[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 110th Congress] [110th Congress] [House Document 109-157] [Rules of the House of Representatives] [Pages 788-803] [From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov] Rule XIX Previous question motions following the amendment stage [[Page 789]] questions allowable under the rules, or on an amendment or amendments, or may embrace all authorized motions or amendments and include the bill or resolution to its passage, adoption, or rejection.
994. The previous question. | 1. (a) There shall be a motion for the previous question, which, being ordered, shall have the effect of cutting off all debate and bringing the House to a direct vote on the immediate question or questions on which it has been ordered. Whenever the previous question has been ordered on an otherwise debatable question on which there has been no debate, it shall be in order to debate that question for 40 minutes, equally divided and controlled by a proponent of the question and an opponent. The previous question may be moved and ordered on a single question, on a series of |
Sec. 996. Application of the previous question. | The provisions of the rule define the application of the previous question with considerable accuracy. It may not be moved on more than one bill, or on motions to agree to a conference report and to dispose of differences not included in the report, except by unanimous consent (V, 5461-5465). When ordered on a motion to send to conference, it applies to that motion alone and does not extend to a subsequent motion to instruct conferees (VIII, 2675). It may apply to the main question and a pending motion to refer (V, 5466; VI, 373; VIII, 2678), or to a pending resolution and a pending amendment thereto (Sept. 25, 1990, p. 25575; July 16, 1998, p. 15793). When a bill is reported from the Committee of the Whole with the recommendation that the enacting words be stricken, it may be applied to the motion to concur without covering further action on the bill (V, 5342). During consideration ``in the House as in Committee of the Whole'' it may be demanded while Members still desire to offer amendments (IV, 4926-4929; VI, 639), but it may not be moved on a single section of a bill (IV, 4930). When ordered on a resolution with a preamble there is doubt of its application |
Sec. 997. The right to move the previous question. | The Member in charge of the bill and having the floor may demand the previous question, although another Member may propose a motion of higher privilege (VIII, 2684), which must be put first (V, 5480; VIII, 2609, 2684). If the Member in charge of the bill claims the floor in debate another Member may not demand the previous question (II, 1458); but having the floor, unless yielded to for debate only, any Member may make the motion although the effect may be to deprive the Member in charge of the bill (V, 5476; VIII, 2685). The Member who has called up a measure in the House has priority of recognition to move the previous question thereon, even over the chairman of the reporting committee (Oct. 1, 1986, p. 27468). If, after debate, the Member in charge of the bill does not move the previous question, another Member may (V, 5475); but where a Member intervenes on a pending proceeding to make a preferential motion, such as the motion to recede from a disagreement with the Senate, he may not move the previous question on that motion as against the rights of the Member in charge (II, 1459), and the Member in charge is entitled to recognition to move the previous question even after he has surrendered the floor in debate (VIII, 2682, 3231). Where a Member controlling the time on a bill or resolution in the House yields for the purpose of amendment (or offers an amendment himself), another Member may move the previous question before the Member offering the amendment is recognized to debate it (Deschler, ch. 23, Sec. 18.3; July 24, 1979, p. 20385). Where under a rule of the House debate time on a motion or proposition is equally divided and controlled by the majority and the minority, or between those in favor and those opposed (see, e.g., clauses 2 and 6 of rule XV), or where a block of time for debate has been yielded by the manager, the previous question may not be moved until the other side has used or yielded back its time; and the Chair may vacate the adoption of the previous question where it was improperly moved while the other side was still seeking time (Oct. 3, 1989, p. 22842). The previous question may not be demanded on a proposition against which a point of order is pending (VIII, 3433). |
Sec. 998. Relation of the previous question to motions. | The motion to lay on the table may not be applied to the previous question (V, 5410, 5411); and it may not be applied to the main question after the previous question has been ordered (V, 5415-5422; VIII, 2655), or after the yeas and nays have been ordered on the demand for the previous question (V, 5408, 5409). |
