The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House and is simultaneously its presiding officer, de facto leader of the body's majority party, and the institution's administrative head. Speakers also perform various other administrative and procedural functions. Given these several roles and responsibilities, the speaker usually does not personally preside over debatesthat duty is instead delegated to members of the House from the majority partynor regularly participate in floor debates. The Constitution does not explicitly require the speaker to be an incumbent member of the House of Representatives, although every speaker thus far has been. The speaker is second in the United States presidential line of succession, after the vice president and ahead of the president pro tempore of the Senate. The current House speaker is Republican Kevin McCarthy of California. The 55th person to serve as speaker, he was elected on January 7, 2023, at the beginning of the 118th Congress, after 15 rounds of voting. Selection The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress (i.e. , after a general election) or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. At the start of a new Congress, those voting to elect the speaker are representatives-elect, as a speaker must be selected before members are sworn in to office; the House of Representatives cannot organize or take other legislative actions until a speaker is elected. Since 1839, the House has elected speakers by roll call vote. In practice, each party's caucus or conference selects a candidate for the speakership from among its senior leaders prior to the roll call. To be elected speaker, a candidate must receive a majority of votes from the members present and voting. If no candidate wins a majority, the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected. Representatives are free to vote for someone other than the candidate nominated by their party, but generally do not, as the outcome of the election effectively determines which party has the majority and consequently will organize the House. Representatives who choose to vote for someone other than their party's nominee usually vote for someone