[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 105th Congress] [105th Congress] [House Document 104-272] [Rules of the House of Representatives] [Pages 359-372] [From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov] [[Page 359]] Rule IX. questions of privilege.
Sec. 661. Definition of questions of privilege. | 1. Questions of privilege shall be, first, those affecting the rights of the House collectively, its safety, dignity, and the integrity of its proceedings; and second, those affecting the rights, reputation, and conduct of Members, individually, in their representative capacity only. |
Sec. 661a. Precedence of questions of privilege. | 2. (a)(1) A resolution reported as a question of the privileges of the House, or offered from the floor by the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader as a question of the privileges of the House, or offered as privileged under article I, section 7, clause 1 of the Constitution, shall have precedence of all other questions except motions to adjourn. A resolution offered from the floor by a Member other than the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader as a question of the privileges of the House shall have precedence of all other questions except motions to adjourn only at a time or place, designated by the Speaker, in the legislative schedule within two legislative days after the day on which the proponent announces to the House his intention to offer the resolution and the form of the resolution. |
Sec. 662. Questions of privileges of the House. | The body of precedent relating to questions of privilege includes rulings that span the adoption of standing rule IX in 1880. |
Sec. 662a. Questions relating to organization. | The privileges of the House also include questions relating to its organization (I, 22-24, 189, 212, 290), and the title of its Members to their seats (III, 2579-2587), which may be raised as questions of the privileges of the House even though the subject has been previously referred to committee (I, 742; III, 2584; VIII, 2307), such as resolutions to declare prima facie right to a seat, or to declare a vacancy, where the House has referred the questions of prima facie and final rights to an elections committee for investigation (H. Res. 1, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 381; H. Res. 52, Feb. 7, 1985, p. 2220; H. Res. 97, Mar. 4, 1985, p. 4277; H. Res. 121, Apr. 2, 1985, p. 7118; H. Res. 148, Apr. 30, 1985, p. 9801); various questions incidental to the right to a seat (I, 322, 328, 673, 742; II, 1207; III, 2588; VII, 2316), such as a resolution declaring a vacancy in the House because a Member-elect is unable to take the oath of office and to serve as a Member or to expressly resign the office due to an incapacitating illness (H. Res. 80, Feb. 24, 1981, p. 2916); a resolution declaring neither of two claimants seated pending a committee report and decision of final right to the seat by the House (Jan. 3, 1961, pp. 23-25; Jan. 3, 1985, p. 381), including incidental provisions providing compensation for both claimants and office staffing by the Clerk (Jan. 3, 1985, p. 381), and resolutions directing temporary seating of a certified Member-elect pending determination of final right notwithstanding prior House action declining to seat either claimant (Feb. 7, 1985, p. 2220; Mar. 4, 1985, p. 4277). A resolution electing a House officer is presented as a question of privilege (July 31, 1997, p. ----). A |
Sec. 662b. Questions relating to constitutional prerogatives. | The privileges of the House, as distinguished from that of the individual Member, include questions relating to its constitutional prerogatives in respect to revenue legislation and appropriations (see, e.g., II, 1480-1501; VI, 315; Nov. 8, 1979, pp. 31517-18; Oct. 1, 1985, p. 25418; June 16, 1988, p. 14780; June 21, 1988, p. 15425; Aug. 12, 1994, p. ----). For a more thorough record of revenue bills returned to the Senate, see Sec. 102, supra. Such a question of privilege may be raised at any time when the House is in possession of the papers (June 20, 1968, Deschler's Precedents, vol. 3, ch. 13, sec. 14.2; Aug. 19, 1982, p. 22127), but not otherwise (Apr. 6, 1995, p. ----). The constitutional prerogatives of the House also include its function with respect to treaties (II, 1502-1537); impeachments and matters incidental thereto (see Sec. 604, supra); bills ``pocket vetoed'' during an intersession adjournment (Nov. 21, 1989, p. 31156); its power to punish for contempt, whether of its own Members (II, 1641-1665), of witnesses who are summoned to give information (II, 1608, 1612; III, 1666-1724), or of other persons (II, 1597-1640); and questions relating to legal challenges involving the prerogatives of the House (Jan. 29, 1981, p. 1304; Mar. 30, 1982, p. 5890), including a resolution responding to a court challenge to the prerogative of the House to establish a Chaplain (Mar. 30, 1982, p. 5890). For a discussion of the relationship of the House and its Members to the courts, see Sec. Sec. 290-291b, supra. |
