Congressmen Confirm That Boehner Will Either Resign Speakership Or Be Forced Out

[Orangepeel]

7. It is too bad Boehner isn't trustworthy enough for Democrats to work with.

Each new House elects a Speaker by roll call vote when it first convenes. Customarily, the
conference of each major party nominates a candidate whose name is placed in nomination.
Members normally vote for the candidate of their own party conference, but may vote for any
individual, whether nominated or not. To be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute
majority of all the votes cast for individuals. This number may be less than a majority (now 218)
of the full membership of the House, because of vacancies, absentees, or members voting
“present.”

...

If no candidate obtains the requisite majority, the roll call is repeated. On these subsequent
ballots, members may still vote for any individual; no restrictions have ever been imposed, such
as that the lowest candidate on each ballot must drop out, or that no new candidate may enter.
Because of the predominance of the two established national parties throughout the period
examined, only once during that period did the House fail to elect on the first roll call.3 In 1923
(68th Congress), in a closely divided House, both major party nominees initially failed to gain a
majority because of votes cast for other candidates by members from the Progressive Party, or
from the “progressive” wing of the Republican Party. Progressives agreed to vote for the
Republican candidate only on the ninth ballot, after the Republican leadership had agreed to
accept a number of procedural reforms favored by the progressives. Thus the Republican was
ultimately elected, although (as noted earlier) still with less than a majority of the full
membership.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30857.pdf