Sen. Rand Paul floats Musk to replace MikeJohnson as House speaker | Ghostarchive
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is floating Elon Musk to be Speaker of the House after the powerful, billionaire tech businessman helped torpedo a bipartisan agreement on a short-term spending bill.

Why it matters: He's the first GOP lawmaker to explicitly suggest Musk should be Speaker, and his comments come as Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) bid to keep his job is under serious threat.

Musk has already emerged as one of the most powerful voices in politics, and has become one of President-elect Trump's closest confidants.

What he's saying: "Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk," Paul posted on X on Thursday morning. "[T]hink about it . . . nothing's impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka 'uniparty,' lose their ever-lovin' minds)"

Between the lines: The Constitution does not specify that the Speaker of the House has to be a member of the chamber — though they always have been.

non-representative names have been floated over the years during Speaker elections. paul has long been an advocate for slashing government spending, though he is in the wrong chamber to have much say over who will win the Speakers' gavel in January's floor vote. Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning that Johnson will "easily remain speaker" if he "acts decisively and tough" and eliminates "all of the traps being set by Democrats" in the spending package.

  • Crucible [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    1 day ago

    The speaker being the third in line to the presidency but not needing to be an elected representative is such a blatant loophole it feels like it's been left there as a just in case someone wants to do a proper coup someday

    • edge [he/him]
      ·
      1 day ago

      He'd be skipped over because he's not natural born.

      Which would mean second in line goes to the position that's by tradition given to the longest serving member of the Senate majority party, i.e. one of the oldest.

      • Leon_Grotsky [comrade/them]
        ·
        1 day ago

        They are elected in the sense that the House representatives vote on confirming a nomination, but there is nothing to stipulate the nominee has to be a representative. That has just been the precedent so far.

        • edge [he/him]
          ·
          1 day ago

          The US Speaker of the House is as democratically elected as any Prime Minister.

          but there is nothing to stipulate the nominee has to be a representative. That has just been the precedent so far.

          The same is true for the British PM and I would guess many other PMs.

      • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
        ·
        1 day ago

        I thought so too, but no. It seems that way because the House traditionally chooses an elected rep to serve in the role, but you don't actually need to be a member of the House to be Speaker, the House can choose whoever they want to serve in that role

        The Speaker is the only House officer who traditionally has been chosen from the sitting membership of the House. Manual Sec. 26. The Constitution does not limit his selection [the Speaker] from among that class, but the practice has been followed invariably. The Speaker's term of office thus expires at the end of his term of office as a Member, whereas the other House officers continue in office ``until their successors are chosen and qualified.'

        They almost definitely won't do this for Musk, but they could