House Rules Governing Committee Markup Procedures (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Aug. 31, 2015 |
| Report Number |
98-312 |
| Authors |
Stanley Bach and Judy Schneider, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The rules of the House provide only general guidance to committees for conducting meetings to mark up legislation. There are no House rules that explicitly govern the various aspects of markup procedure. Instead, clause 1(a)(1) of Rule XI provides in part that "the Rules of the House are the rules of its committees and subcommittees so far as applicable.... " And clause 2(a)(1) of the same rule directs each standing committee to adopt written rules governing its own procedures that "may be not inconsistent with the Rules of the House.... " (Italics added).
These requirements leave many questions unanswered. The House can apply different rules to the consideration of measures on the floor; for example, the House can consider one bill under suspension of the rules and then debate the next bill in Committee of the Whole. It is not obvious, therefore, which House rules are to be applicable to committees. Further, it would not be possible for committees to adopt rules that would be "not inconsistent" with all of these different rules.
The House parliamentarian provides helpful guidance when he notes in the commentary accompanying Sec. XXX of Jefferson's Manual that "[t]he procedures applicable in the House as in the Committee of the Whole generally apply to proceedings in committees of the House of Representatives." The House does not often consider measures in the House as in Committee of the Whole, as distinguished from considering bills either in the House or in Committee of the Whole. Furthermore, as the parliamentarian explains, the procedures that govern floor action in the House as in Committee of the Whole are different in several respects from the procedures applicable in committee.
Based on the parliamentarian's guidance, it is possible to identify the key procedures that House committees are to follow during the markup process.
