Procedure

There are not a lot of parliamentary rules for how the House and Senate handle impeachment. But there are a lot of precedents from the previous two modern impeachments of President William Clinton, in 1998, and the impeachment inquiry of President Richard Nixon, in 1974. From a parliamentary standpoint, in the absence of rules, precedent […]

  On April 26, 2019, at the annual National Rifle Association meeting in Indianapolis, President Trump announced that the United States would revoke the effect of its signature on the Arms Trade Treaty. The following text is taken from his speech: “Under my administration, we will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone. We will never […]

The past two years have seen record obstruction from Senate Democrats against the confirmations of President Trump’s nominees. Democrats continue to demand cloture votes — the 60 vote requirement — on nearly all nominees, even those that a majority of the Senate does not oppose. Invoking cloture adds an extra day to the consideration of […]

The Senate is considering Senate Joint Resolution 54, under the expedited procedures in 50 USC 1546(a) (the War Powers Act).  The statute provides for a fully open amendment process with no limitations.  Which would mean that, according to the statute, the Senate can pass literally any amendment (build the wall, Repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood, […]

In Senate procedural terms, a “Message” is a bill that has been amended in the House and sent back to the Senate. The Senate can do several things with the amendment — Concur (i.e. pass the bill with the House Amendment) Concur with an Amendment (i.e. amend the bill and send back to the House) […]

In a surprising vote on Wednesday, the Senate moved forward debate on a resolution of disapproval on U.S. participation in the conflict in Yemen. The resolution, offered by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Ct.), was offered under the War Powers Act (WPA). Under the terms of the law, which was […]

Arcane procedural maneuvers are usually reserved for the Senate. But this week in the House, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) resurrected a House rule from 1876 in a bid to take down a bureaucrat. On Thursday, the House considered Gosar’s amendment to reduce the salary of Mark Gabriel, the Administrator of the Western Power Administration, to […]

This week in the “Lazy Senate,” the spotlight is on the Senate’s pesky 30-hour rule — the one that Republicans constantly blame for the Senate’s slow pace of confirmations. But is it? The short answer is, no. It’s just another excuse by Republican leadership to be, you guessed it, lazy. Here’s why. In 2013 and […]

The Senate’s arcane rules have never been more popular. The Senate’s 44 standing rules, usually  obscured by their more popular precedents or made irrelevant by routine waivers, are suddenly getting some love. The rules haven’t changed or made a sudden showy reappearance on C-SPAN. In fact, it’s the opposite. Conservatives are getting irritated with the Senate Republicans refusal to use […]

After expressing unhappiness with the size of the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill he signed last month, reports indicate that President Trump is working on a package of rescissions to cut some of the spending. What is a rescission? A “rescission” is the cancellation or reduction of budget authority (the ability of an agency to […]

Much has been made of Democrat “obstruction” when it comes to confirming President Trump’s nominees for positions ranging from agency officials to federal judges. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted it in a press release last week, where he blamed the Senate’s slow pace of confirmations on Democrats getting in the way. But is this […]

After failing to repeal Obamacare earlier this year using the Fiscal Year 2017 reconciliation process, the Senate has found itself in a peculiar position. The reconciliation bill for FY2017 still remains on the Senate calendar, available for use. But for how long? Until this fiscal year ends on September 30, 2017? Until the end of […]

Conservatives have been understandably frustrated with Congress’s inability to repeal Obamacare. That frustration continues to grow, as House and Senate leadership have made it apparent that they’d like to move on to other issues. The House Freedom Caucus is determined not to let them. Just before Congress left for their summer recess, the House Freedom […]

Congress officially limps into their summer recess today, leaving town with almost no legislative accomplishments despite GOP majority control of the House, Senate and White House. The real news, however, is not what they leave behind. It’s what’s ahead. Consider what’s on the fall agenda for Congress when they return to town on September 5. Government […]

With the dramatic vote to proceed to the American Health Care Act (the repeal bill the Senate passed in 2015) this afternoon, the Senate teed up a process that will shortly move to reconciliation (more on that here). As part of the reconciliation process, members will have an opportunity to offer a virtually unlimited amount […]

On Friday, Senator Bernie Sanders released a document claiming that the Senate Parliamentarian was prepared to invalidate large portions of the BCRA as “noncompliant” with the Byrd Rule – the law that governs consideration of Senate reconciliation bills. Specifically, Sanders’ document highlighted restrictions on tax credits being used for abortion, and defunding of Palnned Parenthood, […]

I’ve written here about how, in a little noticed floor fight, Senator Mike Lee laid the groundwork for the Senate’s first meaningful (that is, a vote at majority threshold, not at 60) vote on Obamacare repeal in 2015. For students of the Senate, the process by which this occurred is as instructive as it was […]