The Rules Committee

Old friends of 'Washminster' will know that I have a particular interest in the Rules Committee of the House of Representatives. I enjoy watching the committee in action (sadly, I can normally only do this online  - the Committee Hearings Archive is available here. However, I do go to watch in person when I'm in Washington DC).

The Committee has two roles - it is responsible for overseeing and proposing amendments to the Rules of the House of Representatives. One of the main items of business on the first day of a new Congress is a debate and a vote on rules amendments.

It's other role is to grant 'rules' to draft legislation - which, if adopted, govern how a the debate on that particular draft legislation is conducted. (or as more elegantly put in the CQ's 'American Congressional Dictionary' - "a privileged resolution reported by the Rules Committee that provides methods and conditions for floor consideration of a measure or, rarely, several measures...With few exceptions, major non privileged bills are taken up under the terms of such resolutions.")

The website of the Rules Committee can be found at https://rules.house.gov. If you are interested in the working of the House of Representatives, this is a website well worth visiting. It's "Parliamentary Bootcamp" is an excellent course in the rules and practices of the House. There are also links to the House Manual and House Rules (note - we are awaiting the editions for the 115th Congress - but the amendments to the Rules adopted can be found here. and a section-by-section analysis here.)

Happy New Year

2010 is finally on its way out - and 2011 beckons. I'd like to wish you a very happy New Year - and look forward to your visits to this blog. I have a lot planned for this blog in 2011. There will be almost a month in which the posts will come from Washington DC - as I undertake interviews and research into a couple of areas that I will be writing about during the year. If you haven't viewed (I use a lot of videos) some of my previous posts from Washington - do visit Washminster archive [Blog Archive - on right hand side]. My visits were in

September 2007
May 2008
October/November 2008 (for the Election Campaign)
January 2010

I also did some pieces on the history of Washington in August 2008.

I will be continuing my series on particular Congresses - so far 93rd (1973-5 - the Watergate investigations) & 94th (1975-77 the Watergate Babies) - and Parliaments - 45th (1970-74)

and we will look in detail at the new rules for the House of Representatives, to build on the ones discussed this year - I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII,

There will be more material particularly relevant to Law and Politics students - so do pass on the details of this to any friends who are studying. Most of all, I'll be commenting on the events of 2011 as they happen.

New Rules for the House of Representatives

A summary of the rule changes which the new Republican majority will propose has been posted on the Politico website

* Former members of Congress who are lobbyists will be banned from using the House gym

* The so-called Gephardt rule, which allows the House to automatically pass a debt-limit increase upon adoption of a conference report on the budget -- without a separate vote -- will be eliminated.
* A bill reducing House operating costs will be made in order for Jan. 6.
* The names of three committees are changing: They will be the Committee on Ethics (which means reporters will no longer have to write out the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct -- ah, it feels good to say goodbye to that one), the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
* Committees will have to circulate text of legislation at least 24 hours before considering it, they will have to post members' attendance records online and they will post 'truth in testimony' statements identifying any potential conflicts of interest for witnesses.
* Democratic PAY/GO will be replaced with Republican CUT/GO, which requires spending offsets to be found for any increases in mandatory programs -- those like Social Security and Medicare which require the federal government to make payouts to an unlimited number of people or entities based on them meeting eligibility requirements. Tax increases won't count as offsets, according to the summary provided by House Republicans.
* Delegates and resident commissioners will no longer be allowed to vote on amendments on the House floor.
* The majority will reserve bill numbers HR 11 through HR 20 for the minority.
* The Constitution will be read aloud -- or at least may be read aloud -- on Jan. 6.

The Washington Post reports that the new rules will be posted online ahead of a Jan. 4 organizational meeting of the Republican Conference. At that meeting, House Republicans will be able to offer amendments to the new rules.

Rule VIII House of Representatives

This rule deals with the procedures to be followed when a subpoena is served on a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, Officer or Employee of the House - relating to the official functions of the House or for the production or disclosure of any document relating to the official functions of the House

A subpoena is a "a writ requiring appearance in court to give testimony". It derives from the Latin phrase "under penalty", signifying that it is not merely an invitation to which one might or might not RSVP!

