[House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
HOUSE
PRACTICE
JOHNSON
SULLIVAN
WICKHAM
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2017
U.S. House of
Representatives
HOUSE PRACTICE
A Guide to the Rules,
Precedents, and Procedures
of the House
Charles W. Johnson
John V. Sullivan
Thomas J. Wickham, Jr.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
115th Congress, 1st Session
HOUSE
PRACTICE
A Guide to the Rules,
Precedents, and
Procedures of the House
Charles W. Johnson
Parliamentarian of the House
1994-2004
John V. Sullivan
Parliamentarian of the House
2004-2012
Thomas J. Wickham, Jr.
Parliamentarian of the House
2012-
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www.gpo.gov/housepractice
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ISBN 0-16-053786-X
PREFACE
HOUSE PRACTICE
The Parliamentarian of the House of Representatives is appointed
by the Speaker without regard to political affiliation. The Office of
the Parliamentarian and its subsidiary Office of Compilation of
Precedents comprise attorneys, clerks, and editors who render
nonpartisan assistance to the House on legislative and parliamentary
procedure. The Office is also charged with publishing the
parliamentary precedents of the House.
The parliamentary law of the House of Representatives emanates
from the Constitution and from rules adopted pursuant to section 5 in
article I of the Constitution. These rules include not only the
standing rules adopted from Congress to Congress but also Jefferson's
Manual, as customarily incorporated by reference in the standing
rules. They also include rules enacted as law and special rules
adopted from time to time.
The overarching role of the Office of the Parliamentarian is to
strive for consistency in parliamentary analysis by attempting to
apply pertinent precedent to each procedural question. In resolving
questions of order, the Speaker and other presiding officers of the
House adhere to the jurisprudential principle of stare decisis - a
commitment to stand by earlier decisions. This fidelity to precedent
promotes analytic consistency and procedural predictability and
thereby fosters legitimacy in parliamentary practice.
The compilation of the parliamentary precedents of the House is as
important as any other function of the Office of the Parliamentarian.
For each procedural decision made on the floor of the House, the
Parliamentarian extracts the proceedings from the daily Congressional
Record and writes a parliamentary syllabus. These ``headnotes'' must
be precise, stating the real substance of the decision and its legal
rationale in suitably narrow terms. To ensure a current digest of
these matters, the Parliamentarian biennially publishes a House Rules
and Manual. For the longer term, the Parliamentarian compiles the most
salient precedents for formal, scholarly publication. These precedents
presently fill 29 volumes comprising thousands of decisions over the
227 years of parliamentary practice in the House. They are published
as Hinds' Precedents (1907); Cannon's Precedents (1936); and the
precedents of the House authored by current and former
Parliamentarians.
To bridge the span between a digest of decisions and formally
published precedents, the Parliamentarian also publishes this work as
a condensed compilation of procedures of current application. The
scope of this volume is thus limited. It is a summary review of
selected precedents and not an exhaustive survey of all applicable
rulings. The House Rules and Manual and the published volumes of
precedents remain the primary sources for more comprehensive analysis
and authoritative citation.
An earlier, condensed work of this kind is Cannon's Procedure in
the House of Representatives. That summary by Clarence Cannon was
first published in 1949 and last published in 1959. A later summary,
entitled Deschler's Procedure in the U.S. House of Representatives,
was prepared by Lewis Deschler in 1974 and was revised and updated in
1978, 1979, 1982, 1985, and 1987.
This fourth edition of House Practice reflects the efforts of all
of the members of the Office of the Parliamentarian - Ethan Lauer, Jay
Smith, Anne Gooch, Kyle Jones, Julia Cook, Brian Cooper, Lloyd
Jenkins, Kristen Donahue - and of its Office of Compilation of
Precedents - Andrew Neal, Max Spitzer, Catherine Moran, and Bryan
Feldblum - as well as former Parliamentarian Charles W. Johnson, III.
Their diligence in annotating the decisions of the Chair and other
parliamentary precedents reflected in this edition and their devotion
to the pursuit of excellence in the procedural practices of the House
are gratefully acknowledged. Special recognition goes to Max Spitzer
for his dedication and skilled management of the project.
References to frequently cited works are to the House Rules and
Manual for the 115th Congress, by section (e.g., Manual Sec. 364); to
the volume and section of Hinds' or Cannon's Precedents (e.g., 6
Cannon Sec. 570); to the chapter and section of Deschler's, Deschler-
Brown, Deschler-Brown-Johnson, or Deschler-Brown-Johnson-Sullivan
(e.g., Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 2); to the Congressional Record, by
Congress, session, date and page (e.g., 108-2, May 20, 2004, pp 10618-
29); and to the United States Code, by title and section (e.g., 2 USC
Sec. 287).
Thomas J. Wickham, Jr.
March 1, 2017
Parliamentarian
2012-
CHAPTER OUTLINE
HOUSE PRACTICE
Chapter 1. Adjournment (p. 1)
Chapter 2. Amendments (p. 15)
Chapter 3. Appeals (p. 65)
Chapter 4. Appropriations (p. 71)
Chapter 5. Assembly of Congress (p. 155)
Chapter 6. Bills and Resolutions (p. 165)
Chapter 7. Budget Process (p. 187)
Chapter 8. Calendar Wednesday (p. 221)
Chapter 9. Calendars (p. 229)
Chapter10. Chamber, Rooms, and Galleries (p. 233)
Chapter11. Committees (p. 239)
Chapter12. Committees of the Whole (p. 305)
Chapter13. Conferences Between the Houses (p. 339)
Chapter14. Congressional Procedures Enacted in Law (p. 375)
Chapter15. Congressional Record (p. 379)
Chapter16. Consideration and Debate (p. 387)
Chapter17. Contempt (p. 457)
Chapter18. Delegates and Resident Commissioner (p. 463)
Chapter19. Discharging Measures From Committees (p. 465)
Chapter20. District of Columbia Business (p. 475)
Chapter21. Division of the Question for Voting (p. 481)
Chapter22. Election Contests and Disputes (p. 491)
Chapter23. Election of Members (p. 497)
Chapter24. Electoral Counts; Selection of President and Vice President
(p. 503)
Chapter25. Ethics; Committee on Ethics (p. 509)
Chapter26. Germaneness of Amendments (p. 543)
Chapter27. Impeachment (p. 603)
Chapter28. Journal (p. 621)
Chapter29. Lay on the Table (p. 629)
Chapter30. Messages Between the Houses (p. 637)
Chapter31. Morning Hour; Call of Committees (p. 641)
Chapter32. Motions (p. 645)
Chapter33. Oaths (p. 649)
Chapter34. Office of Speaker (p. 655)
Chapter35. Officers and Offices (p. 663)
Chapter36. Order of Business; Privileged Business (p. 671)
Chapter37. Points of Order; Parliamentary Inquiries (p. 679)
Chapter38. Postponement (p. 695)
Chapter39. Previous Question (p. 701)
Chapter40. Private Calendar (p. 717)
Chapter41. Question of Consideration (p. 723)
Chapter42. Questions of Privilege (p. 729)
Chapter43. Quorums (p. 755)
Chapter44. Reading, Passage, and Enactment (p. 777)
Chapter45. Recess (p. 791)
Chapter46. Recognition (p. 797)
Chapter47. Reconsideration (p. 815)
Chapter48. Refer and Recommit (p. 829)
Chapter49. Resolutions of Inquiry (p. 845)
Chapter50. Rules and Precedents of the House (p. 851)
Chapter51. Senate Bills; Amendments Between the Houses (p. 857)
Chapter52. Special Orders of Business (p. 885)
Chapter53. Suspension of Rules (p. 897)
Chapter54. Unanimous-Consent Agreements (p. 907)
Chapter55. Unfinished Business (p. 919)
Chapter56. Unfunded Mandates (p. 925)
Chapter57. Veto Procedure (p. 929)
Chapter58. Voting (p. 937)
Chapter59. Withdrawal (p. 965)
Index (p. 971)
CHAPTER 1
ADJOURNMENT
HOUSE PRACTICE
A. Generally; Adjournments of Three Days or Less
Sec. 1. In General
Sec. 2. Adjournment Motions and Requests; Forms
Sec. 3. When in Order; Precedence and Privilege of Motion
Sec. 4. In Committee of the Whole
Sec. 5. Who May Offer Motion; Recognition
Sec. 6. Debate on Motion; Amendments
Sec. 7. Voting
Sec. 8. Quorum Requirements
Sec. 9. Dilatory Motions; Repetition of Motion
B. Adjournments of More Than Three Days
Sec. 10. In General; Resolutions
Sec. 11. Privilege of Resolution
Sec. 12. August Recess
C. Adjournment Sine Die
Sec. 13. In General; Resolutions
Sec. 14. Procedure at Adjournment; Motions
Research References
U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 5
5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5359-5388
8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2641-2648
Deschler-Brown-Johnson Ch 40
Manual Sec. Sec. 82-84, 911-913
A. Generally; Adjournments of Three Days or Less
Sec. 1 . In General
Types of Adjournments
Adjournment procedures in the House are governed by the House
rules and by the Constitution. There are: (1) adjournments of three
days or less, which are taken pursuant to motion (or by unanimous
consent when only the Chair is present in the chamber) (Sec. 5,
infra); (2) adjournments of more than three days, which require the
consent of the Senate (Sec. 10, infra); and (3) adjournments sine die,
which end each session of a Congress and which require the consent of
the Senate (except where a session expires at the end of its
constitutional term). Adjournments of more than three days or sine die
are taken pursuant to concurrent resolutions (or, in the case of the
latter, by the arrival of the constitutional end of a session).
Sec. Sec. 10, 13, infra.
Adjournment Versus Recess
Adjournment is to be distinguished from recess. The House may
authorize a recess under a motion provided in clause 4 of rule XVI.
The Speaker also may declare a recess when no other business is
pending (clause 12(a) of rule I) or when notified of an imminent
threat to the safety of the House (clause 12(b) of rule I). During a
period of recess, the House remains in the current legislative day.
The mace remains in place on its pedestal, reports may be filed with
the Clerk, and measures may be introduced through the hopper. See
Recess.
Alternative Convening Authority
During any recess or adjournment of not more than three days, if
the Speaker is notified by the Sergeant-at-Arms of an imminent
impairment of the place of reconvening, then the Speaker may, in
consultation with the Minority Leader, postpone the time for
reconvening within the three-day limit prescribed by the Constitution.
In the alternative, the Speaker, under the same conditions, may
reconvene the House before the time previously appointed solely to
declare the House in recess within that three-day limit. Clause 12(c)
of rule I; Sec. 10, infra. In the 114th Congress, the Speaker was
authorized (by separate order) to dispense with morning-hour debate if
such reconvening authorities were exercised. Manual Sec. 951.
In the 114th Congress, clause 12(e) was added to rule I,
authorizing the Speaker, during any recess or adjournment of not more
than three days, to reconvene the House at a time other than that
previously appointed (within the constitutional limits), if in the
opinion of the Speaker the public interest so warrants. In such cases,
the Speaker is required to consult with the Minority Leader, and,
pursuant to clause 12(f) of rule I, may name a designee to exercise
this authority.
Sec. 2 . Adjournment Motions and Requests; Forms
Motions
The motion to adjourn authorized by clause 4(a) of rule XVI is in
order in simple form only. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5371, 5372. The form is
as follows:
Member: M_. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.
Note: The motion must be in writing if demanded. Clause 1 of rule
XVI.
The proponent of the motion may not include argument in favor of
the adjournment or impose conditions under which it is to be taken. 5
Hinds Sec. 5371; 8 Cannon Sec. 2647. The motion may not be amended to
set forth the day on which the House is to reconvene. Sec. 6, infra.
However, the simple motion to adjourn may be preceded at the Speaker's
discretion by a nondebatable and unamendable motion provided by clause
4(c) of rule XVI that, when the House adjourns, it stand adjourned to
a day and time certain. Manual Sec. 911. This motion is used when the
House wishes to make some change in the day or hour of its next
regularly scheduled meeting. Manual Sec. 621.
Member: M_. Speaker, I move that when the House adjourns today it
stand adjourned to meet at _____(time) on _____(date).
This motion cannot be used to circumvent the constitutional
restriction against adjournments for more than three days without the
consent of the Senate.
Unanimous-Consent Requests
A change in the next regularly scheduled meeting can be
accomplished by unanimous consent:
Member: M_. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House
adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at __ on __, __ (any time on a
day within three calendar days not including Sundays).
For adjournments of more than three days, see Sec. Sec. 10-12,
infra.
Legislative Days and Calendar Days Distinguished
The duration of a legislative day does not conform to the 24 hours
of a calendar day, and a legislative day may extend beyond the arrival
of the time for a regularly scheduled meeting of the House. The
legislative day continues until terminated by an adjournment,
irrespective of the passage of calendar days. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 6738,
6739. The House has convened and adjourned twice on the same calendar
day pursuant to a motion to fix the day to which the House shall
adjourn, thereby meeting for two legislative days on the same calendar
day. Manual Sec. 913. However, a legislative day cannot extend into a
new Congress or a new session. 96-1, Jan. 3, 1980, p 37774.
Sec. 3 . When in Order; Precedence and Privilege of Motion
The motion to adjourn is a motion of highest privilege and is in
order whenever the floor can be secured. See Manual Sec. 912; 5 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 5359, 5360. Other motions may not intervene between the
motion to adjourn and the vote thereon. 5 Hinds Sec. 5361. The motion
to adjourn is specifically given precedence over all other secondary
motions permitted by clause 4 of rule XVI, including the motions to
lay on the table, for the previous question, to amend, to refer, or to
postpone. Manual Sec. 911. The motion to adjourn takes precedence over
all other motions because, as Jefferson noted, the House might
otherwise be kept sitting against its will and indefinitely. Manual
Sec. 439. The mere announcement of an intention to offer a motion to
adjourn does not, however, make such motion pending, and the Chair is
not precluded from declaring a recess pursuant to clause 12(a) of rule
I. Manual Sec. 912.
The motion to fix the day and time to which the House shall
adjourn is of equal privilege to the simple motion to adjourn but is
entertained only at the Speaker's discretion. Manual Sec. Sec. 911,
912. The motion to fix the day, if made first, need not give way to
the simple motion. 5 Hinds Sec. 5381.
The motion to adjourn may not interrupt a vote being taken in the
House. 5 Hinds Sec. 5360. However, the motion to adjourn is in order:
Between the putting of the question on a proposition and the
ensuing vote. Manual Sec. 439.
Between the different methods of voting, as between a vote by
division and a vote by yeas and nays. Manual Sec. 439.
After a recorded vote is ordered and before the vote begins. 5
Hinds Sec. 5366.
After a vote has been objected to for lack of a quorum. Manual
Sec. 913.
The motion to adjourn permitted by clause 4 of rule XVI applies
both when a question is ``under debate,'' and when other business is
before the House as well. Manual Sec. Sec. 911, 912. The motion is in
order and takes precedence over the motions delineated in clause 4(a)
of rule XVI and:
The reading of the Journal. 4 Hinds Sec. 2757.
The Speaker's approval of the Journal. Manual Sec. 621.
A motion for a call of the House. 8 Cannon Sec. 2642.
A resolution offered as a question of the privileges of the
House. Manual Sec. 699.
The consideration of an impeachment proceeding. 91-2, Apr. 15,
1970, p 11940.
A motion to reconsider. 5 Hinds Sec. 5605.
A motion to instruct conferees. Manual Sec. 912.
The filing of a privileged report from a committee. Manual
Sec. 912.
The consideration of conference reports. 5 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 6451, 6453.
A report from the Committee of the Whole. 8 Cannon Sec. 2645.
The consideration of a veto message from the President. 4
Hinds Sec. 3523.
When Not in Order
The motion to adjourn does not take precedence and may not be
entertained:
When another Member holds the floor in debate. Manual
Sec. 912; 5 Hinds Sec. 5360.
During time yielded for a parliamentary inquiry. Deschler-
Brown-Johnson Ch 40 Sec. 3.18.
When the House is voting, such as by the yeas and nays or
other recorded vote. 5 Hinds Sec. 6053.
Pending a vote pursuant to a special order of business
providing for such vote ``without intervening motion.'' 4 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 3211, 3212.
During the presentation of a conference report. 5 Hinds
Sec. 6452.
Pending or during the administration of the oath to a Member.
1 Hinds Sec. 622.
In certain situations, the motion cannot be repeated after one
such motion has been defeated. See Sec. 9, infra. Repetition is not
permitted:
Pending consideration of a report from the Committee on Rules.
Clause 6(b) of rule XIII; 8 Cannon Sec. 2260.
Pending consideration of a motion to suspend the rules. Clause
1(b) of rule XV.
Pending consideration of a motion to discharge. Clause 2(d)(1)
of rule XV.
Sec. 4 . In Committee of the Whole
The motion is not in order in the Committee of the Whole. 4 Hinds
Sec. 4716. The motion to adjourn is not in order after the House has
voted to resolve into the Committee of the Whole. 4 Hinds Sec. 4728; 5
Hinds Sec. 5367. It also is not entertained when the Committee of the
Whole rises to report proceedings incident to securing a quorum (8
Cannon Sec. 2436) or when it rises ``informally'' to receive a
message. However, the motion to adjourn is permitted when the House is
meeting as in the Committee of the Whole. 4 Hinds Sec. 4923.
Sec. 5 . Who May Offer Motion; Recognition
The motion to adjourn may be made by any Member, Delegate, or the
Resident Commissioner. 91-1, Oct. 14, 1969, pp 30054-56. The Chair may
declare the House adjourned by unanimous consent when no Member is
available to offer the motion. Deschler-Brown-Johnson Ch 40 Sec. 3.28;
112-2, Aug. 7, 2012, p__.
Sec. 6 . Debate on Motion; Amendments
Debate on the simple motion to adjourn is precluded by clause 4(b)
of rule XVI. Manual Sec. 911; 5 Hinds Sec. 5359. Clause 4(c) precludes
debate on the motion to fix the day to which the House shall adjourn.
Manual Sec. 911; 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5379, 5380. The stricture against
debate on a motion to adjourn includes a prefatory statement leading
up to the motion. Such statement, if made, is not carried in the
Congressional Record. 107-2, Feb. 13, 2002, p 1419.
Unless the House has yet to adopt its customary standing order
that fixes the daily hour of meeting for each day of the week, the
simple motion to adjourn is not subject to amendment. Manual Sec. 585.
Thus, the motion may not be amended by language alluding to the
purpose of the adjournment. Manual Sec. 912. The motion also may not
be amended by language specifying the day (5 Hinds Sec. 5360) or hour
(5 Hinds Sec. 5364) to which adjournment is to be taken. Manual
Sec. 912. Similarly, the separate motion under clause 4(c) of rule XVI
that when the House adjourns it stand adjourned to a day and time
certain also is not subject to amendment. An older precedent (5 Hinds
Sec. 5754) indicating otherwise predates the 1973 change in clause
4(c) of rule XVI, which enabled the motion at the Speaker's
discretion. See Manual Sec. 911.
Sec. 7 . Voting
The vote on a motion to adjourn may be taken by any of the voting
methods authorized by the House rules, including a division vote or a
vote by the yeas and nays. 99-1, Dec. 20, 1985, p 38733; 88-2, Feb. 8,
1964, pp 2616, 2639. The adoption of a resolution providing for
adjournment sine die on a day certain does not preclude a demand for
the yeas and nays on the motion to adjourn on that day. 87-1, Sept.
27, 1961, p 21528. A negative vote on a motion to adjourn is not
subject to the motion to reconsider. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5620, 5622; see
also Reconsideration.
Sec. 8 . Quorum Requirements
A quorum is required for a motion to fix the time of adjournment
to a day and time certain. Manual Sec. 913.
The simple motion to adjourn may be agreed to notwithstanding the
absence of a quorum. See Manual Sec. Sec. 52, 1025. Indeed, no motion
is in order in the absence of a quorum except to adjourn or for a call
of the House. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 2950, 2951, 2988; 6 Cannon
Sec. Sec. 680, 682. The motion to adjourn is in order on failure of a
quorum, even where the House is operating under a special order of
business requiring the consideration of the pending business. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5365.
The motion to adjourn takes precedence over a motion for a call of
the House. Sec. 3, supra. In one instance, following a point of order
that a quorum was not present, and before the Chair so ascertained, a
Member moved a call of the House while another Member immediately
moved to adjourn. The Chair recognized for the more privileged motion.
88-1, June 12, 1963, p 10739.
It is not in order to demand an ``automatic'' roll call under
clause 6 of rule XX on an affirmative vote on a simple motion to
adjourn because that motion may be agreed to by less than a quorum.
Manual Sec. 1025. However, a vote by the yeas and nays in such a case
would be in order, if demanded by one-fifth of those present, no
quorum being required. Manual Sec. Sec. 75, 76. Where a nonrecord vote
on an adjournment is decided in the negative, and a point of order
that a quorum is not present is sustained, an ``automatic'' roll call
on the motion then occurs under clause 6 of rule XX. 100-1, Nov. 2,
1987, pp 30386-90; Deschler-Brown-Johnson Ch 40 Sec. 3.8.
Member: I move that the House do now adjourn.
Speaker: On this vote (by division, or by voice) the noes have it.
Member: I make a point of order that a quorum is not present and
(pursuant to clause 6 of rule XX) I object to the vote on the ground
that a quorum is not present.
Speaker: A quorum is not present, and the yeas and nays are
ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device.
Although a motion to adjourn is in order pending a point of order
that a quorum is not present, it is not entertained after the Clerk
has begun to call the roll. 5 Hinds Sec. 5366; 86-2, June 3, 1960, p
11828. After the call has been completed, the motion to adjourn is
again in order; and it is not necessary that the Chair announce that a
quorum has failed to respond before entertaining the motion. 91-1,
Oct. 14, 1969, pp 30054-56.
Sec. 9 . Dilatory Motions; Repetition of Motion
Clause 1 of rule XVI, which precludes the Speaker from
entertaining dilatory motions, is applicable to motions to adjourn.
Manual Sec. 903. Although of the highest privilege, the motion to
adjourn is not in order when offered for purposes of delay or
obstruction. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5721, 5731; 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2796,
2813. On one occasion, a point of order was sustained against the
motion where a House rule gave the Speaker the discretion to recognize
for a motion to adjourn. 8 Cannon Sec. 2822.
The motion to adjourn, once disposed of, may ordinarily be
repeated, but not until after intervening business, such as debate, a
decision of the Chair on a question of order, or the ordering of the
yeas and nays. Manual Sec. 912; 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5373, 5374, 5376-
5378; 8 Cannon Sec. 2814.
In some cases the rules specifically provide that only one motion
to adjourn is to be permitted. This restriction applies during the
consideration of certain reports from the Committee on Rules and
during the consideration of motions to suspend the rules. Manual
Sec. Sec. 858, 890; Sec. 3, supra. In such cases the motion to
adjourn--once having been rejected--may not again be entertained until
the pending matter has been disposed of. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5740, 5741.
B. Adjournments of More Than Three Days
Sec. 10 . In General; Resolutions
House-Senate Action
Under article I, section 5, clause 4 of the Constitution, neither
House can adjourn (or recess) for more than three days without the
consent of the other. The consent of both Houses is required even when
the adjournment is sought by only one House. Manual Sec. 84. In
calculating the three days, either the day of adjourning or the day of
meeting (excluding Sundays) must be taken into the count. Manual
Sec. 83; 5 Hinds Sec. 6673. Thus, the House can adjourn by motion from
Thursday to Monday, or from Friday to Tuesday, because Sunday is a
dies non. However, it cannot, for example, adjourn from Monday to
Friday without the Senate's assent. Consistent with this requirement,
the House has authorized the Speaker to declare the House in recesses
subject to calls of the Chair during discrete periods, each not more
than three days. Manual Sec. 83.
Adjournments for more than three days are provided for by
concurrent resolution. The resolution may provide for the adjournment
of one House or of both Houses. Manual Sec. 84. Senate concurrent
resolutions for adjournment are laid before the House by the Speaker
as privileged. 101-1, Mar. 16, 1989, p 4480. Whether originating in
the House or Senate, such concurrent resolutions are not debatable and
require a quorum for adoption. Manual Sec. 84.
