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11 votes
2 answers
4k views

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 ...
Very Tiny Brain's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
427 views

Secrecy of House Votes for Member Safety

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 ...
Clap 'No Hands' Politics's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
3k views

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 ...
Philipp Imhof's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
134 views

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 ...
Gouvernathor's user avatar
  • 1,272
23 votes
1 answer
662 views

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 ...
spacetyper's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

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 ...
Panda's user avatar
  • 46.7k
4 votes
1 answer
360 views

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?
The Mamba's user avatar
  • 2,026
10 votes
3 answers
3k views

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 ...
John's user avatar
  • 355
5 votes
1 answer
907 views

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 ...
Panda's user avatar
  • 46.7k
17 votes
2 answers
3k views

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 ...
Mark Foskey's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
10k views

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 ...
KernelOfChaos's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
954 views

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 ...
user257566's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
1k views

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 ...
Stormblessed's user avatar
  • 4,739
2 votes
1 answer
343 views

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 ...
Machavity's user avatar
  • 53.1k
4 votes
1 answer
117 views

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 ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 41
3 votes
1 answer
671 views

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 ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 243
2 votes
1 answer
176 views

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....
sdaffa23fdsf's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
648 views

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 ...
sdaffa23fdsf's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
899 views

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 ...
Ryan Mortensen's user avatar