Sec. 999. The 40 minutes of debate on undebated propositions. | This clause allows 40 minutes of debate when the previous question is ordered on an otherwise debatable proposition on which there has been no debate (V, 6821; VIII, 2689; Sept. 13, 1965, p. 23602; Mar. 22, 1990, p. 4996). However, any previous debate on the merits of the main proposition precludes the 40 minutes (V, 5499-5502). The demand for 40 minutes of debate must come before the vote is taken on the main question (V, 5496). It is not available: (1) when the question on which the previous question is ordered is otherwise nondebatable, such as the motion to close debate (VIII, 2555, 2690); (2) on an undebated amendment where the motion for the previous question covers both the amendment and the original proposition, which has been debated (V, 5504) (although when the previous question is ordered merely on an amendment that has not been debated, the 40 minutes are allowed (V, 5503)); (3) on incidental motions (V, 5497-5498); (4) on propositions previously debated in Committee of the Whole (V, 5505); (5) on conference reports accompanying measures that were debated before being sent to conference (V, 5506-5507); (6) on ancillary measures, such as a concurrent resolution to correct an enrolled bill (V, 5508). Debate allowed under this provision is equally divided and controlled between the person demanding the time and a Member representing the opposition (V, 5495; Sept. 13, 1965, pp. 23602-06; May 8, 1985, p. 11073). Priority in recognition for time in opposition is accorded to a Member truly opposed (VIII, 2689). |
Sec. 1000. Questions of order pending the motion for the previous question. | (b) Incidental questions of order arising during the pendency of a motion for the previous question shall be decided, whether on appeal or otherwise, without debate. |
1001. Recommit. | 2. (a) After the previous question has been ordered on passage or adoption of a measure, or pending a motion to that end, it shall be in order to move that the House recommit (or commit, as the case may be) the measure, with or without instructions, to a standing or select committee. For such a motion to recommit, the Speaker shall give preference in recognition to a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who is opposed to the measure. |
Sec. 1002. Application of motion. | The motion to commit under this rule applies to resolutions of the House alone as well as to bills (V, 5572, 5573; VIII, 2742), and to a motion to amend the Journal (V, 5574). It does not apply to a report from the Committee on Rules providing a special order of business (V, 5593-5601; VIII, 2270, 2750), or to a pending amendment to a proposition in the House (V, 5573). A motion to commit under this clause, with instructions to report forthwith with an amendment, has been allowed after the previous question has been ordered on a motion to dispose of Senate amendments before the stage of disagreement (V, 5575; VIII, 2744, 2745). However, a motion to commit under this clause does not apply to a motion disposing of Senate amendments after the stage of disagreement where utilized to displace a pending preferential motion (Speaker Albert, Sept. 16, 1976, p. 30887). |
Sec. 1002a. Consideration of motion. | When the previous question is ordered on a bill to final passage, debate on a straight motion to recommit under this clause is no longer in order and only a motion to recommit with instructions is debatable for the 10 minutes specified in the rule (June 22, 1995, p. 16844). Before the amendment of this clause in the 92d Congress, no debate was permitted on a motion to recommit with instructions after the previous question was ordered (V, 5561, 5582-5584; VIII, 2741). The 10 minutes of debate provided under this clause on motions to recommit with instructions does not apply to a motion to recommit with instructions of a simple or concurrent resolution or conference report, since the clause limits its applicability to bills and joint resolutions (Nov. 15, 1973, p. 37151; Mar. 29, 1976, p. 8444; Speaker O'Neill, June 19, 1986, p. 14698). The manager of a bill or joint resolution, if opposed, and not the proponent of a motion to recommit with instructions has the right to close controlled debate on a motion to recommit (Speaker Wright, Dec. 3, 1987, p. 34066). The Member recognized for five minutes in favor of the motion may not reserve time (Speaker Wright, June 29, 1988, p. 16510; June 29, 1989, p. 13938). Although time for debate on a motion to recommit with instructions is not ``controlled,'' and therefore Members may not reserve or yield blocks of time (July 26, 2006, p. ----), a Member under recognition may yield to another while remaining on his feet (Feb. 27, 2002, p. 2081). |