The concurrent resolution is generally offered by the Majority
Leader or a designee:
Member: M_. Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged concurrent
resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.
The resolution may set forth the times at which the adjournment is
to begin and end, but frequently the resolution will provide optional
dates so as to give each House some discretion in determining the
exact period of adjournment. Manual Sec. 84. Recent resolutions have
provided for one period of adjournment of the House and a different
period for the Senate. Thus, the resolution may provide for an
adjournment of the House for more than three days to a day certain,
and a recess of the Senate for more than three days to a day certain
as subsequently determined by the Senate before recessing. Manual
Sec. 84. For a discussion of the authority of the President to
determine the period of adjournment when the two Houses are unable to
agree with respect thereto, see Manual Sec. 171; for convening, see
Assembly of Congress.
Conditional Adjournments; Recall Provisos
An adjournment resolution may include various conditions or
provisos, such as that the Senate shall adjourn pursuant to the
resolution after it has disposed of a certain bill, or that the House
stand adjourned pursuant to the resolution following receipt of a
particular Senate message. Manual Sec. 84; 95-2, June 29, 1978, p
19466; 111-2, Dec. 16, 2009, p 32039.
A concurrent resolution adjourning both Houses for more than three
days, or sine die, normally includes authority for the Speaker and the
Majority Leader of the Senate, acting jointly, to reassemble the
Members whenever the public interest shall warrant it. Manual Sec. 84.
Recently, such recall authority has allowed the respective designees
of the Majority Leader and the Speaker to so reassemble, and has
further allowed separate recall of one House only. 114-1, Dec. 26,
2013, p__. It has also allowed reassembly at such place as may be
designated. Deschler-Brown-Johnson Ch 40 Sec. 2.2. In the 108th
Congress, the two Houses granted anticipatory consent to assemble the
108th Congress at a place outside the District of Columbia whenever
the public interest shall warrant it. 108-1, H. Con. Res. 1, Jan. 7,
2003, p 21; see also Manual Sec. 82a. A concurrent resolution also may
provide for the sine die adjournment of one House following a single
House recall. Manual Sec. 84. Concurrent resolutions of adjournment
may provide for the adjournment of one House only, in which case any
recall provisions contained therein apply only to the adjourning
House. See, e.g., 111-2, H. Con. Res. 308, July 29, 2010, p 14604.
Beginning in the 114th Congress, clause 12 of rule I was amended
to authorize the Speaker or a designee, during any recess or
adjournment of not more than three days, to reconvene the House at a
time other than that previously appointed, within the limits of clause
4, section 5, article I of the Constitution, based on a determination
that the public interest so warrants. Manual Sec. 911. The Speaker has
also been authorized (by separate order) to dispense with morning-hour
debate if reconvening authorities under clause 12(c) or clause 12(e)
were exercised. Manual Sec. 951.
Amendments; Voting
Adjournment resolutions originating in one House are subject to
amendment by the other. 95-2, June 29, 1978, p 19466; 95-2, Aug. 17,
1978, p 26794. Such an amendment is not in order after the previous
question is ordered (except pursuant to a motion to commit with proper
instructions). 96-2, Oct. 1, 1980, p 28576. Voting on the motion may
be by voice, division, or any of the methods of voting established by
rule XX or by article I, section 5 of the Constitution.
Sec. 11 . Privilege of Resolution
A concurrent resolution providing for an adjournment of the House
or of the Senate (or of both Houses) is privileged. Manual Sec. 84; 5
Hinds Sec. 6701. The resolution is privileged even though it provides
for an adjournment of the two Houses to different days certain. 93-2,
Apr. 11, 1974, p 10775. An adjournment resolution remains privileged,
despite its inclusion of additional matter, so long as such additional
matter would be privileged in its own right. For example, an
adjournment resolution including a declaration asserted as a question
of the privileges of the House relating to the ability of the House to
receive veto messages during the adjournment retains its privilege.
101-1, Nov. 21, 1989, p 31156. An adjournment resolution including a
provision establishing an order of business for the following session
of the Congress was not considered privileged. 102-1, Nov. 26, 1991, p
35840.
Amendments of the Senate to adjournment resolutions are privileged
in the House. 97-2, Feb. 10, 1982, p 1471.
A House concurrent resolution providing for an adjournment may be
subject to a point of order if the House is not in compliance with
sections 309 or 310(f) of the Congressional Budget Act, which preclude
certain resolutions until the House has passed its regular
appropriation bills and completed action on any required
reconciliation legislation. Manual Sec. 1127; 108-2, June 25, 2004, p
14153. However, these provisions of the Act may be waived by unanimous
consent or by adoption of a resolution reported by the Committee on
Rules. See, e.g., 113-1, H. Res. 274, June 26, 2013, p__.
Sec. 12 . August Recess
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 provides that unless
otherwise provided by Congress, the two Houses shall either (a)
adjourn sine die by July 31 of each year, or (b) in odd-numbered
years, adjourn in August (for a specified period) pursuant to a
concurrent resolution adopted by roll call vote in each House. 2 USC
Sec. 198. The Act represents a bygone era, as the House has not
adjourned sine die by July 31 under this Act for many years, and the
provisions in the Act to that effect have been sometimes waived by
concurrent resolution, thereby permitting the two Houses to continue
in session. Manual Sec. Sec. 1106, 1106a. In the absence of such a
resolution, a simple motion to adjourn, made at the conclusion of
business on July 31, is in order and would permit the House to meet on
the following day. Manual Sec. 1106a.
The House and Senate may adopt a concurrent resolution adjourning
in August in an odd-numbered year as specified by the Act. Such a
resolution is called up as privileged and is not debatable. Manual
Sec. 1106a. Concurrent resolutions waiving the provisions of the Act
are not privileged and have been called up by unanimous consent
(Deschler-Brown-Johnson Ch 40 Sec. 12.4) or by resolution reported by
the Committee on Rules (105-1, July 31, 1997, p 17018).
C. Adjournment Sine Die
Sec. 13 . In General; Resolutions
Adjournments sine die (literally, without day) are used to
terminate the sessions of a Congress, and are provided for by
concurrent resolution. If the Houses do not adopt such a concurrent
resolution, a session nevertheless terminates automatically at the end
of the constitutional term. See 96-1, Jan. 3, 1980, p 37774; 104-1,
Jan. 3, 1996, p 38609; 112-2, Jan. 3, 2012, p__; 113-1, Jan. 3, 2013,
p__; 113-2, Jan. 3, 2014, p__; 114-2, Jan. 3, 2017, p__. Adjournment
resolutions may be offered from the floor as privileged. 5 Hinds
Sec. 6698.
The resolution is not debatable. 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 3371-3374.
However, a Member may be recognized during its consideration under a
reservation of objection to a unanimous-consent request. Manual
Sec. 84. It requires a quorum for adoption. 92-2, Oct. 18, 1972, p
37061.
A sine die resolution may specify the particular legislative or
calendar day of adjournment or may specify alternate dates. Sine die
adjournment in the latter case is effected by a motion offered
pursuant to the resolution. Manual Sec. 84. Sine die resolutions may
be amended to provide for an adjournment on a date other than that
specified. 98-2, Oct. 11, 1984, p 32314. The resolution need not
specify the date of convening because, under section 2 of the 20th
amendment to the Constitution, a regular session of a Congress
automatically begins at noon on January 3 of every year unless
Congress sets a different date by law. Manual Sec. 242; 96-2, Jan. 3,
1980, p 3.
Under clause 1(o) of rule X, the Committee on Rules has
jurisdiction of matters relative to final adjournment of Congress.
Manual Sec. 733.
The time of adjournment sine die having been fixed by concurrent
resolution, the House may not finally adjourn before that time. 5
Hinds Sec. 6714. However, a sine die resolution may be recalled prior
to action thereon by the other House. 5 Hinds Sec. 6699. Also, it is
subject to rescission by a subsequent concurrent resolution. 5 Hinds
Sec. 6700. A resolution rescinding an order for adjournment sine die
is open to amendment, and an amendment assigning a new date is
germane. 5 Hinds Sec. 5920. For waivers of statutory provision as to
adjournment sine die on July 31, see Sec. 12, supra.
Under the current practice, sine die adjournment resolutions
normally contain separate House-Senate leadership recall authority.
For a discussion of recall authority generally, see Sec. 10, supra.
The House customarily authorizes the Speaker to appoint a
committee to notify the President of the completion of business and
the intention of the two Houses to adjourn sine die unless the
President has some further communication to make. 100-1, Dec. 21,
1987, p 37618; 111-2, Dec. 22, 2010, p 23609. This committee is
usually composed of the Majority and Minority Leaders of the House,
and joins a similar committee appointed by the Senate. 106-1, Nov. 18,
1999, p 30735.
Sec. 14 . Procedure at Adjournment; Motions
The House may adjourn at the time specified in the adjournment
resolution even though other business, such as a roll call, may be
pending. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 6325, 6719, 6720. Adjournment sine die can
occur notwithstanding the absence of a quorum if both Houses have
adopted a concurrent resolution providing for sine die adjournment on
that day. Manual Sec. 55; 5 Hinds Sec. 6721.
A motion to adjourn may invoke a concurrent resolution that gives
it particular meaning on the instant day. The motion is offered
pursuant to the concurrent resolution:
M_. Speaker, pursuant to House Concurrent Resolution __, __th
Congress, I move that the House do now adjourn.
The yeas and nays may be ordered on this motion. The adoption of a
concurrent resolution providing for adjournment sine die on a day
certain does not preclude a demand for the yeas and nays on the motion
to adjourn on that day. 87-1, Sept. 27, 1961, p 21528.
CHAPTER 2
AMENDMENTS
HOUSE PRACTICE
A. Amendments Defined and Distinguished; Forms
Sec. 1. In General; Formal Requisites
Sec. 2. Perfecting Amendments
Sec. 3. Motions to Insert
Sec. 4. Motions to Strike and Insert
Sec. 5. Motions to Strike
Sec. 6. Substitute Amendments
Sec. 7. Amendments in Nature of a Substitute
Sec. 8. Pro Forma Amendments
Sec. 9. Precedence of Motion Generally
Sec. 10. Amending Other Motions
Sec. 11. Effect of Special Orders of Business
Sec. 12. --Amendments Printed in the Congressional Record
B. Permissible Pending Amendments
Sec. 13. In General; The Stages of Amendment
Sec. 14. Amendments in the Third Degree
C. When to Offer Amendment; Reading for Amendment
Sec. 15. In General; Reading by the Clerk
Sec. 16. Amendments to Text Passed in the Reading
Sec. 17. Amendments to Text Not Yet Read; Amendments En Bloc
Sec. 18. Amendments to Bills Considered as Read and Open to Amendment
Sec. 19. Amendments in the Nature of a Substitute
Sec. 20. Recognition to Offer Amendments; Priority
D. Offering Particular Kinds of Amendments; Precedence and
Priorities
Sec. 21. Introductory; Perfecting Amendments
Sec. 22. Motions to Strike
Sec. 23. Motions to Strike and Insert
Sec. 24. Substitute Amendments
Sec. 25. Offering Amendments During Yielded Time
Sec. 26. Effect of Previous Question; Expiration of Time for Debate
E. Consideration and Voting
Sec. 27. In General; Reading of Amendment
Sec. 28. Order of Consideration Generally; Postponed and Clustered
Votes on Amendments
Sec. 29. Committee Amendments
Sec. 30. Amendments En Bloc; Use of Special Orders of Business
Sec. 31. Perfecting Amendments; Motions to Strike
Sec. 32. Substituting Amendments
Sec. 33. Points of Order
Sec. 34. --Timeliness
Sec. 35. Debate on Amendments
Sec. 36. Withdrawal of Amendment
Sec. 37. Modification of Amendment
F. Effect of Adoption or Rejection; Changes After Adoption
Sec. 38. In General; Effect of Adoption of Perfecting Amendment
Sec. 39. Adoption of Amendment as Precluding Motions to Strike
Sec. 40. Effect of Adoption of Motions to Strike
Sec. 41. Adoption of Amendment in the Nature of Substitute
Sec. 42. Amendments Pertaining to Monetary Figures
Sec. 43. Effecting Changes by Unanimous Consent
Sec. 44. Amendments Previously Considered and Rejected
G. House Consideration of Amendments Reported From the
Committee of the Whole
Sec. 45. In General; Voting
Sec. 46. Effect of Rejection of Amendment
Sec. 47. Motions to Recommit with Instructions Pertaining to
Amendments
H. Amendments to Titles and Preambles
Sec. 48. In General
Research References
5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5753-5800
8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2824-2907a
Deschler Ch 27
Manual Sec. Sec. 413, 456, 469, 902, 905, 911, 919-927, 978-
981, 986-989, 991
A. Amendments Defined and Distinguished; Forms
Sec. 1 . In General; Formal Requisites
Generally
The four forms of amendment are specified by clause 6 of rule XVI.
They are:
The amendment to the pending proposition
Amendments to the amendment
Substitute amendments
Amendments to the substitute
An amendment to a pending amendment is in order as an amendment in
the second degree, as is an amendment to a pending substitute.
Amendments in the third degree are not in order. Sec. 14, infra.
The amendment to the original text must, of course, be offered
first, and generally only one amendment to the text may be pending at
any one time. 5 Hinds Sec. 5755; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 1. Once that
amendment is offered, however, the other three forms of amendment may
be offered and all four amendments may be pending at one time. 5 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 5753, 5785; 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2883, 2887; Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 1; see also Sec. 13, infra.
Recognition for the purpose of offering amendments is within the
discretion of the Chair. See Sec. 20, infra. Members may offer
amendments in their own names at the request, or as the designee, of
other Members. But Members may not offer them in other Members' names
or jointly. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 1.11; 114-2, July 11, 2016, p__; 114-
1, Apr. 29, 2015, p__. Furthermore, Members may not offer amendments
to their own amendments; an amendment once offered may not be directly
modified by its proponent except by unanimous consent. Sec. 37, infra.
Formal Requirements; Written or Oral Motions
Pursuant to clause 1 of rule XVI, the Chair or any Member may
require that an amendment be reduced to writing before being offered.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 1.1. In the Committee of the Whole, the Clerk
transmits copies of offered amendments to the majority and the
minority tables in accordance with clause 5(b) of rule XVIII, although
the failure of the Clerk to promptly transmit such copies is not the
basis for a point of order against the amendment. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 22.11.
An amendment must contain instructions to the Clerk as to the
portion of the text it seeks to amend. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 1.28.
Similarly, an amendment to an amendment should specify and identify
the text to be amended. Amendments to a substitute should be drafted
to the proper page and line number of the substitute rather than to
comparable provisions of the original text. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 1.9, 1.10. A Member who intends to propose such an amendment
may ascertain the appropriate page and line number by inspecting the
pending amendment at the Clerk's desk or obtaining a copy thereof at
the committee tables. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 22.10.
The Chair may examine the form of an offered amendment to
determine its propriety and may rule it out of order where improper in
form and therefore not in order at that time, even where no point of
order is raised from the floor and debate has begun. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 1.39. However, an ambiguity in the wording of an amendment, or a
question as to the propriety of draftsmanship of an amendment to
accomplish a particular legislative purpose, should not be questioned
on a point of order; that is an issue to be disposed of by a vote on
the merits of the amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 1.31.
Order or Sequence
A distinction should be made between the order or sequence of
voting on amendments and the sequence in which they may be offered.
Amendments must be voted on in a definite sequence. The first-degree
amendment to the text is voted on last, thereby giving the Members the
fullest opportunity to perfect it before addressing its adoption. (For
the order of voting on amendments, see Sec. 28, infra.) However, this
sequence is reversed with respect to the offering of amendments,
because amendments to the text are proposed before the offering of
amendments to the amendment, and substitute amendments must precede
the offering of amendments to the substitute. Sec. 21, infra.
Nevertheless, considerable latitude is permitted in the order of
offering amending propositions. For example, in one instance five
amendments were offered in the following order: (1) an amendment in
the nature of a substitute for the pending measure, (2) a substitute
therefor, (3) a perfecting amendment to the original text, (4) a
perfecting amendment to the substitute, and (5) a perfecting amendment
to the amendment in the nature of a substitute. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 5.28. Indeed, under this scenario, three further amendments would
have been in order: (1) a substitute for the perfecting amendment to
the original text; (2) a perfecting amendment to the substitute; and
(3) a perfecting amendment to the amendment to the original text.
Effect of Special Orders of Business
Bills are frequently considered pursuant to the terms of a
resolution reported by the Committee on Rules. The resolution may
specify whether amendments may be offered to the bill, the kind and
number of amendments that may be offered, whether they can be amended,
and the order of consideration and voting thereon. The resolution may
also ``self-execute'' an amendment by considering that amendment as
adopted. Sec. 11, infra. Such special orders of business are
themselves subject to germane amendment while the rule is pending if
the Member in control yields for such amendment or offers such
amendment, or if the motion for the previous question is defeated.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 3.1. For more on special orders generally, see
Special Orders of Business.
Sec. 2 . Perfecting Amendments
Generally
Generally, the House follows the Jeffersonian principle that an
amendment should be perfected before agreeing to it. Manual Sec. 456.
The term ``perfecting amendment'' includes amendments to insert as
well as amendments to strike and insert. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.
Furthermore, a perfecting amendment may take the form of a motion to
strike a lesser portion of the words encompassed in a pending motion
to strike. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.17. There are no degrees of
preference as between perfecting amendments. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 5.9.
A perfecting amendment may be offered to the text of a bill or to
an amendment to a bill. Once a perfecting amendment to an amendment is
disposed of, the original amendment, as amended or not, remains open
to further perfecting amendment, and all such amendments are disposed
of before voting on substitutes. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 23.9.
Perfecting Amendments and the Motion to Strike
Perfecting amendments to a section or paragraph may be offered--
one at a time--while a motion to strike the section or paragraph is
pending, and are disposed of first. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.15. Indeed,
all perfecting amendments to a section of a bill must be disposed of
before the vote on a pending motion to strike the section. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 24.3. If the perfecting amendment changes all the words
proposed to be stricken, the motion to strike necessarily falls and is
not voted on because the entirety of the amendment has been changed.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 24.15.
Sec. 3 . Motions to Insert
A motion to insert may be pending at the same time as a motion to
strike, with the vote taken first on the motion to insert, then on the
motion to strike, which is consistent with the principle that text
should be perfected before stricken or retained. See Sec. 21, infra.
They need not be offered in the order in which they are voted on.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.1.
It is not in order to reinsert the precise language stricken by
amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 31.4. However, an amendment similar to
the stricken language may be offered if germane to the pending portion
of the bill. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 31.6.
After an amendment to insert has been agreed to, the matter
inserted ordinarily may not then be amended insularly. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5761; 8 Cannon Sec. 2852; see Sec. 38, infra. However, an
amendment may be added at the end of the inserted material. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5759; Manual Sec. 469.
Sec. 4 . Motions to Strike and Insert
A motion to strike and insert is usually a perfecting amendment
(Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 16), and is not divisible under clause 5 of rule
XVI. A motion to strike and insert may be offered as a perfecting
amendment to a pending section of a bill, and is voted on before a
pending motion to strike that section. However, even if agreed to, the
perfected language is subject to being eliminated by subsequent
adoption of the motion to strike in cases where the perfecting
amendment has not so changed the text as to render the original motion
to strike an improper change of language already adopted. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 17.12 (note). See also Sec. 23, infra.
Sec. 5 . Motions to Strike
A motion proposing to strike a section of a bill is in order after
perfecting amendments to the section are disposed of. If offered
first, the motion to strike is held in abeyance until perfecting
amendments have been disposed of. Sec. 21, infra. A motion proposing
to strike a section that has been perfected, but not changed in its
entirety, is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 17.29. The motion to
strike, if adopted, strikes the entire section, including provisions
added as perfecting amendments to that section. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 31.1.
A motion to strike the enacting clause of a bill is a
parliamentary motion used for rejecting the bill. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 15. It takes precedence over a motion to amend the bill under
clause 9 of rule XVIII. Manual Sec. 988. For more on this motion, see
Committees of the Whole, Sec. Sec. 22-24, infra.
Sec. 6 . Substitute Amendments
A substitute always proposes to replace all the words of a pending
amendment. The amendatory instructions contained in a substitute
direct changes to be made in the original language rather than to the
pending amendment. Although a substitute may change parts of a bill
not changed by the pending amendment, the substitute must be germane
to the pending amendment. 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2879, 2883; Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 18.6. A substitute may result in similar language to the
original text proposed to be changed by the pending amendment but may
not result in identical language. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 18.15.
A substitute for a motion to strike is not in order. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 18.8. A motion to strike is not in order as a substitute for a
pending motion to strike and insert (Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 17.18) or for
a perfecting amendment to text generally (Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 17.17).
A proposition contained in a substitute may sometimes be reoffered
in a different form after it has failed of approval. 8 Cannon
Sec. 2843.
Members may not offer substitutes for their own amendments.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 18.22.
Sec. 7 . Amendments in Nature of a Substitute
An amendment in the nature of a substitute is an amendment that is
offered to the text of a bill; it generally replaces the entire bill.
It should be distinguished from a substitute amendment, which is
merely a substitute for another amendment that has been offered.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 12.
An amendment in the nature of a substitute takes the form of a
motion to strike and insert. However, the term ``amendment in the
nature of a substitute'' properly applies only to those motions that
propose to strike an entire pending bill, though it is sometimes used,
less precisely, to describe motions proposing to strike an entire
pending section or title of text and to insert new matter. It should
not be used to describe those motions to strike and insert, which are
properly characterized as ``perfecting amendments'' and which go only
to a portion of the pending text. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 25. An amendment
in the nature of a substitute for a pending bill may be offered after
the first section is read and is then open to amendment in its
entirety. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 12.
An amendment in the nature of a substitute for a bill may be
proposed before perfecting amendments to the pending portion of the
original text have been offered, but may not be voted on until after
such perfecting amendments have been disposed of. 8 Cannon Sec. 2896;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 25.
Where an amendment in the nature of a substitute for a bill has
been adopted in the Committee of the Whole, the measure is no longer
open to amendment and further amendments, including pro forma
amendments for debate, are not in order except by unanimous consent.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 32.6; see also Manual Sec. 923.
Sec. 8 . Pro Forma Amendments
Pro forma amendments have been in use during debate in the
Committee of the Whole under the five-minute rule as early as 1868. 5
Hinds Sec. 5778. A pro forma amendment is a procedural formality--a
parliamentary device used to obtain recognition during consideration
of a bill being read for amendment. Such an amendment does not
contemplate any actual change in the bill. Although pro forma
amendments are phrased to make some superficial change in the language
under consideration, such as ``to strike the last word,'' the
underlying purpose is merely to obtain time for debate that might
otherwise be prohibited because of the time limitations of the five-
minute rule. Clause 5 of rule XVIII; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 2. A special
order of business may limit the offering of substantive amendments but
enable pro forma amendments for the purpose of debate. A special order
of business that prohibits second-degree amendments necessarily
precludes pro forma amendments as well. 112-1, July 21, 2011, p 11751.
A pro forma amendment may be offered after a substitute has been
adopted and before the vote on the amendment, as amended, by unanimous
consent only because the amendment has been amended in its entirety
and no further amendments, including pro forma amendments, are in
order. Manual Sec. 981.
A Member who has occupied five minutes on a pro forma amendment:
May not lengthen this time by making a second pro forma
amendment. Manual Sec. 981; 5 Hinds Sec. 5222; 8 Cannon
Sec. 2560.
May not extend this time by offering a substantive amendment
while other Members are seeking recognition. Manual Sec. 981.
May offer a second-degree amendment and then offer a pro forma
amendment to debate the underlying first-degree amendment.
Manual Sec. 981.
Debate on a pro forma amendment must be confined to the portion of
the bill to which the pro forma amendment has been offered. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 2.5, 28.38. If a relevancy point of order is raised, a
Member may not under a pro forma amendment discuss a section of the
bill not immediately pending. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 2.4. A Member
recognized to debate a pro forma amendment may not allocate or reserve
time. Manual Sec. 981.
