United States House Committee on Rules

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox U.S. congressional committee Template:United States House of Representatives The Committee on Rules (or more commonly the Rules Committee) is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for the rules under which bills will be presented to the House of Representatives, unlike other committees, which often deal with a specific area of policy. The committee is often considered one of the most powerful committees as it influences the introduction and process of legislation through the House. Thus it has garnered the nickname the "traffic cop of Congress". A "special rule" resolution (also referred to simply as a "rule") is a simple resolution of the House of Representatives, usually reported by the Committee on Rules, to permit the immediate consideration of a legislative measure, notwithstanding the usual order of business, and to prescribe conditions for its debate and amendment.[1]

Jurisdiction

The 'regular' process to pass a bill in the house is complicated and prone to delays and obstruction by the minority. Because of this, in practice, bills (other than those that are uncontroversial) are almost always debated under a so-called 'special rule' reported by the Rules Committee. This rule usually restricts the lengths of debate and number and type of amendments allowed (if any).

Special rules

When a bill is reported out of another committee with legislative jurisdiction, it is placed on the appropriate House Calendar for debate. Common practice, though, is for bills reported from committees to be considered in the Rules Committee, which then passes a so-called "special rule" (a resolution allowing for consideration of a bill, establishing how long and under what rules the full body will debate the proposition). A "special rule" resolution (also known simply as a "rule") is privileged under the Standing Rules of the House, meaning it is immediately subject to a debate and a vote by the full House upon being reported by the Rules Committee. If a "special rule" resolution providing for consideration of a bill is passed, then such bill must be considered by the House at such a time and under such limitations as the resolution has set. In practice, a bill can get to a floor vote only if a "special rule" resolution providing for its consideration is passed (unless the Speaker grants a vote on suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds of votes cast in order to pass).

Consideration by the full body can occur in one of two forums: the Committee of the Whole, or on the floor of the full House of Representatives itself. Different traditions govern whether the Committee of the Whole or the House itself will debate a given resolution, and the Rules Committee generally sets the forum under which a proposition will be debated and the amendment/time limitations for every measure, too. For instance, there might be a limit on the number or types of amendments (proposed changes to the bill). Amendments might only be allowed to specific sections of the bill, or no amendments might be allowed at all. Besides control over amendments, the rule issued by the Rules Committee also determines the amount of speaking time assigned on each bill or resolution. If the leadership wants a bill pushed forward quietly, for instance, there might be no debate time scheduled; if they want attention, they might allow time for lengthy speeches in support of the bill.

Between control over amendments, debate, and when measures will be considered, the Rules Committee exerts vast power in the House. As such, the majority party will usually be very keen on controlling it tightly. While most House committees maintain membership in a rough proportion to the full chamber (if the majority party controls 55% of the House, it will tend to have 55% of committee seats), membership on the Rules Committee is disproportionately in favor of the majority party. Furthermore, the rules committee typically operates in a very partisan fashion, advancing "special rule" resolutions to the floor on straight party line votes in nearly all cases.

History

The Rules Committee was formed on April 2, 1789, during the first Congress. However, it had nowhere near the powerful role it has today. Instead, it merely proposed general rules for the House to follow when debating bills (rather than passing a special rule for each bill), and was dissolved after proposing these general rules. These general rules still have a great impact on the tone of the House floor today.

The Rules Committee, for a long time, lay dormant. For the first fifty years of its existence, it accomplished little beyond simply reaffirming these rules, and its role was very noncontroversial. On June 16, 1841, it made a major policy change, reducing from <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />2⁄3 to Template:1/2 the fraction of votes needed in the House to close debate and vote on a bill.

In 1880, the modern Rules Committee began to emerge from the reorganization of the House Committees. When the Republican Party took over the House in the election of 1880, they quickly realized the power that the Rules Committee possessed. One member, Thomas Brackett Reed (R-Maine), used a seat on the Rules Committee to vault himself to the Speakership, and gained so much power that he was referred to as "Czar Reed".

In the 1890s and 1900s, Reed and his successor, Joseph Gurney Cannon (R-Illinois) used the Rules Committee to centralize the power of the Speakership. Although their power to place members in committees and perform other functions was limited by a forced rule change in 1910, the Rules Committee retained its power. However, it ceased to function as the personal project of the Speaker, as it had originally; instead, as the seniority system took root, it was captured by a coalition of conservative Democrats and Republicans. This state of affairs would continue until the 1960s.

In 1961, Speaker Sam Rayburn (D-Texas), acting on the wishes of the new President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic Study Group, introduced a bill to enlarge the committee from 12 members to 15, to decrease the power of the arch-conservative chair, Howard W. Smith (D-Virginia). The bill passed, 217 votes to 212. However, it was only partially successful; the Rules Committee continued to block legislation including civil rights and education bills.