Sec. 1002b. Instructions with motion. | The simple motion to recommit and the motion to recommit with instructions are of equal privilege and have no relative precedence (VIII, 2714, 2758, 2762; Nov. 25, 1970, p. 38997). It has been a practice to permit a motion to recommit with instructions that the committee report ``forthwith,'' in which case the chairman reports at once without awaiting action by the committee (V, 5545-5547; VIII, 2730), and the bill is before the House for immediate consideration (V, 5550; VIII, 2735). |
Sec. 1002c. Recognition to offer motion. | Before former clause 4 of rule XVI was amended in 1909 to give priority in recognition for the motion to recommit to an opponent of a bill or joint resolution pending final passage, it was held that the opponents of a bill had no claim to prior recognition (II, 1456). Although the provision as amended in 1909 applied only to bills and joint resolutions, the principle embodied in that provision was applied also to motions to recommit simple or concurrent resolutions or conference reports under former clause 1 of rule XVII (VIII, 2764; Nov. 28, 1979, p. 33914). When the House consolidated the last sentence of former clause 1 of rule XVII and provisions of former clause 4 of rule XVI, addressing the motion to recommit, under this clause (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. 47), the sentence conferring prior recognition to the opposition was formally applied to all measures. However, precedents under former clause 1 of rule XVII still dictate that recognition to offer a motion to commit a resolution offered from the floor as a privileged matter without having been referred to committee does not depend on opposition to the resolution or on party affiliation (Speaker Albert, Feb. 19, 1976, p. 3920). |
1003. The motion to reconsider. | 3. When a motion has been carried or lost, it shall be in order on the same or succeeding day for a Member on the prevailing side of the question to enter a motion for the reconsideration thereof. The entry of such a motion shall take precedence over all other questions except the consideration of a conference report or a motion to adjourn, and may not be withdrawn after such succeeding day without the consent of the House. Once entered, a motion may be called up for consideration by any Member. During the last six days of a session of Congress, such a motion shall be disposed of when entered. |
Sec. 1004. Maker of the motion to reconsider. | The mover of a proposition is entitled to prior recognition to move to reconsider (II, 1454). A Member may make the motion at any time without thereby abandoning a prior motion made by himself and pending (V, 5610). A Delegate or the Resident Commissioner may not make the motion in the House (rule III; II, 1292; VI, 240). The provision of the rule that the motion may be made by any Member of the majority is construed, in case of a tie vote, to mean any Member of the prevailing side (V, 5615, 5616), and the same construction applies in case of a two-thirds vote (II, 1656; V, 5617, 5618; VIII, 2778-2780). Where the yeas and nays have not been ordered recorded in the Journal, any Member, irrespective of whether he voted with the majority or not, may make the motion to reconsider (V, 5611-5613, 5689; VIII, 2775, 2785; Sept. 23, 1992, p. 27196); but a Member who was absent (V, 5619), or who was paired in favor of the majority contention and did not vote, may not make the motion (V, 5614; VIII, 2774). When proxy voting was permitted in committee, it was generally held that a member who was not present at a vote, but cast his vote by proxy, did not qualify to make the motion to reconsider thereon. Any Member may object to the Chair's statement that by unanimous consent the motion to reconsider a vote is laid on the table, and the objecting Member need not have voted on the prevailing side, but if objection is made, the Chair's statement is ineffective and only a Member who voted on the prevailing side may offer the motion to reconsider the vote (Aug. 15, 1986, p. 22139). The Chair, having voted on the prevailing side, may offer the motion to reconsider by stating the pendency of the motion (Oct. 9, 1997, p. 22017). |
Sec. 1005. Precedence of the motion to reconsider. | The precedence given the motion by the rule permits it to be made even after the previous question has been demanded (V, 5656) or while it is operating (V, 5657-5662; VIII, 2784). The motion to reconsider the vote on the engrossment of a bill may be admitted after the previous question has been moved on a motion to postpone (V, 5663), and a motion to reconsider the vote on the third reading may be made and acted on after a motion for the previous question on the passage has been made (V, 5656). It also takes precedence of the motion to resolve into Committee of the Whole to consider an appropriation bill (VIII, 2785), or even of a demand that the House return to Committee after the appearance of a quorum (IV, 3087). However, in a case wherein the House had passed a bill and disposed of a motion to reconsider the vote on its passage, it was held to be too late to reconsider the vote sustaining the decision of the Chair that brought the bill before the House (V, 5652), and that a motion to vacate those proceedings was not in order (Speaker O'Neill, Dec. 17, 1985, pp. 37472-74). After a conference has been agreed to and the managers for the House appointed, it is too late to move to reconsider the vote whereby the House acted on the amendments in disagreement (V, 5664). Although the motion has high privilege for entry, it may not be considered while another question is before the House (V, 5673-5676; July |