Sec. 662c. Questions relating to official conduct. | The privileges of the House include certain questions relating to the conduct of Members, officers, and employees (see, e.g., I, 284, 285; III, 2628, 2645-2647). Under that standard, the following resolutions have been held to constitute questions of the privileges of the House: (1) a resolution directing the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate illegal solicitation of political contributions in the House Office Building by unnamed sitting Members (July 10, 1985, p. 18397); (2) a resolution establishing an ad hoc committee to investigate allegations of ``ghost'' employment in the House (Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----); (3) a resolution to further investigate the conduct of a Member on which it has reported to the House (Aug. 5, 1987, p. 22458); (4) a resolution directing the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to report to the House the status of an investigation pending before the committee (Nov. 17, 1995, p. ----; Nov. 30, 1995, p. ----); (5) a resolution appointing an outside counsel (Sept. 19, 1996, p. ----; Sept. 24, 1996, p. ----); (6) a resolution to commit other matters to an outside counsel already appointed by the committee (June 27, 1996, p. -- --); (7) a resolution directing the committee to release the report of an outside counsel (Sept. 19, 1996, p. ----; Sept. 24, 1996, p. ----); (8) a resolution making allegations concerning the propriety of responses by officers of the House to court subpoenas for papers of the House without notice to the House, and directions to a committee to investigate such allegations (Feb. 13, 1980, pp. 2768-69); (9) a resolution making allegations of improper representation by counsel of the legal position of Members in a brief filed in the Court and directions for withdrawal of the brief (Mar. 22, 1990, p. 4996); (10) a resolution making allegations of unauthorized actions by a committee employee to intervene in judicial proceedings (Feb. 5, 1992, p. ----); (11) a resolution directing the Clerk to notify interested parties that the House regretted the use of official resources to present to the Supreme Court of Florida a legal brief arguing the unconstitutionality of Congressional term limits, and that the House had no position on that question (Nov. 4, 1991, p. 29968); and (12) a resolution alleging a chronology of litigation relating to the immunity of a Member from civil liability for bona fide official acts and expressing the views of the House thereon (May 12, 1988, p. 10574). For a discussion of disciplinary resolutions meting out punishment for violations of standards of official conduct, which constitute questions of the privileges of the House, see Sec. Sec. 62-66, supra. |
Sec. 662d. Questions relating to integrity of proceedings. | The privileges of the House include questions relating to the integrity of its proceedings, including the processes by which bills are considered (III, 2597-2601, 2614; IV, 3383, 3388, 3478), such as the constitutional question of the vote required to pass a joint resolution extending the State ratification period of a proposed Constitutional Amendment (Speaker O'Neill, Aug. 15, 1978, pp. 26203-04). Privileges of the House also include: (1) resignation of a Member from a select or standing committee (Speaker Albert, June 16, 1975, p. 19054; Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 8, 1977, pp. 6579-82); (2) newspaper charges affecting the honor and dignity of the House (VII, 911); and (3) the conduct of representatives of the press (II, 1630, 1631; III, 2627; VI, 553). |