Sec. 9 . Precedence of Motion Generally
In General
Clause 4 of rule XVI specifies the motions that are in order when
a question is under debate in the House and assigns precedence to
those motions in the order named in the rule. The motion to amend is
listed in the sixth position, taking precedence over the motion to
postpone indefinitely. Under that rule, the motion to amend yields to
the motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, for the previous question,
to postpone to a day certain, and to refer. Manual Sec. 911. Because
the motion to refer takes precedence over the motion to amend (5 Hinds
Sec. 5555), the motion to amend is not entertained while the motion to
refer is pending (6 Cannon Sec. 373).
Explaining or Opposing an Amendment
In the Committee of the Whole, under the five-minute rule where an
amendment is offered, the initial 10 minutes of debate--five for the
proponent to explain the amendment, five for a speech in opposition--
takes precedence over a motion to amend it. 4 Hinds Sec. 4751.
The Previous Question
In the House, a motion for the previous question takes precedence
over a motion to amend. Manual Sec. 926; 8 Cannon Sec. 2660. Thus, the
previous question may be moved pending the offering of an amendment by
a Member to whom the floor was yielded for that purpose; and the
previous question must be voted down before that Member is recognized
to offer the amendment. Deschler Ch 23 Sec. 18.3. The previous
question having been defeated, an amendment may be offered. However,
if the amendment is ruled out on a point of order, the previous
question may again be moved and takes precedence over the offering of
another amendment. Deschler Ch 23 Sec. 20.3. Once the proponent of an
amendment has been recognized for debate, such Member may not be taken
from the floor by another Member seeking to move the previous
question. Deschler Ch 23 Sec. 20.7.
In the House as in the Committee of the Whole, a Member recognized
to debate a pro forma amendment may not be taken from the floor by the
motion for the previous question. 92-2, May 8, 1972, pp 16154, 16157.
The Motion to Strike the Enacting Clause
Under clause 9 of rule XVIII, the motion to strike the enacting
clause takes precedence over a motion to amend. Manual Sec. 989. The
motion may be offered while an amendment is pending. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5328; 8 Cannon Sec. 2624. Although the motion to strike the
enacting clause is pending, not even a pro forma amendment to strike
the last word is entertained. 8 Cannon Sec. 2627.
For general discussion of the motion to strike the enacting
clause, see Committees of the Whole, Sec. Sec. 22-24, infra.
The Motion to Rise
With one exception in the Committee of the Whole, a motion to
amend a bill has precedence over a motion to rise and report it to the
House. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 4752-4758. However, the motion to amend
yields to the simple motion that the Committee rise. 4 Hinds
Sec. 4770. Under clause 2(d) of rule XXI, the motion to rise and
report, if offered by the Majority Leader (or designee), takes
precedence over an amendment after a general appropriation bill has
been completely read for amendment. Manual Sec. 1040. In the 109th
Congress, the House adopted a resolution creating a point of order
against a motion to rise and report an appropriation bill that
exceeded an applicable allocation of new budget authority under
section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Such a point
of order has been carried forward in subsequent Congresses by separate
order contained in the opening-day rules package. Manual Sec. 1044b.
For precedence as between particular forms of amendment, see
Sec. 21, infra.
Sec. 10 . Amending Other Motions
Generally
The motion to amend may be applied, with certain exceptions, to
other motions that are in order in the House or the Committee of the
Whole. 5 Hinds Sec. 5754; Manual Sec. 927. Unless precluded by the
operation of the previous question, the motion to amend may be applied
to a motion:
To postpone. 5 Hinds Sec. 5754; 8 Cannon Sec. 2824.
To amend. 5 Hinds Sec. 5754.
To refer. 5 Hinds Sec. 5754.
To recommit. 5 Hinds Sec. 5521; 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2695, 2738,
2762.
To recommit with instructions. 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2698, 2699,
2712, 2759.
To declare a recess. 5 Hinds Sec. 5754.
To instruct conferees. 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 3231, 3240.
To change the reference of a public bill if the amendment is
authorized by the appropriate committee. Manual Sec. 825; 7
Cannon Sec. 2127. But see 4 Hinds Sec. 4378.
When Not Permitted
A motion to amend may not be applied to a motion:
To order the previous question. Manual Sec. 452.
To table. 5 Hinds Sec. 5754.
To suspend the rules, although a motion to suspend the rules
and pass a measure may include a proposed amendment to the
measure. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5405, 6858, 6859.
To adjourn, as by specifying a particular day. 5 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 5360, 5754.
To go into the Committee of the Whole to consider a privileged
bill. Manual Sec. 927; 6 Cannon Sec. Sec. 52, 724.
To take up a designated bill in the Committee of the Whole. 8
Cannon Sec. 2865.
To strike the enacting clause. 8 Cannon Sec. 2626.
An amendment may not be offered to a motion against which a point
of order is pending. See Points of Order; Parliamentary Inquiries. For
discussion of the general rule that the motion to amend is not in
order on questions on which the previous question is operating, see
Previous Question. Amendments to conference reports, see Conferences
Between the Houses.
Sec. 11 . Effect of Special Orders of Business
Bills are frequently considered pursuant to the terms of a special
order of business resolution reported by the Committee on Rules. Such
special orders may specify the amendments that may be offered to the
bill, the kind and number of amendments that may be offered, and the
order of consideration and voting thereon. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 3. The
Committee on Rules may report a resolution providing procedures to
govern the consideration of a measure even where the measure is
already pending in the Committee of the Whole. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 3.77; see also Special Orders of Business.
Legislation may be considered:
Under an ``open'' rule, which places no restrictions on
amendment.
Under a rule that is ``closed'' or ``modified-closed'' that
strictly restricts the universe of amendments to, for example,
amendments specified in the report of the Committee on Rules
accompanying the rule.
Under a rule that is ``open in part,'' ``closed in part,'' or
``open for a time, closed thereafter.''
Under a rule that is ``modified open,'' which places minor
restrictions on amendments, for example, requiring preprinting
in the Congressional Record.
Where a bill is being considered in the Committee of the Whole
under an ``open'' rule, germane amendments to the bill are in order
under the standing rules of the House. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 3.7. Where
a bill is being considered under a ``closed'' rule, even pro forma
amendments are not in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 3.34. A ``modified-
closed rule'' permits only designated amendments or a designated class
of amendments. Deschler Ch 21 Sec. 22.8.
The Committee of the Whole may not substantively restrict the
offering of amendments in contravention of a special order of business
adopted by the House. Manual Sec. 993a; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 3.
However, a unanimous-consent request may be entertained in the
Committee of the Whole if its effect is to allow procedures that
differ only in minor or incidental respects from the procedure
required by a special order of business adopted by the House. By
unanimous consent, the House may delegate to the Committee of the
Whole authority to entertain unanimous-consent requests to change
procedures contained in such a rule. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 3.29 (note).
For a list of unanimous-consent requests that have been permitted in
the Committee of the Whole, see Manual Sec. 993b.
A special order of business may waive points of order against a
bill or against specified amendments thereto. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 3.
Such a waiver will not be implied. A special order of business merely
``making in order'' an amendment offered by a designated Member but
not specifically waiving points of order does not permit consideration
of the amendment unless in conformity with the rules of the House.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 3.72 (note). A waiver of points of order against a
bill does not apply to amendments offered from the floor. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 3.
The so-called ``self-executing'' special order of business has
been applied in recent years to expedite the amendment process. Such a
rule may provide that a specified amendment ``shall be considered to
have been adopted.'' The Committee on Rules has also reported rules
that have ``self-executed'' the adoption of an amendment that became
original text for the purpose of further amendment. Manual Sec. 855;
Deschler-Brown Ch 31 Sec. 10.14.
Sec. 12 . --Amendments Printed in the Congressional Record
The Committee on Rules may report a rule that precludes amendments
that have not been printed in the Congressional Record. An amendment
similar but not identical to the text of an amendment printed in the
Record has been held out of order under such a rule. Only the House,
by unanimous consent, may permit the offering of an amendment that
differs in any way from an amendment permitted under the rule.
However, once an amendment has been offered and is pending, an offeror
may modify an amendment by unanimous consent in the Committee of the
Whole. Manual Sec. 993b; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 3.25-3.27.
Where a special order of business restricts the offering of
amendments to those printed in the Congressional Record but does not
specify the Members who must offer them, the right to propose
amendments properly inserted in the Record inures to all Members. 105-
2, Sept. 17, 1998, pp 20838, 20839.
A special order of business prohibiting amendments to a bill
except those printed in the Congressional Record does not apply to
amendments in the second degree unless so specified. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 3.13.
B. Permissible Pending Amendments
Sec. 13 . In General; The Stages of Amendment
The checklist below and the chart above show the four common
motions that may be pending simultaneously under clause 6 of rule XVI
(5 Hinds Sec. 5753) and the order in which they are voted on (see also
Sec. 28, infra):
To amend the text (4)
To amend the proposed amendment (1)
To amend by a substitute (3)
To amend the substitute (2)
Generally, only one amendment to the text may be pending at any
one time. 5 Hinds Sec. 5755; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 1. Once that
amendment is offered, however, the other three forms of amendment
shown above may be offered and all four amendments may be pending at
one time. 5 Hinds Sec. 5753; 8 Cannon Sec. 2883; Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 1.
The amendments shown in the chart are amendments in the first or
second degree. Amendments beyond the second degree, such as an
amendment to the amendment to the amendment to the pending text, are
not in order. See Sec. 1, supra; Sec. 14, infra. Frequently, however,
as by a special order of business, an amendment in the nature of a
substitute may be considered as an original text for purposes of
amendment, thereby extending the permissible degrees of amendment.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 1. Indeed, a special order of business reported by
the Committee on Rules may specifically permit the offering of
amendments beyond the second degree. 94-1, Feb. 27, 1975, p 4593. In
one instance, pursuant to a special order of business, up to eight
amendments to the pending text were pending simultaneously. 96-1, May
15, 1979, p 1050.
There is no limit to the number of amendments that may be offered
either to an amendment or to a substitute so long as not changing a
previously adopted amendment. When one second-degree amendment has
been disposed of, another can be offered. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 5.16.
Where both an amendment and a substitute have been offered, each may
have one amendment pending to it at one time. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. Sec. 5.14, 5.15.
Perfecting the Original Text
It is in order to offer a perfecting amendment to the pending
portion of original text, even though there is pending an amendment in
the nature of a substitute for the pending measure. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 5.34. Likewise, where there is pending a motion to strike a title
of a bill, perfecting amendments to that title may nevertheless be
offered and voted on before voting on the motion to strike. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 5.11.
Amending Pending Amendments
Only one amendment to a pending amendment may be pending at one
time. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 5.7, 5.17, 5.24. However, as soon as an
amendment to an amendment is adopted or rejected another is in order
seriatim until the amendment is perfected; and only after disposition
of the amendment will further amendment of the bill be allowed.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 5.5.
Amending Substitute Amendments
A substitute for an amendment is subject to amendment. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. Sec. 5.3, 5.4. Thus, where an amendment, an amendment thereto,
and a substitute for the original amendment are pending, it is in
order to offer an amendment to the substitute. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 5.13. Other amendments to the substitute are in order following
disposition of the pending amendment to the substitute. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 5.25.
Amending Amendments in the Nature of a Substitute
When specifically made in order, an amendment in the nature of a
substitute may be considered as original text for purposes of
amendment. Accordingly, where pursuant to a special order of business
a committee amendment in the nature of a substitute is being read as
original text for purpose of amendment, there may be pending to that
text (1) an amendment, (2) a substitute therefor, and (3) amendments
to both the amendment and the substitute. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 5.32. As
often as amendments to the amendment are disposed of, further
amendments may be offered and voted upon before voting on the
amendment to the substitute. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 5.21.
Sec. 14 . Amendments in the Third Degree
The following chart shows the four common forms of amendments in
the first or second degree and distinguishes them from amendments in
the third degree.
Amendments in the third degree are not in order. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5754; 8 Cannon Sec. 2580; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.1. ``The line
must be drawn somewhere,'' wrote Thomas Jefferson, ``and usage has
drawn it after the amendment to the amendment.'' Manual Sec. 454. This
principle is reflected in clause 6 of rule XVI and is considered
fundamental in the House of Representatives. Manual Sec. 922; Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 6. Thus, as shown by the chart, an amendment to an
amendment to an amendment is in the third degree and not in order.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.2. Until the amendment to the amendment is
disposed of, no further amendment to the amendment may be offered.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.12.
The prohibition against amendments in the third degree also
applies to amendments between the House and Senate. If a bill
originating in one House is amended by the other, the originating
House may amend the amendment; and the second House may again amend.
Any further amendment between the Houses would be in the third degree.
Manual Sec. 529. However, the House has on occasion adopted a special
order of business (waiving applicable points of order) that provided
for consideration of a motion to concur in a Senate amendment with a
further House amendment that broached the third degree. 110-2, June
19, 2008, p 13052; 110-2, July 23, 2008, p 15877; 110-2, Sept. 28,
2008, p 22914; 111-2, Mar. 4, 2010, p 2580.
Substitutes for Pending Amendments Distinguished
As shown by the above chart, a substitute for a pending first-
degree amendment is subject to amendment, whereas a perfecting
amendment to an amendment is not, as that would be in the third
degree. Manual Sec. 923; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6. The substitute
permitted by clause 6 of rule XVI is an alternative to the original
first-degree amendment and not for the amendment to that amendment.
Indeed, when an amendment and a perfecting amendment thereto are
pending, neither an amendment to, or substitute for, the perfecting
amendment is in order, both such amendments being in the third degree.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.2.
Although a perfecting amendment to a pending substitute should
retain some portion of the substitute so as not to be in effect a
substitute in the third degree, the Chair does not look behind the
form of the amendment in the absence of a timely point of order from
the floor. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.21.
Amendments in the Nature of a Substitute
Normally, an amendment to or a substitute for an amendment to an
amendment in the nature of a substitute would be in the third degree
and not in order. This principle, however, would not apply if the
amendment in the nature of a substitute were being considered as
original text for purposes of amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.15
(note). Where an amendment in the nature of a substitute is considered
as original text for the purpose of amendment, pursuant to a special
order of business, an amendment to an amendment thereto is not in the
third degree and is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.18.
Amendments While Motion to Strike Pending
While a motion to strike is pending, it is in order to offer an
amendment to perfect the language proposed to be stricken; such a
perfecting amendment (which is in the first degree) may be amended by
a substitute (also in the first degree), and amendments to the
substitute are thus in the second degree and therefore in order.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.20.
Pro Forma Amendments
In the Committee of the Whole, pro forma amendments are
technically not in order where the four permitted amendments are
pending if the point of order is raised, as they would constitute
amendments in the third degree. However, the Chair has hesitated to
rule out of order pro forma amendments as being in the third degree,
because the Committee has the power to close debate when it chooses
and has permitted such amendments to be offered by unanimous consent.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 6.22.
C. When to Offer Amendment; Reading for Amendment
Sec. 15 . In General; Reading by the Clerk
A second reading occurs in the Committee of the Whole after
general debate when a measure is read for amendment under clause 5 of
rule XVIII. Under clause 5(a) of rule XVIII, amendments are not in
order in the Committee of the Whole until general debate has been
closed. 4 Hinds Sec. 4744. Amendments are then debated under the five-
minute rule. Manual Sec. 978. The bill is read for amendment, and
amendments are offered and debated at the appropriate point in the
reading. Thus, when a bill is being read for amendment in the
Committee of the Whole by section, it is not in order to offer
amendments except to the one section under consideration. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 7. After a section or paragraph has been passed, it is no
longer subject to amendment. Manual Sec. Sec. 413, 980.
Bills are ordinarily read for amendment by section or paragraph in
sequence. However, the House, by unanimous consent or special order of
business, may vary the reading of a bill for amendment under the five-
minute rule in the Committee of the Whole, which may include
dispensing with the reading entirely. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 7.1,
7.18. The Committee of the Whole may also, by unanimous consent, allow
an amendment to a portion of the bill passed in the reading or not yet
read for amendment. 114-1, June 2, 2015, p__; 113-2, July 14, 2014,
p__.
House Practice Distinguished
In the House, amendments to measures on the House Calendar are
made where the Member calling up the measure yields for an amendment,
or if the previous question is not moved or ordered, pending the
engrossment and third reading. 5 Hinds Sec. 5781; 7 Cannon Sec. 1051;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 13.3. Amendments may be offered to any part of the
bill without proceeding by section or paragraph. 4 Hinds Sec. 3392.
Practice in House as in the Committee of the Whole
Where a bill is by unanimous consent considered in the House as in
the Committee of the Whole, the bill is considered as read and open to
amendment at any point under the five-minute rule. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 11.22. This is so despite the fact that the House has previously
adopted a special order of business providing that the bill be read by
title in the Committee of the Whole because that order of the House
had been superseded by a subsequent order of the House. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 7.2.
Sec. 16 . Amendments to Text Passed in the Reading
In the Committee of the Whole, amendments to a section are in
order after the section has been read or the reading dispensed with
and remain in order until the reading of the next portion to be
considered. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 7. Generally, an amendment comes too
late when the Clerk has read beyond the section to which the amendment
applies. 8 Cannon Sec. 2930; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 8.1.
An amendment offered as a new section is in order to a bill being
read by section after the Clerk has read up to, but not beyond, the
point at which the amendment would be inserted. The amendment must be
offered after the consideration of the section of the bill that it
would follow, and comes too late after the next section of the bill
has been read for amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 8.17. A section is
considered passed for the purpose of amendment after an amendment
inserting a new section has been adopted following that section.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 8.12. An amendment adding a new section at the end
of a bill is in order after the last section of the bill has been
read, even though other amendments adding new sections have been
adopted. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 7.35.
To be timely, an amendment must be offered at the appropriate
place in the reading. A point of order that an amendment to a section
or a paragraph of a bill comes too late does not lie where the Member
offering the amendment was seeking recognition before the section or
paragraph was passed in the reading. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 8.22. The
Chair has on occasion directed the Clerk to reread a paragraph of a
bill where there was doubt as to how far the Clerk had read. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 8.4.
Sec. 17 . Amendments to Text Not Yet Read; Amendments En Bloc
It is not in order to strike or otherwise amend portions of a bill
not yet read for amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 9. Even committee
amendments printed in a bill are not considered until the section
where they appear is read for amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 9.4.
Unless permitted by a special order of business, amendments to a
pending title of a bill and to a subsequent title may be offered en
bloc only by unanimous consent. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 9.13. Similarly,
to a bill being read for amendment by section, amendments to more than
one section may be considered en bloc by unanimous consent only.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 9.14.
During the reading of an appropriation bill, clause 2(f) of rule
XXI permits the offering of certain budget-neutral amendments that
``reach ahead'' to text not yet read. Such amendments may propose only
to transfer appropriations among objects in the bill and are not
subject to division. Manual Sec. 1042.
Sec. 18 . Amendments to Bills Considered as Read and Open to Amendment
Unless permitted by a special order of business, a bill may be
considered as read and open to amendment at any point only by
unanimous consent. A motion to that effect is not in order. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 11.2. Similarly, during the reading of a section for
amendment, that section can be considered as read and open to
amendment at any point only by unanimous consent. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 11.4. Where consent is granted that the remainder of the bill be
open to amendment at any point, amendments may then be offered to any
portion of the bill not yet read for amendment at the time the
permission is granted and amendments remain in order to that portion
of the bill pending when the request was granted. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 11.9; 94-1, June 4, 1975, p 16899. However, an agreement that the
remainder of the bill be considered read and open for amendment at any
point does not admit an amendment to a portion of the bill already
passed in the reading. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 11.8. Points of order
against the text open to amendment are disposed of before the offering
of amendments. See Points of Order; Parliamentary Inquiries.
Sec. 19 . Amendments in the Nature of a Substitute
Unless the bill is considered as having been read for amendment,
an amendment in the nature of a substitute for a bill is in order only
after the first section (or paragraph) of the bill has been read for
amendment or following the reading of the final section (or paragraph)
of the bill. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 12.1, 12.2, 12.4. To a bill
being read for amendment by title, an amendment in the nature of a
substitute for the entire bill may be offered either after the reading
of the ``short title'' of the bill (which is normally a separate
section of the bill preceding title I) or at the conclusion of the
reading of the whole bill. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 12.
An amendment in the nature of a substitute for a bill is not in
order at an intermediate stage of the reading unless the bill is
considered as having been read for amendment, in which case an
amendment in the nature of a substitute may be offered at any time
during consideration of the bill. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 12.3,
12.10.
Although an amendment in the nature of a substitute may ordinarily
be offered after the reading of the first section of a bill being read
by section and before committee amendments adding new sections, where
a bill consists of one section and is therefore open to amendment at
any point when read, committee amendments adding new sections are
considered perfecting amendments and are disposed of before the
offering of amendments in the nature of a substitute. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 12.13.
An amendment in the nature of a substitute is in order after an
entire bill has been read and perfecting amendments have been adopted
thereto, as long as such perfecting amendments have not changed the
bill in its entirety. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 12.16. Similarly, an
amendment in the nature of a substitute may be offered for a bill (or
for an amendment being considered as original text) after the reading
thereof has been completed, if another amendment in the nature of a
substitute has not been previously adopted. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 12.6.
For substitutes for amendments in the nature of a substitute, see
Sec. 24, infra.
Sec. 20 . Recognition to Offer Amendments; Priority
Necessity of Recognition
Under clause 2 of rule XVII, decisions on recognition rest with
the Chair. Therefore, a Member wishing to offer an amendment must
first be recognized by the Chair for that purpose, and a Member
holding the floor under the five-minute rule may not yield to another
Member to offer an amendment. 2 Hinds Sec. 1422; Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 4.1, 4.6.
Discretion of Chair
Except where governed by a special order of business, decisions
regarding recognition for the purpose of offering amendments is within
the discretion of the Chair. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 4.2, 4.3. No
point of order lies against the Chair's recognition of one Member over
another. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 4.4. Nevertheless, in the absence of a
controlling special order of business, the Chair ordinarily follows
the many precedents and practices that serve as guidelines to the
Chair in according recognition to Members to offer amendments.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 4.35. For example, the Chair may accord
recognition pursuant to the principle of alternation between majority
and minority parties or on the priority of perfecting amendments over
motions to strike. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 4.19. Decisions on questions of
recognition are not subject to appeal. Manual Sec. 949.
Priority of Committee Amendments
Amendments recommended by a committee reporting a bill are
normally considered before amendments offered from the floor,
including instances where a bill is considered read and open to
amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 4.34. Thus, perfecting committee
amendments to a paragraph under consideration are disposed of before
amendments from the floor are considered. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 4.33. A
special order of business will often make in order a committee
amendment in the nature of a substitute as the base text for purposes
of further amendment.
Committee Membership as Basis for Recognition
The Chair ordinarily accords priority in recognition to members of
the committee reporting the bill, if seeking recognition. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 4.8. This is so despite the party affiliation of such Members.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 4.10.
Members of the reporting committee or committees are normally
accorded prior recognition in order of full-committee seniority and
not by the sequence of lines in the pending paragraph to which those
amendments may relate. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 4.11, 4.13, 4.30. It
is within the discretion of the Chair as to whether a majority or
minority member of the committee will be recognized first. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 4.18.
Effect of Parliamentary Inquiries
The fact that the Chair has recognized a Member to raise a
parliamentary inquiry does not prohibit the Chair from then
recognizing the same Member to offer an amendment. The principle of
alternation of recognition does not require the Chair to recognize a
Member from the minority to offer an amendment after recognizing a
Member from the majority to raise a parliamentary inquiry. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 4.13 (note).
D. Offering Particular Kinds of Amendments; Precedence and Priorities
Sec. 21 . Introductory; Perfecting Amendments
Generally, the House follows the Jeffersonian principle that
language should be perfected before taking other action on it.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15. ``[T]he friends of the paragraph,'' Jefferson
wrote, ``may make it as perfect as they can by amendments before the
question is put for inserting it. . . . In like manner, if it is
proposed to amend by striking a paragraph, the friends of the
paragraph are first to make it as perfect as they can by amendments,
before the question is put for striking it out.'' Manual Sec. 469. An
important exception to this rule is that a motion to strike the
enacting words of a bill, being a device used for purposes of
rejecting the bill, has precedence over a motion to amend the bill.
Clause 9 of rule XVIII; Manual Sec. 988.
