The rules for the people writing the rules can seem like a black box, and that’s because to an extent they are. Demand Progress has voiced concerns for years that House Republicans are the only conference publishing their rules online (they also post their proposed changes to rules so extra credit for them). Historically Senate Republicans and […]
THE TOP LINE Appropriations. House and Senate appropriators have moved their bills faster than usual, but time is running out. Only eight legislative days remain for the House and sixteen days for the Senate to reach agreement and enact them before the fiscal year starts on Oct. 1. The action will be on the floor, in the House Rules committee, […]
THE TOP LINE Rep. Collins was arrested for insider trading every news outlet on earth reported, but that’s not the most interesting part. Multiple news outlets described what happened as Speaker Ryan stripping Collins of his committee membership. He didn’t. Curious? Read my dive into the Speaker’s power to police member behavior and what that means for policy dissenters. […]
At the start of the 115th Congress, there was a fight over whether the Office of Congressional Ethics should continue its existence. I won’t get into the merits of the disagreement here (although I’ve written about it elsewhere), but how it occurred is interesting. The Office of Congressional Ethics is one of the many offices and agencies created […]
Rule 19 is interpreted to prevent any disparagement of another senator, regardless of whether it is true. (Rarely used) The rule of perpetuities describes the sense of subjective time elapsed once a senator commence an oration.
On the first legislative day of a new Congress, the House of Representatives operates virtually in a state of nature, governed only by the Constitution. The first order of business is electing a Speaker, and after the Speaker swears in the Members, they adopt the rules that govern the House. Until then, there are no […]
Earlier today I tweeted a request for evidence that members of the House Appropriations Committee used to be granted staff designees — staffers paid by the committee that are chosen by and serve the individual members of the committee — but that the designees are being phased out. The following is evidence of that practice.
On Friday rank-and-file members of the House of Representatives beat back a last-minute amendment by Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) to reduce proposed funding for the Office of Congressional Ethics by nearly 9 percent. In the end 137 representatives voted in favor of the cut and 270 opposed, with Republicans more-or-less evenly split and nearly all Democrats opposed. […]
Politico’s Burgess Everett reports today on Sen. Mike Lee, who intends to run for the number 4 spot in the Republican Party Senate leadership but has become ensnared in a fight over party rules. Sen. Lee says he is running for an open seat because the current holder of that spot, Sen. Barrasso, is term limited under party rules, […]
Today the Government Publishing Office published the House Manual — which contains Rules of the House of Representatives, Jefferson’s Manual, and other important legislative documents — online in a structured data format on GitHub. GPO did so pursuant to direction from the House Rules Committee, which was acting in accordance with the rules package passed at the beginning of the 114th […]
The United States Senate is a creature of its rules. Through its standing rules, laws and resolutions, precedents, and the consent of its members, the upper chamber carefully controls how legislation can be promulgated and debate can take place. Unlike the House of Representatives, which must vote on its rules every Congress, the Senate rarely reconsiders its standing […]
A meeting of the House Intelligence Committee (also known as HPSCI, pronounced Hip-see) may have broken congressional rules when it neither webcast its proceedings nor provided appropriate notice. At its January 28th meeting, HPSCI should have debated and adopted rules for its operation, its oversight plans for the next two years, and more. The Intelligence […]