Sec. 662e. Questions relating to comfort and convenience. | The privileges of the House include questions relating to the comfort and convenience of Members and employees (III, 2629-2636), such as resolutions concerning the proper attire for Members in the Chamber when the temperature is uncomfortably warm (July 17, 1979, p. 19008); as well as questions relating to safety, such as resolutions requiring an investigation into the safety of Members in view of alleged structural deficiencies in the West Front of the Capitol (July 25, 1980, pp. 19762- 64); and directing the appointment of a select committee to inquire into alleged fire safety deficiencies in the environs of the House (May 10, 1988, p. 10286). |
Sec. 662f. May not effect change in rules. | A motion to amend the rules of the House does not present a question of privilege [Speaker Cannon sustained by the House by a vote of 235 to 53, thereby overruling the decision of March 19, 1910 (VIII, 3376), which held such motion privileged (VIII, 3377)], and a question of the privileges of the House may not be invoked to effect a change in the rules or standing orders of the House or their interpretation (Speaker O'Neill, Dec. 6, 1977, pp. 38470-73; Sept. 9, 1988, p. 23298; July 30, 1992, p. ----; Jan. 31, 1996, p. ----), including directions to the Speaker infringing upon his discretionary power of recognition under clause 2 of rule XIV (July 25, 1980, pp. 19762-64), for example, by requiring that he give priority in recognition to any Member seeking to call up a matter highly privileged pursuant to a statutory provision, over a member from the Committee on Rules seeking to call up a privileged report from that committee (Speaker Wright, Mar. 11, 1987, p. 5403), or by requiring that he state the question on overriding a veto before recognizing for a motion to refer (thereby overruling prior decisions of the Chair to change the order of precedence of motions) (Speaker Wright, Aug. 3, 1988, p. 20281). Similarly, a resolution alleging that, in light of an internationally objectionable French program of nuclear test detonations, for the House to receive the President of France in a Joint Meeting would be injurious to its dignity and to the integrity of its proceedings, and resolving that the Speaker withdraw the pending invitation and re- |
Sec. 662g. As distinct from privileged questions. | The clause of the rule giving questions of privilege precedence of all other questions except a motion to adjourn is a recognition of a principle always well understood in the House, for it is an axiom of the parliamentary law that such a question ``supersedes the consideration of the original question, and must be first disposed of'' (III, 2522, 2523; VI, 595). As the business of the House began to increase it was found necessary to give certain important matters a precedence by rule, and such matters are called ``privileged questions.'' But as they relate merely to the order of business under the rules, they are to be distinguished from ``questions of privilege'' which relate to the safety or efficiency of the House itself as an organ for action (III, 2718). It is evident, therefore, that a question of privilege takes precedence over a matter merely privileged under the rules (III, 2526-2530; V, 6454; VIII, 3465). Certain matters of business, arising under provisions of the Constitution mandatory in nature, have been held to have a privilege which superseded the rules establishing the order of business, as bills providing for census or apportionment (I, 305-308), bills returned with the objections of the President (IV, 3530-3536), propositions of impeachment (III, 2045-2048, 2051, 2398; July 22, 1986, p. 17294), and questions incidental thereto (III, 2401, 2418; V, 7261; July 22, 1986, p. 17306; Dec. 2, 1987, p. 33720; Jan. 3, 1989, p. 84; Feb. 7, 1989, p. 1726), matters relating to the count of the electoral vote (III, 2573-2578), resolutions relating to adjournment and recess of Congress (V, 6698, 6701-6706), and a resolution declaring the office of Speaker vacant (VI, 35); but under later decisions certain of these matters which have no other basis in the Constitution or in the rules for privileged status, such as bills relating to census and apportionment, have been held not to present questions of privilege, and the effect of such decisions is to require all questions of privilege to come within the specific provisions of this rule (VI, 48; VII, 889; Apr. 8, 1926, p. 7147) (see Sec. 662b, supra). |
