Rules of The House of Representatives of The United States
RULE XVIII: THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE ON THE STATE OF THE UNION
Resolving into the Committee of the Whole
1. Whenever the House resolves into
the Committee of the Whole House on
the state of the Union, the Speaker
shall leave the chair after appointing a
Member, Delegate, or the Resident
Commissioner as Chairman to preside.
In case of disturbance or disorderly
conduct in the galleries or lobby, the
Chairman may cause the same to be
cleared.
2. (a) Except as provided in paragraph
(b) and in clause 6 of rule XV, the
House resolves into the Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the
Union by motion. When such a motion
is entertained, the Speaker shall put
the question without debate: ‘‘Shall
the House resolve itself into the Committee
of the Whole House on the state
of the Union for consideration of this
matter?’’, naming it.
(b) After the House has adopted a resolution
reported by the Committee on
Rules providing a special order of business
for the consideration of a measure
in the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union, the Speaker
may at any time, when no question is
pending before the House, declare the
House resolved into the Committee of
the Whole for the consideration of that
measure without intervening motion,
unless the special order of business provides
otherwise.
Measures requiring initial consideration in the Committee of the Whole
3. All public bills, resolutions, or
Senate amendments (as provided in
clause 3 of rule XXII) involving a tax or
charge on the people, raising revenue,
directly or indirectly making appropriations
of money or property or requiring
such appropriations to be
made, authorizing payments out of appropriations
already made, releasing
any liability to the United States for
money or property, or referring a claim
to the Court of Claims, shall be first
considered in the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union.
A bill, resolution, or Senate amendment
that fails to comply with this
clause is subject to a point of order
against its consideration.
Order of business
4. (a) Subject to subparagraph (b)
business on the calendar of the Committee
of the Whole House on the state
of the Union may be taken up in regular
order, or in such order as the Committee
may determine, unless the
measure to be considered was determined
by the House at the time of resolving
into the Committee of the
Whole.
(b) Motions to resolve into the Committee
of the Whole for consideration
of bills and joint resolutions making
general appropriations have precedence
under this clause.
Reading for amendment
5.(a) Before general debate commences
on a measure in the Committee
of the Whole House on the state of the
Union, it shall be read in full. When
general debate is concluded or closed
by order of the House, the measure
under consideration shall be read for
amendment. A Member, Delegate, or
Resident Commissioner who offers an
amendment shall be allowed five minutes
to explain it, after which the
Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner
who shall first obtain the
floor shall be allowed five minutes to
speak in opposition to it. There shall
be no further debate thereon, but the
same privilege of debate shall be allowed
in favor of and against any
amendment that may be offered to an
amendment. An amendment, or an
amendment to an amendment, may be
withdrawn by its proponent only by the
unanimous consent of the Committee
of the Whole.
(b) When a Member, Delegate, or
Resident Commissioner offers an
amendment in the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union,
the Clerk shall promptly transmit five
copies of the amendment to the majority
committee table and five copies to
the minority committee table. The
Clerk also shall deliver at least one
copy of the amendment to the majority
cloakroom and at least one copy to the
minority cloakroom.
Quorum and voting
6. (a) A quorum of a Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the
Union is 100 Members. The first time
that a Committee of the Whole finds
itself without a quorum during a day,
the Chairman shall invoke the procedure
for a quorum call set forth in
clause 2 of rule XX, unless he elects to
invoke an alternate procedure set forth
in clause 3 or clause 4(a) of rule XX. If
a quorum appears, the Committee of
the Whole shall continue its business.
If a quorum does not appear, the Committee
of the Whole shall rise, and the
Chairman shall report the names of absentees
to the House.
(b)(1) The Chairman may refuse to
entertain a point of order that a
quorum is not present during general
debate.
(2) After a quorum has once been established
on a day, the Chairman may
entertain a point of order that a
quorum is not present only when the
Committee of the Whole House on the
state of the Union is operating under
the five-minute rule and the Chairman
has put the pending proposition to a
vote.
(3) Upon sustaining a point of order
that a quorum is not present, the
Chairman may announce that, following
a regular quorum call under
paragraph (a), the minimum time for
electronic voting on the pending question
shall be five minutes.
(c)When ordering a quorum call in
the Committee of the Whole House on
the state of the Union, the Chairman
may announce an intention to declare
that a quorum is constituted at any
time during the quorum call when he
determines that a quorum has appeared.
If the Chairman interrupts the
quorum call by declaring that a
quorum is constituted, proceedings
under the quorum call shall be considered
as vacated, and the Committee of
the Whole shall continue its sitting
and resume its business.
(d) A quorum is not required in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for adoption of a motion that the Committee rise.
(e) In the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, the Chairman shall order a recorded vote on a request supported by at least 25 Members.
(f) In the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, the Chairman may reduce to five minutes the minimum time for electronic voting without any intervening business or debate on any or all pending amendments after a record vote has been taken on the first pending amendment.