Precedence Over the Motion to Strike
A motion to strike and a perfecting amendment may be pending
simultaneously. They must be voted on separately and in a specified
order. Sec. 28, infra. A perfecting amendment to the text of a bill
takes precedence over a pending motion to strike the text and is first
to be voted on. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 15.3, 15.4. Thus, an
amendment inserting new words takes precedence over a pending motion
to strike that portion of the text. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.7.
Conversely, when an amendment to perfect is pending, a motion to
strike must wait. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.1. When a motion to strike a
pending portion of a bill is pending, perfecting amendments are in
order to the text proposed to be stricken--not to the motion to
strike. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.13. Perfecting amendments and motions
to strike may not be offered as amendments to or substitutes for one
another.
Perfecting amendments to a paragraph may be offered (one at a
time) while a motion to strike the paragraph is pending, and such
perfecting amendments are first disposed of. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 15.5, 15.15. Under this rule, where a perfecting amendment
is offered and rejected, a second perfecting amendment may be offered
and disposed of before the vote on a motion to strike. If the motion
to strike is ultimately defeated, further perfecting amendments to the
pending text are yet in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 15.8, 15.26.
A motion to strike a pending portion of a bill will be held in
abeyance until perfecting amendments to that portion are disposed of.
Manual Sec. 469. However, a Member who has been recognized to debate
the motion to strike may not be deprived of the floor by another
Member who seeks to offer a perfecting amendment. After the Member so
recognized has completed five minutes in support of the motion to
strike, but before the question is put on the motion to strike, the
perfecting amendment may be offered and voted upon. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 15.11.
In the case of preferential perfecting amendments to the text
offered pending a motion to strike that text, such a motion to strike
must still be voted upon regardless of whether or not such perfecting
amendments are adopted (assuming that the perfecting amendments do not
change the entire pending text). Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.24. However,
if perfecting amendments are agreed to, and are coextensive with the
material proposed to be stricken, the motion to strike the amended
text falls and is not acted on. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.25.
Precedence Over Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute
Where a bill consists of several sections, an amendment in the
nature of a substitute should be offered after the reading of the
first section and following disposition of perfecting amendments to
the first section. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.40 (note). Indeed, a
perfecting amendment to the first section of a bill may be offered
while an amendment in the nature of a substitute for the entire bill
is pending. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.32. A perfecting amendment to a
pending paragraph of a bill is in order and is not precluded by the
intervention of a single substitute for the paragraph and several of
those following. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 15.33.
Sec. 22 . Motions to Strike
Amendments proposing to strike a section of a bill are in order
after perfecting amendments to the section are disposed of. Deschler
Ch 23 Sec. 17.3. A motion to strike a section or paragraph is not in
order while a perfecting amendment is pending. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 16.6, 17.1. The motion to strike, if already pending, must
remain in abeyance until the amendment to perfect has been disposed
of. Manual Sec. 469; 5 Hinds Sec. 5758; 8 Cannon Sec. 2860. Because a
provision must be perfected before the question is put on striking it
out, a motion to strike a paragraph or section may not be offered as a
substitute for a pending amendment to perfect the paragraph or
section, including where the pending perfecting amendment is a motion
to strike and insert new text. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 17.15-17.18.
Although the motion to strike is not in order in this situation as a
substitute, it may be offered after disposition of the perfecting
amendment to strike and insert if more comprehensive in scope.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 17.30-17.32.
Although an amendment that has been agreed to may not be modified,
a proposition to strike it from the bill with other language of the
original text is in order. 8 Cannon Sec. 2855. Thus, if the pending
title of a bill is perfected by an amendment adding a new section
thereto, and the Committee of the Whole thereafter agrees to a motion
to strike the entire title, the words added by the perfecting
amendment are eliminated along with the rest of the title. 91-1, Oct.
3, 1969, p 28454.
To a motion to strike certain text and insert new language, a
simple motion to strike all that text may not be offered as an
amendment, as it would have the effect of dividing the motion to
strike and insert, which is prohibited by clause 5 of rule XVI.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 17.23.
Sec. 23 . Motions to Strike and Insert
As a perfecting amendment, a motion to strike and insert takes
precedence over a pending motion to strike. 8 Cannon Sec. 2849. It may
be offered while the motion to strike is pending and is first acted
upon. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 16.3. If the perfecting amendment is agreed
to, and is coextensive with the motion to strike, the motion to strike
the amended text falls and is not acted on. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 16.4.
Under clause 5 of rule XVI, a motion to strike and insert is not
divisible. Manual Sec. 920. For this and other reasons, a motion to
strike is not in order as a substitute for a pending motion to strike
and insert. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 17.18. Conversely, a motion to strike
and insert a portion of a pending section is not in order as a
substitute for a motion to strike the section, but may be offered as a
perfecting amendment to the section and is first voted upon, subject
to being eliminated by subsequent adoption of the motion to strike.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 17.7. See also Sec. 4, supra.
Sec. 24 . Substitute Amendments
Generally
A ``substitute'' is a substitute for an amendment, and not a
substitute for the original text. Sec. 6, supra. A substitute can be
entertained only after an amendment is pending. 8 Cannon Sec. 2883. In
the Committee of the Whole, the proper time to offer a substitute for
an amendment is after the amendment has been read and the Member
offering it has been permitted to debate it under the five-minute
rule. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 18.2. The substitute is then in order until
the Chair puts the question on the amendment. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 18.3.
Substitutes for Amendments in the Nature of a Substitute
An amendment in the nature of a substitute is subject to amendment
by a substitute therefor, and the substitute is in order even after
perfecting amendments have been adopted to the amendment in the nature
of a substitute. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 18.18, 18.19.
Reoffering Substitute Propositions
Whether a proposition contained in a substitute may be reoffered
in a different form after it has failed of approval depends on the
circumstances. If the language of the substitute is reoffered in such
a way as to present precisely the same question that has already been
voted on, it would not be in order. Where an amendment is altered by
adoption of a substitute, and then is rejected as so amended, the
language of the substitute cannot be reoffered at that point as a
first-degree amendment. See Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 18.25 and note.
Clearly, however, where the actual proposition was never voted on
because of changes made through the amendment process, the proposition
may be offered again as, for example, an amendment to text. Where an
amendment is offered, and then a substitute for that amendment, the
consideration of that substitute necessarily proceeds with reference
only to the particular amendment to which offered. This may present a
different question from that which would arise if the language of the
substitute were considered with reference to the text of the bill.
Manual Sec. 923; see also 5 Hinds Sec. 5797, 8 Cannon Sec. 2843, and
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 18.25 (note).
Sec. 25 . Offering Amendments During Yielded Time
In the House
A measure being considered in the House is not subject to
amendment unless the Member in control yields for that purpose or the
previous question is either not moved or is rejected. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 13.6; see Sec. 26, infra. Ordinarily, an amendment to the measure
may be offered only by the Member having the floor unless such Member
yields to another for that purpose; and it is within the discretion of
the Member in charge whether, and to whom, to yield. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 13.3. An amendment may not be offered in time yielded for debate
only. 8 Cannon Sec. 2474; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 13.1.
A Member controlling debate in the House on a measure may yield to
another to offer an amendment, despite a prior announced intention not
to yield for such purpose. 8 Cannon Sec. 2470. The Member so yielded
to may then offer an amendment, be recognized for an hour, and may
yield time to others. Deschler-Brown Ch 29 Sec. 30.7.
A Member who has the floor in debate in the House may not yield to
another Member to offer an amendment without losing control of the
time. 5 Hinds Sec. 5021. By yielding to another to offer an amendment
a Member loses the right to resume. 5 Hinds Sec. 5031. However, a
Member may yield to permit an amendment to be read for information
without losing control of the time. 8 Cannon Sec. 2477.
In the Committee of the Whole
A Member recognized under the five-minute rule may not yield to
another Member to offer an amendment. A Member wishing to offer an
amendment under the five-minute rule must seek recognition from the
Chair. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 13.7.
Sec. 26 . Effect of Previous Question; Expiration of Time for Debate
Generally; House Practice
The adoption of the previous question precludes further debate or
amendment on the pending measure and brings the House to an immediate
vote thereon. Clause 1 of rule XIX; 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5486, 5487;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 14.1. The previous question may be moved (1) on a
pending amendment; (2) on the underlying measure; or (3) on both
propositions. See Previous Question. Thus, where the previous question
is ordered in the House on a pending resolution and the amendment
thereto, the vote immediately occurs on the adoption of the resolution
after the disposition of the amendment, and no intervening amendment
is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 14.3. However, a motion to commit may
be in order under clause 2 of rule XIX. Manual Sec. Sec. 1001, 1002;
see Refer and Recommit.
The previous question is sometimes ordered on nondebatable motions
for the specific purpose of preventing amendments thereto. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5490.
Expiration of Debate Time in the Committee of the Whole
An amendment to a pending section of a bill being considered in
the Committee of the Whole may be offered notwithstanding the
expiration of all time for debate on the section and any amendments
thereto. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 14.9. Under clause 8 of rule XVIII, the
expiration of a limitation on debate under the five-minute rule does
not prohibit the offering of further amendments, but such amendments
are not subject to debate if not printed in the Congressional Record.
Manual Sec. 987; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 14.10. However, where a special
order of business limits the time for consideration of amendments, an
amendment may not be offered upon the expiration of that time
limitation. Manual Sec. 993a; see also Consideration and Debate.
E. Consideration and Voting
Sec. 27 . In General; Reading of Amendment
Generally
Amendments to a bill must be read in full or their reading
dispensed with in accordance with the rules. 8 Cannon Sec. 2339. This
is so even where the bill itself is considered as having been read for
amendment pursuant to a special order of business. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 22. The reading of an amendment must be completed before an
amendment thereto is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 22.5.
Amendments at the Clerk's desk must be offered by a Member before
they will be read by the Clerk. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 7.27. They need
not be reoffered after they have been reported by the Clerk
notwithstanding suspension of consideration of the bill. If an
amendment is pending when the Committee of the Whole rises, such
amendment remains pending when the Committee next considers that
measure. 112-1, July 27, 2011, p 12252. Where the Committee of the
Whole resumes its consideration of a bill after an interval of time,
the Chair sometimes (without objection) directs the Clerk to re-report
the amendments that were pending at the time the Committee rose.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 22.3.
Numbering Amendments
Amendments printed in the Congressional Record are numbered in the
order submitted for printing. Clause 8 of rule XVIII.
Dispensing with Reading
The reading of an amendment may be dispensed with by unanimous
consent or waived pursuant to the provisions of a special order of
business. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 22. The reading of an amendment in the
Committee of the Whole may also be dispensed with by motion if the
amendment has been printed in the bill as reported or if printed in
the Congressional Record by the offeror of the amendment. Clause 7 of
rule XVIII; Manual Sec. 986.
Re-reading Amendments
An amendment that has been once read may not be read again except
by unanimous consent. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 22.2. It is not within the
province of the Chair to analyze the effect of amendments, and the
Chair has declined to recognize for unanimous consent that the Clerk
read the ``differences'' between two pending amendments. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 1.33.
Amendment in the Nature of Substitute
The reading of an amendment in the nature of a substitute must be
completed before an amendment thereto is in order. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 22.5. An amendment in the nature of a substitute is not read by
section in the absence of a special order of business that specifies
to the contrary, and it is open to amendment at any point when read in
its entirety. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 22.6. Where, pursuant to a special
order of business, an amendment in the nature of a substitute is being
read as an original bill for the purpose of amendment, the amendment
is read section by section, and substantive as well as pro forma
amendments are in order following the reading of each section.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 22.7.
Sec. 28 . Order of Consideration Generally; Postponed and Clustered
Votes on Amendments
Voting Sequence
The four forms of amendment permitted by clause 6 of rule XVI may
be pending simultaneously. However, as shown in the chart above
(Sec. 13, supra), they must be voted on in a specified sequence, as
follows: (1) amendments to the amendment, if any, are disposed of
first, seriatim, until the amendment is perfected; (2) amendments to
the substitute are next voted on, seriatim, until the substitute is
perfected; (3) the substitute is next voted on; and (4) the amendment
is voted on last, so that if the substitute has been agreed to, the
vote is on the amendment as amended by the substitute. Manual
Sec. 922; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 23.
An amendment to an amendment must be offered before the question
is put on the underlying amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 18.3,
18.4. Once a perfecting amendment to an amendment is disposed of, the
original amendment, as amended or not, remains open to further
perfecting amendment, and all such amendments are disposed of before
voting on substitutes for the original amendment and amendments
thereto. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 23.9.
Disposition of a perfecting amendment to a substitute amendment
does not preclude the offering of further perfecting amendments to the
substitute or the underlying amendment. However, once the substitute
is adopted, the Chair immediately puts the question on the original
amendment as amended by the substitute and further perfecting
amendments (including pro forma amendments) are not in order. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 23.8, 23.9.
Effect of Special Orders of Business
A special order of business resolution reported by the Committee
on Rules may reverse or alter the normal order of consideration of
amendments in the Committee of the Whole. Where the House has adopted
a special order of business permitting the consideration of amendments
in the Committee of the Whole only in a prescribed order, the
Committee of the Whole must rise to permit the House, by unanimous
consent, to change that order of consideration. Manual Sec. 993a;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 23.
Postponed and Clustered Votes on Amendments
Under clause 6(g) of rule XVIII, the chair of the Committee of the
Whole may postpone and cluster requests for recorded votes on
amendments to a subsequent place and time during the amendment process
as determined by the Chair. Special orders of business from the
Committee on Rules, before adoption of clause 6(g), routinely provided
the chair of the Committee of the Whole such authority. Manual
Sec. 984.
Where a special order of business provided such authority, the
Chair has held:
Use of that authority, and the order of clustering, was
entirely within the discretion of the Chair.
An amendment pending as unfinished business where proceedings
on a request for a recorded vote had been postponed could be
modified by unanimous consent on the initiative of its
proponent.
A request for a recorded vote on an amendment on which
proceedings had been postponed could be withdrawn by unanimous
consent before proceedings resumed on the request as unfinished
business, in which case the amendment stood disposed of by the
voice vote thereon.
Unanimous consent is not required to withdraw a request for a
recorded vote on an amendment on which proceedings had been
postponed when the question recurs as unfinished business.
Such authority did not permit the Chair to postpone a vote on
an appeal of a ruling of the Chair (even by unanimous consent).
The Committee of the Whole by unanimous consent could vacate
postponed proceedings, thereby permitting the Chair to put the
question de novo.
The Committee of the Whole could resume proceedings on
unfinished business consisting of a ``stack'' of amendments
even while another amendment was pending.
Manual Sec. 984.
Clause 6(g) also provides the Chair the ability to reduce to two
minutes the time for electronic voting on any such postponed question
that follows another electronic vote without intervening business. The
offering of a pro forma amendment to discuss the legislative program,
or an extended one-minute speech by a Member to express gratitude to
the Members on a personal matter, may be considered intervening
business such as to preclude a two-minute vote under this authority
except by unanimous consent. Manual Sec. 984.
Sec. 29 . Committee Amendments
Pending amendments, whether favorably or adversely recommended by
the committee reporting the bill, must be voted on. 8 Cannon
Sec. 2865. The Committee of the Whole may continue debate (and must
vote) on a pending amendment even though it has been ``accepted'' by
members of the committee reporting the bill. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 26.10; 112-1, June 14, 2011, p 9179.
Absent a special order of business that provides otherwise,
committee amendments to a bill are ordinarily taken up before
amendments from the floor, although they are not voted on until after
they have been perfected. 5 Hinds Sec. 5773. Floor amendments to the
bill are normally in order following the disposition of pending
committee amendments perfecting that bill, even though the bill is
open to amendment at any point. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 26.3, 26.5.
Absent a special order of business that provides otherwise, where
a committee amendment proposes to strike a portion of the text, a
perfecting amendment from the floor may intervene before the vote is
taken on the committee amendment. See Sec. 21, supra.
A committee amendment to the first paragraph or section of a bill
is voted on before a vote is taken on an amendment in the nature of a
substitute to strike all after the enacting clause and insert new
matter. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 26.1.
Sec. 30 . Amendments En Bloc; Use of Special Orders of Business
Generally
Amendments may be considered en bloc only by unanimous consent or
pursuant to a special order of business. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 27.2, 27.3, 27.14-27.16. Amendments considered en bloc by
unanimous consent are subject to germane amendment after they have
been read. Once pending they are open to perfecting amendment at any
point. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 27.7.
En bloc amendments may be offered to a pending amendment, but it
is not in order to consider en bloc amendments to committee amendments
that have not yet been reported. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 27.10. For en
bloc amendments to appropriation bills, see Appropriations.
The en bloc consideration of amendments in the Committee of the
Whole pursuant to a unanimous-consent request therein does not
necessarily result in an en bloc vote in the House, because that is
merely an order of the Committee and not binding on the House.
Moreover, even amendments considered en bloc pursuant to a special
order of business are subject to a demand for a division of the
question in the House if divisible, unless prohibited by the rule.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 27.15 (note).
Points of Order
Where unanimous consent is requested that two or more amendments
be considered en bloc, points of order against any or all of them may
be made or reserved pending agreement to the request. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 27.5. Amendments offered en bloc by unanimous consent are
considered as one amendment, and a single point of order against any
portion thereof renders the entire amendment subject to a point of
order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 27.5.
Consideration Pursuant to Special Order of Business
To expedite consideration of perfecting amendments to a bill, the
House may adopt a special order of business permitting their
consideration en bloc in lieu of separate consideration in the order
printed in the report of the Committee on Rules. Under such a special
order of business, the manager of the bill may request en bloc
consideration of amendments after the pending text is read and
unanimous consent is not required. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 27.13,
27.14. Most special orders of business of this kind empower the
manager to offer amendments en bloc consisting of those that have been
printed in the accompanying report of the Committee on Rules (and not
previously disposed of).
``King of the Hill'' Rule
The Committee on Rules has provided for the consideration of two
or more amendments under what is sometimes termed a ``king of the
hill'' procedure. The special order of business may provide that such
amendments be considered in a specified order and that if more than
one such amendment is adopted, only the last amendment so adopted
shall be considered as finally adopted and reported to the House. 102-
2, June 3, 1992, p 13239.
``Top Vote Getter'' or ``Queen of the Hill'' Rule
On occasion, the Committee on Rules has reported a rule that
permitted several alternative amendments to be considered in a
specified order with the one receiving the largest majority being
reported back to the House. See, e.g., 114-1, Mar. 25, 2015, p__; 104-
1, Jan. 25, 1995, p 2360.
``First Amendment Adopted'' Rule
On rules providing for the consideration of the concurrent
resolution on the budget, or on other rare occasions, the Committee on
Rules has waived all points of order against the amendments in the
nature of a substitute printed in the report accompanying the rule,
except that the adoption of an amendment in the nature of a substitute
constituted the conclusion of consideration of the concurrent
resolution for amendment. See, e.g., 106-2, Mar. 23, 2000, p 3342.
Sec. 31 . Perfecting Amendments; Motions to Strike
Preference as Between Perfecting Amendments
There are no degrees of preference as between perfecting
amendments. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 24.1. However, perfecting amendments
to a section are considered before amendments proposing to insert new
sections. 8 Cannon Sec. 2356; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 24.2.
Preference as Between Perfecting Amendment and Motion to Strike
All perfecting amendments to a section of a bill must be disposed
of before the vote on a pending motion to strike the section. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 24.3. After the first perfecting amendment has been
disposed of, another may be offered and the vote on the motion to
strike is again deferred until the amendment is disposed of. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 24.5. If the perfecting amendment as adopted changes all
the text proposed to be stricken, the motion to strike necessarily
falls and is not voted on. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 24.15. The principle of
perfecting text before considering an amendment striking it from the
bill is followed even where the motion to strike is improperly drafted
as a second-degree amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 24.12.
Sec. 32 . Substituting Amendments
Substitute Amendments
A substitute for an amendment is not voted on until after
amendments to the amendment have been disposed of. 8 Cannon Sec. 2895.
If the substitute is rejected, the amendment is open to further
amendment; if the substitute is adopted, the question recurs on the
amendment as amended by the substitute. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 25.1.
Thus, where an amendment in the nature of a substitute to a bill is
amended by the adoption of a substitute therefor, the question recurs
on the amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 25.2. The defeat of the amendment as amended by the
substitute results in the rejection of the language included in the
substitute as amended. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 23.
Amendments in the Nature of a Substitute
An amendment in the nature of a substitute for a bill may be
proposed before perfecting amendments to the pending portion of the
original text have been offered or acted on, but may not be voted on
until after such perfecting amendments have been disposed of. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5787; 8 Cannon Sec. 2896; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 25. Thus, an
amendment in the nature of a substitute having been proposed,
amendments to the portion of the original text that have been read are
in order and are voted on before the question is taken on the
substitute. 8 Cannon Sec. 2861.
Where a substitute--striking all of the text and inserting new
matter--for an amendment in the nature of a substitute is adopted, the
vote occurs immediately on the amendment, as amended, and no further
amendments to either proposition are in order, because the original
amendment has been changed in its entirety by the substitute. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 25.
Sec. 33 . Points of Order
Generally
Points of order may lie against amendments that do not conform to
established rules and practices. For example, an amendment may be
barred because it violates the rule against amendments in the third
degree, the ``germaneness'' rule, the prohibition against inclusion of
legislation in an appropriation bill, or the prohibition against
inclusion of an appropriation in a legislative bill. See Sec. 14,
supra; Appropriations; and Germaneness of Amendments. For points of
order against amendments en bloc, see Sec. 30, supra.
Reserving Points of Order
It is within the discretion of the Chair whether to permit a
reservation of a point of order against an amendment, how long such a
reservation can be maintained, and whether to dispose of the point of
order before debate on the amendment. If a point of order is reserved
in the Committee of the Whole, the Chair, with the sufferance of the
body, may permit debate by the proponent on the merits of the
amendment before hearing argument on the point of order. The Chair
then has the discretion to insist that the point of order be made
following debate by the proponent of the amendment and before
recognition of other Members. If the point of order is made rather
than reserved, the Member making the point of order is immediately
recognized for argument thereon. See Points of Order; Parliamentary
Inquiries.
Reservation as Inuring to Other Members
One Member's reservation of a point of order against an amendment
protects the rights of all Members to insist on a point of order. The
reserving Member need not specify the basis of the reservation. The
reservation of the point of order inures to all Members, who may raise
other points of order before the intervention of further debate if the
original point of order is overruled or withdrawn. Manual Sec. 628.
See Points of Order; Parliamentary Inquiries.
Sec. 34 . --Timeliness
Generally
Except as provided in the last paragraph of this section, a point
of order against an amendment is properly made (or reserved)
immediately after the reading thereof, following agreement to a
unanimous-consent request that the amendment be considered as read, or
at any time before debate has begun on the amendment. It should be
disposed of before amendments to that amendment are offered.
Similarly, a point of order against certain language should be decided
before recognition of another Member to offer an amendment to the
challenged language. See Points of Order; Parliamentary Inquiries;
Manual Sec. 628.
Effect of Intervening Amendment or Debate
A Member must exercise due diligence in raising a point of order.
Except as explained under the next heading, a point of order against
an amendment should be made or reserved before the proponent of the
amendment has been recognized to debate the amendment, and cannot be
raised after the proponent of the amendment has been recognized and
has begun debate. A point of order against an amendment is not
entertained where business has intervened between the reading of the
amendment and the making of the point of order unless the intervening
business is vacated. A unanimous-consent request to modify the
amendment does not constitute intervening business. 106-1, Mar. 11,
1999, pp 4335-37. The re-reading of the amendment by unanimous consent
after there has been debate does not permit the intervention of a
point of order against the amendment. See Points of Order;
Parliamentary Inquiries; Manual Sec. 628.
Although a point of order against an amendment ordinarily comes
too late if debate has begun thereon, the Chair has recognized a
Member to make or reserve a point of order against an amendment where
the Member raising the point was seeking recognition at the time the
amendment was read. See Points of Order; Parliamentary Inquiries;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 1; Manual Sec. 628.
Debate on an amendment may not continue while there is pending a
point of order against the amendment. 112-1, July 6, 2011, p 10476.
