1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand a fundamental structural reform to the House of Representatives: transforming the office of the Speaker of the House from a partisan weapon into a strictly neutral referee. Under Article I of the Constitution, the House has the power to set its own rules. For too long, Speakers of both parties have weaponized these rules to cancel sessions, delay sensitive votes, block popular legislation, and shield politicians from accountability. Using recesses as a "get out of jail free card" to avoid tough votes or freeze privileged motions will no longer work for the American people. To restore the House as a true chamber of the people, I urge you to support a comprehensive overhaul of House Rules to enforce the following three pillars: • Establish a Strictly Neutral Referee: Upon election to the podium, the Speaker must formally step aside from their party's leadership, cease attending partisan caucus strategy meetings, and recuse themselves from fundraising for political parties or campaign committees. • Strip Agenda-Control and Scheduling Power: The power to schedule floor votes, declare recesses, and advance legislation must be stripped from the Speaker's office. This authority should be transferred to an equally divided, bipartisan Rules Committee or determined by a transparent, fixed legislative calendar that cannot be altered unilaterally to dodge critical floor action. • Enforce Non-Voting and Non-Debating Restrictions: The Speaker must serve purely as an administrative arbiter of order and decorum. They must be stripped of their right to participate in floor debates and prohibited from voting on any legislative matter, except in the rare event of an exact tie. The American people deserve a legislative body where bills live or die on their merits in a fair, timely debate—not a system controlled by procedural gridlock. I urge you to introduce or co-sponsor a House Resolution to implement these neutral speaker reforms at the start of the next legislative session.