There's a fascinating and detailed debate over whether former President Donald Trump is disqualified from again serving as President under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. After House Speaker Kevin McCartyh was ousted, some of suggested that Trump should be Speaker, and some reports suggested the former President was open to it. (Maybe he liked the idea of having Speech and Debate Clause immunity to use as a shield against judicial gag orders.) But would Trump be eligible to be Speaker?
Setting aside the Section 3 issues (such as whether Trump's conduct was disqualifying and whether the Speakership is the sort of office covered by the amendment), there is a dispute over whether an individual who is not an elected member of the House may serve as speaker.
As summarized by Louis Jacobson for Politifact, many experts believe there is no constitutional requirement that the Speaker of the House be selected from among the House's members, even though this has never happened before. Back in 2015, Pete Williams reported for NBC that both the Clerk of the House and the House historian concurred with this view.
