The Role of the Rules Committee in Arranging the Program of the U.S. House of Representatives

Abstract

NE OF THE REQUIREMENTS of a legislature is an internal system of authority which establishes procedures for analyzing problems, raising issues, deliberating, and finally making decisions.1 In the United States House of Representatives a variety of parliamentary forms are available for arranging the legislative program. These include the five calendars, special legislative days, unanimous consent agreements, motions to suspend the Rules, and special orders or special rules. These formal procedures are employed chiefly by the majority leader and the Speaker after consultation with the minority leader, important committee chairmen, and the Committee on Rules. This article describes the role of the Rules Committee in selecting bills and resolutions for consideration by the House. Approximately nine-tenths of the business of the House is relatively noncontroversial and this portion of the work is considered by expeditious procedures, such as the Consent or Private calendars, or on special legislative days, including District of Columbia Day. The other one-tenth of the House's program numbering approximately one hundred bills and resolutions each session is controversial enough to be debated for three or more pages each in the Congressional Record (approximately 30 minutes). Among these are the big issues which Congress must resolve, the conflicts which gain public attention, and usually receive the greatest space or time in the mass communication media. More than half of these controversial items will be handled under special resolutions from the Committee on Rules. Thus, the Rules Committee participates in scheduling some of the most vital matters before the House.