[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 104th Congress]
[104th Congress]
[House Document 103-342]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 709-719]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 709]]

 

                               Rule XXVII.


                     CHANGE OR SUSPENSION OF RULES.




Sec. 902. Motions to suspend the rules.

  1. No rule  shall be 
suspended except by a vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum 
being present; nor shall the Speaker entertain a motion to suspend the 
rules except on Mondays and Tuesdays, and during the last six days of a 
session.


  This rule has been built up gradually on an old rule of 1794, which 
provided that no rule should be rescinded without one day's notice. In 
1822 a clause was added that no rule should be suspended except by a 
two-thirds vote; and in 1828 it was provided that the ``order of 
business, as established by the rules,'' should not be changed except by 
a two-thirds vote. This rule marks the great purpose of the motion, 
which was to give a means of getting consideration for bills which could 
not get forward under the rule for the order of business. Originally in 
order on any day, the motion was, in 1847, restricted to Mondays of each 
week, and, in 1880, to the first and third Mondays of each month. In 
1874 the old limit of 10 days at the end of the session was reduced to 6 
days. In the 93d Congress, the rule was amended to permit the Speaker to 
recognize for such motions on the first and third Mondays and on the 
Tuesdays immediately following those days and to eliminate the 
distinction between days on which committees and individuals has 
preference (H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 1973, pp. 26, 27); and in the 95th 
Congress, the rule was amended to permit the Speaker to recognize for 
such motions on every Monday and Tuesday (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, 95th 
Cong., pp. 53-70). Originally of great use in establishing the order of 
business, when the older and more defective rules for the order of 
business existed, the use of the motion has changed since the House in 
1890 adopted rules for the order of business which enables the House on 
any day to go to any public bills on its calendars. Also about the same 
time the perfection of the process of getting bills before the House out 
of order by a majority vote through a report from the Committee on Rules 
still further diminished the importance of the motion to suspend the 
rules (V, 6790).


[[Page 710]]
tion may not be amended (V, 5322, 5405, 6858; Dec. 21, 1973, pp. 43251-
63; June 4, 1985, pp. 13983, 13986, 13989), postponed (V, 5322), or laid 
on the table (V, 5405), and the motion to reconsider may not be applied 
to a negative vote on the motion (V, 5645, 5646; VIII, 2781). The motion 
to refer may not be applied to the bill which it is proposed to pass 
under suspension of the rules (V, 6860). The motion to suspend the rules 
applied to the parliamentary law of Jefferson's Manual as well as to the 
other rules of the House (V, 6796), and may even be used to deny the 
right to have read a paper on which the House is to vote (V, 5278-5284). 
While it has been held that the right of a Member to have read the paper 
on which he is called to vote is not changed by the fact that the 
procedure is by suspension of the rules (V, 5277; VIII, 3400), the 
precedents are not uniform in this regard, and in earlier instances the 
separate motion to suspend the rules and dispense with reading of 
pendings bills, amendments and Senate amendments was held in order (V, 
5278-84). Under the modern practice, only the motion ``to suspend the 
rules and pass'' is itself read and is held to suspend all rules 
inconsistent with its purposes, including a rule requiring that a recess 
be taken (V, 5752), or that a quorum be present when a bill is reported 
from committee (Sept. 22, 1992, p. ----). Thus only the title of the 
bill is normally read by the Clerk, and amendments included in the 
motion are not reported separately, but the Chair may, in his 
discretion, where objection is made to that procedure, require the 
reading of an amendment which is not printed or otherwise available 
(July 17, 1950, pp. 10448-49). Where a motion to suspend the rules and 
agree to a resolution which provided for concurring in a Senate 
amendment with an amendment consisting of the text of a bill introduced 
in the House, the Speaker ruled that reading of the resolution itself 
was sufficient and that it could be re-read to the House only by 
unanimous consent (Dec. 21, 1973, pp. 43251-63). It may be used also to 
change a rule (V, 6862), or to make a new rule, as was more frequently 
done in the earlier years of the House when it was the only way for 
making a special order except by unanimous consent (IV, 3152-3162). In 
the later practice special orders may still be made on motion to suspend 
the rules (IV, 3154); but usually they are made by majority vote of the 
House on a report from the Committee on Rules (IV, 3169). The motion to 
suspend may include a series of actions, as the discharge of a committee 
from consideration of a bill and the passage of it (V, 6850), the 
reconsideration of the vote passing a bill, amendment of it, and passage 
again (V, 6849), the permission to a committee to report several bills 
(V, 6857), an order to the Clerk to incorporate in the engrossment of a 
general appropriation bill a provision not otherwise in order (IV, 
3845), an authorization to the House to entertain a specified motion to 
suspend the rules on a future day, not a suspension day (IV, 3845), a 
motion to take a bill (V, 6288; VIII, 3425), or a motion to reconsider, 
from the table (V, 5640). A motion to suspend the rules may provide for 
the passage of a bill regardless of whether it has been reported or 
referred to any calendar or even previously introduced (VIII, 3421), may 
include 

