The Role of the Speaker of the House

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday on a new Speaker of the House to replace current Speaker John Boehner who is retiring at the end of the month. Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is expected to win the job after being nominated Wednesday by Republican lawmakers in a closed-door party caucus. The Speaker of the House is one of the most powerful figures in American politics – as we learn in this report from VOA’s Yang Chen.