Points of Order That May Be Made ``At Any Time''
Clause 4 and clause 5(a) of rule XXI refer to points of order that
may be ``raised at any time.'' Clause 4 deals with appropriations in a
bill reported by committees not having jurisdiction to report
appropriations and prohibits amendments carrying appropriations during
consideration of a bill reported by a committee not having that
jurisdiction. Clause 5(a) is aimed at tax or tariff measures contained
in a bill reported by a committee not having that jurisdiction, or
amendments of the Senate or amendments in the House that are offered
to a bill not reported therefrom. Points of order under these rules
must still be raised when the offending bill or amendment is before
the House for consideration. However, intervening debate or amendments
will not preclude a proper point of order from being cognizable by the
Chair when raised during the pendency of the amendment under the five-
minute rule. See Points of Order; Parliamentary Inquiries; Manual
Sec. 628.
Sec. 35 . Debate on Amendments
When general debate is closed in the Committee of the Whole, under
the five-minute rule the proponent of an amendment is allowed five
minutes in which to explain it, after which the Member who first
obtains the floor has five minutes in opposition. Clause 5 of rule
XVIII; Manual Sec. 978. These time limitations do not apply, of
course, where the measure is called up pursuant to a special order of
business that specifies other terms of debate. Under clause 3(c) of
rule XVII, a manager of a measure who opposes an amendment thereto is
entitled to close controlled debate thereon. See Consideration and
Debate.
Where all time for debate on a section of a bill and amendments
thereto has expired, amendments may still be offered to the section,
but are voted on without debate, except in certain cases where a
Member has caused an amendment to be printed in the Congressional
Record pursuant to clause 8 of rule XVIII. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 14.9.
For a discussion of limiting debate on amendments, see Consideration
and Debate.
Sec. 36 . Withdrawal of Amendment
In the Committee of the Whole
Under clause 5(a) of rule XVIII, an amendment may not be withdrawn
in the Committee of the Whole except by unanimous consent, unless
withdrawal authority is conferred by the House. Manual Sec. Sec. 905,
978; 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5221, 5753; 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2465, 2859;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 20.1. Thus, where a Member has been recognized by
the Chair to offer an amendment and the amendment has been reported by
the Clerk, unanimous consent is required to withdraw the amendment.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 20.4. However, unanimous consent is not required
to withdraw an amendment that is merely at the Clerk's desk and has
yet to be offered. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 20.5.
Where a point of order is made or reserved against an amendment
and a unanimous-consent request is then made for the withdrawal of the
amendment, the Chair will first dispose of the unanimous-consent
request. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 20.6.
The withdrawal of an amendment by unanimous consent does not
preclude its being subsequently reoffered, and unanimous consent is
not required to reoffer the amendment if otherwise in order. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 20.10.
In the House
Although unanimous consent to withdraw an amendment is required in
the Committee of the Whole, an amendment in the House may be withdrawn
by the proponent at any time before a decision or amendment is
rendered thereon. Clause 6 of rule XVI. The same right to withdraw an
amendment exists in the House as in the Committee of the Whole and in
standing committees where general procedures in the House as in the
Committee of the Whole apply. Manual Sec. 905.
Sec. 37 . Modification of Amendment
The proponent of an amendment may modify such amendment only by
unanimous consent. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 21.1-21.3. However, where
there is pending an amendment and a substitute therefor, the Member
who offered the original amendment may also offer an amendment to the
substitute, such action not constituting an amendment to one's own
amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 21.4. A unanimous-consent request may
be entertained in the Committee of the Whole to permit the
modification of a designated amendment made in order by a ``modified-
closed'' special order of business, once pending. Manual Sec. 993b.
The modification of a pending amendment by its proponent should be
offered before the amendment is voted on. 106-2, Mar. 29, 2000, p
4017. However, in one instance, pending a request for a recorded vote
following a voice vote on an amendment, the Committee of the Whole, by
unanimous consent, vacated the Chair's putting of the question on the
amendment so as to permit its modification. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 21.7.
The fact that a decision of the Chair is pending on a point of
order against an amendment does not necessarily preclude a request by
its proponent that it be modified. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 21.6. However,
the Chair or any Member may insist that a proposed modification be
submitted in writing and read by the Clerk. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 21.8.
In the event of objection to a unanimous-consent request to modify
a pending amendment, any Member--other than the proponent of the
amendment--may offer a proper amendment thereto. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 21.10. Indeed, a request to modify an amendment, when made by a
Member who is not the proponent thereof, is sometimes treated as a
motion to amend rather than as a unanimous-consent request. 99-1, Dec.
5, 1985, pp 34730, 34731.
F. Effect of Adoption or Rejection; Changes After Adoption
Sec. 38 . In General; Effect of Adoption of Perfecting Amendment
Generally
It is fundamental that it is not in order to amend an amendment
previously agreed to. Manual Sec. Sec. 468-474; 8 Cannon Sec. 2856;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.2. Once the text of a bill has been perfected
by amendment, the perfected text cannot thereafter be amended.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.8. Similarly, the adoption of an amendment to a
substitute precludes further amendment to those portions of the
substitute so amended. Manual Sec. 469; see Sec. 41, infra.
However, in order for an amendment to be ruled out of order on the
ground that its substance has already been passed on by the House, the
language thereof must be practically identical to that of the
proposition already acted on. 5 Hinds Sec. 5760; 8 Cannon Sec. 2839;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.1. The precedents do not preclude the offering
of an amendment merely because it is similar to, or achieves the same
effect as, an amendment previously agreed to. Manual Sec. 466.
Although it is not in order to reinsert precise language stricken by
amendment, an amendment similar but not identical to the stricken
language may be offered if germane to the pending portion of the bill.
A simple change in substance in the words sought to be inserted, such
as changing the word ``shall'' to ``may,'' allows the amendment to be
offered. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 31.8.
Effect of Inconsistency
The Chair will not rule out an amendment as being inconsistent
with an amendment previously adopted, as the consistency of amendments
is a question for the House to determine by its vote on the amendment.
Manual Sec. 466; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.23. It follows that an
amendment is not subject to a point of order that its provisions are
inconsistent with a section of the bill already considered under the
five-minute rule. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.25.
Amendments Negating Proposition Previously Adopted
The Committee of the Whole may not amend a section of a bill
already passed during the reading. However, it may adopt an amendment
to a later section that has the effect of negating the provisions of
the earlier section because the Committee of the Whole may consider a
subsequent amendment which contradicts a proposition previously agreed
to. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 29.20, 29.26.
Changes Following Amended Text
The adoption of a perfecting amendment only precludes further
amendments changing the perfected text; amendments are in order that
add language to an unamended portion at the end of the amended text.
Manual Sec. 469. Likewise, the adoption of an amendment inserting a
new subsection in a bill does not preclude consideration of another
amendment inserting another new subsection immediately thereafter
which does not textually change the amendment already agreed to.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.21.
The ``Bigger Bite'' Rule
Although an amendment may not be offered to change only that
portion of the pending text which has been altered by amendment, a
further amendment changing a more comprehensive portion of the pending
text is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 31.18. In other words, an
amendment taking a ``bigger bite'' of the pending text than that
altered may be permitted. Thus, although it is not in order to further
amend an amendment previously agreed to, an amendment encompassing a
more comprehensive portion of the bill, including original text not
yet amended, is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.9. Similarly, it is
in order to offer an amendment which strikes language changed by
amendment as well as other matter and inserts language which proposes
substantive changes going beyond the original amendment or strikes out
matter not only in the amendment previously agreed to but also in
additional portions of the pending bill. Manual Sec. 474; Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 29.
Effect of Special Orders of Business
The general principle that an amendment may not be offered which
directly changes an amendment already agreed to does not apply where
the House has adopted a special order of business permitting
amendments to be offered even if changing portions of amendments
already agreed to. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.48. In addition, where a
special order of business permits a motion to recommit ``with or
without'' instructions, a motion to recommit may include an amendment
that changes an amendment already adopted by the House. See Sec. 47,
infra.
Sec. 39 . Adoption of Amendment as Precluding Motions to Strike
It is not in order to offer an amendment merely striking an
amendment previously agreed to. 94-1, Aug. 1, 1975, pp 26946, 26947.
For example, where by amendment a new paragraph or section has been
added to the text, it is not in order to offer an amendment that
merely strikes that new paragraph or section. Manual Sec. 474;
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 30.10.
On the other hand, the adoption of a perfecting amendment to a
portion of the text of a bill does not preclude a vote on a pending
motion to strike the entire text as amended. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 30.4.
Similarly, although a provision inserted by amendment may not
thereafter be stricken, a motion to strike more than the provision
previously inserted is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 30.7.
Although the adoption of an amendment changing all the text of a
section precludes a vote on a pending motion to strike that section,
the motion to strike will still be voted on where the perfecting
amendment to the section changes some but not all of that text.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 30.3. However, in this situation another
perfecting amendment to strike the remainder of the section not yet
perfected may be offered and voted on before the motion to strike the
entire section and, if adopted, the motion to strike the section falls
and is not voted on, the whole text having been changed. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 30.14.
The adoption of a perfecting amendment to part of a section does
not preclude a motion to strike the section and insert new text.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 30.12. Similarly, the adoption of a perfecting
amendment inserting language at the end of a paragraph does not
preclude an amendment striking the entire perfected paragraph and
inserting new language. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 30.15. However, where a
bill is being read by section, and committee amendments adding new
sections at the end of a bill have been adopted, an amendment
proposing to strike a section of the original bill and the new
sections is not in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 30.9.
Sec. 40 . Effect of Adoption of Motions to Strike
Adoption of Motion to Strike
A motion to strike a section of a bill, if adopted by the
Committee of the Whole, strikes the entire section including a
provision that was added as a perfecting amendment to that section.
Adoption by the Committee of the amendment striking the section
vitiates the Committee's prior adoption of perfecting amendments to
that section, and only the motion to strike is reported to the House.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 31.1, 31.2. The bill returns to the form as
originally introduced upon rejection by the House of the amendment
reported by Committee. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 31.3. Where an amendment
has been adopted striking language in a bill, a perfecting amendment
to the stricken language comes too late and is not in order. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 31.9.
Although it is not in order to reinsert precise language stricken
by amendment, an amendment similar but not identical to the stricken
language may be offered if germane to the pending portion of the bill.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 31.6. See also Manual Sec. 468; 5 Hinds 5760.
Adoption of Motion to Strike and Insert
If an amendment to strike a portion of a bill and insert new
language is agreed to, a pending amendment proposing to strike the
same portion falls and is not voted on. Manual Sec. 469; Deschler Ch
27 Sec. Sec. 31.11, 31.12. When an amendment striking certain language
and inserting other provisions has been adopted, it is not in order to
further amend the provisions so inserted. Manual Sec. 469; Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 31.14.
The adoption of a perfecting amendment to strike and insert does
not preclude the offering of another amendment to strike and insert
which goes beyond the changes made by the first amendment. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 31.18; see also Sec. 38, supra. Similarly, although it is not
in order to perfect or reinsert language which has been stricken, an
amendment may be offered to insert new language if it is germane to
the bill and not identical to the language stricken. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 31.7. However, if a motion to strike all after the first word of
text and insert a new provision is agreed to, the language thus
inserted cannot thereafter be amended. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 31.14.
Sec. 41 . Adoption of Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute
The adoption of an amendment in the nature of a substitute ends
the amendment stage, and further amendments are not in order,
including pro forma amendments for debate. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 32.1, 32.2, 32.22. Thus, absent a special order of business
to the contrary, the adoption of an amendment in the nature of a
substitute precludes the offering of another. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 32.4. Debate having been closed, adoption of the amendment causes
the stage of amendment to be passed and amendments--though printed in
the Congressional Record--cannot thereafter be offered. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 32.3.
The adoption of an amendment in the nature of a substitute, as
amended by a substitute, precludes further amendment to the amendment
and to the bill. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 32.8. When the substitute is
agreed to, the question occurs immediately on the amendment as amended
by the substitute, and further perfecting amendments to the amendment
(including pro forma amendments) are not then in order. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 32.22.
Sec. 42 . Amendments Pertaining to Monetary Figures
When a specific amendment to a monetary figure in a bill has been
agreed to, further amendment of that specific sum is not in order.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 33.1-33.3; Manual Sec. 455. However, an
amendment inserted following the figure agreed upon and providing
funds ``in addition thereto'' is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 33.13.
An amendment adding a new section having the indirect effect of
changing amended amounts in the bill may also be in order. Deschler Ch
27 Sec. 33.10. In recent practice an amount in an appropriation bill
has been changed by inserting a parenthetical ``increased by'' or
``decreased by'' after the amount rather than by directly changing the
figure in order to avoid such a point of order. Manual Sec. 455.
Where the Committee of the Whole has adopted an amendment changing
the total figure in a paragraph of an appropriation bill, it is not in
order to further amend such figure. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 33.9.
Although it is not in order to offer an amendment merely changing
an amendment already adopted, it is in order to offer a subsequent
amendment more comprehensive than the amendment adopted, changing
unamended portions of the bill as well. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 33.7
(note); Sec. 38, supra. Thus, after adoption of amendments changing
monetary figures in a bill, an amendment making a general percentage
reduction in all figures contained in the bill and indirectly
affecting those figures, is still in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 33.10.
Likewise, the adoption of a perfecting amendment to a concurrent
resolution on the budget changing several figures would preclude
further amendment merely changing those amended figures but would not
preclude more comprehensive amendments changing other portions of the
resolution which had not been amended. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 29.47.
Members have offered ``fetch-back'' amendments to appropriation
bills, which are new paragraphs inserted at the end of the bill to
indirectly change amounts contained in previous paragraphs. ``Fetch-
back'' amendments may be in order as long as the amendment is germane
to the portion of the bill to which offered and amounts only to a
reduction of funds contained in previous paragraphs. See, e.g., 106-1,
Aug. 5, 1999, pp 20143, 20144. However, a ``fetch-back'' amendment
indirectly increasing an amount contained in a prior paragraph must be
supported by an authorization in law. Such support is necessary
because the precedents that admit a germane perfecting amendment to an
unauthorized item permitted to remain deal with actual changes in the
figure permitted to remain and not with the insertion of new matter
beyond that permitted to remain. Manual Sec. 1058; see Appropriations.
Sec. 43 . Effecting Changes by Unanimous Consent
By unanimous consent, it is in order to amend an amendment which
has already been agreed to. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 34.1. For example,
unless otherwise restricted by a special order of business governing
consideration of a measure (Manual Sec. 993a), the Committee of the
Whole may by unanimous consent:
Permit Members to offer amendments to change an amended figure
in an appropriation bill. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 34.7.
Permit a previously adopted amendment to an amendment to be
considered as adopted instead to a pending substitute for the
underlying amendment. 99-2, Aug. 5, 1986, pp 19107, 19108.
Permit a modification of an amendment by its proponent. Manual
Sec. 993b.
Permit a page reference to be corrected in a designated
printed amendment made in order under a special order of
business where the printed amendment did not include that
reference. Manual Sec. 993b.
In one instance, the Committee of the Whole by unanimous consent
vacated the proceedings whereby it had agreed to an amendment, agreed
to an amendment to that amendment, and then adopted the original
amendment as amended. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 34.2.
Sec. 44 . Amendments Previously Considered and Rejected
Generally
It is not in order to offer an amendment identical to one
previously rejected. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 35.1, 35.2. However, an
amendment that raises the same question by the use of different
language may be admissible. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35. An amendment
similar but not identical to one previously rejected may be considered
if a substantive change has been made. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 35.3,
35.4. Rejection of an amendment changing a figure in a bill does not
preclude the offering of a different amendment to that provision.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.21.
An amendment in different form may be entertained even though its
effect may be similar to that of a rejected amendment. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 35.11, 35.13. Thus, in one instance, after an amendment
containing a limitation on the use of funds in an appropriation bill
had been rejected, the Chair held that another amendment--containing a
similar limitation and also stating an exception from that
limitation--was not an identical amendment and therefore could be
offered. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.18. Presiding officers have been
reluctant to rule out an amendment as dilatory merely because of its
similarity to one previously rejected. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.7.
A motion offered as a substitute for an amendment and rejected may
be offered again as a separate amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.8.
Similarly, a proposition offered as an amendment to an amendment and
rejected may be offered again, in identical form, as an amendment to
the bill. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.9.
A portion of a rejected amendment may be subsequently offered as a
separate amendment if presenting a different proposition. Thus,
rejection of an amendment consisting of two sections does not preclude
one of those sections being subsequently offered as a separate
amendment. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.17.
Rejection of Motion to Strike
A motion to strike certain language having been previously
rejected, it may not be offered a second time. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 35.22. However, a motion to strike that language and insert a new
provision is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.23. Conversely, if the
motion to strike and insert is rejected, the simple motion to strike
is in order. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.11.
Rejection of En Bloc Amendments
Rejection of several amendments considered en bloc by unanimous
consent does not preclude their being offered separately at a
subsequent time. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.15. It follows that where an
amendment to a figure in a bill considered en bloc with other
amendments has been rejected, no point of order lies against a
subsequent amendment to that figure which specifies a different amount
and which is offered as a separate amendment. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 33.16.
G. House Consideration of Amendments Reported From the Committee of
the Whole
Sec. 45 . In General; Voting
Generally
Only amendments adopted in the Committee of the Whole are reported
to the House. All amendments so reported stand on an equal footing and
must be voted on by the House, notwithstanding inconsistencies among
them, and are subject to amendment in the House unless the previous
question is ordered. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 4871, 4881; 8 Cannon Sec. 2419.
However, under modern practice, the previous question is ordered by
special order of business upon the rising and reporting of the
Committee of the Whole. Where in the unusual case it is in order to
submit additional amendments to the pending bill, the first question
is on the amendments reported from the Committee of the Whole. 4 Hinds
Sec. 4872.
Kinds of Amendments Reported to the House
Some amendments adopted in the Committee are not reported to the
House. Pursuant to a practice originating in the 19th Congress (1825),
the Committee reports amendments only in their perfected form. 4 Hinds
Sec. 4904; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.1. Thus, if the Committee of the
Whole perfects a bill by adopting certain amendments and then adopts
an amendment striking those provisions and inserting a new text, only
the adopted motion to strike and insert is reported to the House.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 36.5, 36.13. Similarly, the adoption by the
Committee of an amendment striking a section of a bill vitiates the
Committee's prior adoption of perfecting amendments to that section,
so that only the motion to strike is reported to the House. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 31.2. However, when the bill is being considered under a
special order of business permitting separate consideration in the
House of any amendments adopted in the Committee, all amendments
adopted in the Committee are reported to the House, regardless of
their inconsistency. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.13.
Demanding a Separate Vote
Although the House may act at once on all the amendments to a bill
reported from the Committee of the Whole en gros, it is the right of
any Member to demand a separate vote on any reported first-degree
amendment. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 4893, 4894; 8 Cannon Sec. 2419. However,
a special order of business may prohibit a demand for separate votes
on sundry amendments, requiring all amendments to be acted upon en
gros. 111-1, June 24, 2009, p 16147. In the absence of a special order
of business providing therefor, a separate vote may not be had in the
House on an amendment to an amendment which has been adopted by the
Committee of the Whole. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.6. This principle
precludes a separate vote in the House on an amendment to an amendment
in the nature of a substitute adopted in the Committee. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 36.8. Because the Committee in reporting a bill with an amendment
to the House reports such amendment in its perfected form, it is not
in order in the House to have a separate vote upon each perfecting
amendment to the amendment that has been agreed to in the Committee
absent a special order of business providing to the contrary. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 36.
A special order of business may, of course, provide for separate
votes on second-degree amendments. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36. However,
where separate votes are permitted, only those amendments reported to
the House from the Committee of the Whole are voted on; it is not in
order to demand a separate vote in the House on amendments rejected in
the Committee. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.12. The House theoretically has
no information as to actions of the Committee of the Whole on
amendments not reported therefrom. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.
Where a special order of business permits a demand in the House
for a separate vote on an amendment adopted to an amendment in the
nature of a substitute for a bill reported from the Committee of the
Whole, the Speaker inquires whether a separate vote is demanded before
putting the question on the amendment in the nature of a substitute.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.14. A Member must demand the separate vote
before the question is taken on the substitute. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 36.18. A demand in the House for a separate vote on an amendment
to the amendment comes too late after the amendment, as amended, has
been agreed to. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.19.
En Bloc Amendments
Where the Committee of the Whole reports a bill back to the House
with amendments, some of which were considered en bloc pursuant to a
special order of business, the en bloc amendments may be voted on
again en bloc on a demand for a separate vote. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 36.27. A separate vote being demanded, the Chair puts the
question separately on the amendments en bloc in the House, where no
Member demands a division of the question. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.28.
However, another amendment separately considered in the Committee may
not be voted on with the en bloc amendments in the House (absent
unanimous consent). Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 36.27.
For division of an amendment for voting, see Voting.
Order of Consideration
When demand is made for separate votes in the House on several
amendments adopted in the Committee of the Whole, such amendments are
read and voted on in the House in the order in which they appear in
the bill as reported from the Committee of the Whole--not in the order
in which agreed to in the Committee or in which the vote was demanded
in the House. Manual Sec. 337; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 36.16, 37.1.
However, where a special order of business prescribes the order for
consideration of amendments (with the bill being considered as read)
in the Committee of the Whole, then separate votes demanded in the
House on adopted amendments are taken in that same order, regardless
of the order in which the amendments may appear in the bill. Manual
Sec. 337.
Where a special order of business provides for a separate vote on
an amendment to an amendment in the nature of a substitute reported
from the Committee of the Whole, the Speaker puts the question first
on the amendment on which a separate vote is demanded, then on the
amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. 37.6.
Sec. 46 . Effect of Rejection of Amendment
Generally
When the House rejects an amendment adopted in the Committee of
the Whole, the original text of the bill is before the House. Deschler
Ch 27 Sec. 38.1. Thus, if an amendment in the nature of a substitute
is reported from the Committee of the Whole and rejected by the House,
the original bill is before the House. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 38.5.
Similarly, if an amendment striking and inserting is reported from the
Committee of the Whole and rejected by the House, the language of the
original bill is before the House. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 38.12.
Rejection of Motion to Strike
Where the Committee of the Whole adopts perfecting amendments to
the language of a bill and then agrees to an amendment striking that
language, only the latter amendment is reported to the House. In the
event of its rejection by the House, the original language, and not
the perfected text, is before the House. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 38.3, 38.8. However, the practice may be otherwise where the
House is operating under a special order of business allowing separate
votes in the House on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the
Whole. As indicated elsewhere (Sec. 45, supra), under such a rule all
amendments adopted in the Committee to the amendment are reported to
the House regardless of their inconsistency. The House may retain a
section as perfected in the Committee of the Whole by first adopting
on separate votes the perfecting amendments to the section and then
rejecting on a separate vote the motion to strike that section.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 38.11 (note).
Sec. 47 . Motions to Recommit with Instructions Pertaining to
Amendments
The House may recommit a bill to a standing committee with
instructions to report it back ``forthwith'' with an amendment. 5
Hinds Sec. 5545. In such cases the chair of the committee reports the
amendment at once without awaiting committee action. 5 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 5545-5547. Instructions to report ``forthwith'' accompanying
a motion to recommit must be complied with immediately. Manual
Sec. 1002b. However, it is not in order to propose as instructions
anything that might not be proposed directly as an amendment, such as
to propose an amendment that is not germane to the bill, or to propose
an amendment containing legislation or a limitation on a general
appropriation bill not in order in the Committee of the Whole. Manual
Sec. 1002b; 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5529-5541; 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2705,
2712.
A motion to recommit may not include instructions to modify any
part of an amendment previously agreed to by the House. 8 Cannon
Sec. Sec. 2720, 2721, 2740; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 32.5. However, where a
bill is being considered under a special order of business permitting
a motion to recommit ``with or without instructions,'' a motion to
recommit may include an amendment which changes an amendment already
adopted by the House, even where the House has adopted an amendment in
the nature of a substitute. Clause 6(c) of rule XIII precludes the
Committee on Rules from reporting a rule that would prevent a motion
to recommit a bill or joint resolution with or without instructions if
offered by the Minority Leader or a designee. See generally Refer and
Recommit.