[[Page 711]]
an amendment without the formality of committee approval (June 22, 
1992, p.  ----), and may provide for agreeing to a conference report 
which has been ruled out of order by the Speaker (Dec. 20, 1974, p. 
41860). One motion to suspend the rules having been rejected, the 
Speaker may recognize for a similar motion (Dec. 21, 1973, pp. 43270-
81).


Sec. 903. Nature of the motion to suspend the 
rules.

  While originally  the motion was used to suspend the rule on the order of 
business in order to consider a particular bill (V, 6852, 6853), in the 
later practice it is more usual to move ``to suspend the rules and 
pass'' the bill (V, 6846, 6847), and a division of the question may not 
be demanded, either as to the two branches of the motion or as to 
distinct substantive propositions in the subject of the motion (V, 6141-
6143). The mo



[[Page 712]]
Speaker's denial of recognition (II, 1425), and no advance notice to 
Members of bills to be called up under suspension of the rules is 
required (Mar. 20, 1978, pp. 7535-36), but the rules forbid the Speaker 
to entertain a motion to suspend the rules relating to the privilege of 
the floor (Sec. 919; V, 7283; VIII, 3634), the use of the Hall of the 
House (Sec. 918; V, 7270) or prohibiting the introduction of persons in 
the galleries (Sec. 764; VI, 197).


Sec. 904. Precedence of the motion to suspend the 
rules.

  In the  early practice, when the motion to suspend the rules was used 
to enable a matter to be taken up for consideration out of order, it was 
not admitted when a subject was already before the House (V, 5278, 6836, 
6837, 6852, 6853). A bill taken up under this early practice might be 
amended (V, 6842, 6856) by the House, or withdrawn by the mover, in 
which case another Member might not present it (V, 6854, 6855). In the 
later practice, where the motion includes both suspension of the rules 
and action on the subject it is admitted, although another matter be 
pending (V, 6834), although the yeas and nays may have been demanded on 
another highly privileged motion (V, 6835), or although the previous 
question may have been ordered or moved on another matter (V, 6827; see 
also Sept. 17, 1990, p. ----; V, 6831-6833; VIII, 3418). Earlier 
rulings, however, did not, while a series of Senate amendments were 
pending, permit a motion to suspend the rules in order to permit a vote 
to be taken on the amendments in gross (V, 6828, 6830). But in the 
earlier practice, also, while a matter was pending a motion to suspend 
the rules in order to dispense with the reading otherwise required was 
admitted (V, 5278). The motion to suspend the rules has been ruled out 
of order when the House is considering a bill under a special order (V, 
6838); and when a question of high privilege under rule IX is before the 
House a motion to suspend the rules and consider another matter is not 
in order (V, 6825, 6826; VI, 553, 565). But the motion to suspend the 
rules has been held of equal privilege with the motion to instruct 
conferees after 20 days of conference, which under clause 1(c) of rule 
XXVIII is ``of the highest privilege'' (Mar. 1, 1988, pp. 2749, 2751, 
2754). A motion to suspend the rules and approve the Journal was held in 
order, although the Journal had not been read and the then highly 
privileged motion to fix the day to which the House should adjourn was 
pending (IV, 2758). While the motion is of high privilege, it may be 
superseded by a question of the privilege of the House (III, 2553; VI, 
565). Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XVI the Speaker may entertain one 
motion to adjourn pending a motion to suspend the rules, but after that 
vote shall not entertain any other motion until the vote is taken on the 
motion to suspend the rules. Moreover, in the absence of a motion to 
suspend, the ordinary motions relating to business of the House may be 
made on suspension days as on other days (IV, 3080). The motion to 
suspend the rules may be made on days other than suspension days by 
unanimous consent (V, 6795) or by adoption of a resolution reported by 
the Rules Committee. On ``suspension days'' the motion to suspend the 
rules has been admitted at the discretion of the Speaker since 1881 (V, 
6791-6794, 6845; VIII, 3402-3404), and no appeal may be taken from the 




