.p. is head of senate... speaker of the house is head of house of representatives.
948828
It was decided at the Constitutional Convention.  The process is right there in the Constitution, Article 1 Section 3:\n\n"Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies."\n\nOr, in short, during the 1st Congress only 1/3 of the Senators were appointed for 6 year terms; the others were down for 2 or 4 year terms, so that 1/3 of them would be up for reappointment (there wasn't election of Senators in those days) every 2nd year.
777635
They want to be recognized by the Chair to ask a question to the PM. The Chair gets to decide who speaks, usually prearranged, but sometimes the Chair might pick someone else. Often the Chair has a number of people they are supposed to call on, then they can call on whomever they want, within the time limit. They are supposed to sit when someone's speaking, if they can, and rise up to be acknowledged by the Chair.