What determines who holds the postion of speaker of the house?
2 answers
He or she is elected by a caucus of members of the majority party in the House.
After the majority (and minority) have selected their candidates for Speaker, there is a vote of the full House which the majority party always wins. If a member does not vote for his or her party's candidate, that person is dealt with severely by being denied committee assignments. That rarely happens.
If there were a strong third party in the US House, some sort of coalition might have to be formed to elect a Speaker with a majority. This has not happened in modern times.
If there were a strong third party in the US House, some sort of coalition might have to be formed to elect a Speaker with a majority. This has not happened in modern times.