2 of 3 Republicans want the next House speaker to come from outside Congress

It's a little-known fact that the speaker of the House of Representatives does not have to be a member of Congress. While the House has never elected an outside speaker, the Constitution simply requires that the House "shall chuse [sic] their Speaker," whomever that might be.

But for the upcoming election of outgoing Speaker John Boehner's replacement (currently expected to be Rep. Paul Ryan), a new poll finds that 64 percent of Republicans — and 74 percent of independent voters — would prefer the next speaker be selected from outside Congress. Democrats were less enthusiastic about the idea, but 40 percent were on board.

"Any electorate who appears willing to hand their party's presidential nomination to Donald Trump is clearly looking for a serious diversion from business as usual in Washington," said pollster Fritz Wenzel, who conducted the survey, "and these findings indicate that that must be a top priority of the next speaker — or the GOP insurrection will continue."

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