Registration for Orange and Maroon Legislative Day (OMLD) is underway! 

If you missed the email that was sent out last week with the registration info, you can find a copy of it here. You can submit your registration at:


tx.ag/OMLD2023Registration


Remember that volunteer slots are limited, and early registration is recommended. 

See you at the Capitol on Feb. 15!

In both the United States Congress and the Texas Legislature, the leadership decisions all begin at the November elections. The processes for selecting the leaders, however, varies a bit between the federal and state legislatures.

The presiding leader of the U.S. House is the speaker of the House. This position is mandated by the U.S. Constitution, but its exact role has shifted over time. While the Constitution does not explicitly require the speaker to also be a member of the House, an "outsider" has never been elected as speaker. The speaker of the House is second in the order of presidential succession, behind only the vice president of the United States.

Typically, the sitting representatives of the Democrat and Republican conferences will hold a closed-door meeting in late November, after the general election. In these meetings, each conference will select a "nominee" to be the speaker. Because this meeting takes place in November, it does not include the newly-elected representatives who will take office in January.

At this time, the partisan control of the House is typically already known. During these meetings, the conferences will also select other conference leadership positions through a secret ballot election. The number of votes each candidate receives is known, but each individual's vote is not known unless the member chooses to publicize his or her vote.

If there are three or more candidates for a position and no individual wins a majority on the first vote, additional rounds will be conducted as needed. The candidate who receives the least number of votes will be eliminated, and subsequent votes will take place. 

After the new Congress is sworn in in January, a floor vote will take place. A representative from each party nominates the party's selection for speaker and a roll call vote is taken. This vote is expected to be a party-line vote, and so the party with the majority of seats will also take the speakership. Just as in the conference meetings, if no candidate receives a majority (218+) on the House floor, additional rounds of voting will take place.

On Nov. 15, House Republicans elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California as their nominee for speaker. Holding a majority in the House for 2023, McCarthy became the speaker-designee in this vote. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana was elected as majority leader and Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota was elected as majority whip.

On Nov. 30, House Democrats elected Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York as their conference leader. As the minority party in the House for 2023, Jeffries will be formally nominated for speaker in the January floor vote; but without the votes needed to secure the speakership, he will instead become the House minority leader. Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts was elected as the minority whip.

The presiding officer of the U.S. Senate is the vice president of the United States. While the speaker of the House can vote on any legislation (though typically abstains, unless to break a tie or signal support on particularly momentous legislation), the vice president only votes in the Senate to break a tie. Vice President Kamala Harris will continue serving in this capacity in 2023.

When the vice president is not able to preside over the Senate (which is frequently the case), the president pro tempore serves in this role. This position, which is third in the order of presidential succession, is selected from within the majority party and traditionally filled by the longest-serving senator from the conference.

In 2023, the most senior Democratic senator will be Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California; but in a break from tradition, she declined the role. On Dec. 8, the Senate Democrats elected Sen. Patty Murray of Washington — the second longest-serving senator, after Sen. Feinstein — for this position.

Similar to the U.S. House, the conferences elect a floor leader and a whip in closed-door conference meetings in late November. Unlike the House, this is the last step in the leadership selection — no floor votes take place in January regarding leadership.

Also on Dec. 8, Senate Democrats reelected Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York as Senate majority leader for the 118th Congress. Sen. Dick Durbin of Ohio was reelected as majority whip.

On Nov. 16, Senate Republicans reelected Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to his post of Senate minority leader. Sen. John Thune of North Dakota was reelected as minority whip.

Like in the U.S. House, the presiding leader of the Texas House is the speaker of the House. The Texas Constitution requires the speaker to be selected from the membership of the body. The speaker maintains order during floor debates and recognizes legislators who wish to speak. The speaker is elected on the House floor on the first day of the new legislative session.

Unlike in the U.S. House, the two parties traditionally have not selected a "nominee" for the post. Instead, representatives seeking the position have signified their intention and sought pledges of support from fellow representatives of both parties. Once a representative has secured the pledges of 76 members (a majority), this news is highly publicized and the representative becomes the presumed-speaker.

In most modern legislative sessions, only the presumed-speaker has been formally nominated. The formal votes have been fully or nearly unanimous, in a show of bipartisan support.

Leading into the 88th Legislature, the House Republican Caucus chose to hold a closed-door meeting to endorse a candidate. In this meeting, 78 of the 84 members voted to endorse Rep. Dade Phelan to serve a second term as speaker.

The Texas Senate more closely mirrors the U.S. Senate in the sense that the presiding officer is not elected from the body. Instead, the lieutenant governor of Texas, who is elected statewide, serves as the presiding officer. In the 88th Legislature, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick will continue serving in this role. Unlike the U.S. Senate, however, the formal presiding officer of the Texas Senate is frequently in attendance for this duty.

The Texas Constitution also provides for a president pro tempore of the Texas Senate. This position is elected from and by the senators after the start of the legislative session and serves as the presiding officer of the Senate when the lieutenant governor is absent.

tx.ag/OMLD2023Registration