Sec. 663. Questions of personal privilege. | The privilege of the Member rests primarily on the Constitution, which gives to him a conditional immunity from arrest (Sec. 90, supra) and an unconditional freedom of debate in the House (III, 2670, Sec. 92, supra). A menace to the personal safety of Members from an insecure ceiling in the Hall was held to involve a question of the highest privilege (III, 2685); and an assault on a Member within the Capitol when the House was not in session, from a cause not |
Sec. 665. Precedence of privileges of the House. | The body of precedent relating to the precedence of questions of privilege spans both the adoption of standing rule IX in 1880 and its amendment to require notice in certain cases in 1993. |
Sec. 665a. Precedence of questions of privileges of House. | A question of privilege which relates to a breach of privilege (an assault) occurring during the reading of the Journal may interrupt its reading (II, 1630). A question of privilege may interrupt the reading of the Journal (II, 1630; VI, 637), the consideration of a bill under a special order (III, 2524, 2525), a rule providing for a vote ``without intervening motion'' (VI, 560), a proposition to suspend the rules (III, 2553; VI, 553, 565), the consideration of certain matters on which the previous question has been ordered (III, 2532; VI, 561; VIII, 2688), business in order on Calendar Wednesday (VI, 394; VII, 908-910), reports from the Rules Committee before debate has begun (VIII, 3491; Mar. 11, 1987, p. 5403), call of the Consent Calendar on Monday (VI, 553), before that Calendar was repealed in the 104th Congress (H. Res. 168, June 20, 1995, p. ----), and motions to resolve into Committee of the Whole (VI, 554; VIII, 3461). A question of the privileges of the House takes precedence over unfinished business, privileged under clauses 1 and 3 of rule XXIV (Speaker Albert, June 4, 1975, p. 16860). Since a resolution raising a question of the privileges of the House takes precedence over a motion to suspend the rules, it may be offered and voted on between motions to suspend the rules on which the Speaker has postponed record votes until after debate on all suspensions (May 17, 1983, p. 12486). While a question of privilege is pending, a message of the President is received (V, 6640-6642), but is read only by unanimous consent (V, 6639). A motion to reconsider may also be entered but may not be considered (V, 5673-5676). It has been held that only one question of privilege may be pending at a time (III, 2533), but having presented one question of privilege, a Member, before discussing it, may submit a second question of privilege related to the first and discuss both on one recognition (VI, 562). In general one question of privilege may not take precedence over another (III, 2534, 2552, 2581), and the Chair's power of recognition determines which of two matters of equal privilege is considered first (July 24, 1990, p. 18916). While a resolution raising a question of the privileges of the House has precedence over all other questions, it is nevertheless |
Sec. 665b. Precedence of questions of personal privilege. | When a Member proposes merely to address the House on a question of personal privilege, and does not bring up a resolution affecting the dignity or integrity of the House for action, the practice as to precedence is somewhat different. Thus, a Member rising to a question of personal privilege may not interrupt a call of the yeas and nays (V, 6051, 6052, 6058, 6059; VI, 554, 564), or take from the floor another Member who has been recognized for debate (V, 5002; VIII, 2459, 2528; Sept. 29, 1983, p. 26508; July 23, 1987, p. 20861), but he may interrupt the ordinary legislative business (III, 2531). A Member may address the House on a question of personal privilege even after the previous question has been ordered on a pending bill (VI, 561; VIII, 2688). Under modern practice, a question of personal privilege may not be raised in Committee of the Whole (Sept. 4, 1969, p. 24372; Dec. 13, 1973, p. 41270), the proper remedy being that a demand that words uttered in the Committee of the Whole be taken down pursuant to clause 5 of rule XIV; yet a breach of privilege occurring in Committee of the Whole relates to the dignity of the House and is so treated (II, 1657). A question of personal privilege may not be raised while a question of the privileges of the House is pending (Apr. 30, 1985, p. 9808; May 1, 1985, p. 10003). |
Sec. 665c. Questions of privilege in relation to quorum. | During a call of the House in the absence of a quorum, only such questions of privilege as relate immediately to those proceedings may be presented (III, 2545). See also Sec. 771a, infra. |