Parliamentarians of the House

(1857 to Present)

The Parliamentarian is a nonpartisan official appointed by the Speaker of the House to render objective assistance on legislative and parliamentary procedure to the House of Representatives. During proceedings on the floor, the Parliamentarian sits to the Speaker’s right on the dais.

The parliamentary law of the House of Representatives derives from the Constitution and rules adopted pursuant to article I, section five of the Constitution. These rules include not only the standing rules adopted from Congress to Congress but also Jefferson's Manual, as customarily incorporated by reference in the standing rules. They also include rules enacted as law and special rules adopted as necessary. On this foundation rests a body of precedent established by decisions of presiding officers on actual parliamentary questions or by long custom and tradition.

In resolving questions of order, the Speaker and other presiding officers of the House adhere to the jurisprudential principle of stare decisis, a commitment to stand by earlier decisions. The overarching role of the Office of the Parliamentarian is to strive for consistency in parliamentary analysis by attempting to apply pertinent precedent to each procedural question.

Persons who performed various aspects of the Parliamentarian's duties held a series of titles throughout congressional history, including “Messenger to the Speaker,” “Clerk to the Speaker,” and “Clerk at the Speaker's Table.” Beginning in the 70th Congress (1927–1929) the title became “Parliamentarian.” Since 1857, 20 individuals have served in that role. Four (indicated by asterisks) also served as Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. By clicking on their names, viewers will be linked to their individual biographies in the online Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Former Parliamentarians Asher Hinds, Clarence Cannon, and Lewis Deschler each compiled parliamentary precedents of the House that remain invaluable records of its proceedings. The Office of the Parliamentarian biennially publishes a House Rules and Manual. For the longer term, the Parliamentarian and its subsidiary Office of Compilation of Precedents continue the perennial compilation of parliamentary precedents for formal publication. The precedents presently fill 28 volumes comprising thousands of decisions over the 224 years of parliamentary practice in the House. They are published as Hinds’ Precedents (1907); Cannon’s Precedents (1936); and Deschler’s, Deschler-Brown, and Deschler-Brown-Johnson Precedents (ongoing). To bridge the span between a digest of decisions and formally published precedents, the Parliamentarian also publishes a condensed compilation of procedures of current application as House Practice.