The rejection of an amendment in the Committee of the Whole does
not preclude the offering of the same amendment in the House in a
motion to recommit with instructions. Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 35.27.
H. Amendments to Titles and Preambles
Sec. 48 . In General
Amending Titles
Amendments to the title of a bill are not in order until after
passage of the bill, and are then voted upon without debate. Deschler
Ch 24 Sec. 9.4; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 19.1; clause 6 of rule XVI. An
amendment in the Committee of the Whole proposing an amendment to the
title is not in order. Manual Sec. 922; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 19.4.
Committee amendments to the title of a bill are automatically reported
by the Clerk after passage of the bill, although an amendment to a
committee amendment to the title may be offered from the floor.
Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 19.6.
Amending Preambles of Joint Resolutions
In the Committee of the Whole, amendments to the preamble of a
joint resolution are considered following disposition of any
amendments to the body of the resolution. Deschler Ch 27
Sec. Sec. 19.7, 19.8; Manual Sec. 414. In the House an amendment to
the preamble of a joint resolution reported from the Committee of the
Whole is considered following engrossment and before the third reading
of the resolution. 4 Hinds Sec. 3414; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. 19.9.
An amendment to the preamble of a Senate joint resolution is
considered after disposition of amendments to the text of the joint
resolution and pending the third reading. 97-1, Nov. 19, 1981, pp
28208, 28209.
Amending Preambles of Simple or Concurrent Resolutions
Amendments to the preamble of a simple or concurrent resolution
are considered and voted on in the Committee of the Whole after
amendments to the body of the resolution. Amendments to the preamble
of such a resolution are voted on in the House after the resolution
has been adopted. 7 Cannon Sec. 1064; Deschler Ch 27 Sec. Sec. 19.11-
19.13. In the House the previous question is ordered separately on the
preamble after adoption of the resolution if amendments to the
preamble are offered. Deschler Ch 24 Sec. 9.9. The motion for the
previous question may be applied at once to both a resolution and its
preamble. 105-2, Feb. 12, 1998, pp 1333, 1334.
CHAPTER 3
APPEALS
HOUSE PRACTICE
Sec. 1. In General; Forms
Sec. 2. When in Order
Sec. 3. When Not in Order
Sec. 4. Debate on Appeal
Sec. 5. Motions
Sec. 6. Withdrawal
Sec. 7. Effect of Adjournment
Research References
5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 6877, 6938-6952
8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 3435, 3452-3458
Deschler-Brown Ch 31 Sec. 13
Manual Sec. Sec. 379, 627-629, 641, 884, 902, 903
Sec. 1 . In General; Forms
The right to appeal from a decision of the Chair on a question of
order is derived from the English Parliament and is recognized under
clause 5 of rule I, which dates from 1789. Manual Sec. Sec. 379, 627,
629. This right of appeal, which may be invoked by any Member,
protects the House against arbitrary control by the Speaker. 5 Hinds
Sec. 6002.
Member: I (respectfully) appeal the ruling of the Chair.
Chair: The question is, shall the decision of the Chair stand as
the judgment of the House [or the Committee]?
An appeal is debatable but is subject to the motions for the
previous question and to table in the House. Sec. Sec. 4, 5, infra. In
the Committee of the Whole, an appeal is subject to the motion to
limit debate and to rise and close debate in the House. Manual
Sec. 629.
The vote on an appeal may be taken by record vote. 98-2, June 26,
1984, p 18861. A majority vote sustains the ruling. Manual Sec. 971.
The weight of precedent indicates that a tie vote (especially where
the Chair has not voted to make the tie) sustains the ruling as well.
4 Hinds Sec. 4569; 5 Hinds Sec. 6957. The Chair may vote to make or
break a tie and may cast a vote in favor of the decision. 4 Hinds
Sec. 4569; 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5686, 6956. An appeal from a ruling of
the Chair goes only to the propriety of the ruling; the vote thereon
should not be interpreted as a vote on the merits of the issue at
hand. Deschler-Brown Ch 31 Sec. 13.2.
Sec. 2 . When in Order
Clause 5 of rule I provides the right of appeal from decisions of
the Speaker on questions of order. Examples of appeals from decisions
of the Chair include the following:
The priority of business. 5 Hinds Sec. 6952.
Whether a certain resolution gives rise to a question of
privilege. Manual Sec. 713.
The propriety of an exhibit. Manual Sec. 622.
Whether a Member has engaged in personalities in debate.
Manual Sec. 622.
Whether a Member has embellished a unanimous-consent request
with improper debate. 113-1, July 11, 2013, p__.
An appeal may also be taken from the ruling of the chair of the
Committee of the Whole on a question of order. Manual Sec. 971. For
example, an appeal may be taken from a ruling of the Chair on the
germaneness of an amendment or that an amendment proposes to change a
portion of the bill already passed in the reading. Deschler-Brown Ch
31 Sec. 13.7; 105-1, Sept. 25, 1997, 20181.
Sec. 3 . When Not in Order
The Speaker's decision on a question of order is not subject to
appeal if the decision is one that falls within the discretionary
authority of the Chair. For example, an appeal may not be taken from
the following:
Chair's decision on recognition. 2 Hinds Sec. Sec. 1425-1428;
8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2429, 2646, 2762.
Chair's decision on dilatoriness of motions. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5731.
Chair's count of the number demanding tellers, a recorded
vote, or the yeas and nays. Manual Sec. 629; 8 Cannon
Sec. 3105.
Chair's call of a voice vote. Manual Sec. 629.
Chair's refusal to recapitulate a vote. 8 Cannon Sec. 3128.
Chair's count of a quorum. Manual Sec. 629.
Chair's determination that a Member's time in debate has
expired. Manual Sec. 629.
Chair's determination that a unanimous-consent request has
been objected to. 113-1, July 11, 2013, p__ (although the
Chair's ruling on the timeliness of an objection is subject to
appeal. 109-1, Apr. 14, 2005, pp 6393, 6394).
Chair's response to a parliamentary inquiry. 5 Hinds
Sec. 6955; 8 Cannon Sec. 3457; Manual Sec. 629.
Chair's announcement of an adjustment to the whole number of
the House. Clause 5(d) of rule XX.
Chair's announcement of the content of a catastrophic quorum
failure report by the Sergeant-at-Arms (or a designee). Clause
5(c)(5) of rule XX.
An appeal from a ruling of the Chair declining to consider the
question of the constitutionality of a provision is not in order. The
question of the constitutionality of a provision in a pending measure
is a matter for the House to determine by its vote on the merits,
rather than by voting on a possible appeal from the Chair's decision
declining to rule on that constitutional issue. Deschler-Brown Ch 31
Sec. 13.1.
An appeal from a ruling of the Chair is not in order if the effect
of the appeal, if sustained, would be to change a rule of the House,
such as where the underlying rule does not involve discretion on the
part of the Chair. Thus, the Speaker's refusal under clause 7(a) of
rule XX to entertain a point of order of no quorum when a pending
question has not been put to a vote is not subject to an appeal,
because that rule contains an absolute and unambiguous prohibition
against such a point of order. To allow an appeal in such a case would
permit a direct change in the rule itself. Deschler-Brown Ch 31
Sec. 13.5.
Untimely or Dilatory Appeals
An appeal is not in order if it is dilatory. 5 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 5715-5722; 8 Cannon Sec. 2822. An appeal also is not in
order if it is untimely. An appeal is not in order:
While another appeal is pending. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 6939-6941.
On a question on which an appeal has just been decided. 4
Hinds Sec. 3036; 5 Hinds Sec. 6877.
During a call of the yeas and nays. 5 Hinds Sec. 6051.
Between the motion to adjourn and vote thereon. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5361.
Sec. 4 . Debate on Appeal
Appeals are customarily subject to debate, both in the House and
the Committee of the Whole (8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 3453-3455). However,
debate is not in order on an appeal from a ruling of the Chair on the
priority of business (clause 6 of rule XIV; 5 Hinds Sec. 6952) or on a
ruling as to the relevancy of debate (5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 5056-5063).
Debate in the House on an appeal is under the hour rule but may be
closed at any time by the adoption of a motion for the previous
question or to lay on the table. Manual Sec. 629. Debate on an appeal
in the Committee of the Whole is under the five-minute rule and may be
closed by the adoption of a motion to close debate or to rise and
report. 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 6947, 6950; 8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 2347, 3453-
3455.
Members may speak only once on appeal, unless by permission of the
House, the Chair alternating between those favoring and those
opposing. Manual Sec. 627; 8 Cannon Sec. 3455.
It is not in order while debating an appeal to discuss the merits
of the proposition under consideration at the time the decision was
made. 5 Hinds Sec. 5055.
Sec. 5 . Motions
Although an appeal is debatable, it is normally disposed of in the
House without debate by a motion to lay the appeal on the table. If
the motion to table is adopted, the appeal is disposed of adversely
and the ruling of the Speaker is sustained. See Manual Sec. 706. The
House has tabled a motion to reconsider the vote whereby an appeal
from a decision of the Chair was laid on the table. Deschler-Brown Ch
31 Sec. 13.16. An appeal in the Committee of the Whole may not be laid
on the table, because that motion does not lie in the Committee. 4
Hinds Sec. 4719.
Other motions that may be offered pending an appeal include:
A motion to postpone the appeal to a day certain (where
underlying matter was postponed). 8 Cannon Sec. 2613.
A motion for the previous question (in the House). 5 Hinds
Sec. 6947.
A motion to close or limit debate (in the Committee of the
Whole). 5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 6947, 6950.
A motion that the Committee rise and report to the House. 8
Cannon Sec. 3453.
Sec. 6 . Withdrawal
An appeal may be withdrawn at any time before action thereon by
the House. 5 Hinds Sec. 5354. An appeal can be withdrawn before the
question is put on a motion to lay the appeal on the table. Deschler-
Brown Ch 31 Sec. 13.10. Ordering the yeas and nays on a motion to lay
an appeal on the table has been held sufficient House action as to
preclude withdrawal. 5 Hinds Sec. 5354.
Sec. 7 . Effect of Adjournment
An appeal pending at adjournment ordinarily comes up for
consideration on the next legislative day. 5 Hinds Sec. 6945. However,
an appeal pending at adjournment on a day set apart for Private
Calendar business and related to private business goes over to the
next day provided for consideration of business on the Private
Calendar. Where the House has adjourned and reconvened to meet again
on the same calendar day and the call of the Private Calendar is still
in order, the appeal comes up as unfinished business. 97-1, Nov. 17,
1981, pp 27772, 27773.
CHAPTER 4
APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE PRACTICE
I. Introductory
Sec. 1. In General; Constitutional Background
Sec. 2. Power to Originate Appropriation Bills; House and Senate
Roles
Sec. 3. Definitions; Kinds of Appropriation Measures
Sec. 4. Committee and Administrative Expenses
Sec. 5. Authorization, Appropriation, and Budget Processes
Distinguished
II. General Appropriation Bills
A. Introductory
Sec. 6. Background; What Constitutes a General Appropriation Bill
Sec. 7. The Restrictions of Clause 2 of Rule XXI
Sec. 8. Committee Jurisdiction and Functions
Sec. 9. Duration of Appropriation
B. Authorization of Appropriation
Sec. 10. In General; Necessity of Authorization
Sec. 11. Duration of Authorization
Sec. 12. Sufficiency of Authorization
Sec. 13. Proof of Authorization; Burden of Proof
Sec. 14. Increasing Budget Authority
C. Authorization for Particular Purposes or Programs
Sec. 15. In General
Sec. 16. Agricultural Programs
Sec. 17. Programs Relating to Business or Commerce
Sec. 18. Defense Programs
Sec. 19. Funding for the District of Columbia
Sec. 20. Interior or Environmental Programs
Sec. 21. Programs Relating to Foreign Affairs
Sec. 22. Legislative Branch Funding
Sec. 23. Salaries and Related Benefits
D. Authorization for Public Works
Sec. 24. In General
Sec. 25. Works in Progress
Sec. 26. --What Constitutes a Work in Progress
III. Legislation in General Appropriation Bills; Provisions Changing
Existing Law
A. Generally
Sec. 27. The Restrictions of Clause 2 of Rule XXI
Sec. 28. Changing Existing Law by Amendment, Enactment, or Repeal;
Waivers
Sec. 29. Imposing Contingencies and Conditions
Sec. 30. --Conditions Requiring Reports to, or Action by, Congress
Sec. 31. --Conditions Imposing Additional Duties
Sec. 32. Language Describing, Construing, or Referring to Existing Law
Sec. 33. --Incorporation by Reference to Existing Law
B. Changing Prescribed Funding
Sec. 34. In General
Sec. 35. Affecting Funds in Other Acts
Sec. 36. Transfer of Funds--Within Same Bill
Sec. 37. --Transfer of Previously Appropriated Funds
Sec. 38. Making Funds Available Before, or Beyond, Authorized Period
Sec. 39. Funds ``To Remain Available Until Expended''
Sec. 40. Reimbursements of Appropriated Funds
C. Changing Executive Duties or Authority
Sec. 41. In General; Requiring Duties or Determinations
Sec. 42. Burden of Proof
Sec. 43. Altering Executive Authority or Discretion
Sec. 44. Mandating Studies or Investigations
Sec. 45. Granting or Changing Contract Authority
D. The Holman Rule; Retrenchments
Sec. 46. In General; Retrenchment of Expenditures
Sec. 47. Germaneness Requirements; Application to Funds in Other Bills
Sec. 48. Reporting Retrenchment Provisions
Sec. 49. Floor Consideration; Who May Offer
IV. Limitations on General Appropriation Bills
Sec. 50. In General; When in Order
Sec. 51. Limitations on Amount Appropriated
Sec. 52. Limitations on Particular Uses
Sec. 53. Interference with Executive Discretion
Sec. 54. Imposing Duties or Requiring Determinations
Sec. 55. --Duties Relating to Construction or Implementation of Law
Sec. 56. Conditional Limitations
Sec. 57. Exceptions to Limitations
Sec. 58. Limitations as to Recipients of Funds
Sec. 59. Limitations on Funds in Other Acts
Sec. 59a. Funding Floors
V. Reappropriations
Sec. 60. In General
VI. Reporting; Consideration and Debate
A. Generally
Sec. 61. Privileged Status; Voting
Sec. 62. When Bills May Be Considered
Sec. 63. Debate; Consideration of Amendments; Perfecting Amendments;
En Bloc Amendments
Sec. 64. --Limitation Amendments; Retrenchments
Sec. 65. Points of Order--Reserving Points of Order
Sec. 66. --Timeliness
Sec. 67. --Points of Order Against Particular Provisions
Sec. 68. --Waiving Points of Order
Sec. 69. Amending Language Permitted to Remain
B. Senate Amendments
Sec. 70. In General
Sec. 71. Authority of Conference Managers
VII. Other Appropriation Measures
Sec. 72. In General; Continuing Appropriations
Sec. 73. Supplemental Appropriations
Sec. 74. Appropriations for a Single Agency
Sec. 75. Consideration of Other Appropriation Measures
VIII. Appropriations in Legislative Bills
Sec. 76. In General
Sec. 77. What Constitutes an Appropriation in a Legislative Bill
Sec. 78. Points of Order; Timeliness
Sec. 79. --Directing Points of Order Against Objectionable Language
Research References
U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. Sec. 7, 9
4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3553-4018
7 Cannon Sec. Sec. 1116-1720
Deschler Chs 25, 26
Manual Sec. Sec. 143, 716, 717, 747, 853, 1035-1065, 1127,
1130(6A)
I. Introductory
Sec. 1 . In General; Constitutional Background
Article I, section 9, clause 7 of the Constitution provides that
no money ``shall be drawn from the Treasury'' but in consequence of
appropriations made by law. Appropriation bills are the device through
which money is permitted to be ``drawn from the Treasury'' for
expenditure. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.
This constitutional provision is construed as giving Congress
broad powers to appropriate money in the Treasury and as a strict
limitation on the authority of the executive branch to exercise that
function. The Supreme Court has recognized that Congress has wide
discretion with regard to the details of expenditures for which it
appropriates funds and has approved the frequent practice of making
general appropriations of large amounts to be allotted and expended as
directed by designated government agencies. Cincinnati Soap Co. v.
United States, 301 U.S. 308, 322 (1937).
Sec. 2 . Power to Originate Appropriation Bills; House and Senate
Roles
Under article I, section 7, clause 1 of the Constitution, it is
exclusively the prerogative of the House to originate ``revenue''
bills. That clause provides:
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with
Amendments as on other Bills.
The House has traditionally taken the view that this prerogative
encompasses the sole power to originate all general appropriation
bills. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 13. On more than one occasion, the House
has returned to the Senate a Senate bill or joint resolution
appropriating money on the ground that it invaded the prerogatives of
the House. Deschler Ch 13 Sec. Sec. 20.2, 20.3. In 1962, when the
Senate passed a joint resolution continuing funds for the Department
of Agriculture, the House adopted a resolution declaring that the
Senate's action violated article I, section 7 of the Constitution and
was an infringement of the privileges of the House. Deschler Ch 13
Sec. 20.2. In support of the view that the House has the sole power to
originate appropriation bills, it has been noted that at the time of
the adoption of the Constitution the phrase ``raising revenue'' was
equivalent to ``raising money and appropriating the same.'' S. Doc.
62-872.
Sec. 3 . Definitions; Kinds of Appropriation Measures
Generally
An appropriation is a provision of law that provides budget
authority for Federal agencies to incur obligations. ``Budget
authority'' means the authority provided by law to incur financial
obligations as defined by section 3(2)(A) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974.
An appropriation Act is the most common means of providing budget
authority. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2. It has been held that language
authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to use the proceeds of
public-debt issues for the purposes of making loans is not an
appropriation. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 4.43.
Types of Appropriation Acts
The principal types of appropriation Acts are general,
supplemental, special, and continuing.
General appropriation bills provide budget authority to
departments and agencies, usually for a specified fiscal year.
Today, there are 12 regular appropriation Acts for each fiscal
year. See Sec. 6, infra.
A supplemental appropriation is an Act appropriating funds in
addition to those in the 12 regular annual appropriation Acts.
Supplemental appropriations provide additional budget authority
beyond the original estimates for an agency or program. Such a
bill may be used after the fiscal year has begun to provide
additional funding. Supplemental bills also may be general
bills within the meaning of rules XIII and XXI if covering more
than one agency. See Sec. 73, infra.
A special appropriation provides funds for one government
agency, program, or project. See Sec. 74, infra.
Continuing appropriations--also known as continuing
resolutions--provide temporary funding for agencies or programs
that have not received a regular appropriation by the start of
the fiscal year. They are used to permit agencies to continue
to function and to operate their programs until their regular
appropriations become law. Continuing resolutions are usually
of short duration, but they have been used to fund agencies or
departments for an entire fiscal year. See Sec. 72, infra.
Privileged and Nonprivileged Appropriations Distinguished
The term ``general appropriation bill'' is used to refer to those
bills that may be reported at any time and are privileged for
consideration. See Sec. 6, infra. A joint resolution continuing
appropriations also may be reported and called up as privileged under
the general rules of the House if reported after September 15
preceding the beginning of the fiscal year for which it is applicable.
See Sec. 72, infra. Other continuing appropriation measures, and
special appropriation bills, are not privileged and are therefore
considered under other procedures that give them privilege--such as a
unanimous-consent agreement, a special order of business reported from
the Committee on Rules, or a motion to suspend the rules. Deschler Ch
25 Sec. Sec. 6, 7.
To file a report on a general appropriation bill, a member of the
Committee on Appropriations seeks recognition and presents the report
as follows:
Member: M_. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Appropriations, I submit a privileged report for filing under the
rule.
Speaker: The Clerk will report the title. [After Clerk reports
title.] Referred to the Union Calendar and ordered printed. Pursuant
to clause 1 of rule XXI, all points of order are reserved.
Note: For a discussion of reserving points of order on
appropriation bills, see Sec. 65, infra.
Sec. 4 . Committee and Administrative Expenses
Generally
Funding for House committees is provided by resolutions that
allocate resources made available to the House in certain accounts in
annual Legislative Branch Appropriation Acts. Authorization for
payment may be obtained pursuant to clause 6 of rule X, which provides
detailed provisions for the consideration of a primary expense
resolution and for subsequent supplemental expense resolutions. With
the exception of the Committee on Appropriations, the rule applies to
``any committee, commission, or other entity.'' Manual Sec. 763; see
generally Committees.
Under clause 1(b) of rule XI, the authority of all committees, and
other entities, to incur expenses, including travel expenses, is made
contingent upon adoption by the House of expense resolutions as
required under clause 6 of rule X.
Appropriations from accounts for committee salaries and other
administrative expenses of the House are under the jurisdiction of the
Committee on House Administration. Clause 1(k) of rule X; Manual
Sec. 724. A resolution reported by that committee providing for such
an expenditure may be called up as privileged under clause 5(a) of
rule XIII. Such a resolution, if not reported by the committee, may be
called up and agreed to by unanimous consent or by a motion to suspend
the rules. 111-2, Feb. 2, 2010, p 1027. In recent years the
resolution, although reported as privileged, has been considered under
a special order of business (105-1, Mar. 21, 1997, p 4672), under
suspension of the rules (109-1, Apr. 27, 2005, p 7990) and by
unanimous consent (112-1, Mar. 17, 2011, pp 4364, 4365.).
Sec. 5 . Authorization, Appropriation, and Budget Processes
Distinguished
There are three processes by which Congress allocates the fiscal
resources of the Federal government. There is an authorization process
under which Federal programs are created, modified, and extended in
response to national needs. There is an appropriations process that
provides funding for these programs. The congressional budget process,
which may place spending ceilings on budget authority and outlays for
a fiscal year and otherwise provides a mechanism for allocating
Federal resources among competing government programs, interacts with
and shapes the other phases. The budget process is treated separately
in this work. See Budget Process.
In the authorization process, the legislative committees establish
program objectives and may set dollar ceilings on the amounts that may
be appropriated. Once this authorization process is complete for a
particular program or department, the Committee on Appropriations
recommends the actual level of ``budget authority,'' which allows
Federal agencies to enter into obligations. The House may decline to
appropriate funds for particular purposes, even though authorization
has been enacted. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.1.
As a general rule, the authorization and appropriation stages
should be kept separate. With certain exceptions, authorization bills
should not contain appropriations (Sec. 76, infra), and, again with
certain exceptions, appropriation bills should not contain
authorizations (Sec. 27, infra). This general rule is complicated by
the fact that some budget authority becomes available as the result of
previously enacted legislation and does not require current action by
Congress. Examples include the various trust funds for which the
obligational authority is already provided in law. See Sec. 9, infra.
This general rule is further complicated by the fact that Congress may
combine authorizations and appropriations into ``omnibus'' or
``consolidated'' bills at the end of a fiscal year. In addition, some
spending, sometimes referred to as direct spending, is controlled
outside of the annual appropriations process. It is composed of
entitlement and other mandatory spending programs. Such programs are
either funded by provisions of the permanent laws that created them or
by annual appropriation Acts providing liquidating cash or other funds
mandated by law. See Budget Process. Moreover, the authorization for a
program may be derived not from a specific law providing authority for
that particular program but from more general existing law--
``organic'' law--mandating or permitting such programs. Thus, a
paragraph in a general appropriation bill purportedly containing funds
not yet specifically authorized by separate legislation was upheld
where it was shown that all of the funds in the paragraph were
authorized by more general provisions of law currently applicable to
the programs in question. Manual Sec. 1045.
II. General Appropriation Bills
A. Introductory
Sec. 6 . Background; What Constitutes a General Appropriation Bill
Today, much of the Federal government is funded through the annual
enactment of 12 regular appropriation bills. The subjects of these
bills are determined by and coincide with the subcommittee
jurisdictional structure of the Committee on Appropriations. Typically
the 12 regular appropriation bills are identified as:
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration,
and related agencies.
Commerce, Justice, Science, and related agencies.
Defense.
Energy and Water Development.
Financial Services and General Government.
Homeland Security.
Interior, Environment, and related agencies.
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related
agencies.
Legislative Branch.
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and related agencies.
State, Foreign Operations, and related agencies.
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related
agencies.
