Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., on Monday introduced a bill that would limit eligibility for the House speaker role to current House lawmakers after GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested that former President Donald Trump should be elected to the role, The Hill reports.
"The speaker of the U.S. House is second in the United States presidential line of succession. That Donald Trump's name would even be tossed around as a potential speaker in the people's house, should serve as an alarm bell that our current requirements need to be amended in the name of protecting our nation and our democracy," Boyle said of the bill, titled the Mandating that being an Elected Member Be an Essential Requirement for Speakership, or MEMBERS Act.
''This legislation would establish that mandate in very clear and direct language, and it would serve as a check against those who would seek to undermine and derogate the authority and responsibilities of the speaker's office,'' Boyle said.
Gaetz is sending out fundraising appeals that say, ''how great it will feel when ... we make our next Speaker of the House Donald J. Trump.'' Another portion of the letter includes a big red button that says: ''Join me: Let's get Trump as Speaker.''
Trump told Wayne Allen Root: ''It's very interesting,'' when Root urged him to run for a House seat, become speaker of the House and launch criminal investigations of President Joe Biden and impeach him.
Although the speaker, who is second in line to become president, does not have to be an elected member of Congress, every speaker in U.S. history has been a House member.
Trump has floated the potential for a 2024 presidential run and later said he does not want to hold the gavel.
Trump ''has zero desire to be speaker," Trump spokesman Jason Miller told Punchbowl News.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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