Meet the Clerk
Meet the Clerk
The Clerk is the chief legislative official of the U.S. House of Representatives, which means maintaining records and overseeing the legislative activities of the House. The Clerk does not make laws.
The Founding Fathers created the Clerk's job. In fact, it was written into the U.S. Constitution that the House should have people around to keep everything running smoothly. One of those people is the Clerk.
The Clerk serves a two-year term, and the Members of the House elect the Clerk at the beginning of each new Congress.
The Clerk Today
Cheryl L. Johnson is the 36th Clerk of the House of Representatives. Before becoming Clerk, Ms. Johnson worked for nearly 20 years in the House followed by 10 years at the Smithsonian Institution. Ms. Johnson went to the University of Iowa, where she studied mass communication and journalism, and the Howard University School of Law. She is also a graduate of the senior management program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.