Order Code 98-313 GOV
Updated November 19, 2004
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
House Rules Committee Hearings on
Special Rules
James V. Saturno and Stanley Bach
Government and Finance Division
When the Rules Committee reports a resolution on the order of business, commonly
called a “rule” or “special rule,” the committee usually has two purposes in mind: first,
to make it in order for the House to consider a measure that was reported by another
committee; and second, to establish the terms under which the House will debate, amend,
and vote on that measure. Before reporting a special rule, the Rules Committee typically
holds a hearing at which Members appear as witnesses to discuss both questions: whether
the House should consider the bill at issue; and, if so, how the bill should be considered.
Unlike the hearings held by other House committees, only Members testify before the
Rules Committee on proposed special rules. For more information on legislative process,
see [http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml].
The first and primary witnesses at a Rules Committee hearing almost always are the
chairman and ranking minority member of the committee (or committees) that considered
and reported the bill favorably to the House. Subcommittee leaders also may testify. In
addition, other interested Members of the House often request the opportunity to appear
as witnesses during the hearing on a proposed special rule. There are at least four reasons
why a Member may make such a request.
The Merits of the Bill. If the Rules Committee decides not to report a special rule
concerning a certain bill, that bill is unlikely to reach the House floor and pass by majority
vote. Although the effect of a special rule is procedural, the Rules Committee hearings
frequently involve discussions of the merits of the bill for which a rule is being
considered. Members may testify before the committee to stress their support for, or
opposition to, the bill on its merits.
The Timing of Floor Action. When the Rules Committee does report a special
rule, the House usually acts on it promptly. If a majority votes for the rule, the House
usually soon begins floor consideration of the bill that the rule makes in order. Therefore,
Members may testify before the committee to express a preference for when the bill in
question should be considered on the floor. For example, the Members may stress the
importance of acting on the bill as soon as possible. Instead, they may encourage the
committee to defer action temporarily, perhaps arguing that additional time is needed to
revise the bill before it is suitable for floor action.
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Points of Order Affecting the Bill. The special rule for considering a bill may
waive points of order that Members otherwise could make on the floor against the bill or
one of its provisions, or against consideration of the bill. Members may testify before the
Rules Committee on whether the committee should include such waivers in its resolution.
For example, Members may argue that the bill in question is complex and far-reaching
in its consequences. Therefore, they could oppose a waiver of the requirement that the
committee report on a bill be available for three days before the bill is eligible for floor
consideration. In other cases, Members may be concerned about the effect of the bill on
the federal budget and the congressional budget process. Therefore, they could appear to
oppose waivers of one or more provisions of the Congressional Budget Act or related
laws.
The Amendments to be in Order. Most important, the special rule for
considering a bill may restrict the floor amendments that Members can offer to the bill.
These restrictions can preclude Members from proposing some or all amendments, even
though those amendments satisfy all the requirements of the House’s regular procedures.
Such restrictive rules have become increasingly common during recent decades. In the
contemporary House, the most common form of restrictive rule is one that makes in order
only the amendments which are printed in the written report that the Rules Committee
prepares to accompany the special rule it approves.
If Members want to offer certain floor amendments to a bill, they often ask to appear
at the Rules Committee’s hearing on the bill in order to encourage the committee to write
a rule that does not preclude their amendments from being considered. Alternately,
Members may wish to offer floor amendments that violate the rules of the House. In such
cases, they may request that the Rules Committee specifically make their amendments in
order, and waive whatever points of order Members otherwise could make against the
amendments. Members also may testify to express their position on specific amendments
that other Members want to offer on the floor.
When the Rules Committee contemplates reporting a restrictive rule (or a closed rule
that prohibits individual Members from offering any floor amendments), the committee
normally informs Members in advance, usually by a statement that the committee
chairman or another committee member makes on the House floor. In these cases, the
committee often requests that, if Members want the committee to consider making their
amendments in order on the floor, the Members should submit a specified number of
copies of their amendments to the Rules Committee by a certain deadline.
It is often in Members’ interests to take the initiative to contact members of the Rules
Committee or its staff to discuss when the committee intends to hold its hearing on a
certain proposed rule and to learn what form that rule is likely to take. Such
conversations give Members an opportunity to express their opinions and preferences at
an early stage. This can be particularly helpful because, even before the Rules Committee
holds its hearing on a proposed special rule, the majority party members of the committee
(and the minority party members) often have made some decisions about the form and
content of the rule that they intend to support.