The question as to what constitutes a general appropriation bill
is important because clause 2 of rule XXI, which precludes
unauthorized appropriations and legislation in appropriation bills
applies only to general appropriation bills. Manual Sec. 1044;
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 1.1; Sec. 27, infra. The 12 regular appropriation
bills and measures providing supplemental appropriations to two or
more agencies are general appropriation bills. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 6;
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 1.3.
Measures that have been held not to constitute a general
appropriation bill include:
A joint resolution continuing appropriations for government
agencies pending enactment of the regular appropriation bills.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 1.2.
A joint resolution making supplemental appropriations for one
agency. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 7.4.
A joint resolution making an appropriation to a department for
a specific purpose. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 7.3.
A bill providing appropriations for specific purposes. 8
Cannon Sec. 2285.
A joint resolution providing an appropriation for a single
government agency even where permitting transfer of a portion
of those funds to another agency. Manual Sec. 1044.
A joint resolution reported from the Committee on
Appropriations transferring appropriated funds from one agency
to another. Manual Sec. 1044.
A joint resolution transferring unobligated balances to the
President to be available for specified purposes but containing
no new budget authority. Manual Sec. 1044.
A bill making supplemental appropriation for emergency
construction of public works. 7 Cannon Sec. 1122.
Sec. 7 . The Restrictions of Clause 2 of Rule XXI
Generally
Clause 2 of rule XXI contains two restrictions relative to
appropriation bills reported by the Committee on Appropriations: it
(1) prohibits the inclusion in general appropriation bills of
``unauthorized'' appropriations, except for works in progress, and (2)
prohibits provisions ``changing existing law''--usually referred to as
``legislation on an appropriation bill''--except for provisions that
retrench expenditures under certain conditions, and except for
rescissions of amounts provided in appropriation Acts. Manual
Sec. Sec. 1036, 1038. The ``retrenchment'' provision is known as the
Holman rule and is discussed in section 46, infra.
In practice, the concepts ``unauthorized appropriations'' and
``legislation on general appropriation bills'' sometimes have been
applied almost interchangeably as grounds for making points of order
pursuant to clause 2 of rule XXI. This occurs because an appropriation
made without prior authorization has, in a sense, the effect of
legislation, particularly in view of rulings of long standing that a
``proposition changing existing law'' may be construed to include the
enactment of a law where none exists. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 1; see also
Sec. 28, infra. The two concepts are treated separately in this
chapter, however, because they derive from different paragraphs of
clause 2 of rule XXI and constitute distinct restrictions on the
authority of the Committee on Appropriations. Manual Sec. Sec. 1036,
1038.
Enforcement of Rule
As all bills making or authorizing appropriations require
consideration in the Committee of the Whole, it follows that the
enforcement of the rule would ordinarily occur during consideration in
the Committee of the Whole, where the Chair, on the raising of a point
of order, may rule out any portion of the bill in conflict with the
rule. Manual Sec. 1044; 4 Hinds Sec. 3811. Because portions of the
bill thus stricken are not reported back to the House, clause 1 of
rule XXI reserves points of order to empower the Committee of the
Whole to strike offending provisions without adopting an amendment to
that effect. The enforcement of the rule also can occur in the House.
For example, a motion to recommit a general appropriation bill may not
propose an amendment in violation of the rule. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 1.4. It should be stressed, however, that the House may, through
various procedural devices, waive one or both requirements of the
rule, and thereby preclude the raising of such points of order against
provisions in the bill. See Sec. 68, infra.
Sec. 8 . Committee Jurisdiction and Functions
Generally
Today, under clause 1(b) of rule X the Committee on Appropriations
has jurisdiction over appropriations, including general appropriation
bills. Manual Sec. 716. Special Presidential messages on rescissions
and deferrals of budget authority submitted pursuant to sections 1012
and 1013 of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as well as rescission
bills as defined in section 1011, are referred to the Committee on
Appropriations if the proposed rescissions or deferrals involve funds
already appropriated or obligated. Manual Sec. 717. For a discussion
of impoundments generally, see Budget Process. In the 114th Congress,
the committee was given jurisdiction over certain legislation relating
to direct loan guarantees and commitments. 114-1, Jan. 6, 2015, p__.
Under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the committee was
given jurisdiction over rescissions of appropriations, transfers of
unexpended balances, and the amount of new spending authority to be
effective for a fiscal year. Clause 1(b) of rule X; Manual Sec. 716.
Committee Reports
Under clause 3(f) of rule XIII, a report from the Committee on
Appropriations accompanying any general appropriation bill must
contain a concise statement describing the effect of any provision of
the accompanying bill that directly or indirectly changes the
application of existing law. Manual Sec. 847. Provisions in the bill
that are described in the report as changing existing law are presumed
to be legislation in violation of clause 2(b) of rule XXI, absent
rebuttal by the committee. Manual Sec. 1044. Clause 3(f) of rule XIII
further requires that such reports contain a list of appropriations in
the bill for expenditures not previously authorized by law.
Sec. 9 . Duration of Appropriation
Annual Appropriations
The most common form of appropriation provides budget authority
for a single fiscal year. All of the 12 regular appropriation bills,
for example, are annual, although certain accounts may ``remain
available until expended.'' Where a bill provides budget authority for
a single fiscal year, the funds have to be obligated during the fiscal
year for which they are provided. The funds lapse if not obligated by
the end of that year. Indeed, unless an Act provides that a particular
fund shall be available beyond the fiscal year, appropriations are
made for one year only and any unused funds automatically go back into
the Treasury at the end of the current fiscal year. Norcross v. United
States, 142 Ct. Cl. 763 (1958).
An appropriation in a regular appropriation Act may be construed
to be permanent or available continuously only if the appropriation
expressly provides that it is available after the fiscal year covered
by the law in which it appears, or unless the appropriation is for
certain purposes such as public buildings. 31 USC Sec. 1301.
The fiscal year for the Federal government begins on October 1 and
ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar
year in which it ends.
Multi-year Appropriations
A multi-year appropriation is made when budget authority is
provided in an appropriation Act that is available for a specified
period of time in excess of one fiscal year.
Permanent Appropriations
A permanent appropriation is budget authority that becomes
available as the result of previously enacted legislation and that
does not require further action by Congress. Examples include the
appropriations for compensation of Members of Congress and the various
trust funds for which the obligational authority is already provided
in law. Pub. L. No. 97-51, Sec. 130(c); S. Doc. 105-18.
B. Authorization of Appropriation
Sec. 10 . In General; Necessity of Authorization
Generally
Clause 2(a) of rule XXI prohibits the inclusion in general
appropriation bills of ``unauthorized'' appropriations, except for
``public works and objects that are already in progress.'' Manual
Sec. 1036. The House may, however, waive this rule. See Sec. Sec. 67,
68, infra.
Authorization to Precede Appropriation
The enactment of authorizing legislation must occur before, and
not following, the consideration of an appropriation for the proposed
purpose. Thus, delaying the availability of an appropriation pending
enactment of an authorization will not protect that appropriation
against a point of order. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 7.3. A bill may not
permit a portion of a lump sum--unauthorized at the time the bill is
being considered--to subsequently become available; a further
appropriation upon the enactment of authorizing legislation would be
needed. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2. Likewise an appropriation will not be
permitted that is conditioned on a future authorization. Deschler Ch
26 Sec. Sec. 7.2, 47.4. However, where lump sums are involved,
language that limits use of an appropriation to programs ``authorized
by law'' or that permits expenditures ``within the limits of the
amount now or hereafter authorized to be appropriated,'' has been held
to insulate the provision against the point of order. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 7.10 (note).
The requirement that the authorization precede the appropriation
is satisfied if the authorizing legislation has been enacted into law
between the time the appropriation bill is reported and the time it is
considered in the Committee of the Whole. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.21. A
lapsed authorization, however, is not one ``previously authorized''
under the language of the rule. 112-2, June 27, 2012, p__.
It should be emphasized that the rule applies to general
appropriation bills. A joint resolution containing continuing
appropriations is not considered a general appropriation bill within
the purview of the rule, despite inclusion of diverse appropriations
that are not continuing in nature. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.
Sec. 11 . Duration of Authorization
Generally; Renewals
Until recent years, many authorizations were permanent, being
provided for by the organic statute that created the agency or
program. Such statutes often include provisions to the effect that
there are hereby authorized to be appropriated ``hereafter'' such sums
``as may be necessary'' or ``as approved by Congress,'' to implement
the law, thereby enabling the appropriate budget authority to be
enacted each year in accordance with this permanent authorization.
See, e.g., Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 11.1.
The Congress often authorizes appropriations for only a certain
number of years at a time. For example, authorizations may extend for
two, five, or 10 years and may be renewed periodically. The trend
toward periodic authorizations is reflected in the rule adopted in
1970 that requires each standing committee to ensure that
appropriations for continuing programs and activities will be made
annually ``to the maximum extent feasible,'' consistent with the
nature of the programs involved. Programs for which appropriations are
not made annually may have ``sunset'' provisions that require their
review periodically to determine whether they can be modified to
permit annual appropriations. Clause 4 of rule X; Manual Sec. 755.
Sec. 12 . Sufficiency of Authorization
Generally
The term ``authorized by law'' in clause 2 of rule XXI is
ordinarily construed as a ``law enacted by the Congress.'' Manual
Sec. 1036. Statutory authority for the appropriation must exist.
Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.3. It has been held, for example, that a bill
passed by both Houses but not signed by the President or returned to
the originating House is insufficient authorization to support an
appropriation. 92-1, May 11, 1971, p 14471. Similarly, an executive
order does not constitute sufficient authorization in the absence of
proof of its derivation from a statute enacted by Congress. Deschler
Ch 26 Sec. 7.7. On the other hand, sufficient authorization for an
appropriation may be found to exist in a treaty that has been
ratified. 4 Hinds Sec. 3587; Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 17.9. Sufficient
authorization also may be found in legislation contained in a previous
appropriation Act that has become permanent law. Deschler Ch 25
Sec. 2.5.
Authorization From Specific Statutes or General Existing Law
Authorization for a program may be derived from a specific law
providing authority for that particular program or from a more general
existing law--``organic law''--authorizing appropriations for such
programs. Thus, a paragraph in a general appropriation bill
purportedly containing funds not yet specifically authorized by
separate legislation was held not to violate clause 2 of rule XXI,
where it was shown that all of the funds in the paragraph were
authorized by more general provisions of law currently applicable to
the programs in question. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 10.8.
Organic statutes or general grants of authority in law constitute
sufficient authorization to support appropriations only where the
general laws applicable to the function or department in question do
not require specific or annual authorizations or a periodic
authorization scheme has not subsequently occupied the field. Manual
Sec. 1045. For example, a permanent law authorizing the President to
appoint certain staff, together with legislative provisions
authorizing additional employment contained in an appropriation bill
enacted for that fiscal year, constituted sufficient authorization for
a lump-sum supplemental appropriation for the White House for the same
fiscal year. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.6.
The legislative history of the law in question may be considered
to determine whether sufficient authorization for the project exists.
Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.7. The lack of appropriations during a series of
years for a program previously authorized by law does not repeal the
law, and it may be cited as providing authorization for a subsequent
appropriation. 4 Hinds Sec. 3595.
Some statutes expressly provide, however, that there may be
appropriated to carry out the functions of certain agencies only such
sums as Congress may thereafter authorize by law, thus requiring
specific subsequently enacted authorizations for the operations of
such agencies and not permitting appropriations to be authorized by
the ``organic statute'' creating the agency. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 49.2
(note).
Effect of Prior Unauthorized Appropriations
An appropriation for an object unauthorized by law, however
frequently made in former years, does not warrant similar
appropriations in succeeding years, unless the program in question
falls into the category of a continuation of work in progress, or
unless authorizing legislation in a previous appropriation Act has
become permanent law. Manual Sec. Sec. 1036, 1045; 7 Cannon Sec. 1150;
Sec. 25, infra.
Incidental Expenses; Implied Authorizations
A general grant of authority to an agency or program may be found
sufficiently broad to authorize items or projects that are incidental
to carrying out the purposes of the basic law. Deschler Ch 25
Sec. 2.10. An amendment proposing appropriations for incidental
expenses that contribute to the main purpose of carrying out the
functions of the department for which funds are being provided in the
bill is generally held to be authorized by law. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 7.15. For example, appropriations for certain travel expenses for
the Secretary of Agriculture were held authorized by law as necessary
to carry out the basic law setting up that department. Deschler Ch 25
Sec. 2.10.
On the other hand, where the authorizing law authorizes a lump-sum
appropriation and confers broad discretion on an executive in
allotting funds, an appropriation for a specific purpose may be ruled
out as inconsistent therewith. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.5 (note); see
also 105-1, Sept. 8, 1997, p 18042. The appropriation of a lump sum
for a general purpose having been authorized, a specific appropriation
for a particular item included in such general purpose may be a
limitation on the discretion of the executive charged with allotment
of the lump sum and not in order on the appropriation bill. 7 Cannon
Sec. 1452. Such a limitation also may be ruled out on the ground that
it is ``legislation'' on an appropriation bill. See Sec. 43, infra. An
appropriation to pay a judgment awarded by a court is in order if such
judgment has been properly certified to Congress. Deschler Ch 25
Sec. 2.2.
Sec. 13 . Proof of Authorization; Burden of Proof
Burden of Proof Generally
Under House practice, those upholding an item of appropriation
have the burden of showing the law authorizing it. 4 Hinds Sec. 3597;
7 Cannon Sec. Sec. 1179, 1276. Thus, a point of order having been
raised, the burden of proving the authorization for language carried
in an appropriation bill falls on the proponents and managers of the
bill, who must shoulder this burden of proof by citing statutory
authority for the appropriation. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 9.5; Deschler Ch
26 Sec. 9.4. The Chair may overrule a point of order upon citation to
an organic statute creating an agency, absent any showing that such
law has been repealed or amended to require specific annual
authorizations. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 9.6; see also Sec. 27, infra.
Burden of Proof as to Amendment
The burden of proof to show that an appropriation contained in an
amendment is authorized by law is on the proponent of the amendment, a
point of order having been raised against the appropriation. Manual
Sec. 1044; Deschler Ch 26 Sec. Sec. 9.1, 9.2. If the amendment is
susceptible to more than one interpretation, it is incumbent upon the
proponent to show that it is not in violation of the rule. Manual
Sec. 1044a.
Evidence of Compliance with Condition
An authorizing statute may provide that the authorization for a
program is to be effective only upon compliance by executive officials
with certain conditions or requirements. In such a case, a letter
written by an executive officer charged with the duty of furthering a
certain program may be sufficient documentary evidence of
authorization in the manner prescribed. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. Sec. 10.2,
10.3.
Sec. 14 . Increasing Budget Authority
Increases within Authorized Limits
Authorizing legislation may place a ceiling on the amount of
budget authority that can be appropriated for a program or may
authorize the appropriation of ``such sums as are necessary.'' Absent
restrictions imposed by the budget process or separate order of the
House, it is in order to increase the appropriation in an
appropriation bill for a purpose authorized by law if such increase
does not exceed the amount authorized for that purpose. Deschler Ch 25
Sec. Sec. 2.13, 2.15. An amendment proposing simply to increase an
appropriation for a specific purpose over the amount carried in the
appropriation bill does not constitute a change in law unless such
increase is in excess of that authorized. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.14. An
amendment changing the figure in the bill to the full amount
authorized does not violate clause 2 of rule XXI. Deschler Ch 25
Sec. 2.16. Likewise, if the authorization does not place a cap on the
amount to be appropriated, an amendment increasing the amount of the
appropriation for items included in the bill is in order. Deschler Ch
25 Sec. 11.16. In the 115th Congress, clause 2(g) was added to rule
XXI, codifying a point of order previously enforced as a separate
order of the House since the 112th Congress. Such point of order lies
against any amendment increasing budget authority in a general
appropriation bill. 115-1, H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2017, p__; 112-1, H.
Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p 80. Manual Sec. 1063b.
Increases in Excess of Amount Authorized
An appropriation in excess of the specific amount authorized by
law may be in violation of clause 2 of rule XXI, the rule prohibiting
unauthorized appropriations. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 21. Thus, where
existing law limited annual authorizations of appropriations for
incidental expenses of a program to $7,500, an appropriation for
$10,000 was held to be unauthorized and was ruled out on a point of
order. 94-1, Sept. 30, 1974, p 30981.
The rule that an appropriation bill may not provide budget
authority in excess of the amount specified in the authorizing
legislation has also been applied to:
An amendment proposing an increase in the amount of an
appropriation authorized by law for compensation of Members of
the House. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 21.2.
A provision increasing the loan authorization for the rural
telephone program above the amount authorized for that purpose.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 33.3.
A provision providing funds for the Joint Committee on Defense
Production in excess of the amount authorized by law. Deschler
Ch 26 Sec. 21.5.
A provision containing funds in excess of amounts permitted to
be committed by a Federal agency for mortgage purchases. 97-2,
July 29, 1982, p 18636.
An amendment en bloc transferring appropriations among objects
in the bill, offered under clause 2(f) of rule XXI, increasing
an appropriation above the authorized amount. Manual
Sec. 1063a.
Waiver of Ceiling
Where a limitation on the amount of an appropriation to be
annually available for expenditure by an agency has become law,
language in an appropriation bill seeking to waive or change this
limitation gives rise to a point of order that the language is
legislation on an appropriation bill. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 33.2.
C. Authorization for Particular Purposes or Programs
Sec. 15 . In General
Absent an appropriate waiver, language in a general appropriation
bill providing funding for a program that is not authorized by law is
in violation of clause 2(a) of rule XXI and also may ``change existing
law'' in violation of clause 2(b). Provisions that have been ruled out
as unauthorized under clause 2 of rule XXI include:
Appropriations for fiscal year 1979 for the Department of
Justice and its related agencies. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 18.3.
An appropriation for expenses incident to the special
instruction and training of United States attorneys and United
States marshals, their assistants and deputies, and United
States commissioners. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 18.1.
An appropriation for Coast Guard acquisitions, construction,
research, development, and evaluation. 95-1, June 8, 1977, pp
17945, 17946.
An appropriation for the U.S. Customs Service air interdiction
program. 98-2, June 21, 1984, pp 17685-87.
An appropriation for liquidation of contract authority to pay
costs of certain subsidies granted by the Maritime
Administration. 92-1, June 24, 1971, p 21901.
A provision permitting the Secretary of Labor and the
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to use funds for
official reception and representation expenses. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 20.19.
A provision making funds available for distribution of
radiological instruments and detection devices to states by
loan or grant for civil defense purposes. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 20.1.
A provision making funds available for reimbursements of
government employees for use by them of their privately owned
automobiles on official business. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 20.6.
An appropriation for the American Revolution Bicentennial
Commission. 91-2, May 19, 1970, p 16165.
An appropriation for the National Cancer Institute where a
lapsed periodic authorization scheme had preempted reliance on
an organic statute as the source of authorization. 105-1, Sept.
9, 1997, p 18197.
An appropriation for the President to meet ``unanticipated
needs.'' Manual Sec. 1045.
The rulings cited in this division illustrate the application of
the rule requiring appropriations to be based on prior authorization
and are thus dependent on the state of current law at the time the
appropriation is considered.
Sec. 16 . Agricultural Programs
Held Authorized by Existing Law
An appropriation to be used to increase domestic consumption
of farm commodities. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 11.1.
Appropriations for cooperative range improvements (including
construction, maintenance, control of rodents, and eradication
of noxious plants in national forests). Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 11.3.
An appropriation to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to
carry out the provisions of the National School Lunch Act of
1946. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 11.5.
Appropriations for the acquisition and diffusion of
information by the Department of Agriculture. 4 Hinds
Sec. 3649; Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 11.10.
Appropriations for agricultural engineering research and for
programs relating to the prevention and control of dust
explosions and fires during the harvesting and storing of
agricultural products. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 11.11.
An appropriation for the purchase and installation of weather
instruments and the construction or repair of buildings of the
Weather Bureau. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 11.16.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
An appropriation for a celebration of the centennial of the
establishment of the Department of Agriculture. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 11.2.
A provision providing for the organization of a new bureau to
conduct investigations relating to agriculture. 4 Hinds
Sec. 3651.
A provision providing for cooperation by and with state
agriculture investigators. 4 Hinds Sec. 3650; 7 Cannon
Sec. Sec. 1301, 1302.
An appropriation to collect, compile, and analyze data
relating to consumer expenditures and savings. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 11.7.
An appropriation to permit the Department of Agriculture to
investigate and develop methods for the manufacture and
utilization of starches from cull potatoes and surplus crops.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 11.9.
A provision for the refund of certain penalties to wheat
producers. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 11.6.
An amendment appropriating funds for the immediate acquisition
of domestic meat and poultry to be distributed consistently
with provisions of law relating to distribution of other foods.
93-2, June 21, 1974, p 20620.
An appropriation for the control of certain crop diseases or
infestations. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. Sec. 11.12, 11.13.
Sec. 17 . Programs Relating to Business or Commerce
Held Authorized by Existing Law
An appropriation for the Director of the Bureau of the Census
to publish monthly reports on coffee stocks on hand in the
United States. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 12.1.
An appropriation for the Office of the Secretary of Commerce
for expenses of attendance at meetings of organizations
concerned with the work of his office. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 12.6.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
An appropriation for sample surveys by the Census Bureau to
estimate the size and characteristics of the nation's labor
force and population. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 12.2.
An appropriation for necessary expenses in the performance of
activities and services relating to technological development
as an aid to business in the development of foreign and
domestic commerce. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 12.4.
An appropriation for travel in privately owned automobiles by
employees engaged in the maintenance and operation of remotely
controlled air-navigation facilities. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 12.5.
An appropriation for necessary expenses of the National Bureau
of Standards (including amounts for the standard reference data
program) for fiscal year 1979. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 12.9.
Sec. 18 . Defense Programs
Held Authorized by Existing Law
An appropriation for paving of streets and erection of
warehouses incident to the establishment of a naval station. 7
Cannon Sec. 1232.
An appropriation to enable the President, through such
departments or agencies of the government as he might
designate, to carry out the provisions of the Act of March 11,
1941, to promote the defense of the United States. Deschler Ch
26 Sec. 13.3.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
An appropriation for transportation of successful candidates
to the Naval Academy. 7 Cannon Sec. 1234.
An appropriation for establishment of shooting ranges and
purchase of prizes and trophies. 7 Cannon Sec. 1242.
An appropriation for the construction and improvement of
barracks for enlisted men and quarters for noncommissioned
officers of the Army. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 13.5.
An amendment striking funds for a nuclear aircraft carrier
program and inserting funds for a conventional-powered aircraft
carrier program. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 13.6.
A provision increasing the funds appropriated for a fiscal
year for military assistance to South Vietnam and Laos. 93-2,
Apr. 10, 1974, p 10594.
An appropriation for Veterans' Administration expenses for the
issuance of memorial certificates to families of deceased
veterans. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 13.1.
Sec. 19 . Funding for the District of Columbia
Held Authorized by Existing Law
An appropriation for opening, widening, or extending streets
and highways in the District of Columbia. 7 Cannon Sec. 1189.
An appropriation for streetlights or for improving streets out
of a special fund created by the District of Columbia Gasoline
Tax Act. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. Sec. 11.15, 14.7.
An appropriation for expenses of keeping school playgrounds
open during the summer months. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 14.5.
An appropriation for the preparation of plans and
specifications for a branch library building in the District of
Columbia. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 14.13.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
Appropriations for certain Federal office buildings in the
District of Columbia that were not approved by the Public Works
Committees of the House and Senate as required by the Public
Buildings Act of 1959. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.2.
A provision permitting the use of funds by the Office of the
Corporation Counsel to retain professional experts at rates
fixed by the commissioner. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 14.1.
An appropriation for the preparation of plans and
specifications for a new main library building in the District
of Columbia. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 14.12.
An appropriation for the salary and expenses of the Office of
Director of Vehicles and Traffic out of the District Gasoline
Tax Fund. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 14.14.
A provision permitting the Commissioners of the District of
Columbia to purchase a municipal asphalt plant. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 14.19.
An amendment making funds available for expenditure by the
American Legion in connection with its national convention.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 14.3.