Sec. 905. Individual and committee motions to suspend 
the rules.

  Prior to  the 93d Congress, the rule gave to individuals preference 
on the first Monday of the month for making motions to suspend the 
rules, and preference on the third Mondays for committees to make the 
motion (V, 6790). In rare instances the Speaker has called the 
committees
in regular order for motions to suspend the rules, but this method is 
not required (V, 6810, 6811). In the earlier practice the committee 
motion must have been formally and specifically authorized by the 
committee (V, 6805-6807); but after the motion was seconded and debate 
had begun it was too late to raise a question as to the authorization 
(V, 6808). Under the later practice authorization by a committee is not 
required (VIII, 3410). The committee may not present a bill which has 
not been referred to it (V, 6813) and is not within its jurisdiction (V, 
6848). A bill offered on a committee suspension day, in the early 
practice, could carry with it only such amendments as were authorized by 
a committee (V, 6812), but in the modern practice the formality of 
committee approval is not required (June 22, 1992, p. ----). If on a 
committee day an individual motion was made and seconded, it was then 
too late to make a point of order (V, 6809).



[[Page 713]]
clause 4 of rule XV the yeas and nays were ordered (IV, 3053-3055; Dec. 
21, 1973, pp. 43251-63). Where the Chair allocates the time in 
opposition to the motion to the ranking minority member of the reporting 
committee, a challenge that that member does not qualify by being 
opposed, in order to control such time, must be made when the time is 
allocated by the Chair (May 15, 1984, p. 12215; Speaker Wright, June 2, 
1987, p. 14223). The motion to suspend the rules may be withdrawn at any 
time before the Chair puts the question and a voice vote is taken 
thereon (July 27, 1981, p. 17563).



Sec. 906. The second of the motion to suspend the 
rules.

  Prior to  the 102d Congress, certain motions to suspend the rules were 
required to be seconded, if demanded, by a majority by tellers, but this 
requirement was eliminated from the rule in the 102d Congress (H. Res. 
5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). This requirement for a second was adopted in 
1874, was rescinded two years later, but was again adopted in 1880. The 
object of it was to prevent consumption of the time of the House by 
forcing consideration of undesirable propositions (V, 6797). The 
requirement (formerly clause 2) was amended in the 96th Congress (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) so that a second was not required where 
printed copies of the proposed measure were available. Copies of reports 
on bills considered under suspension are not required to be available in 
advance. The Constitutional right of a Member to demand the yeas and 
nays, or the right of a Member under clause 5(a) of rule I to demand a 
recorded vote, did not exist on the question of ordering a second under 
the former clause 2, which only permited the ordering of a second by 
tellers if a quorum was present (V, 6032-6036; VIII, 3109; Dec. 16, 
1981, p. 31851). The fact that a majority of the Members of the House 
did not pass between the tellers on the question of ordering a second 
did not conclusively show that a quorum was not present in the Chamber, 
and the Speaker could count the House to determine whether a quorum was 
actually present (Dec. 16, 1981, p. 31851). But where a quorum failed on 
the vote for a second, under 





Sec. 907. The forty minutes of debate on motion to 
suspend the rules.

