Editing Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (section)

== Partisan role ==
The Constitution does not spell out the political role of the speaker. As the office has developed historically, however, it has taken on a clearly partisan cast, very different from the speakership of most Westminster-style legislatures, such as the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|speaker of the United Kingdom's House of Commons]], which is meant to be scrupulously non-partisan. The speaker in the United States, by [[Procedures_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives#Rules_of_the_House|tradition]], is the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, outranking the majority leader. However, despite having the right to vote, the speaker usually does not participate in debate and only votes on the most significant bills.

The speaker is responsible for ensuring that the House passes legislation supported by the majority party. In pursuing this goal, the speaker may use their influence over the [[United States House Committee on Rules|Rules committee]], which [[United States House Committee on Rules#Special rules|is in charge of the business of the House]]. The speaker chairs the majority party's House steering committee, which selects the majority members of each House standing committee, including the Rules committee (although it's worth to note their appointment to the said committees must be ratified by a resolution of the full House).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46786/1|title=Rules Governing House Committee and Subcommittee Assignment Procedures}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS/RS20930/4|title=House Leadership Structure: Overview of Party Organization}}</ref> While the speaker is the functioning head of the House majority party, the same is not true of the president ''pro tempore'' of the Senate, whose office is primarily ceremonial and honorary.

When the speaker and the president belong to the same party, the speaker tends to play the role in a more ceremonial light, as seen when [[Dennis Hastert]] played a very restrained role during the presidency of fellow Republican [[George W. Bush]].{{Cn|date=October 2023}} Nevertheless, when the speaker and the president belong to the same party, there are also times that the speaker plays a much larger role, and the speaker is tasked, e.g., with pushing through the agenda of the majority party, often at the expense of the minority opposition. This can be seen, most of all, in the speakership of [[Democratic-Republican]] [[Henry Clay]], who personally ensured the presidential victory of fellow Democratic-Republican [[John Quincy Adams]]. Democrat [[Sam Rayburn]] was a key player in the passing of [[New Deal]] legislation under the presidency of fellow Democrat [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]. Republican [[Joseph Gurney Cannon]] (under [[Theodore Roosevelt]]) was particularly infamous for his marginalization of the minority Democrats and centralizing of authority to the speakership. In more recent times, Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] played a role in continuing the push for health care reform during the presidency of fellow Democrat [[Barack Obama]] and in pushing for increases in infrastructure and climate spending during the presidency of Democrat [[Joe Biden]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/03/pelosi-steeled-wh-for-health-push-034753|title=Nancy Pelosi steeled White House for health push – Carrie Budoff Brown and Glenn Thrush|last1=Thrush|first1=Glenn|date=March 20, 2010|work=[[Politico]]|access-date=December 6, 2011|last2=Brown|first2=Carrie Budoff|author-link=Glenn Thrush|author-link2=Carrie Budoff Brown|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194745/https://www.politico.com/story/2010/03/pelosi-steeled-wh-for-health-push-034753|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Annie Grayer, Manu Raju and Clare Foran |title=Congress passes $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, delivering major win for Biden |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/05/politics/house-votes-infrastructure-build-back-better/index.html |access-date=September 2, 2022 |work=CNN|date=November 5, 2021 }}</ref>

[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush meet with Tip O'Neill.jpg|thumb|upright=.90|Speaker [[Tip O'Neill]] meeting with President [[Ronald Reagan]] and Vice President [[George H. W. Bush]] on June 1, 1981.]]
On the other hand, when the speaker and the president belong to opposite parties, the public role and influence of the speaker tend to increase. As the highest-ranking member of the opposition party (and ''de facto'' [[leader of the opposition]]), the speaker is normally the chief public opponent of the president's agenda. In this scenario, the speaker is known for undercutting the president's agenda by blocking measures by the minority party or rejecting bills by the Senate. One famous instance came in the form of [[Thomas Brackett Reed]] (under [[Grover Cleveland]]), a speaker notorious for his successful attempt to force the Democrats to vote on measures where the Republicans had clear majorities, which ensured that Cleveland's Democrats were in no position to challenge the Republicans in the House. Joseph Cannon was particularly unique in that he led the conservative "Old Guard" wing of the Republican Party, while his president—Theodore Roosevelt—was of the more progressive clique, and more than just marginalizing the Democrats, Cannon used his power to punish the dissidents in his party and obstruct the progressive wing of the Republican Party.

More modern examples include [[Tip O'Neill]], who was a vocal opponent of President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s economic and defense policies; [[Newt Gingrich]], who fought a bitter battle with President [[Bill Clinton]] for control of domestic policy; [[Nancy Pelosi]], who argued with President [[George W. Bush]] over the [[Iraq War]];<ref name="abcnews1">{{cite news |last=Sanchez |first=Ray |date=November 3, 2010 |title=Nancy Pelosi: House Speaker's Exclusive Interview With Diane Sawyer |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-interview-diane-sawyer/story?id=12047865 |url-status=live |access-date=December 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615091935/http://abcnews.go.com/story?id=12047865&page=1 |archive-date=June 15, 2011}}</ref> [[John Boehner]], who clashed with President [[Barack Obama]] over budget issues and [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act|health care]];<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.1310news.com/news/world/article/164986--republicans-take-charge-of-us-house-poised-for-clashes-with-obama-over-spending-health-care |title=Republicans take charge of US House, poised for clashes with Obama over spending, health care |access-date=January 7, 2011 |last=Hurst |first=Steven R. |author-link=Steven R. Hurst |date=January 5, 2011 |publisher=1310 News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510020739/http://www.1310news.com/news/world/article/164986--republicans-take-charge-of-us-house-poised-for-clashes-with-obama-over-spending-health-care |archive-date=May 10, 2011}}</ref> and once again, Nancy Pelosi, who refused to support President [[Donald Trump]] over funding for a border wall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/nancy-pelosi-border-wall-immoral-expensive-unwise-n749841|title=Nancy Pelosi: Border wall is 'immoral, expensive, unwise'|website=NBC News|date=April 23, 2017 |language=en|access-date=October 29, 2019|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194810/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/nancy-pelosi-border-wall-immoral-expensive-unwise-n749841|url-status=live}}</ref>