Amotion to vacate the chair ormotion to declare the chair vacant, commonly shortened tomotion to vacate, is a procedure in which a member of alegislative body proposes that thepresiding officer vacates their office.
Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised allows this motion to be used if the occupant of the chair is not the regular presiding officer of a society, in which case it is aquestion of privilege affecting the assembly.[1] If the chair is the regular presiding officer, the motion to declare the chair vacant cannot be used.[2] However, the assembly could temporarily remove the chair for the meeting using asuspension of the rules.[3] The bylaws of the organization would determine how to permanently remove the officer.[4]
Demeter's Manual states that the procedure is to either bring charges against the presiding officer for neglect of duty or abolish their term of office by amending the bylaws with duenotice to all members; either of these methods requires a two-thirds vote.[5]
Mason's Manual provides, "A presiding officer who has been elected by the house may be removed by the house upon a majority vote of all the members elected, and a new presiding officer pro tempore elected and qualified. When there is no fixed term of office, an officer holds office at the pleasure of the body, or until a successor is elected and qualified."[6]
Resolved, That the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.
— The effective words of a resolution declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.
A resolution declaring the office ofSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives vacant (informally referred to as a "motion to vacate") is consideredprivileged under certain circumstances. Under Rule IX, a privileged resolution, once raised on the floor by a member, must be put to a floor vote within two legislative days. From the1st Congress through the115th Congress, as well as in the118th Congress, a motion to vacate raised on the floor was always considered privileged. In the116th Congress and117th United States Congress, it was privileged only if "offered on behalf of aparty conference or caucus", and in the119th Congress, only if submitted by a member of the majority party and co-sponsored by eight other members of the majority party.[7][8][9][10]
The motion to vacate can be introduced on the floor or through the regular channels: the motion is not privileged until or unless it is introduced on the floor.
In the history of the House of Representatives, there have been only four instances of a motion to vacate the chair being filed: one in March 1910 againstJoe Cannon, which failed;[11] one in July 2015 againstJohn Boehner, which was never put up to a vote; one in October 2023 againstKevin McCarthy, which, unlike its predecessors, was successful; and one againstMike Johnson, which failed.[12][13]
On March 19, 1910, Republican SpeakerJoe Cannon, who had just faced a revolt by his caucus on a resolution weakening the Speaker's power over the Rules Committee, dared his opponents to try to vacate his Speakership; Democratic representativeAlbert Burleson immediately[14]: 3436–3439 proceeded to introduce a privileged resolution to that effect, which the House ended up rejecting by a majority of 37 (155 Ayes to 192 Noes). Some of the Republicans who opposed Cannon nonetheless voted against, fearing the risk of him being replaced by a Democratic Speaker.[11][14][15]
In July 2015, Republican representativeMark Meadows filed a resolution to vacate the Speakership of RepublicanJohn Boehner. Since the resolution was introduced through regular channels rather than on the floor, it was non-privileged[16][17] and was referred to theRules Committee instead of being subject to an immediate vote by the full House.[17] While the resolution was never debated nor voted upon, and only gained four co-sponsors (Louie Gohmert,Walter Jones Jr.,Thomas Massie andTed Yoho), it nonetheless contributed to Boehner's decision to resign in September 2015.[18]
On October 2, 2023, Republican representativeMatt Gaetz filed a privileged resolution to vacate the office of Speaker, then held by RepublicanKevin McCarthy, after McCarthy negotiated withDemocrats to pass aspending bill that averted agovernment shutdown; the bill was opposed by several Republican representatives because it did not includefiscally conservative reforms.[19][20] The resolution to vacate was considered by the House on October 3.[21]Tom Cole, chairman of the Republican-ledHouse Rules Committee,moved to table (kill) the resolution, but his motion was rejected by a vote of 208–218. The House thus proceeded to consider the resolution, and, following one hour of debate (evenly divided between Gaetz and Cole), passed it by a vote of 216–210 (with RepublicansAndy Biggs,Tim Burchett,Ken Buck,Eli Crane, Gaetz,Bob Good,Nancy Mace andMatt Rosendale voting in favor alongside all Democrats who were present); this was the first time in congressional history the House voted to remove its incumbent Speaker.[22]
On March 22, 2024, Republican representativeMarjorie Taylor Greene filed a resolution to removeMike Johnson as Speaker of the House, after the latter put up for a vote aminibusspending bill opposed by a majority of theRepublican Conference (thereby violating theHastert convention).[23][24][25] As of April 19, the resolution had gained two co-sponsors (Thomas Massie andPaul Gosar).[26][27]
On May 8, 2024, Greene introduced a resolution to vacate the office of Speaker on the floor, forcing a vote on it within two legislative days.[28]Majority leaderSteve Scalise immediatelymoved to table (kill) the resolution; the House passed Scalise's motion by a vote of 359 to 43, effectively allowing Johnson to remain as Speaker. Most Democrats voted with Republicans against removing Johnson because of the role he had played in providing funding for the federal government and for Ukraine.[29] The members who voted against tabling the motion included some of the more progressive Democrats and several Republicans associated with the populist right. Speakership procedural votes typically track more closely along strict party lines.
In July 1997, four Republican Representatives considered using the motion to vacate against SpeakerNewt Gingrich after he engaged in an ethics violation in January 1997.[31] Ultimately, the Representatives did not invoke a motion.
Deriving its rules from the United States Congress, theCongress of the Philippines also has a motion to vacate the chair within its rulebooks, to remove the sittingHouse Speaker orSenate President midway a congressional session. The instances of this happening are:
H.Res. 6 amended Rule IX to establish that a resolution declaring a vacancy in the Office of the Speaker will not qualify as a question of the privileges of the House unless it is offered by direction of a party caucus or party conference.