  2. When a  motion to suspend the rules has been submitted to 
the House, it shall be in order, before the final vote is taken thereon, 
to debate the proposition to be voted upon for forty minutes, one-half 
of such time to be given to debate in favor of, and one-half to debate 
in opposition to, such proposition; and the same right of debate shall 
be allowed whenever the previous question has been ordered on any 
proposition on which there has been no debate.


  Formerly clause 3, this provision was amended and redesignated in the 
102d Congress to conform to the repeal of the former clause 2, relating 
to the requirement of a second (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). 
Before the adoption of this clause in 1880 (V, 6821) the motion to 
suspend the rules was not debatable (V, 5405, 6820). The 40 minutes of 
debate is divided between the mover and a Member opposed to the bill, 
unless it develops that the mover is opposed to the bill, in which event 
some Member in favor is recognized for debate (VIII, 3416). Where 
recognition for the 20 minutes in opposition is contested, the Speaker 
will accord priority first on the basis of true opposition, then on the 
basis of committee membership, and only then on the basis of party 
affiliation, the latter preference inuring to the minority party (VIII, 
3415; Nov. 18, 1991, p. ----). When the mover and the opponent divide 
their time with others, the practice as to alternation of recognitions 
is not insisted on so rigidly as in other debate (II, 1442). Debate 
should be confined to the object of the motion and may not range to the 
merits of a bill not scheduled for suspension on that day (Nov. 23, 
1991, p. ----).


[[Page 714]]
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70), and amended further in the 96th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). The paragraph was deleted 
entirely in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113) when 
all of the Speaker's postponing authorities were consolidated into 
clause 5 of rule I.
  This clause formerly included a paragraph (b) dealing with the 
Speaker's authority to postpone further proceedings on motions to 
suspend the rules and pass bills or resolutions. Paragraph (b) was added 
in the 93d Congress (H. Res. 998, Apr. 9, 1974, pp. 10195-99), amended 
in the 95th Congress 




Sec. 907a. The forty minutes of debate on other 
propositions.

  The last  provision of this clause allows 40 minutes of debate 
when the previous question is ordered on a proposition on which there 
has been no debate (V, 6821; Mar. 22, 1990, p. ----). 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); is not 
available when the question on which the previous question is ordered is 
otherwise nondebatable, such as the motion to close debate (VIII, 2555, 
2690); is not available 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); and is not available on 
incidental motions (V, 5497-5498), on propositions previously debated in 
Committee of the Whole (V, 5505), on conference reports accompanying 
measures that were debated before being sent to conference (V, 5506-
5507), or 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 (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).



[[Page 715]]
resolution which has remained in a standing committee thirty or more 
days without action: Provided, That said resolution from which it is 
moved to discharge the Committee on Rules has been referred to that 
committee at least seven days prior to the filing of the motion to 
discharge. The motion shall be placed in the custody of the Clerk, who 
shall arrange some convenient place for the signature of Members. A 
signature may be withdrawn by a Member in writing at any time before the 
motion is entered on the Journal. Once a motion to discharge has been 
filed, the Clerk shall make the signatures a matter of public record. -
The Clerk shall cause the names of the Members who have signed a 
discharge motion during any week to be published in a portion of the 
Congressional Record designated for that purpose on the last legislative 
day of that week. The Clerk shall make available each day for public 
inspection in an appropriate office of the House cumulative lists of 
such names. The Clerk shall devise a means by which to make such lists 
available to offices of the House and to the public in electronic form. 
When a majority of the total membership of the House shall have signed 
the motion, it shall be entered on the Journal, printed with the 
signatures thereto in the Congressional Record, and referred to the 
Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees.


Sec. 908. Motion to discharge a committee.

