Iowan helps guide U.S. House procedures

An interest in writing and government led Tom Wickham to Washington, D.C., but he ended up in a career he never planned.

'I was expecting to work here two or three years here and go back to Iowa,” Wickham said of his service in the Office of the Parliamentarian in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Wickham, who was born in Dubuque and grew up in Epworth, has been with the office since 1995. He became chief parliamentarian in 2012.

'We're the procedural advisors to the House,” Wickham said. 'If you're watching C-SPAN, there will be a member, usually the speaker, with the gavel. To the speaker's immediate left is the parliamentarian.”

The House does not use the more common Robert's Rules of Order that many legislative bodies utilize. Instead, they use a set of procedures that is older than Robert's Rules, which is based on Thomas Jefferson's manual of parliamentary practice.

'It's very unique and very old,” Wickham said. 'Our job is to advise the 435 members of the House on the rules and try and keep order in the House despite the fact that those 435 members have different constituencies and goals. It's a little bit like herding cats, some have said.”

The parliamentarians are frequently also on the floor of the House interacting with the elected officials, Wickham said.

'So if a member has an idea about a specific procedure with a specific bill, we will talk to them, or if they want to change the rules in some way they would come to our office to get that type of advice. We act kind of like technicians.”

Wickham, who received his undergraduate and law degrees from Iowa in 1990 and 1994, respectively, said he originally applied to the Office of the Legislative Counsel, which is charged with writing bills. He had an editorial background, and was managing editor of the law review at Iowa.

'They said they would love to hire me but couldn't, and they recommended me to office of parliamentarian,” Wickham said. 'I didn't have any experience in the area but thought it was interesting.”

The office is nonpartisan, so it does not matter which party is in control, and seniority also does not play a role in the office's affairs.

'It doesn't matter if a member is a freshman or the most senior member; we're going to provide the same kind of advice regardless of status in the House or party,” Wickham said. 'There are a lot of advisors and party operatives, but we are stewards of the institution.”

Historically, the chief parliamentarian has stayed for decades, Wickham said. His predecessor had the post for 25 years, and the one before that was there more than 50.

'It's a lot like a judge that has a very long tenure, being able to work with members and being able to tell them based on precedent, this is how we did it 10, 50 years ago,” Wickham said. 'As you get more experience you become more valuable to the institution and that's something House leadership and members appreciate.”

Wickham said although he's living in Washington, he tries to keep on top of what's going on in Iowa. He said he reads three Iowa newspapers every day and tries to get to at least one Iowa football and basketball game every year.

He also has daily encounters with Eastern Iowa's congressmen, Republican Rep. Rod Blum and Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack, and they frequently chat about Iowa weather, sports and other generic subjects.

'They are respectful of my role,” Wickham said. 'They know like a referee or an umpire I have a job to do. There's a mutual admiration between our offices. That's something I think is very special.”