An appropriation to reimburse certain District of Columbia
officials for services and expenses. 7 Cannon Sec. 1184.
Sec. 20 . Interior or Environmental Programs
Held Authorized by Existing Law
An appropriation for suppression of liquor or peyote traffic
among Indians. 7 Cannon Sec. Sec. 1210, 1212.
An appropriation for the examination of mineral resources of
the national domain. 7 Cannon Sec. 1222.
An appropriation for the development of an educational program
of the National Park Service. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.17.
An appropriation for the purpose of encouraging industry and
self-support among Indians and outlining areas of discretionary
authority to be exercised by the Secretary of the Interior.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.26.
Appropriations for irrigation projects that had been
recommended by the Secretary of the Interior and approved by
the President. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.30.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
An appropriation to enable the EPA to obtain reports as to the
probable adverse effect on the economy of certain Federal
environmental actions. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.1.
An appropriation to the EPA to establish an independent review
board to review the priorities of the agency. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 15.2.
A provision authorizing the Secretary of the Interior, in
administering the Bureau of Reclamation, to contract for
medical services for employees and to make certain payroll
deductions. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.9.
An appropriation for the Division of Investigations in the
Department of the Interior, to be expended under the direction
of the Secretary, to meet unforeseen emergencies of a
confidential character. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.12.
An appropriation ``out of the general funds of the Treasury''
(and not the reclamation fund) for investigations of proposed
Federal reclamation projects. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.28.
A provision requiring that part of an appropriation for
general wildlife conservation be earmarked expressly for the
leasing and management of land for the protection of the
Florida Key deer. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.5.
An appropriation for the National Power Policy Committee to be
used by the committee in the performance of functions
prescribed by the President. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 15.7.
Sec. 21 . Programs Relating to Foreign Affairs
Held Authorized by Existing Law
An appropriation for transportation and subsistence of
diplomatic and consular officers en route to and from their
posts. 7 Cannon Sec. 1251.
A provision earmarking an amount for a contribution to the
International Secretariat on Middle Level Manpower. Deschler Ch
26 Sec. 17.2.
An appropriation for the obligation assumed by the United
States in accepting membership in the International Labor
Organization. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 17.3.
An amendment providing funds for a health exhibit at the
Universal and International Exhibition of Brussels. Deschler Ch
26 Sec. 17.6.
An appropriation for commercial attaches to be appointed by
the Secretary of Commerce. 7 Cannon Sec. 1257.
An appropriation to compensate the owners of certain vessels
seized by Ecuador. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 17.1.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
An amendment to earmark part of the appropriation for the
United States Information Agency to provide facilities for the
translation and publication of books and other printed matter
in various foreign languages. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 17.7.
Appropriations for incidental and contingent expenses in the
consular and diplomatic service. 4 Hinds Sec. 3609.
An appropriation for the Foreign Service Auxiliary. Deschler
Ch 26 Sec. 17.14.
An appropriation for the salary of a particular U.S. minister
to a foreign country where the Senate had not confirmed the
appointee. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 17.17.
An amendment providing funds for acquisition of sites and
buildings for embassies in foreign countries. 4 Hinds
Sec. 3606.
Sec. 22 . Legislative Branch Funding
It is not in order to provide for payments to employees of the
House in an appropriation bill unless the House by prior action has
authorized such payments. 4 Hinds Sec. 3654. Such authorization is
generally provided for by resolution from the Committee on House
Administration. The House in appropriating funds for an employee may
not go beyond the terms of the resolution creating the office. 4 Hinds
Sec. 3659.
A resolution of the House has been held sufficient authorization
for an appropriation for the salary of an employee of the House. 4
Hinds Sec. Sec. 3656-3658, 3660. A resolution intended to justify
appropriations beyond the term of a Congress may be ``made permanent
law'' by a legislative provision in a Legislative Branch Appropriation
Act.
Held Authorized
Funds for employment of counsel to represent Members and to
appear in court officially. 7 Cannon Sec. 1311.
Funds for expenses incurred in contested election cases when
properly certified. 7 Cannon Sec. 1231.
Salaries for certain House employees. 91-1, Aug. 5, 1969, p
22197.
An increase in the salary of an officer of the House. 89-2,
Sept. 8, 1966, p 22020.
The salary of the Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on
Internal Revenue Taxation (now the Joint Committee on
Taxation). 92-2, Oct. 4, 1972, p 33744.
Salary adjustments for certain House employees. 92-2, Jan. 27,
1972, p 1531.
Overtime compensation for employees of the Publications
Distribution Service (Folding Room). 92-2, Mar. 2, 1972, p
6627.
Costs of stenographic services and transcripts in connection
with a meeting or hearing of a committee. Manual Sec. 789.
Certain costs associated with the organizational meeting of
the Democratic Caucus or Republican Conference. Manual
Sec. 1126.
The transfer of surplus prior-year funds to liquidate certain
current obligations of the House. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 5.3.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
An increase in the total amount for salaries of Members beyond
that authorized. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 21.2.
An allowance payable to the attending physician of the
Capitol. 86-2, May 17, 1960, p 10447.
Funds for a parking lot for the use of Members and employees
of Congress. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 20.3.
Funds for employment by the Committee on Appropriations of 50
qualified persons to investigate and report on the progress of
certain contracts entered into by the United States. Deschler
Ch 26 Sec. 20.2.
Sec. 23 . Salaries and Related Benefits
Language in a general appropriation bill providing funding for
salaries that are not authorized by law is in violation of clause 2(a)
of rule XXI. Such propositions, whether to appropriate for salaries
not established by law or to increase salaries fixed by law, are out
of order either as unauthorized or as changing existing law. 4 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 3664-3667, 3676-3679; Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 43. The mere
appropriation for a salary for one year does not create an office so
as to justify appropriations in succeeding years. 4 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 3590, 3697. However, it has been held that a point of order
does not lie against a lump-sum appropriation for increased pay costs
as being unauthorized where language in the bill limits use of the
appropriation to pay costs ``authorized by or pursuant to law.''
Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 2.20.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
Funds for necessary expenses for a designated number of
officers on the active list of an agency. 98-2, May 31, 1984, p
14590.
Funds for salaries and expenses of the Commission on Civil
Rights above the amount authorized by existing law for that
purpose. 92-1, June 24, 1971, p 21902.
Funds for salaries and expenses of additional inspectors in
the U.S. Customs Service. 98-2, Aug. 1, 1984, pp 21904, 21905.
A salary of $10,000 per year for the wife of the President for
maintaining the White House. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 20.13.
An appropriation for the salary of a particular U.S. minister
to a foreign country where the Senate had not confirmed the
appointee. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 17.17.
D. Authorization for Public Works
Sec. 24 . In General
Language in a general appropriation bill providing funding for a
public work that is not authorized by law is in violation of clause
2(a) of rule XXI, unless the project can be deemed a work in progress
within the meaning of that rule. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.13; see
Sec. 25, infra. An appropriation for a public work in excess of the
amount fixed by law, or for extending a public service beyond the
limits assigned by an executive officer exercising a lawful
discretion, is out of order. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3583, 3584, 3598; 7
Cannon Sec. 1133.
Held Authorized by Existing Law
An appropriation for necessary advisory services to public and
private agencies with regard to construction and operation of
airports and landing areas. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.4.
An amendment proposing to increase a lump-sum appropriation
for river and harbor projects. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.6.
An appropriation for the Tennessee-Tombigbee inland waterway.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.9.
An appropriation for construction of transmission lines from
Grand Coulee Dam to Spokane. Deschler Ch 25 Sec. 19.11.
Ruled Out as Unauthorized
Language providing an additional amount for construction of
certain public buildings. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.1.
Appropriations for certain Federal office buildings in the
District of Columbia where not approved by the Public Works
Committees of the House and Senate as required by the Public
Buildings Act of 1959. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.2.
An appropriation for construction of a connecting highway
between the United States and Alaska. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.5.
An amendment making part of an appropriation to the Army Corps
of Engineers for flood control available for studying specified
work of the Bureau of Reclamation. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 19.8.
A provision appropriating certain trust funds for expenses
relating to forest roads and trails. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 28.2.
Sec. 25 . Works in Progress
Clause 2(a) of rule XXI, the rule that bars appropriations not
previously authorized in law, provides for an exception for
appropriations for ``public works and objects that are already in
progress.'' Manual Sec. 1036. Thus, when the construction of a public
building has commenced and there is no limit on cost, further
appropriations may be made under the exception for works in progress.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 8.1. The exception for works in progress under
rule XXI may apply even though the original appropriation for the
project was unauthorized. 7 Cannon Sec. 1340; Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 8.2.
It does not apply to projects whose authorization has lapsed. 111-2,
June 27, 2012, p__.
Historically, the works-in-progress exception has been applied
only to projects funded from the general fund of the Treasury for
which no authorization has been enacted. It does not apply to projects
funded from other sources, such as the Highway Trust Fund. 103-1,
Sept. 22, 1993, p 22138; 103-1, Sept. 23, 1993, pp 22172, 22173,
22174, 22175-77. It does not apply to language changing existing law
by extending the authorized availability of funds or in contravention
of law restricting use of a special fund. An appropriation for
construction that is in violation of existing law, which exceeds the
limit fixed by law, or is governed by a lapsed authorization is not
permitted under the works-in-progress exception of rule XXI. Manual
Sec. 1048; 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3587, 3702; 7 Cannon Sec. 1332.
The tendency of later decisions is to narrow the application of
the exception under clause 2(a) of rule XXI making in order
appropriations for works in progress. 7 Cannon Sec. 1333. The work in
question, to qualify under the rule, must have moved beyond the
planning stage. 7 Cannon Sec. 1336. To come within the terms of the
rule, it must be actually ``in progress,'' according to the usual
significance of those words, with actual work having been initiated. 4
Hinds Sec. 3706; Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 8.5. Merely selecting or
purchasing a site for the construction of a building is not
sufficient. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3762, 3785. However, the fact that the
work has been interrupted--even for several years--does not prevent it
from qualifying under the works-in-progress exception of clause 2(a).
4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3707, 3708.
To establish that actual work has begun on the project, the Chair
may require some documentary evidence that work has been initiated.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 8.5. To this end, the Chair may consider a letter
from an executive officer charged with the duty of constructing the
project. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 8.2. News articles merely suggesting that
work may have begun have been regarded as insufficient evidence that
work is in progress within the meaning of the rule. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 8.7.
Sec. 26 . --What Constitutes a Work in Progress
The term ``works and objects'' in the exception to the rule
prohibiting unauthorized appropriations is construed as something
tangible, such as a building or road. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3714, 3715;
see also Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 8. The term does not extend to projects
that are indefinite as to completion and intangible in nature, such as
the gauging of streams or an investigation. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3714,
3715, 3719. The term does not extend to the ordinary duties of an
executive or administrative office. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3709, 3713.
Appropriations for extension or repair of an existing road (4
Hinds Sec. Sec. 3793, 3798), bridge (4 Hinds Sec. 3803), or public
building have been admitted as in continuation of a work (4 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 3777, 3778), although it is not in order as such to provide
for a new building in place of one destroyed (4 Hinds Sec. 3606). The
purchase of adjoining land for a work already established has been
admitted under this principle (4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3766-3773), as well
as additions to or extensions of existing public buildings (4 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 3774, 3775). However, the purchase of a separate and
detached lot of land is not admitted. 4 Hinds Sec. 3776.
Appropriations for new buildings as additional structures at
government institutions have sometimes been admitted (4 Hinds
Sec. Sec. 3741-3750), but propositions to appropriate for new
buildings that were not necessary adjuncts to the institution have
been ruled out (4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3755-3759).
Projects that have qualified as a work in progress under clause
2(a) of rule XXI include:
A topographical survey. 7 Cannon Sec. 1382.
The continuation of construction at the Kennedy Library, a
project owned by the United States and funded by a prior year's
appropriation. Manual Sec. 1049.
A continuation of aircraft experimentation and development.
69-1, Jan. 22, 1926, p 2623.
Projects that have been ruled out because they did not qualify as
a work in progress under clause 2(a) of rule XXI include:
New Army hospitals. 4 Hinds Sec. 3740.
A new lighthouse. 4 Hinds Sec. 3728.
An extension of an existing road. Manual Sec. 1049.
III. Legislation in General Appropriation Bills; Provisions Changing
Existing Law
A. Generally
Sec. 27 . The Restrictions of Clause 2 of Rule XXI
In General; Historical Background
Almost continuously since the 44th Congress, the rules have
contained language forbidding the inclusion in general appropriation
bills of language ``changing existing law.'' In 1835, when it became
apparent that appropriation bills were being delayed because of the
intrusion of legislative matters, John Quincy Adams suggested the
desirability of a plan that such bills ``be stripped of everything but
the appropriations.'' 4 Hinds Sec. 3578.
Today, clause 2 of rule XXI provides that, with two exceptions,
``A provision changing existing law may not be reported in a general
appropriation bill . . .'' and that ``An amendment to a general
appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.''
The exceptions set forth in clause 2(b) are for germane provisions
that change existing law in a way that would ``retrench''
expenditures, and for rescissions of previously enacted
appropriations. Manual Sec. 1038; see Sec. 46, infra. However,
rescissions of appropriations must be reported by the Committee on
Appropriations, and will constitute legislation if included in an
amendment. 111-2, Mar. 24, 2010, p 4779.
Language changing existing law in violation of rule XXI often is
referred to as ``legislation on an appropriation bill.'' Deschler Ch
26 Sec. 1. What ``legislation'' means in this context is a change in
an existing law that governs how appropriations may be used. A
statement of congressional policy or intent will likewise constitute
legislation. 111-1, July 9, 2009, p 17242; 101-2, Oct. 21, 1990, p
31709.
Like the rule generally prohibiting unauthorized appropriations,
the restriction against legislating on general appropriation bills is
only enforced if a Member takes the initiative to enforce it by
raising a point of order. See Sec. 67, infra. Such a point of order
may be waived pursuant to various procedural devices. See Sec. 68,
infra.
The rule against legislation in appropriation bills is limited to
general appropriation bills. Thus, a joint resolution merely
continuing appropriations for government agencies pending enactment of
the regular appropriation bills is not subject to the prohibitions in
clause 2 of rule XXI against legislative language. A point of order
under this rule does not apply to a special order of business reported
from the Committee on Rules ``self-executing'' the adoption in the
House of an amendment changing existing law. Manual Sec. 1044.
Construction of Rule
The rule that forbids language in a general appropriation bill
that changes existing law is broadly construed. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 64.23. The restriction is construed to apply not only to changes
in an existing statute but also to the enactment of law where none
exists, to language repealing existing law (Sec. 28, infra), to a
provision making changes in court interpretations of statutory law
(96-2, Aug. 19, 1980, p 21978), and to a proposition to change a rule
of the House (4 Hinds Sec. 3819). The fact that legislative language
may have been included in appropriation Acts in prior years and made
applicable to funds in those laws does not permit the inclusion in a
general appropriation bill of similar language. Manual Sec. 1054.
Under clause 2(c) of rule XXI, the restriction against changing
existing law applies specifically to amendments to general
appropriation bills. Manual Sec. 1039. It follows that if a motion to
recommit with instructions constitutes legislation on an appropriation
bill, the motion is subject to a point of order. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 1.4.
Burden of Proof
Where a point of order is raised against a provision in a general
appropriation bill as constituting legislation in violation of clause
2 of rule XXI, the burden of proof is on the Committee on
Appropriations to show that the language is valid under the precedents
and does not change existing law. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 22.30.
Provisions in the bill, described in the accompanying report as
directly or indirectly changing the application of existing law, are
presumably legislation in violation of clause 2 of rule XXI, in the
absence of further evidence offered by the committee. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 22.27. Similarly, the proponent of an amendment against which a
point of order has been raised as constituting legislation on an
appropriation bill has the burden of proving that the amendment does
not change existing law. Manual Sec. 1044a; Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 22.29;
see also Sec. 13, supra.
Sec. 28 . Changing Existing Law by Amendment, Enactment, or Repeal;
Waivers
The prohibition of clause 2 of rule XXI against inclusion of a
``provision changing existing law'' has been construed as follows:
A change in the text of existing law. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. Sec. 23.11, 24.6.
Note: Existing law may be repeated verbatim in an appropriation
bill, but the slightest change of the text causes it to be ruled out.
4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3414, 3817; 7 Cannon Sec. Sec. 1391, 1394. An
amendment incorporating by reference other amendments that propose a
change in existing law will similarly be ruled out. 111-1, July 24,
2009, p 19225.
A waiver of a provision of existing law. Manual Sec. 1056;
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. Sec. 24.5, 34.14, 34.15.
Note: A waiver may be regarded as legislation on an appropriation
bill where it uses such language as ``notwithstanding the provisions
of any other law'' or ``without regard to [sections of] the Revised
Statutes.'' Deschler Ch 26 Sec. Sec. 24.8, 26.6.
The repeal of existing law. 7 Cannon Sec. 1403; Deschler Ch 26
Sec. Sec. 24.1, 24.7.
The enactment of law where none exists.
Note: The provision of the rule forbidding legislation in a
general appropriation bill is construed as the enactment of law where
none exists, such as permitting funds to remain available until
expended or beyond the fiscal year covered by the bill, or immediately
upon enactment, where existing law permits no such availability.
Manual Sec. 1052; 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3812, 3813.
Sec. 29 . Imposing Contingencies and Conditions
Generally; Conditions Precedent
Provisions making an appropriation contingent on a future event
are often presented in appropriation bills. Manual Sec. 1055. Such
contingencies may be phrased as conditions to be complied with, as in
``funds shall be available when the Secretary has reported,'' or as
restrictions on funding, as in ``no funds until the Secretary has
reported.'' Similar tests are applied in both formulations in
determining whether the language constitutes legislation on an
appropriation bill: Is the contingency germane and does it change
existing law? Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 49.2. Does it impose new duties (for
example, to report) where none exists under law? See Sec. 31, infra.
Precedents discussed in sections 29-31, relating to
``conditions,'' could in many instances be cited under the discussion
in sections 50-59a, relating to ``limitations.'' Language imposing a
``negative restriction'' on funds in the bill is not a proper
limitation if it creates new law or requires positive determinations
and actions where none exists in law. See Sec. Sec. 56, 59, infra.
The proscription against changing existing law is applicable to
those instances in which the whole appropriation is made contingent
upon an event or circumstance as well as those in which the
disbursement to a particular participant is conditioned on the
occurrence of an event. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. Sec. 47, 48. The terms
``unless,'' ``until,'' or ``provided,'' in an amendment or proviso are
clues that the language may contain a condition that is subject to a
point of order under clause 2(b) or (c) of rule XXI. Language that has
been ruled out pursuant to this rule include:
An amendment providing that funds shall not be available for
any broadcast of information about the U.S. until the radio
script for such broadcast has been approved by the Daughters of
the American Revolution. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 47.1.
An amendment to require, as a condition on the availability of
funds, the imposition of standards of quality or performance.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 59.1.
A provision providing that none of the funds should be used
unless certain procurement contracts were awarded on a formally
advertised basis to the lowest responsible bidder. Deschler Ch
26 Sec. 23.14.
An amendment making the money available on certain
contingencies that would change the lawful mode of payment.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 48.1.
An amendment denying the obligation or expenditure of certain
funds unless such funds were subject to audit by the
Comptroller General. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 47.8. (A subsequent
amendment that denied the use of funds not subject to audit
``as provided by law'' was offered and adopted.)
A provision making certain funds for an airport available for
an access road (a Federal project) provided Virginia makes
available the balance of funds necessary for the construction
of the road. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 48.7.
A provision providing that no part of the appropriation for
certain range improvements shall be expended in any national
forest until contributions at least equal to such expenditures
are made available by local public or private sources. Deschler
Ch 26 Sec. 48.6.
A provision stating that no part of the funds shall be used
``unless and until'' approved by the Director of the Bureau of
the Budget. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 48.3.
A proviso that no funds shall be available for certain
expenditures unless made in accordance with a budget approved
by the Public Housing Commissioner. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 48.4.
An amendment specifying that no funds made available may be
expended until total governmental tax receipts exceed total
expenditures. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 48.11.
An amendment containing certification requirements and
mandating certain contractual provisions as a condition on the
receipt of funds. Manual Sec. 1054.
Sec. 30 . --Conditions Requiring Reports to, or Action by, Congress
Reporting to Congress as a Condition
It is legislation on a general appropriation bill in violation of
clause 2 of rule XXI to require the submission of reports to a
committee of Congress where existing law does not require that
submission. Manual Sec. 1054. Thus, an amendment to a general
appropriation bill precluding the availability of funds therein unless
agencies submit reports to the Committee on Appropriations--reports
not required by existing law--constitutes legislation in violation of
that rule. 98-1, Nov. 2, 1983, p 30496; 99-1, July 25, 1985, pp 20806,
20807.
Congressional Action as Condition
Under the more recent precedents, it is not in order by way of
amendment to make the availability of funds in a general appropriation
bill contingent upon subsequent congressional action. Manual
Sec. 1055; 90-2, June 11, 1968, p 16692; 96-1, Sept. 6, 1979, pp
23360, 23361. Such a condition changes existing law if its effect is
to require a subsequent authorization which, when enacted, will
automatically make funds available for expenditure without further
appropriation. Such a result is contrary to the process contemplated
in rule XXI whereby appropriations are dependent on prior
authorization. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 49.2 (note). Language making the
availability of funds contingent upon the enactment of authorizing
legislation raises a presumption that the appropriation is then
unauthorized. 98-1, Sept. 19, 1983, pp 24640, 24641. Indeed, a
conditional appropriation based on enactment of authorization is a
concession on the face of the language that no prior authorization
exists. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 47.3 (note); 109-1, May 19, 2005, p 10377.
It is not in order on a general appropriation bill to direct the
activities of a committee, such as to require it to promulgate
regulations to limit the use of an appropriation. Manual Sec. 1055. As
such, an amendment to a general appropriation bill including language
to direct the budget scorekeeping for amounts appropriated was held to
constitute legislation and was ruled out of order under clause 2 of
rule XXI. 103-1, May 26, 1993, p 11317-19.
Other conditions relative to congressional action that have been
ruled out as legislation include:
An amendment providing that no part of the funds in the bill
shall be used for the enforcement of any order restricting sale
of any article or commodity unless such order shall have been
approved by a concurrent resolution of the Congress. Deschler
Ch 26 Sec. 49.2.
A provision requiring that certain contracts be authorized by
the appropriate legislative committees and in amounts specified
by the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House.
Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 49.5.
An amendment making the availability of funds in the bill
contingent upon subsequent enactment of legislation containing
specified findings. Manual Sec. 1055.
An amendment changing a permanent appropriation in existing
law to restrict its availability until all general
appropriation bills are presented to the President. Manual
Sec. 1055.
An amendment limiting funds in the bill for certain
peacekeeping operations unless subsequently authorized by
Congress. 103-2, June 27, 1994, p 14613.
A provision restricting certain District of Columbia funds
unless appropriated by Congress where existing law allowed use
without congressional approval. Manual Sec. 1055.
Sec. 31 . --Conditions Imposing Additional Duties
Where a condition in an appropriation bill or amendment thereto
seeks to impose on a Federal official non-incidental duties that are
different from or in addition to those already contemplated in law,
the provision may be ruled out as legislative in nature. Manual
Sec. 1054. Thus, although it is in order on a general appropriation
bill to prohibit the availability of funds therein for a certain
activity, that prohibition may not be made contingent upon the
performance of a new affirmative duty on the part of a Federal
official. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 50. Other provisions that have been
ruled out under this rule include:
An amendment providing that no part of the money appropriated
shall be paid to any state unless and until the Secretary of
Agriculture is satisfied that such state has complied with
certain conditions. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 50.2.
A provision providing that no part of a certain appropriation
shall be available until it is determined by the Secretary of
the Interior that authorization therefor has been approved by
the Congress. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 50.3.
An amendment providing that none of the money appropriated
shall be paid to persons in a certain category unless hereafter
appointed or reappointed by the President and confirmed by the
Senate. Deschler Ch 26 Sec. 50.4.
A provision prohibiting the use of funds to pay for services
performed abroad under contract ``unless the President shall
have promulgated'' certain security regulations. Deschler Ch 26
Sec. 50.5.