By 1975, however, the Rules Committee was firmly under the command of the Speaker once again. Under Tip O'Neill (D-Mass.), the Speaker was given authority under House Democratic Caucus rules to appoint all Rules Committee Democrats subject to caucus ratification, and in 1989 the Republican Conference did the same.[2] As before, its primary role is to come up with special rules, to help or obstruct the chances of legislation reported to it.

General types of rules

File:Bradley Byrne at United States House Committee on Rules.jpg
Representative Bradley Byrne while in session. He served on the House Committee on Rules from 2015 to 2018.

The Rules Committee issues the following types of "special rule" resolutions:[3]

  • Open rule: Allows any member to offer any amendment in compliance with house rules under the five minute rule (a member argues for the amendment for 5 minutes, an opponent then argues against the amendment for 5 minutes, other members may then "strike the last word" to speak further on the Amendment, and the house then votes on the amendment). Debate continues until no one offers an amendment. This type of Rule has not been used since June 10, 2014.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
  • Modified open rule: Much like an open rule, but may require amendments to be preprinted in the congressional record beforehand, and may impose a total time limit for the consideration of all amendments, or for debate on each amendment.
  • Structured rule – Members submit amendments to the rules committee, and the rules committee selects which amendments may be considered on the floor.
  • Closed rule – Eliminates the opportunity to amend the bill on the floor, except under unanimous consent.

Most "special rule" resolutions offer time for "general debate" before any amendment consideration begins (it is also possible for the rules committee to issue a rule for "general debate" only and later issue a second rule for amendment consideration) and allow for one motion to send the bill back to its committee of origination, with or without instructions for how to modify the bill. Such resolutions may also include necessary authority for district work periods, and may waive or modify certain points of order or rules of the house if desired by the committee, and the committee is also allowed to self-execute amendments right in the rule rather than delegating this ability to the full house floor.[4]

Members, 119th Congress

Majority Minority
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Subcommittees

The Rules Committee operates with two subcommittees, one focusing on legislative and budget matters and one focusing on the internal operations of the House.

Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
Legislative and Budget Process Michelle Fischbach Teresa Leger Fernandez
Rules and the Organization of the House Michael C. Burgess Mary Gay Scanlon

Source: Full membership

Leadership, 1849–1853 and 1880–present

Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The Committee on Rules was created as a select committee but became a standing committee for the 31st and 32nd Congresses (1849–1853). In 1853, the panel reverted to being a select committee and remained one until 1880.[5]

From 1880 to the revolt against Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon in March 1910, the Speaker of the House also served as chair of the Rules Committee.

Beginning in 1999 with Republican David Dreier of California, the chair of the Rules Committee became a member of the elected Republican leadership, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Howard W. Smith of Virginia is the longest-serving chair (1955–1967) since the committee's founding. David Dreier of California is the youngest chair of the Rules Committee, assuming the position at the age of 46. He is also the longest-serving chair (1999–2007, 2011–2013) since 1967. Louise Slaughter of New York is the first woman to chair the committee (2007–2011).

Chairs
Name Party State Start End Notes
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Texas 1849 1851 Died in office January 31, 1851[6]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Tennessee 1851 1853 [7]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Pennsylvania 1880 1881 [8][9]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Ohio 1881 1883 [10]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Kentucky 1883 1889 [11]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Maine 1889 1891 1st term[12]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Georgia 1891 1895 [13]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Maine 1895 1899 2nd term
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Iowa 1899 1903 [14]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Illinois 1903 1910 [15]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Pennsylvania 1910 1911 [16]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Texas 1911 1917 [17]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic North Carolina 1917 1919 1st term[18]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Kansas 1919 1923 [19]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican New York 1923 1931 [20]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic North Carolina 1931 1934 2nd term. Died in office April 1, 1934.
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Alabama 1934 1935 [21]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic New York 1935 1939 [22]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Illinois 1939 1947 1st term[23]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Illinois 1947 1949 1st term[24]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Illinois 1949 1952 2nd term. Died in office November 6, 1952.
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Illinois 1953 1955 2nd term
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Virginia 1955 1967 [25]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Mississippi 1967 1973 [26]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Indiana 1973 1977 [27]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic New York 1977 1979 [28]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Missouri 1979 1983 [29]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Florida 1983 1989 Died in office May 30, 1989[30]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Massachusetts 1989 1995 [31]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican New York 1995 1999 [32]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican California 1999 2007 1st term[33]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic New York 2007 2011 [34]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican California 2011 2013 2nd term
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Texas 2013 2019 [35]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Massachusetts 2019 2023 [36]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Oklahoma 2023 2024 [37]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Texas 2024 2025 [38]
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican North Carolina 2025 present [39]
Ranking members
Name Party State Start End
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Illinois 1947 1949
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Illinois 1949 1953
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Virginia 1953 1955
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Illinois 1955 1961
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Ohio 1961 1965
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican California 1965 1973
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Nebraska 1973 1975
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Tennessee 1975 1991
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican New York 1991 1995
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Massachusetts 1995 2001
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Texas 2001 2005
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic New York 2005 2007
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican California 2007 2011
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic New York 2011 2018
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Massachusetts 2018 2019
Script error: No such module "Sort". Republican Oklahoma 2019 2023
Script error: No such module "Sort". Democratic Massachusetts 2023 present

