Fact check: When was the "motion to vacate the chair" rule last used in Congress?
November 12, 2015
By Charles Aull
A 200-year-old parliamentary rule known as "a motion to vacate the chair" played a key role in recent events surrounding the resignation of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the rise of his successor Paul Ryan (R-WI).
But when was the last time the rule was used?
More than 100 years ago, according to national media outlets such as The New York Times and National Review and politicians such as Indiana Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN), who said in a C-SPAN interview last week that the rule "sat there for about 100 years and nobody ever utilized it. It's almost like a quirk of the rules that has now been found."
We wondered if that was true. It turns out that while the rule was last officially used in 1910, it has not lain dormant for the past century. In 1997, a group of congressmen seeking to oust then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) came close to using it. Unlike in 1910 and 2015, however, no resolution was ever officially filed.
What is the motion to vacate the chair rule?
The motion to vacate the chair is a parliamentary rule (peculiar to Congress) that describes the right of any member of the House of Representatives to call for the formal removal of a sitting Speaker of the House and the election of a new one.
This power comes, technically, not from the Constitution but rather from a parliamentary rules manual written by Thomas Jefferson during his tenure as Vice President—and President of the Senate—between 1797 and 1801. The manual—now known as Jefferson's Manual—was adopted by Congress as an official rule book in 1837. The manual does not supersede the Constitution. Instead, it provides the rules—essentially the bylaws—for how Congress conducts its legislative business.
When was the rule used most recently?
The rule was most recently used on July 28, 2015. Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), a second-term Republican from North Carolina, filed a resolution formally declaring the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives "to be vacant." The House never voted on the resolution, but it is believed to have been consequential in that it represented a growing dissatisfaction with John Boehner's tenure as Speaker among conservative House lawmakers such as Meadows and a group of about 40 legislators known as the House Freedom Caucus.
Boehner announced his resignation from the Speakership and the House in late September. He stated, at the time, "My first job as speaker is to protect the institution. It had become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution."
In the race to succeed him, the motion to vacate rule again played a key role. Rep. Paul Ryan, Boehner's eventual successor, initially stated that he would seek the Speakership only if changes were made to the rule. A spokesperson for Ryan stated in October, "No matter who is speaker, they cannot be successful with this weapon pointed at them all the time." The House Freedom Caucus, however, objected and reportedly called the condition a "non-starter." Shortly thereafter, Ryan—who was elected speaker on October 29—dropped the condition and agreed with the Freedom Caucus to leave discussions about making changes to the rule for another time.
When was the last time the rule was used?
As the events surrounding Boehner's resignation and Ryan's election to the Speakership unfolded, several media outlets reported that it had been over a century since the motion to vacate rule had last been used. The New York Times, for example, noted in August, "Mark Meadows, a backbench House member from North Carolina, filed a motion last month asking Mr. Boehner to 'vacate' his post. It was a silly, symbolic gesture, but the first such move in 105 years." National Review reported in early October, "the procedure has not been an important check on Speakers over the last few decades. Before its use against Boehner, it had last been used more than 100 years ago."
Politicians, including members of the House, have made similar statements. Most recently, Rep. Luke Messer, a second-term Republican from Indiana and current chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, responded to a question about the rule in a C-SPAN interview last week by saying:
| “ | We have a process now where one individual can file a motion to vacate the chair, and then just a few dozen people from one party ... can take that individual speaker out. It's been that way for a very long time, back to Cannon, but it sat there for about 100 years and nobody ever utilized it. It's almost like a quirk of the rules that has now been found.[1] | ” |
The 100-year-old event to which The New York Times, National Review and Messer refer is the attempt by House Democrats to remove Speaker Joseph Cannon from power on March 20, 1910. Described by one modern historian as the most controversial Speaker in American history and by others as a "czar" and "tyrant," Cannon, a Republican from Illinois, survived a vote to vacate his office 155-192. A Democrat from Texas named Albert Burleson had filed the resolution in an attempt to capitalize on growing divisions between progressives and conservatives within the Republican Party.
But was that really the last time the rule was used, and did it just "sit there" until Meadows "found" it in July, as Messer stated?
We did some digging by looking through historical and reference works on Congress, searching online databases and contacting experts such as the House's Office of the Historian and Matthew Green—an associate professor of politics at Catholic University who wrote a book in 2010 titled The Speaker of the House. We concluded that Burleson's actions in 1910 do indeed mark the last time that a member of the House formally filed a resolution declaring the office of the Speaker vacant. But we also came across an episode from 1997 during the Speakership of New Gingrich showing that the rule has been active since then and members of the House have even sought to use it.
According to contemporary reports from Congressional Quarterly Weekly, The Washington Post and The Hill, a group of a dozen or more House Republicans convened a series of meetings between July 9 and July 11, 1997, with the intention of removing Gingrich from power by filing a resolution declaring the Speaker's office vacant. One report stated that the group had gotten as far as drafting a resolution and that some supporters had signed it. The plot collapsed on the morning of July 11, when Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey—who had participated in some of the meetings—informed Gingrich of the group's intentions. Professor Matthew Green, who spoke to us via email, described the incident as "a hush-hush effort by a handful of disgruntled Republicans that fell apart when it was revealed."
The motion to vacate rule was therefore never officially put into action in 1997 like it was in 1910 or July 2015—in that the resolution was not filed—but the events of that year illustrate the fact that the rule has not "sat there" unutilized and unknown for the past 100 years. In a sense, one could argue that the rule's last official use before 2015 was in 1910, while its last unofficial use was in 1997.
Conclusion
National media outlets and politicians have stated that the last time the motion to vacate the chair rule was used came in 1910 with the Democrats' failed attempt to remove Speaker Joseph Cannon from power. Luke Messer of Indiana, we noted, said the rule "sat there for about 100 years and nobody ever utilized it. It's almost like a quirk of the rules that has now been found."
We found this narrative to be largely true, though an attempt by a group of Republicans to unseat Speaker Newt Gingrich in the summer of 1997 shows that the rule has not lain dormant for the past 100 years. Rather, members of the House have been aware of it and have even almost used it.
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Sources
C-SPAN, "Representative Messer on House Leadership and Fiscal Deadlines," November 4, 2015
Jefferson's Manual, Washington, DC: GPO
CQ Weekly, "Dulling the Sword of Damocles," October 26, 2015
Politico, "House conservative seeks Boehner's ouster," July 28, 2015
The New York Times, "John Boehner, House Speaker, Will Resign From Congress," September 25, 2015
The Atlantic, "Paul Ryan's Uneasy Alliance With the House Freedom Caucus," October 22, 2015
Real Clear Politics, "Paul Ryan Elected Speaker of the House," October 29, 2015
Politico, "Ryan offers concession to House Freedom Caucus," October 22, 2015
The New York Times, "Republican Problems Come From Within," August 2, 2015
National Review, "Ryan's Rules," October 21, 2015
Email exchange with Matthew Green on November 9, 2015
Dewhirst, R. (2007). Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc.
CQ Weekly, "Gingrich under fire as discover simmer from rank to top," June 21, 1997
CQ Weekly, "Coup attempt throws GOP off legislative track," July 19, 1997
CQ Weekly, "Leadership: Party stalwarts will determine Gingrich's long-term survival," July 26, 1997
The Hill, "Gingrich foils coup by deputies," July 22, 1997
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Notes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
