{
  "id": "R45545",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R45545",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 592463,
      "date": "2019-02-28",
      "retrieved": "2019-12-20T19:51:38.968971",
      "title": "Suspension of the Rules: House Practice in the 114th Congress (2015-2016)",
      "summary": "Suspension of the rules is the most commonly used procedure to call up measures on the floor of the House of Representatives. As the name suggests, the procedure allows the House to suspend its standing and statutory rules in order to consider broadly supported legislation in an expedited manner. More specifically, the House temporarily sets aside its rules that govern the raising and consideration of measures and assumes a new set of constraints particular to the suspension procedure.\nThe suspension of the rules procedure has several parliamentary advantages: (1) it allows nonprivileged measures to be raised on the House floor without the need for a special rule, (2) it enables the consideration of measures that would otherwise be subject to a point of order, and (3) it streamlines floor action by limiting debate and prohibiting floor amendments. Given these features, as well as the required two-thirds supermajority vote for passage, suspension motions are generally used to process less controversial legislation.\nIn the 114th Congress (2015-2016), measures considered under suspension made up 62% of the bills and resolutions that received floor action in the House (743 out of 1,200 measures). The majority of suspension measures were House bills (83%), followed by Senate bills (11%) and House resolutions (4%). The measures covered a variety of policy areas but most often addressed government operations, such as the designation of federal facilities or amending administrative policies.\nMost measures that are considered in the House under the suspension procedure are sponsored by a House or Senate majority party member. However, suspension is the most common House procedure used to consider minority-party-sponsored legislation regardless of whether the legislation originated in the House or Senate. In 2015 and 2016, minority-party members sponsored 31% of suspension measures, compared to 9% of legislation subject to different procedures, including privileged business (17 measures), unanimous consent (21 measures), and under the terms of a special rule (one Senate bill). \nMost suspension measures are referred to at least one House committee before their consideration on the floor. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (now called the Committee on Oversight and Reform) was the committee of primary jurisdiction for the plurality of suspension measures considered in the 114th Congress. Additional committees\u2014such as Energy and Commerce, Homeland Security, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, and Veterans\u2019 Affairs\u2014also served as the primary committee for a large number of suspension measures.\nSuspension motions are debatable for up to 40 minutes. In most cases, only a fraction of that debate time is actually used. In the 114th Congress, the average amount of time spent considering a motion to suspend the rules was 13 minutes and 10 seconds. \nThe House adopted nearly every suspension motion considered in 2015 and 2016. Approval by the House, however, did not guarantee final approval in the 114th Congress. The Senate passed or agreed to 40% of the bills, joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions initially considered in the House under suspension of the rules, and 276 measures were signed into law. \nThis report briefly describes the suspension of the rules procedure, which is defined in House Rule XV, and provides an analysis of measures considered under this procedure during the 114th Congress. Figures and one table display statistics on the use of the procedure, including the prevalence and form of suspension measures, sponsorship of measures by party, committee consideration, length of debate, voting, resolution of differences between the chambers, and the final status of legislation. In addition, an Appendix illustrates trends in the use of the suspension procedure from the 110th to the 114th Congress (2007-2016).",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R45545",
          "sha1": "f7cf18154d3f3c8f999be1ce3a4984a871a10c10",
          "filename": "files/20190228_R45545_f7cf18154d3f3c8f999be1ce3a4984a871a10c10.html",
          "images": {
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/6.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_f64d7d856da27b10c2902bf37f9d2ce1a6f73a64.png",
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/1.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_468598d451d1560678adff99d5cf0a44e42dacf8.png",
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/3.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_f1b245fbec40cc97059c2486f6e3150627bfba45.png",
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/5.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_2235b329a60c137b124d7c402c147d4668920bd7.png",
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/8.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_6286a8df59727c26d09363df8bd7629a6511daca.png",
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/0.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_b82985c4b52375a48e11cedc246f3b665e939951.png",
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/7.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_c69bc85d57583585bece62f2bd4a3dde92edc696.png",
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/2.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_a02669a0ccd77fa2f13ee8dc355c911ac97a4f23.png",
            "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45545_files&id=/4.png": "files/20190228_R45545_images_af805373101fa0d9d0948f1c4f818e6c7eb24e04.png"
          }
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R45545",
          "sha1": "3c9840a4c6333bf50f829f5921b52f649862b582",
          "filename": "files/20190228_R45545_3c9840a4c6333bf50f829f5921b52f649862b582.pdf",
          "images": {}
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "Legislative Process"
  ]
}