House Standing Committees’ Rules on Legislative Activities: Analysis for the 113th Congress

Summary

Rule XI, clause 2(a)(1) directs each standing committee to adopt written rules governing its procedure. This paragraph continues: Such rules ... (B) may not be inconsistent with the Rules of the House or with those provisions of law having the force and effect of Rules of the House.... Rule XI, clause 1(a)(1)(A) in addition states: The Rules of the House are the rules of its committees and subcommittees so far as applicable. Finally, Rule XI, clause1(a)(1)(B) subordinates subcommittees to the committee of which they are a part: Each subcommittee is a part of its committee and is subject to the authority and direction of that committee and to its rules, so far as applicable.

Many provisions of House rules applicable to committee procedures appear in Rule XI, which also includes procedures specifically applicable to the Committee on Ethics. Rule X contains the legislative and oversight jurisdiction of standing committees, several clauses on committee operations, and a clause specifically addressing the jurisdiction and operation of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rule XII concerns the referral of legislation and related matters. In addition to calendars, Rule XIII addresses the filing and content of committee reports.

Each House standing committee implements these rules, and select provisions of other House rules, in adopting its rules. Variety as well as consistency in committee rules is analyzed in this report as the rules relate to legislative activities, principally hearings, oversight, and markups. Administrative provisions in House and committee rules are not analyzed. Provisions of committee rules on legislative activities are clustered by topic, rather than by House rule number.

In adopting their rules for the 113th Congress, committees in some instances adopted House rules unchanged, and in other instances adapted House rules to their own needs where they had discretion to do so. Committee rules change incrementally from one Congress to the next, with a committee typically making several amendments to its rules from the preceding Congress. Variations in key committee rules are highlighted in five tables:

referring measures or matters to subcommitteeswhether the chair may or must refer legislation to a subcommittee, the time frame within which a decision must be made, and where authority to discharge a subcommittee resides;

scheduling hearings and meetingscommittees regular meeting day and time, authority to schedule additional meetings, and authority to cancel meetings;

hearingsquorum requirements, extending witness questioning time, and order of questioning witnesses;

subpoenascommittee authority, chair authority, ranking minority Member authority, and notification to committee members of issuance of a subpoena; and

record votesobtaining a record vote, and postponing further proceedings when a record vote is requested.

See CRS Report RS20794, The Committee System in the U.S. Congress, by Judy Schneider, for an explanation of the types of committees. See also CRS Report R40233, House Ad Hoc Select Committees with Legislative Authority: An Analysis, by Michael L. Koempel; and CRS Report 96-708, Conference Committee and Related Procedures: An Introduction, by Elizabeth Rybicki.