wrong.
However:
It was under the speakership of U.S. Rep. Joseph G. Cannon (R-Ill.) that the motion to declare the Office of the Speaker vacant was last used.[12] As speaker, Cannon had earned the nickname Czar Cannon as a result of the power he wielded in the chamber. Cannon was a conservative Republican and faced a coup when the progressive wing of the House GOP conference threatened to join with Democrats to oust him. The coup, launched on St. Patrick’s Day of 1910, was led by U.S. Rep. George Norris (R-Neb.) who ultimately rallied 42 Republicans and 149 Democrats against Cannon.[13] In a speech on the floor, Cannon refused to resign, saying that “a resignation is in and of itself a confession of weakness or mistake or an apology for past actions. The Speaker is not conscious of having done any political wrong.”[14] The effort resulted in Cannon being removed from the chairmanship of the House Rules Committee, which until that time was part of the speaker’s role and gave him considerable power over the House floor. Cannon himself used the motion to declare the office of speaker vacant; he did so to halt the attack, anticipating that Republicans would rather vote for him as speaker than risk a Democrat’s election.[15]
Speakers (e.g. Wright, Gingrich) have resigned voluntarily instead of risking a formal defeat.
