Suspension of the Rules in the House of Representatives (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Feb. 1, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RL32474 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Thomas P. Carr, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Suspension of the rules is a procedure the House of Representatives uses frequently to debate
and
pass measures on the floor. After a Representative moves to suspend the rules and pass a particular
measure, there can be 40 minutes of debate on the motion and the measure. No floor amendments
to the measure are in order. However, the Member who offers the suspension motion may include
amendments to the measure as part of the motion. In this case, the Member moves to suspend the
rules and pass the bill or resolution as amended. At the end of the debate, the House casts a single
vote on suspending the rules and passing the measure. There is no separate vote on the measure or
on any of the amendments to it that are included in the suspension motion. Each suspension motion
requires a vote of two-thirds of the Members present and voting, a quorum being present.
The Speaker determines which suspension motions the House will consider. Members offering
suspension motions are recognized at the discretion of the Speaker. House rules provide that such
motions are in order on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and on the last six days of a session
of Congress, and at other times by unanimous consent or pursuant to a standing order or a special
rule the House has adopted. The Speaker also may postpone electronic votes on suspension motions
until later on the same day or until the following day, and then cluster these votes to occur one right
after the other.
The suspension procedure is well-suited for expeditious action on relatively non-controversial
measures. Approximately one-half of the bills and resolutions the House has passed in recent
Congresses have been considered in this way. The House also sometimes agrees to suspension
motions for other purposes, such as to agree to Senate amendments to a bill the House already has
passed, or to agree to a conference report.
In early Congresses, motions to suspend the rules were used primarily to give individual bills
priority for floor action. When considered, these bills were debated and amended under the House's
regular legislative procedures. Gradually during the 19th century, the suspension motion was
transformed into a procedure for taking up and acting on a bill by one vote. Also originally,
Members claimed the right to be recognized for the purpose of offering whatever suspension motions
they wished. Late in the last century, the Speaker asserted the authority to decide which Members
would be recognized to make suspension motions and the purposes for which these motions would
be offered.
This control by the Speaker transformed suspension of the rules into a useful and well-regulated
device for the majority party leadership to schedule floor action on measures that are supported by
more than a simple majority of the House. This report will be updated to reflect any procedural
changes.