Sec. 1006. Application of the motion to reconsider. | A motion to reconsider may be entertained, although the bill or resolution to which it applies may have gone to the other House or the President (V, 5666-5668). However, unanimous consent is required to initiate reconsideration of a measure passed by both Houses (IV, 3466-3469). The Senate may not reconsider the confirmation of a nomination after a commission has been issued by the President to a nominee and the latter has taken the oath and entered upon the duties of his office. U.S. v. Smith, 286 U.S. 6 (1932). The fact that the House had informed the Senate that it had agreed to a Senate amendment to a House bill was held not to prevent a motion to reconsider the vote on agreeing (V, 5672). When a motion is made to reconsider a vote on a bill that has gone to the Senate, a motion to recall the bill is privileged (V, 5669-5671). The motion to reconsider may be applied once only to a vote ordering the previous question (V, 5655; VIII, 2790), and may not be applied to a vote ordering the previous question that has been partially executed (V, 5653, 5654); but a vote agreeing to an order of the House has been reconsidered, although the execution of the order had begun (III, 2028; V, 5665). The vote ordering the previous question on a special order reported from the Committee on Rules may be reconsidered and is not dilatory under clause 6(b) of rule XIII (formerly clause 4(b) of rule XI) (Sept. 25, 1990, p. 25575). |
Sec. 1007. Effect of the motion to reconsider. | A bill is not considered passed or an amendment agreed to if a motion to reconsider is pending, the effect of the motion being to suspend the original proposition (V, 5704); and the Speaker declines to sign an enrolled bill until a pending motion to reconsider has been disposed of (V, 5705). However, when the Congress expires leaving undisposed a motion to reconsider the vote whereby a simple resolution of the House has been agreed to, it is probable that the resolution would be operative; and where a bill has been enrolled, signed by the Speaker, and approved by the President, it is undoubtedly a law, even though a motion to reconsider may not have been disposed of (V, 5704, note). A Member-elect may not take the oath until a motion to reconsider the vote determining his title is disposed of (I, 335); but when, in such a case, the motion is disposed of, the right to be sworn is complete (I, 622). When the motion to reconsider is decided in the affirmative the question immediately recurs on the question reconsidered (V, 5703). When |
Sec. 1008. The vote on the motion to reconsider. | The motion to reconsider is agreed to by majority vote, even when the vote reconsidered requires two thirds for affirmative action (II, 1656; V, 5617, 5618; VIII, 2795), or when only one fifth is required for affirmative action, as in votes ordering the yeas and nays (V, 5689- 5692, 6029; VIII, 2790). However, one motion to reconsider the yeas and nays having been acted on, another motion to reconsider is not in order (V, 6037). |
Sec. 1009. Relation of the motion to reconsider to the motion to lay on the table. | A vote on the motion to lay on the table may be reconsidered whether the decision be in the affirmative (V, 5628, 5695, 6288; VIII, 2785) or in the negative (V, 5629). It is in order to reconsider the vote laying an appeal on the table (V, 5630), although during proceedings under a call of the House this motion was once ruled out (V, 5631). The motion to reconsider may not be applied to the vote whereby the House has laid another motion to reconsider on the table (V, 5632-5640; June 20, 1967, p. 16497); and a motion to reconsider may be laid on the table only before the Chair has put the question on the motion to a vote (Sept. 20, 1979, p. 25512). |
Sec. 1010. Debate on the motion to reconsider. | A motion to reconsider is debatable only if the proposition proposed to be reconsidered was debatable (V, 5694-5699; VIII, 2437, 2792; Sept. 13, 1965, p. 23608); so the motion to reconsider a vote ordering the previous question is not debatable (Sept. 25, 1990, p. 25575) and the application of the previous question makes a motion to reconsider nondebatable (V, 5701; VIII, 2792; |
Sec. 1011. Application of motion to reconsider to bills in committees. | 4. A bill, petition, memorial, or resolution referred to a committee, or reported therefrom for printing and recommitment, may not be brought back to the House on a motion to reconsider. |