The Speaker is to be nofied in writing "promptly" - who will notify the House.

House Practice states -

The service of judicial process on a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House has long been perceived as a matter relating to the integrity of House proceedings and as constituting a basis for raising a question of the privileges of the House. 7 Cannon § 2164; Deschler Ch 11 §§ 14.1–14.10. Rule VIII governs the procedure for House response to a judicial or administrative subpoena served on a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House. Manual § 697; § 9, infra.

The privileges of the House are invoked whether the recipient was served with a summons as a defendant or a subpoena as a witness and whether service of process was issued by a State or Federal court. Deschler Ch 11 § 14. For example, the privileges of the House have been held to apply to service of process as follows:

• Civil actions, criminal proceedings, or courts martial. Deschler Ch 11§§ 16.7, 16.9, 16.12, 16.17.
• Grand jury proceedings. Deschler Ch 11 § 15.
• Orders to appear and show cause for the failure to comply with a prior subpoena. Deschler Ch 11 § 14.9.
• Orders to appear for depositions or to answer interrogatories. Deschler Ch 11 §§ 14.10, 16.18.
• Preliminary proceedings in criminal cases. Deschler Ch 11 § 14.5.
• Administrative proceedings before Federal agencies. Manual § 697.

Under rule VIII clause 6(b), minutes or transcripts of executive sessions, or evidence received during such sessions, may not be disclosed or copied in response to a subpoena. A subpoena duces tecum [ subpoena for production of evidence] requesting production of executive session records of a committee from a prior Congress may be laid before the House pending a determination as to its propriety. 97–1, Apr. 28, 1981, p 7603.

Service of Process on Officers or Employees

Examples of service of process on officers include those on the Speaker, the Clerk, and the Sergeant-at-Arms. Deschler Ch 11 §§ 16.2–16.4, 16.7–16.9, 16.11. Examples of service of process on employees include those on current and former employees of a committee, an employee of the House Republican Conference, and a former employee of a former House select committee who was subpoenaed to give a deposition about his recollection of certain executive session transactions. 93–2, Sept. 30, 1974, p 33020; 94–1, Sept. 23, 1975, p 29824; 97–1, Jan. 22, 1981, pp 694, 695.

§ 9. Procedure in Complying with Process under Rule VIII

Rule VIII provides general authority to a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, and employee of the House to comply with a judicial or administrative subpoena or judicial order directing appearance as a witness, or the disclosure of documents, relating to the official functions of the House. Such compliance must be consistent with the rights and privileges of the House. Accordingly, the Speaker is promptly notified upon service of a subpoena or judicial order, and the Speaker lays the notification before the House. Rule VIII does not require the text of the subpoena to be printed in the Congressional Record. Manual § 697.

Rule VIII was added initially in the 97th Congress. Until the 95th Congress, the House would authorize a response to a subpoena by adopting a resolution raised as a question of the privileges of the House. This case by case approach was changed in the 95th and 96th Congresses, when general authority was granted to respond to subpoenas and a procedure was established for automatic compliance without the necessity of a House vote.

This standing authority formed the basis for the present rule. Manual § 697.

§ 10. — Resolutions Authorizing or Precluding Response

Although rule VIII establishes a procedure for automatic compliance with subpoenas without the necessity of a House vote, a question of the privileges of the House still may be raised to address the response of the House to a subpoena in any particular case. Manual § 697. For example, in the 102d Congress, the House considered as questions of the privileges of the House resolutions responding to a subpoena for certain records of the House, and to a contemporaneous request for such records from a special counsel. The resolutions authorized an officer of the House to release certain documents in response to the requests from the special counsel. Manual § 703.

Duration of Authorization

Resolutions authorizing a response to a subpoena or other judicial order are effective only during the Congress in which they are adopted. If the judicial proceedings in question extend into the next Congress, it may be necessary to seek another authorizing resolution, which may be offered as a question of privilege. Deschler Ch 11 §§ 18.1, 18.2.

