Nothing in the Constitution requires the Speaker of the House to be an elected member of Congress. If Democrats take back control, they should bring a bulldog into the job.
If you read Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, you’ll find a surprising clause. It says that the U.S. House of Representatives chooses its Speaker and its other officers. That’s it. It doesn’t require the person installed in that post to represent a congressional district, have notched an electoral victory, or have been on the ballot anywhere, for that matter. Hypothetically, it could be anyone.
Republicans already know this. That’s why they flirted with naming Donald Trump the Speaker of the House while he was out of office, as a way of ratcheting up pressure on the Biden White House and giving the disgraced ex-president an official public platform. Indeed, after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was thrown out by his own conference, Trump said he’d been asked about taking the job temporarily and would “do it if necessary.”
He didn’t, obviously. But there’s no doubt the move would’ve shocked the political system. As they look past the midterms, Democrats should consider turning the tables.
They’re now weeks away from an election that most serious forecasters think they will win. Jared Kushner has already taken a meeting with Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, which tells you that Trump himself is terrified about losing and being investigated by a Democratic majority. Unfortunately, the conversation inside the Democratic Party has been almost entirely a conversation about whose turn it is to be Speaker, rather than what type of figure is needed to fight a wannabe dictator.
I’m not saying Democrats should throw Hakeem Jeffries overboard. In fact, I would expect — in the scenario that I’m about to propose — that they’d still make him House Majority Leader, the number-two who runs the day-to-day in the House. But what I’m urging Democrats to do is think outside the box.
The moment a new Congress gets sworn in on January 3, 2027, they should hand the job of Speaker of the House to an outsider. The role will be more important than it’s ever been. That individual will be the face of the entire pro-democracy movement in America. They will lead the most sprawling congressional investigations in American history into the most corrupt administration the nation has ever seen. And quite frankly, they will need someone who’s not only seen as a leader of the body but also as a potential leader of the country.
Democrats need to put their most formidable communicators forward for the post. That includes looking at the roster of possible presidential contenders.
So who takes the gavel? There are a lot of names being floated for 2028 who might be interesting choices, though many already hold public office. Gavin Newsom, for instance, would be the biggest thorn in Trump’s side, but you wouldn’t want him to resign as Governor of California to take over leadership of the House. Others are already in competitive races, like Senator Jon Ossoff in Georgia and State Representative James Talarico in Texas.
Which leads me to the person I think is the obvious choice: Pete Buttigieg. He holds no office and would have to give up nothing. He is one of the best communicators the party has produced in a generation. And he has spent eight years dismantling hostile interviewers on live television (including in right-wing media) in exactly the tone these hearings will require.
Picture him presiding over the investigations into Trump’s weaponization of the federal government to get rich and get revenge. We need a speaker who can expose the corruption (the ballrooms, foreign jets, and reflecting pools… the crypto empire… the federal contracts for favored companies… the shady foreign deals) and reveal Trump’s breathtaking weaponization of government (the withholding of aid to Blue States… hijacking of the electoral process… sham investigations… retaliatory actions against foes). With a figure like Buttigieg at the helm, these investigations would go beyond Washington beltway drama and take on historical significance.
I get that this sounds unconventional. But we’re in a radical moment in American life during which a man, Donald Trump, is actively and aggressively dismantling democracy’s guardrails and setting fire to the Constitution. This is not the a moment for conventional thinking. For me, it’s unbearable to watch the Democratic Party spending every day warning (correctly) that this is a five-alarm fire for American democracy… and then responding in routine, procedural ways.
Republicans looked at this same constitutional power play a few years ago and instantly saw an opportunity that would’ve rocked the political system. I’m glad they didn’t exercise it to install Trump as Speaker. But they were onto something. They understood that the Speakership isn’t really about legislative mechanics right now. The role is a statement about who leads the political opposition and who holds the microphone to speak for a nation on the brink.
Democrats are about to be handed that microphone. And they should give it to someone like Buttigieg.
Your friend, in defiance,
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