(g) The Chairman may postpone a request for a recorded vote on any amendment. The Chairman may resume proceedings on a postponed request at any time. The Chairman may reduce to five minutes the minimum time for electronic voting on any postponed question that follows another electronic vote without intervening business, provided that the minimum time for electronic voting on the first in any series of questions shall be 15 minutes.
(h) Whenever a recorded vote on any question has been decided by a margin within which the votes cast by the Delegates and the Resident Commissioner have been decisive, the Committee of the Whole shall rise and the Speaker shall put such question de novo without intervening motion. Upon the announcement of the vote on that question, the Committee of the Whole shall resume its sitting without intervening motion.
Dispensing with the reading of an amendment
7. It shall be in order in the Committee
of the Whole House on the state
of the Union to move that the Committee
of the Whole dispense with the
reading of an amendment that has been
printed in the bill or resolution as reported
by a committee, or an amendment
that a Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner has caused to be
printed in the Congressional Record.
Such a motion shall be decided without
debate.
Closing debate
8. (a) Subject to paragraph (b) at any
time after the Committee of the Whole
House on the state of the Union has
begun five-minute debate on amendments
to any portion of a bill or resolution,
it shall be in order to move that
the Committee of the Whole close all
debate on that portion of the bill or
resolution or on the pending amendments
only. Such a motion shall be decided
without debate. The adoption of
such a motion does not preclude further
amendment, to be decided without
debate.
(b) If the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union closes debate on any portion of a bill or resolution before there has been debate on an amendment that a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner has caused to be printed in the Congressional Record at least one day before its consideration, the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who caused the amendment to be printed in the Record shall be allowed five minutes to explain it, after which the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who shall first obtain the floor shall be allowed five minutes to speak in opposition to it. There shall be no further debate thereon.
(c) Material submitted for printing in the Congressional Record under this clause shall indicate the full text of the proposed amendment, the name of the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner proposing it, the number of the bill or resolution to which it will be offered, and the point in the bill or resolution or amendment thereto where the amendment is intended to be offered. The amendment shall appear in a portion of the Record designated for that purpose. Amendments to a specified measure submitted for printing in that portion of the Record shall be numbered in the order printed.
Striking the enacting clause
9. A motion that the Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the
Union rise and report a bill or resolution
to the House with the recommendation
that the enacting or resolving
clause be stricken shall have
precedence of a motion to amend, and,
if carried in the House, shall constitute
a rejection of the bill or resolution.
Whenever a bill or resolution is reported
from the Committee of the
Whole with such adverse recommendation
and the recommendation is rejected
by the House, the bill or resolution
shall stand recommitted to the
Committee of the Whole without further
action by the House. Before the
question of concurrence is submitted,
it shall be in order to move that the
House refer the bill or resolution to a
committee, with or without instructions.
If a bill or resolution is so referred,
then when it is again reported
to the House it shall be referred to the
Committee of the Whole without debate.
Concurrent resolution on the budget
10. (a) At the conclusion of general
debate in the Committee of the Whole
House on the state of the Union on a
concurrent resolution on the budget
under section 305(a) of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974, the concurrent
resolution shall be considered as
read for amendment.
(b) It shall not be in order in the
House or in the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union
to consider an amendment to a concurrent
resolution on the budget, or an
amendment thereto, unless the concurrent
resolution, as amended by such
amendment or amendments—
(1) would be mathematically consistent
except as limited by paragraph
(c); and
(2) would contain all the matter set
forth in paragraphs (1) through (5) of
section 301(a) of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974.
(c)(1) Except as specified in subparagraph
(2), it shall not be in order in the
House or in the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union
to consider an amendment to a concurrent
resolution on the budget, or an
amendment thereto, that proposes to
change the amount of the appropriate
level of the public debt set forth in the
concurrent resolution, as reported.
(2) Amendments to achieve mathematical
consistency under section
305(a)(5) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974, if offered by direction of
the Committee on the Budget, may
propose to adjust the amount of the appropriate
level of the public debt set
forth in the concurrent resolution, as
reported, to reflect changes made in
other figures contained in the concurrent
resolution.
Unfunded mandates
11. (a) In the Committee of the Whole
House on the state of the Union, an
amendment proposing only to strike an
unfunded mandate from the portion of
the bill then open to amendment, if
otherwise in order, may be precluded
from consideration only by specific
terms of a special order of the House.
(b) In this clause the term ‘‘unfunded mandate’’ means a Federal intergovernmental mandate the direct costs of which exceed the threshold otherwise specified for a reported bill or joint resolution in section 424(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
Applicability of Rules of the House
12. The Rules of the House are the
rules of the Committee of the Whole
House on the state of the Union so far
as applicable.
Rule XV Rule XVI Rule XVII Rule XVIII Rule XIX Rule XX Rule XXI Rule XXII Rule XXIII Rule XXIV Rule XXV Rule XXVI
Rule XXVII Rule XXVIII