Secret Sessions of the House and Senate

Secret Sessions of the House and Senate

Order Code 98-718 GOV
July 17, 2003
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Secret Sessions of the House and Senate
Mildred Amer
Specialist in American Government
Government and Finance Division
“Secret,” or “closed,” sessions of the House and Senate exclude the press and the
public. These sessions are used for Senate deliberations during impeachment trials as
well as to discuss issues of national security, confidential information, and sensitive
communications received from the President. During a secret session, the doors of the
chamber are closed, and the chamber and its galleries are cleared of all individuals except
Members and those officers and employees specified in the rules or essential to the
session. Secret sessions occur infrequently, but any Member of Congress may request
one. This fact sheet is one of a series on the legislative process. For more information on
the legislative process, please see [http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome/shtml].
Authority in the Constitution and Rules
Authority for the House and Senate to hold secret sessions is implied by Article I,
section 5, of the Constitution which says: “Each House shall keep a journal of its
proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their
judgment require secrecy...” Both chambers have supplemented this clause through rules
and precedents. But, all of a chamber’s normal rules of debate apply during secret
sessions, except during impeachment deliberations in the Senate.
In the House, Rule XVII, clause 9, governs secret sessions, including the types of
business to be considered behind closed doors. A motion to resolve into a secret session
may only be made in the House, not in Committee of the Whole. A Member who offers
such a motion announces the possession of confidential information, and moves that the
House go into a secret session. The motion is not debatable, but if agreed to, the Member
making the motion is recognized under the one-hour rule in closed session.
For Senate impeachment proceedings, Rules XX and XXIV of the Senate Rules for
Impeachment Trials govern secret deliberations. The Senate has interpreted these rules
to require closed deliberations during impeachment trials. Standing Senate Rules XXI,
XXIX, and XXXI cover secret sessions for legislative and executive business
(nominations and treaties). Rule XXI calls for the Senate to close its doors once a motion
is made and seconded. The motion is not debatable, and its disposition is made behind
closed doors. Rule XXIX calls for Senate consideration of treaties to be conducted in
secret unless a majority votes to lift the “injunction of secrecy,” which it usually does.
Rule XXXI mandates that all nominations be considered in open session unless the Senate
votes to do so in secret.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

CRS-2
History and Current Practice
The Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention met in secret. The
Senate met in secret until 1794, its first rules reflecting a belief that the body’s various
special roles, including providing advice and consent to the executive branch, compelled
it to conduct its business behind closed doors. The Senate’s executive sessions (to
consider nominations and treaties) were not opened until 1929.
Since 1929, the Senate has held 53 secret sessions, generally for reasons of national
security. Six of the most recent secret sessions, however, were held during the
impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Four of those sessions were in February
1999 during the final impeachment deliberations. Two were in January 1999 to discuss
a motion to end the trial and another motion to call witnesses.1 In 1997, the Senate met
in secret to consider the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty, and in 1992, to debate
the “most favored nation” status of China. The Senate also closed its doors during the
impeachment trial of a federal judge in 1933 and on six occasions while considering
impeachment articles against three other federal judges in the 1980s.
The House met frequently in secret session through the end of the War of 1812;
then, only in 1825 and in 1830. Since 1830, the House has met behind closed doors only
three times: in 1979 to discuss the Panama Canal, in 1980 to discuss Central American
assistance, and in 1983 to discuss U.S. support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua.
Members and staff of both houses are prohibited from divulging information from
secret sessions, and all staff are sworn to secrecy. Violations of secrecy are punishable
by the disciplinary rules of a chamber. A Member may be subject to a variety of
punishments, including loss of seniority, fine, reprimand, censure, or expulsion. An
officer or employee may be fired or subject to other internal disciplinary actions.
Transcripts
The proceedings of a secret session are not published unless the relevant chamber
votes, during the meeting or at a later time, to release them. Then, those portions released
are printed in the Congressional Record.
If the House decides not to release a transcript, it is ultimately transferred to the
clerk of the House for transmittal to the archivist of the United States for preservation at
the National Archives and Records Administration.
The transcripts may be made
available to the public after 30 years (Rule VII, clause 3).
If the Senate does not approve release of a secret session transcript, the transcript is
stored in the Office of Senate Security and ultimately sent to the National Archives and
Records Administration. The proceedings remain sealed until the Senate votes to remove
the injunction of secrecy.
1 On Jan. 8, 1999, the Senate Democratic and Republican Conferences held a rare joint, secret
meeting in the old Senate chamber to discuss the procedure for the pending impeachment trial
of the President, but this was not a formal, secret session of the Senate.