Historical members and subcommittees

114th Congress

Majority Minority
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115th Congress

Majority Minority
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116th Congress

File:Doris Matsui - United States House Committee on Rules - 4-22-20.jpg
Members of the Committee social distancing at a hearing during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020
Majority Minority
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117th Congress

Majority Minority
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Subcommittees
Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
Expedited Procedures Jamie Raskin (D-MD) Michelle Fischbach (R-MN)
Legislative and Budget Process Joseph Morelle (D-NY) Michael C. Burgess (R-TX)
Rules and the Organization of the House Norma Torres (D-CA) Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA)

118th Congress

Majority Minority
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Resolutions electing members: Script error: No such module "Ordinal".-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (Chair), Script error: No such module "Ordinal".-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (Ranking Member), Script error: No such module "Ordinal".-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (R), Script error: No such module "Ordinal".-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (D), Script error: No such module "Ordinal".-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (R)

Subcommittees
Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
Legislative and Budget Process Michelle Fischbach Teresa Leger Fernandez
Rules and the Organization of the House Michael C. Burgess Mary Gay Scanlon

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  5. ↑ A Pre-Twentieth Century look at the House Committee on Rules, by Walter J. Olezek (House of Representatives, Rules Committee Democrats website; accessed January 16, 2011)
  6. ↑ Template:CongBio
  7. ↑ Template:CongBio
  8. ↑ Template:CongBio
  9. ↑ Committee on Rules – A History (House of Representatives, Rules Committee Democrats website; accessed January 16, 2011 (confirms Randall was Chairman)
  10. ↑ Template:CongBio
  11. ↑ Template:CongBio
  12. ↑ Template:CongBio
  13. ↑ Template:CongBio
  14. ↑ Template:CongBio
  15. ↑ Template:CongBio
  16. ↑ Template:CongBio
  17. ↑ Template:CongBio
  18. ↑ Template:CongBio
  19. ↑ Template:CongBio
  20. ↑ Template:CongBio
  21. ↑ Template:CongBio
  22. ↑ Template:CongBio
  23. ↑ Template:CongBio
  24. ↑ Template:CongBio
  25. ↑ Template:CongBio
  26. ↑ Template:CongBio
  27. ↑ Template:CongBio
  28. ↑ Template:CongBio
  29. ↑ Template:CongBio
  30. ↑ Template:CongBio
  31. ↑ Template:CongBio
  32. ↑ Template:CongBio
  33. ↑ Template:CongBio
  34. ↑ Template:CongBio
  35. ↑ Template:CongBio
  36. ↑ Template:CongBio
  37. ↑ Template:CongBio
  38. ↑ Template:CongBio
  39. ↑ Template:CongBio

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Further reading

  • Brauer, Carl M. "Women Activists, Southern Conservatives, and the Prohibition of Sex Discrimination in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act", 49 Journal of Southern History, February 1983
  • Dierenfield, Bruce J. Keeper of the Rules: Congressman Howard W. Smith of Virginia (1987)
  • Dion, Douglas, and John D. Huber. "Procedural choice and the house committee on rules." Journal of Politics (1996) 58#1 pp: 25–53. online
  • Jenkins, Jeffery A., and Nathan W. Monroe. "Buying negative agenda control in the us house." American Journal of Political Science (2012) 56#4 pp: 897–912.
  • Jones, Charles O. "Joseph G. Cannon and Howard W. Smith: an Essay on the Limits of Leadership in the House of Representatives" Journal of Politics 1968 30(3): 617–646.
  • Moffett, Kenneth W. "Parties and Procedural Choice in the House Rules Committee." Congress & the Presidency (2012) 39#1
  • Race, A. "House Rules and Procedure." in New Directions in Congressional Politics (2012): 111+
  • Robinson, James Arthur. The House rules committee(1963)
  • Schickler, Eric; Pearson, Kathryn. "Agenda Control, Majority Party Power, and the House Committee on Rules, 1937–52," Legislative Studies Quarterly (2009) 34#4 pp 455–491
  • Smallwood, James. "Sam Rayburn and the Rules Committee Change of 1961." East Texas Historical Journal 11.1 (1973): 10+ online.
  • Woods, Clinton Jacob, "Strange Bedfellows: Congressman Howard W. Smith and the Inclusion of Sex Discrimination in the 1964 Civil Rights Act," Southern Studies, 16 (Spring–Summer 2009), 1–32.

External links

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