§ 11. — Conditions or Limitations on Response

Prior to the adoption of rule VIII, when the House authorized a response to a subpoena by resolution on an ad hoc basis, the House occasionally imposed various conditions or limitations, such as:

• Permitting copies, but not original documents, to be produced. Manual § 291a; Deschler Ch 11 § 18.
• Limiting disclosure to certified copies of relevant documents. Manual § 291a.
• Prohibiting disclosure of information acquired in one’s official capacity. Deschler Ch 11 § 17.6.
• Prohibiting disclosure of information not previously made public. Deschler Ch 11 § 17.10.
• Limiting disclosure to certain files and specified documents and only for inspection and copying. Deschler Ch 11 § 17.9.
• Permitting disclosure only on a determination of relevancy. 94–2, Mar. 31, 1976, p 8885.
• Permitting disclosure of certain documents but barring personal appearances. Deschler Ch 14 § 15.14.
• Permitting personal appearances but barring production of certain records. Deschler Ch 11 § 18.
• Permitting production of original documents for laboratory examination but providing for their return. Manual § 291a.
• Permitting a Member to respond only when the House is not in session. 94–1, Dec. 1, 1975, p 37888.

§ 12. Disclosure of Executive-Session Materials

The House traditionally has required that executive-session materials be released only when specifically permitted by authorizing resolution. Deschler Ch 11 § 18.4. This practice is continued under rule VIII clause 6(b), which states that under no circumstances shall any minutes or transcripts of executive sessions, or any evidence of witnesses in respect thereto, be disclosed or copied. Manual § 697. Before the adoption of rule VIII, the House by resolution asserted the privileges of the House against the release of executive-session materials or permitted the disclosure only after a judicial finding of relevancy. Manual § 291a

Rule VII House of Representatives

Provision is made for archiving records of the House - and making them available to the public.

A presentation prepared by Robin Reeder - the House Archivist is available below

Researching, Archiving, and Collecting for the U.S. Congress - Robin Reeder, House Archivist

View more presentations from faflrt.

Slides One to Seven give an introduction to the House and legislative procedure.

Slide 7 - "Since the beginning of the House, 1789, the Clerk of the House is responsible for the official records of the House. The Rules of the House specify this duty. The official records are considered the records of the committees and select officers of the House."

Slide 8 - "Here are some examples of legislative files that are permanently retained as part of the House’s records: 1. Hre is a markup of a bill, which means the language is changed and added to or deleted: Wade-Davis bill: If the Wade-Davis bill had become law, the South would have been run by a military governor appointed by the President. Fifty percent of the state’s voters would need to swear allegiance to the Union as well as swearing that they had never assisted the Confederacy. . 2. Joint Resolution – 1941 – establishing Thanksgiving as a national holiday. 3. "Petition of Amos A. Phelps and 31 others, citizens of Boston, Mass. for the rescinding of Res. of December 21," February 14, 1838- also known as the gag rule – which prevented anti-slavery petitions from being submitted to Congress. 4. Discharge petition – when a piece of legislation is bottled up in a committee for more than 30 days. A It requires 218 signatures in order to place it on the Discharge Calendar – where it remains for 7 days before being considered by the House. Discharge petition for the Equal Rights Amendment – 1970. 5. Hearing on the Economic Security Act – 1935. 6. Memorial from the Seventh Day Adventists against Sunday legislation – which consisted of several bills banning businesses be open on Sunday."

Slide 9 shows some oversight files, and slide 10 a copy of the Records Management Manual. Slide 11 shows boxed up committee records.

Slide 12 describes the role of NARA "The records are preserved, maintained, and made accessible through the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives and Records Administration. Their staff is responsible for the records of the House and the Senate. The National Archives is responsible for the permanent records of the executive branch, and once these records are transferred to the Archives, they are owned by the Archives. This is different for the records of Congress – which although reside there and are made accessible by the NARA staff, the records always belong to the House and to the Senate."

Slide 14 points out that the papers of Members are the personal property of the relevant Member - this is the ADVICE which is given to members - who are encouraged to deposit them at "a respository, such as a college, university or historical society".

