Retropolis A 400-pound gavel? The story of a symbol of congressional power and its heavy-handed abusers. After Nancy Pelosi was elected House speaker Thursday, she was given a wooden mallet with a ...

I certainly wasn't the the only one to notice how big John Boehner's gavel was. Even Nancy Pelosi, who became minority leader, made a quip when she handed the gavel to the newly minted speaker of ...

Prior to handing the gavel to the new Speaker, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries mad… After a three-week vacancy, the U.S. House of Representatives elected Mike Johnson (R-LA) to be Speaker.

The new gavel is shaped like an hourglass and has no handle. It was first used on Nov . 17, 1954. It replaced a gavel that had been in continuous use since the birth of the Republic in 1789.