GOP House 'Rule 26' Could Bar Trump from Becoming Speaker of the House
Even if former President Donald Trump wants to give up crisscrossing the country as he campaigns for the White House to spend his days in Washington as speaker of the House, a House rule might get in the way.
The fall of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week has given birth to a number of scenarios to replace him, one of which involves Trump taking over the post.
Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas said Tuesday he would be nominating the former president for the role.
Kevin McCarthy will NOT be running again as Speaker.
I nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House.
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) October 3, 2023
The speaker does not need to be a member of the House, something noted in January when Republicans were trying to find their way to electing a speaker, which set the stage for McCarthy’s brief tenure.
However, lurking in the rules of the House is something that could prevent Trump from being speaker, according to The Hill.
When Republicans took power, they approved a set of rules for the operations of the House. One of these is Rule 26, titled “Temporary Step Aside of a Member of Leadership who is Indicted.”
“A member of the Republican Leadership shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed,” the rule said.
BREAKING
House GOP ALREADY BARRED Trump From Serving as House Speaker
Rule 26 of the GOP Conf.:
No Repub can serve as #HouseSpeaker “if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed.” pic.twitter.com/bX9KUvLdTm
— National File (@NationalFile) October 4, 2023
“If a member of the Republican Elected Leadership is indicted, the Republican Conference shall meet and elect a Member to temporarily serve in that position,” the rule said, noting that if acquitted or convicted of something less than a felony, the member could be eligible to resume his or her leadership position.
Trump has been indicted on 91 felony charges in four separate cases. Two of them are federal, one is in New York and one is in Georgia.
The Hill said there is no prohibition against changing that rule, but it would be unlikely.
Trump has offered contradictory signals about the speakership.
“No, I think that it’s not something I wanted. A lot of people bring it up. It’s brought up all the time,” he said in a March 2022 interview.
“No, it’s not something I want to do,” the former president said. “I want to look at what’s happening, and then we’re going to be doing something else. No, it’s not something I would be interested in.”
In a post Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, however, Trump seemed to indicate he might serve as a stopgap speaker.
“I am running for President, have a 62 Point lead over Republicans, and am up on Crooked Joe Biden, despite the Democrat Party’s massive Law-fare, Weaponization, and Election Interference efforts, by 4 to 11 Points, but will do whatever is necessary to help with the Speaker of the House selection process, short term, until the final selection of a GREAT REPUBLICAN SPEAKER is made – A Speaker who will help a new, but highly experienced President, ME, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he said.
The former president also shared an image of himself holding the speaker’s gavel.
On Wednesday, Trump refused to rule out anything, according to NBC News.
“A lot of people have been calling me about speaker,” he said outside a New York City courtroom on the third day of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil fraud trial against him.
“All I can say is we will do whatever is best for the country and other Republican Party and people,” he said.
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