The final slides deal with resources for finding Congressional collections - I will deal with that in a forthcoming post.

Changes to Republican Conference Rules

Information about proposed changes in the Republican Conference (the group of Congressmen affiliated to the Republican Party - the equivalent of British Labour's PLP)rules - and House Rules

Rule II House of Representatives

The second rule of the House of Representatives concerns other officers and officials. Unlike the Speaker - who, by convention is a member of the House (the Constitution does not restrict it to members - and in fact in 105th Congress two former members were nominated), the other officers are non-members. The rule distinguishes between official elected by the House



and Offices, whose head is appointed. The Elected Officials are

The Clerk - duties are related to the conduct of House business, they are further described here.
The Sergeant at Arms - responsible for maintaining order and security. A factsheet is available here
Chief Administrative Officer - deals with operation and financial matters of the House. More details here
Chaplain - officers a prayer at the start of business, and some pastoral responsibilities. Further details here.

The Offices are

Office of Inspector General
Office of General Counsel - provides legal assistance and representation to the House
Office of the Historian.

In addition statute provides for the following offices

Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Office of Compliance
Office of Legislative Counsel
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Office of the Law revision Counsel
Office of the Parliamentarian

For a list of other House offices, commissions, and joint entities go here.

Rule I - House of Representatives

The first of the rules of the House of Representatives concerns the Speaker. It does NOT define how the Speaker is chosen. [This is done, as per the Clerk's statement in the Congressional Record "pursuant to law and precedent - the most important being Art 1 Section of the Constitution. The procedure is described in Chapter 34 Section 3 of "House Practice"]. Instead it deals with key tasks and roles of the Speaker. The Structure of Rule One is

1 Approval of the Journal



2 Preservation of Order - this is described in greater detail in House Practice, Chapter 16 D - Disorder in Debate & E - Critical References to the House, Committees, or Members.

3 Control of Capitol Facilities

4 Signature of Documents

5 Questions of Order - power of the Speaker to rule on, subject to appeal to the House. (A Speaker's ruling can be overruled by the House)

6 The required form of putting a question - "Those in favour say "Aye". Those Opposed, say "No"

7 The Speaker's discretion as to whether to vote

8 Appointment of a "Speaker pro tempore"

9 The responsibility for developing a system for drug testing

10 Designation of members to travel on Congressional business

11 Committee Appointments - "The Speaker shall appoint all select, joint, and conference committees ordered by the House" - and may remove them.

12 Powers to suspend business and to postpone/reconvene the House.

As noted above, a valuable resource to the working of the rules is "House Practice"

Rules

Each of the Chambers that this blog focuses upon has its own rules. In Congress the main place where these rules can be found (don't be misled into thinking that all "rules" are to be found in the rulebook - there are other places they can be found - and some are "unwritten rules") are the Rules of the House of Representatives and the Rules of the Senate. At Westminster the similar documents are the Standing Orders (there are Standing Orders for Private Business, but I will be looking at and linking to the Standing Orders for Public Bussness) of the House of Commons [recent amendments] and the House of Lords.

In a new series on Washminster, I will be working through the rules/standing orders. It has struck me in my recent reading of leading characters in the four Houses, that learning the rules of the relevant chamber has been key to their personal and political sucess. As Donald C Bacon wrote of Nicholas Longworth, he "buckled down to learn the House's rules and precedents as well as its customs and traditions". Longworth became Speaker - and one of the House Office Buildings is named after him.

I will use the "labels"  - HoC Standing Orders, HoL Standing Orders, HoR Rules, Senate Rules - to assist you should you need to search for these series using the search engine.

One of the most obvious differences is in the number of Rules/Standing Orders - actually it is mainly a matter of style - while the Commons has a different numbered rule for each committee - the House of representatives puts all the committees under Rule X.

For the record -
House of Commons 163 (actually194 [additional rules, for example 152A, 152B, etc minus 4 repealed])
House of Lords 86
Senate 45
House of Representatives 29