[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S321-S322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 27--RELATIVE TO SENATE PROCEDURE IN THE 117TH 
                                CONGRESS

  Mr. SCHUMER submitted the following resolution; which was considered 
and agreed to:

                               S. Res. 27

       Resolved,
       Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXV of 
     the Standing Rules of the Senate, or any other provision of 
     the Standing Rules or Standing Orders of the Senate--
       (1) the committees of the Senate, including joint 
     committees and special committees, for the 117th Congress 
     shall be composed equally of members of both parties, to be 
     appointed at a later time by the two Leaders;
       (2) the budgets and office space for such committees, and 
     all other subgroups, shall likewise be equal, with up to an 
     additional 10 percent to be allocated for administrative 
     expenses to be determined by the Committee on Rules and 
     Administration, with the total administrative expenses 
     allocation for all committees not to exceed historic levels; 
     and
       (3) the Chairman of a full committee may discharge a 
     subcommittee of any Legislative or Executive Calendar item 
     which has not been reported because of a tie vote and place 
     it on the full committee's agenda.
       Sec. 2.  The committee ratios under section 1 shall remain 
     in effect for the remainder of the 117th Congress, except 
     that if at any time during the 117th Congress either party 
     attains a majority of the whole number of Senators, then each 
     committee ratio shall be adjusted to reflect the ratio of the 
     parties in the Senate, and the provisions of this resolution 
     shall have no further effect, except that the members who 
     were first appointed by the two Leaders to such committees in 
     the 117th Congress, pursuant to the authority in this 
     resolution, shall no longer be members of the committees, and 
     the committee chairmanships shall be held by the party which 
     has attained a majority of the whole number of Senators.
       Sec. 3.  Pursuant to the provisions and exceptions 
     described in sections 1 and 2, the following additional 
     Standing Orders of the Senate shall be in effect for the 
     117th Congress:
       (1) If a committee has not reported out a measure or matter 
     because of a tie vote, then--
       (A) the Chairman of the committee shall transmit a notice 
     of a tie vote to the Secretary of the Senate and such notice 
     shall be printed in the Record; and
       (B) after such notice of a tie vote has been transmitted, 
     the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader may, only after 
     consultation with the Chairman and Ranking Member of the 
     committee, make a motion to discharge such measure or matter, 
     and time for debate

[[Page S322]]

     on such motion shall be limited to 4 hours, to be equally 
     divided between the two Leaders or their designees, with no 
     other motions, points of order, or amendments in order:  
     Provided, That following the use or yielding back of time, 
     the Senate vote on the motion to discharge, without any 
     intervening action, motion, or debate, and if agreed to, the 
     measure or matter be placed immediately on the appropriate 
     Calendar.
       (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII of the 
     Standing Rules of the Senate, to ensure that any cloture 
     motion shall be offered for the purpose of bringing to a 
     close debate, in no case shall it be in order for any cloture 
     motion to be presented on an amendable item during its first 
     12 hours of Senate debate:  Provided, That all other 
     provisions of rule XXII remain in status quo.
       Sec. 4.  It is the sense of the Senate that both Leaders 
     shall seek to attain an equal balance of the interests of the 
     two parties when scheduling and debating legislative and 
     executive business generally, and in keeping with the present 
     Senate precedents, a motion to proceed to any Legislative or 
     Executive Calendar item shall continue to be considered the 
     prerogative of the Majority Leader, although the Standing 
     Rules of the Senate do not prohibit the right of the 
     Republican Leader, or any other Senator, to move to proceed 
     to any item.

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