Questions tagged [house-rules]
Questions related to the official or unofficial rules of the United States House of Representatives.
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Why don't members of the minority party in the U.S. House of Representative ever force a vote to vacate the Speakership?
My understanding is that the current rules of the U.S. House of Representatives allow any member of the House - including members of the minority party - to offer a motion to vacate the office of ...
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Secrecy of House Votes for Member Safety [duplicate]
Historically, during events like presidential impeachment proceedings, certain House members have expressed safety concern due to the public exposure of their votes, leading to a desire for secret ...
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What happens if a non-representative is elected speaker of the House?
On the seventh and eighth ballots, Matt Gaetz cast a vote for Donald Trump.
What would have happened if Donald Trump (or any other person) had won a majority and had wanted to take that function?
In ...
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What are the rules governing the House of Representatives after expiry of the preceding Congress and before or absent of rules being adopted?
The Rules of the House are adopted usually shortly after the election of the Speaker and of the various officers of the House. I'm interested in what - apart from the Constitution of course - governs ...
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Who ordered the US House chamber metal detectors removed, and under what authority?
It has recently been reported (see e.g., https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3796927-metal-detectors-removed-from-outside-the-house-chamber/) that the metal detectors that were outside the house ...
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How do congressional investigation committees maintain continuity after losing committee members?
Are there congressional rules on how to replace committee members who lose their congressional status? Is there precedent, and what was the impact/effect on the ongoing investigation, and the outcome ...
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Would a member of Congress be able to legally cast a vote via Zoom if they were away?
This could be a good defense against coups because representatives and senators could vote on issues even if a violent group took over the Capitol.
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What are the dress code rules for the Houses of Congress
Question: Is the dress code policy for the Houses of Congress available publicly?
If so, is there an official source such as a US .gov website or how might a citizen go about finding it?
If not, has ...
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What allows the House of Representatives to fine its members and is there precedent for doing so?
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some House members are proposing a fine for members who bypass the security protocols of the House or fail to wear a mask on the floor.
Lawmakers will be fined $500 on a ...
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Can Impeachment votes be filibustered?
If a few members of the House of Representatives who opposed impeachment were to attempt to filibuster the impeachment, could they or are there any internal house rules that would prevent this?
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Why can members-elect vote for Speaker of the US House of Representatives?
Nancy Pelosi has just been re-elected to the Speakership in the US House of Representatives, and will be serving her fourth and final term as Speaker there from now until, presumably, the third of ...
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Can Kevin McCarthy realistically be elected Speaker of the House, albeit temporarily?
There are various articles floating around noting that incumbent Speaker Nancy Pelosi faces "tight margins" for the Speaker's election, especially since the coronavirus pandemic may force ...
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Why is a 2/3 vote required for the Dec 28, 2020 attempt to increase the stimulus checks to $2000?
From a Bloomberg article on December 28, 2020:
The House is set to vote Monday to replace the $600 stimulus payments
in the newly enacted pandemic relief law with the $2,000 President
Donald Trump ...
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If the US Senate votes to not pass a bill, can the House of Representatives overrule that vote?
Background: During a conversation about politics, I mentioned that one party in the US might try to amend the Constitution so that, should a bill pass the House of Representatives but be voted down in ...
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Can the US House and Senate make allowance for self-quarantined members to vote remotely?
Can the US House and Senate make allowance for self-quarantined members to vote remotely?
Is the requirement that a member be in chamber in the constitution or law - or is it part of the senate or ...
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The authority to convene a new House of Representatives
On the wikipedia page for the Clerk of the US House of Representatives, there is a passage:
To preserve the legal continuity of the House, the existence of the House is vested in the Clerk at the ...
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Are there any rules against cursing in the United States Congress?
When I’ve watched things broadcast from the House and Senate on C-SPAN, CNN, etc. there seems to be a purposeful avoidance of repeating curse words in quotes. I noticed today that Jamie Raskin of ...
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Does anything else happen if the parliamentarian rules a House speech was out of order, but is not stricken by vote?
In the debate over the House resolution condemning President Trump's tweets, Nancy Pelosi characterized them as racist
This sparked an attempt by Republicans to have the speech stricken
“I ask that ...
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What specific rule(s) prevent US congressional offices from using campaign datasets while doing outreach campaigns?
I'm working on a project where this issue has relevancy and am having difficulty finding the specific rules for the US House of Representatives that are behind the following assertion:
"Though ...
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What powers does the Rules Committee (US House of Reps) have?
My understanding is that the Rules Committee (House of Reps) gets a bill after it comes out of the relevant committee and:
schedules the bill for hearing on the floor (date/time)
adds special rules ...
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Has the Hastert rule always been a thing in US Congress?
The US House of Congress has a rule currently where the leadership will not bring legislation up for a vote unless a majority of their own party supports it. This "Hastert rule", in my understanding, ...
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Can a Member of Congress be "Impeached"?
On a tangent to the initial question posed in How can a Senator be removed from office during a term for medical reasons? the possiblity that a sitting member of the Senate might be "impeached" has ...
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How can House member make up votes if they failed to cast the vote when called?
In Oct 29, 2015 House Speaker vote, Rep. Rob Bishop [R-UT] and Rep. Daniel William Lipinski [D-IL] and Rep. Gregory W. Meeks [D-NY] were called but no vote was cast. the voting results only showed Rep....
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Who swears in the Speaker of the House when the speaker-elect is Dean of the House?
What are the rules on this matter?
In 1955, who sworn in Sam Rayburn? Sam Rayburn was Dean of the House during January 3, 1953 to November 16, 1961.
Where can I find the official records on the ...
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When the rules are suspended in the House, what exactly are those rules?
I am making a political website, and I have data on all of the roll call votes of the 113th Congress.
The roll call votes have several categories, and one of them is passage-suspension. In regards to ...
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