The US House of Representatives elects its new president, a prominent figure and 'number two' in the line of succession

MADRID, 2 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United States House of Representatives will elect its new president on Tuesday, thus beginning a new parliamentary legislature, the 118th Congress, which will last until January 3, 2025, when Joe Biden will live his last days as president of the country in in the event that he does not revalidate the position in the November 2024 elections.

The position of speaker of the House of Representatives is one of the most prominent in American politics, not only because of its representative figure at the international level -as could be seen in the trip of the outgoing head of the Lower House, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan--, but also because of its high position in the national hierarchy.

Under the US Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is second in the line of presidential succession -- behind only the Vice President, in this case Kamala Harris -- if of the president in office becoming incapacitated, dying, resigning or being removed after an 'impeachment'.

'Number three' in the line of succession is occupied by the 'pro tempore' president of the Senate, followed by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General and other members of the Administration, being the Secretary of Homeland Security last on the pecking order.

The figure of the speaker of the House of Representatives can also be named as 'designated successor', a role performed by a member of the presidential line of succession and that, in the event that the tenant of the White House and his Cabinet meet in the same physical space, he offers to move to a remote, safe and confidential place.

Normally the State of the Union address and presidential inaugurations are the main events for which a 'designated successor' is named. With this mechanism, the United States ensures that, in the event of a major disaster, there is a member of the line of succession who can take the reins of the country.

However, since 1981 there are no records of any Speaker of the House of Representatives having been named as 'designated successor', with individuals lower in the line of succession more commonly entrusted to this role.

The US lower house therefore elects this Tuesday a not inconsiderable figure for its administrative and political structure, both in internal and external affairs. The outgoing president Pelosi has been a clear example of this by highlighting her figure in both fields.

On the national scene, Pelosi has been one of the first political figures to demand a parliamentary investigation to clarify what happened on January 6, 2021, when a mob of supporters of former US President Donald Trump tried to break into the Capitol to stop the ratification of votes in favor of elected Joe Biden.

On that ignominious day for American democracy, Pelosi and the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, tried to stop the assault from within and, for almost four tense hours, warned of the danger that this situation entailed for security. staff of officers and employees of the building.

Internationally, the figure of the speaker of the House of Representatives is respected wherever he goes, although it is true that he can be sent to controversial destinations that the tenant of the White House prefers not to venture to. An example of this may be Pelosi's controversial visit to Taiwan in September 2022, although in this case the Government distanced itself from the trip.

The House of Representatives, currently made up of 222 Republicans, 212 Democrats, and one vacant seat. The Republicans regained control of the lower house after the mid-term elections on November 8, in which, however, they did not win control of the Senate despite the polls that showed it to be so.