From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms
Suspend the Rules / Suspension of the Rules
Suspension of the Rules: Expeditious procedure for passing noncontroversial measures in the House. Requires a two-thirds vote of those present and voting, after forty minutes of debate, and does not allow floor amendments.
This procedure, for largely noncontroversial measures, accounts for more than half of all measures considered by the House. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of each week, and during the last six days of a session, the Speaker may recognize members to move to “suspend the rules and pass” a particular measure or conference report. Suspension measures can also be considered on other days by unanimous consent or pursuant to provisions of a special rule. A measure traditionally will not be considered under the suspension procedure if it was controversial in committee.
Debate under Suspension of the rules on H.R. 1684
Debate on a motion to suspend the rules is limited to forty minutes, with twenty minutes controlled by a proponent and twenty minutes controlled by an opponent, regardless of party affiliation. In practice, a majority floor manager controls twenty minutes and a minority floor manager controls the other twenty minutes. Measures considered under this process are not subject to floor amendment, although the motion to suspend may incorporate an amendment.
Often a time saving procedure for passing bills in the House. The wording of the motion, which may be recognized by the Speaker, is, “I move to suspend the rules and pass bill . . . .” A favorable vote by two-thirds of those present is required for passage. Debate is limited to 40 minutes, and no amendments from the floor are permitted. If a two-thirds favorable vote is not attained, the bill may be considered later under regular procedures.
The “72 Hour Rule” (formerly called the “3 Day Rule”)
House rules govern the length of time legislative measures must be available to Members before being considered on the floor. For measures reported from committee, a draft of the committee report must have been available for 72 hours. Conference reports must also have been available for 72 hours and special rules for considering measures for one legislative day. Bills and joint resolutions that have not been reported by committee, and therefore are not accompanied by a written report, may also not be considered on the House floor unless the text of the measure has been available for 72 hours. Proposed committee reports, unreported bills and joint resolutions, conference reports, and joint explanatory statements are considered available under these rules if they are publicly available in electronic form on a website designated by the Committee on House Administration for this purpose, http://docs.house.gov.
The House has several means by which it can choose to waive these availability requirements and call up, debate, and vote on a measure in a single calendar day even if the text of the measure was not made available prior to consideration. These include (1) considering a measure under the suspension of the rules procedure or by unanimous consent, (2) adopting a special rule that waives the 72-hour requirement, (3) adopting a special rule that waives the one-day requirement for another special rule, and (4) convening a second legislative day on the same calendar day. Waiving availability requirements allows the House to act quickly when necessary, such as near the end of a session.
Also see
- § 6.80 House Floor: Methods of Consideration, in Congressional Deskbook
- Chapter 4.F. Motion to Suspend the Rules; in Congressional Procedure
More
- House Rule XV – Business in Order on Special Days
- Suspension of the rules in the United States Congress – Wikipedia
- Senate Rule V. Suspension and Amendment of the Rules
- “Expedited Procedures in the House: Variations Enacted Into Law,” CRS Report RL30599 (20-page PDF
) - “Suspension of Rules in the House: Measure Sponsorship by Party,” CRS Report 97-901 (4-page PDF)
- “Privileged Business on the House Floor,” CRS Report 98-315 (5-page PDF)
- “Suspension of the Rules in the House,” CRS Report 98-314 (5-page PDF)
- “Suspension of the Rules: House Practice in the 116th Congress (2019-2020),” CRS Report R47327 (24-page PDF
) - “Availability of Legislative Measures in the House of Representatives (The “72-Hour Rule”),” CRS Report RS22015 (11-page PDF)
Courses
- Congressional Operations Briefing – Capitol Hill Workshop
- Drafting Federal Legislation and Amendments
- Writing for Government and Business: Critical Thinking and Writing
- Custom Training
- Drafting Effective Federal Legislation and Amendments in a Nutshell, Audio Course on CD
- Congress, the Legislative Process, and the Fundamentals of Lawmaking Series, a Nine-Course series on CD
Publications
Legislative Drafter’s Deskbook: A Practical Guide
Pocket Constitution
Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials: A Guide for Citizen Lobbyists and Grassroots Advocates
Congressional Procedure
CongressionalGlossary.com, from TheCapitol.Net
For more than 40 years, TheCapitol.Net and its predecessor, Congressional Quarterly Executive Conferences, have been teaching professionals from government, military, business, and NGOs about the dynamics and operations of the legislative and executive branches and how to work with them.
Our custom on-site and online training, publications, and audio courses include congressional operations, legislative and budget process, communication and advocacy, media and public relations, testifying before Congress, research skills, legislative drafting, critical thinking and writing, and more.
TheCapitol.Net is on the GSA Schedule, MAS, for custom on-site and online training. GSA Contract GS02F0192X
TheCapitol.Net is now owned by the Sunwater Institute.
Teaching how Washington and Congress work ™
