House Rules Changes Affecting Floor Proceedings in the 116th Congress (2019-2020)

Summary

As agreed to in the House, H.Res. 6, a resolution adopting the rules of the House of Representatives, provided amendments to the rules, as well as separate orders, that affect floor procedure in the 116th Congress (2019-2010). These amendments changed procedures in the full House and in the Committee of the Whole.

The rules changes altered when a resolution that would cause a vacancy in the Office of Speaker would qualify as a question of privilege. Under a new provision to clause 2 of Rule IX, resolutions declaring a vacancy of the chair are not privileged unless they are offered by direction of a party caucus or conference.

H.Res. 6 established a Consensus Calendar for the consideration of certain broadly supported measures that have not been reported by their committees of primary jurisdiction. One rules change allows the Speaker to schedule consideration of legislation that has been on the Private Calendar for seven days. Another change requires the Speaker to schedule the consideration of a motion to discharge that has garnered the necessary 218 signatures to be placed on the Discharge Calendar (and has been on that calendar for at least seven legislative days). Prior to the rules change, measures on the Private Calendar and motions on the Discharge Calendar were to be considered on specified days of the month.

The 116th rules package mandates that certain legislative texts must be available to the public for 72 hours before legislation can be raised on the House floor. The earlier rules provided a three-day layover, not including weekends and holidays, which could provide a review period of fewer or more than 72 hours.

Rules changes allow the Speaker to postpone votes on amendment votes that occur in the House proper and no longer require a notice that a voting period on the amendment will be reduced to five minutes. In the Committee of the Whole, the chair is afforded greater flexibility to reduce voting periods to two minutes on record votes.

Several rules changes concerned the five Delegates and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. Most significantly, H.Res. 6 enables these individuals to vote in the Committee of the Whole. The 116th rules reinstated the policy from previous Congresses that allowed for voting in the Committee of the Whole but also mandated a revote in the House proper if the initial vote was decided within the margin of votes cast by the Delegates and the Resident Commissioner.

The 116th rules package clarified that the provision in Rule XVII that bans hats in the House chamber allows Members to wear “religious headdress.” In the 116th Congress, Members can wear religious head coverings in the chamber at any time.

Finally, H.Res. 6 included a separate order governing action in the 116th Congress that clarified procedures concerning measures introduced pursuant to the War Powers Resolution. The separate order stated that motions to discharge such measures from committee would not be subject to a motion to table.