Poll: Who Would You Pick to Become the Next Speaker of the House?

Here’s a little known fact about the House Speaker: He or she doesn’t have to be an elected member of Congress. In fact, House Speakers tend not to vote. All the Constitution says in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5 is: “The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker and other Officers.”

So, in the wake of House speaker John Boehner’s abrupt retirement on Friday, the next House Speaker could technically be ANYBODY. It could be you. It could be Kanye West. It could even be Grumpy Cat. Well, he or she probably has to be human. But there’s no age requirement, no citizenship requirement and no requirement that the Speaker be an elected official.

We thought it might be fun to expand the field beyond the obvious House Republican members. Here are some of our nominees. Vote for you favorite!