U.S. House leadership elections, 2019

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U.S. House leadership elections

U.S. House leadership elections, 2023 U.S. House leadership elections, 2021 U.S. House leadership elections, 2019

See also

United States House of Representatives elections, 2018 116th Congress United States Senate elections, 2018

This page covers the U.S. House leadership elections for the 116th Congress. Each party elects leadership responsible for leading the party's conference, setting legislative agendas, marshaling support for bills, and directing committee assignments, among other duties.

The speaker of the House, who presides over sessions of the chamber and is second in the line of presidential succession, is elected on the first day the new Congress convenes. Other leadership positions, such as the majority and minority whips, are elected in meetings of the conference prior to the start of a new Congress.

The 116th Congress convened on January 3, 2019, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was elected speaker of the House.

Speaker of the House

See also: Democratic candidates opposing Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House, 2018

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was elected speaker of the House on January 3, 2019, with 220 votes. Fifteen Democrats did not vote for her. Their names appear below.

• Anthony Brindisi (N.Y.)
• Jim Cooper (Tenn.)
• Jason Crow (Colo.)
• Joe Cunningham (S.C.)
• Jared Golden (Maine)
• Ron Kind (Wis.)
• Conor Lamb (Pa.)
• Ben McAdams (Utah)
• Kathleen Rice (N.Y.)
• Max Rose (N.Y.)
• Kurt Schrader (Ore.)
• Mikie Sherrill (N.J.)
• Abigail Spanberger (Va.)
• Elissa Slotkin (Mich.)
• Jeff Van Drew (N.J.)

If all 435 members vote, a candidate for speaker of the House must receive at least 218 votes of support to be elected. If not all members vote or some choose to vote "present," a candidate must receive a majority of support from those participating in the election.

Nancy Pelosi (D)

The following is a timeline of events related to the speaker of the House race:

• December 12, 2018: Seven Pelosi critics gave their support to Pelosi for speaker of the House after she agreed to limit her period of leadership to four years. The House members were Rep.-elect Gil Cisneros and Reps. Ed Perlmutter, Linda Sánchez, Bill Foster, Filemon Vela Tim Ryan, and Seth Moulton.

• November 28, 2018: Pelosi was selected as the Democratic nominee for speaker of the House by a vote of 203-32. Three ballots were blank and one member was absent.

• November 26, 2018: Rep.-elect Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.) signed on to the letter opposing Pelosi.

• November 23, 2018: Democratic members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus said they would not vote for Pelosi unless she supported the "Break the Gridlock" rules change.

• November 21, 2018: Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) said he would no longer oppose Pelosi since she pledged to focus on infrastructure and expand Medicare to people over the age of 50.

• November 20, 2018: Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) publicly considered running for the position but endorsed Pelosi instead.

• November 19, 2018: Sixteen Democrats signed a letter opposing Pelosi's candidacy:

• Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.)
• Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.)
• Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.)
• Rep. Filemon Vela Jr. (D-Texas)
• Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.)
• Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.)
• Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.)
• Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.)
• Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.)
• Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.)
• Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio)
• Rep.-elect Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.)
• Rep.-elect Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.)
• Rep.-elect Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.)
• Rep.-elect Max Rose (D-N.Y.)
• Rep.-elect Ben McAdams (D)

• May 1, 2018: Pelosi restated her intention to run for speaker of the House, after predicting that the Democrats would retake control of the House. Pelosi previously held the position from 2007 to 2011.

Democratic leadership

Steny Hoyer (D)

House Democrats held their leadership elections on November 28, 2018. The following U.S. representatives ran for leadership positions in the 116th Congress:

• Steny Hoyer, Majority leader: Hoyer was elected by acclamation.

• Jim Clyburn, House majority whip: Clyburn was elected by acclamation.

• Ben Ray Lujan, Assistant majority leader: Lujan was elected by acclamation.

• Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Caucus chairman: Jeffries defeated Barbara Lee, winning by a 123-113 vote.

Republican leadership

Kevin McCarthy (R)

House Republicans held leadership elections on November 14, 2018. The following U.S. representatives were elected to leadership positions in the 116th Congress:

• Kevin McCarthy, Minority leader: McCarthy defeated Freedom Caucus member Jim Jordan (R), winning by a 159-43 vote.

• Steve Scalise, Minority whip: Scalise was elected by a unanimous voice vote.

• Liz Cheney, Republican Conference chairman: Cheney was elected by a unanimous voice vote.

• Gary Palmer, Republican Policy Committee chairman: Palmer defeated David Schweikert (R) by a vote of 130-63.

Leadership of the 115th Congress

Heading into the 2018 leadership elections, the following U.S. representatives held leadership positions:

• Paul Ryan (R), Speaker of the House
• Kevin McCarthy (R), Majority leader
• Steve Scalise (R), Majority whip
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R), Republican Conference chairman
• Luke Messer (R), Republican Policy Committee chairman
• Nancy Pelosi (D), Minority leader
• Steny Hoyer (D), Minority whip
• James Clyburn (D), Assistant minority leader
• Joseph Crowley (D), Democratic Caucus chairman

Duties of U.S. House leadership

The following brief descriptions of the duties of U.S. House leadership in the 115th Congress come directly from the official website for the U.S. House of Representatives:

• Speaker of the House: Elected by the whole of the House of Representatives, the Speaker acts as leader of the House and combines several roles: the institutional role of presiding officer and administrative head of the House, the role of leader of the majority party in the House, and the representative role of an elected member of the House. The Speaker of the House is second in line to succeed the President, after the Vice President.

• Majority Leader: Represents Republicans on the House floor.

• Majority Whip: Assists leadership in managing party's legislative program.

• Republican Conference Chairman: Heads organization of all Republican Party members in the House.

• Republican Policy Committee Chairman: Heads Conference forum for policy development.

• Democratic Leader: Represents Democrats on the House floor.

• Democratic Whip: Assists leadership in managing party's legislative program.

• Assistant Democratic Leader: Works with caucuses and as liaison to Appropriations Committee.

• Democratic Caucus Chairman: Heads organization of all Democratic Party members in the House.

See also

• United States Congress elections, 2018
• United States Senate elections, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2018
• 115th United States Congress
• United States Congress
• United States Senate
• United States House of Representatives