Filling the Senate "Amendment Tree" (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
July 28, 2015 |
| Report Number |
IN10329 |
| Report Type |
Insight |
| Authors |
Davis, Christopher M., 1966- |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Observers of the legislative process on the Senate floor have heard Senators of both parties talk a lot in recent years about 'amendment trees.' 'Amendment trees' are diagrams that have developed over decades of Senate practice as a way of visualizing certain principles of precedence that govern the offering of, and voting on, amendments in the chamber. These principles of precedence are reflected in four charts published in the official compilation of Senate precedents that depict the maximum number and type of amendments that may be offered and simultaneously pending under various circumstances during consideration of a bill. These diagrams are widely and colloquially called 'trees' by Senators and staff because the various first- and second-degree amendments they depict are arguably reminiscent of 'limbs' growing out from the bill itself as a central 'trunk.' Which of the four amendment tree charts will be applicable at a given point during consideration of a bill is dictated by the form of the first amendment that is offered--be it a motion to insert, to strike, to strike and insert, or in the nature of a substitute. Under Senate precedents, to fill every limb on an amendment tree, amendments have to be offered in a specific order and are generally voted upon in reverse order of their offering. As a result, amendments offered to certain limbs of higher precedence on an amendment tree may effectively block Senators from utilizing limbs of lower precedence.