  3. A Member  may 
present to the Clerk a motion in writing to discharge a committee from 
the consideration of a public bill or resolution which has been referred 
to it thirty days prior thereto (but only one motion may be presented 
for each bill or resolution). Under this rule it shall also be in order 
for a Member to file a motion to discharge the Committee on Rules from 
further consideration of any resolution providing either a special order 
of business, or a special rule for the consideration of any public bill 
or resolution favorably reported by a standing committee, or a special 
rule for the consideration of a public bill or 



[[Page 716]]
of the Journal, any Member who has signed a motion to discharge which 
has been on the calendar at least seven days prior thereto, and seeks 
recognition, shall be recognized for the purpose of calling up the 
motion, and the House shall proceed to its consideration in the manner 
herein provided without intervening motion except one motion to adjourn. 
Recognition for the motions shall be in the order in which they have 
been entered on the Journal.
  On the second and fourth Mondays of each month except during the last 
six days of any session of Congress, immediately after the approval 


[[Page 717]]
and if unfinished before adjournment of the day on which it is called 
up it shall remain the unfinished business until it is fully disposed 
of. Should the House by vote decide against the immediate consideration 
of such bill or resolution, it shall be referred to its proper calendar 
and be entitled to the same rights and privileges that it would have had 
had the committee to which it was referred duly reported same to the 
House for its consideration: Provided, That when any perfected motion to 
discharge a committee from the consideration of any public bill or 
resolution has once been acted upon by the House it shall not be in 
order to entertain during the same session of Congress any other motion 
for the discharge from that committee of said measure, or from any other 
committee of any other bill or resolution substantially the same, 
relating in substance to or dealing with the same subject matter, or 
from the Committee on Rules of a resolution providing a special order of 
business for the consideration of any other such bill or resolution, in 
order that such action by the House on a motion to discharge shall be 
res adjudicata for the remainder of that session: Provided further, That 
if before any one motion to discharge a committee has been acted upon by 
the House there are on the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees 
other motions to discharge committees from the consideration of bills or 
resolutions substantially the same, relating in substance to or dealing 
with the same subject matter, after the House shall have acted on one mo

[[Page 718]]
tion to discharge, the remaining said motions shall be stricken from 
the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees and not acted on during 
the remainder of that session of Congress.

  When any motion under this rule shall be called up, the bill or 
resolution shall be read by title only. After twenty minutes' debate, 
one-half in favor of the proposition and one-half in opposition thereto, 
the House shall proceed to vote on the motion to discharge. If the 
motion prevails to discharge the Committee on Rules from any resolution 
pending before the committee, the House shall immediately consider such 
resolution, the Speaker not entertaining any dilatory motion except one 
motion to adjourn, and, if such resolution is adopted, the House shall 
immediately proceed to its execution. If the motion prevails to 
discharge one of the standing committees of the House from any public 
bill or resolution pending before the committee, it shall then be in 
order for any Member who signed the motion to move that the House 
proceed to the immediate consideration of such bill or resolution (such 
motion not being debatable), and such motion is hereby made of high 
privilege; and if it shall be decided in the affirmative, the bill shall 
be immediately considered under the general rules of the House, 

  This clause was adopted December 8, 1931 and amended January 3, 1935 
(VII, 1007). It displaced a rule providing for a motion to instruct a 
committee to report a public bill or resolution. The first discharge 
rule was adopted June 17, 1910, pp. 8439, 8445. It was amended during 
the 62d Congress (Apr. 4-5, 1911, pp. 18, 80). It was further amended in 
the 62d Congress (H. Res. 407, Feb. 3, 1912, p. 1685), the 68th Congress 
(H. Res. 146, Jan. 18, 1924, p. 1143), and the 69th Congress, (H. Res. 
6, Dec. 7, 1925, p. 383). Formerly clause 4, this provision was 
redesignated in the 102d Congress to conform to the repeal of the former 
clause 2, relating to the requirement of a second; it was at the same 
time amended to enable debate on a resolution discharged from the 
Committee on Rules (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). Under the 
previous form of the rule, where the Committee on Rules was discharged 
from further consideration of a resolution the House immediately voted 
on adoption of the resolution (Speaker Rayburn, Jan. 24, 1944, pp. 631-
32).

  In the 103d Congress, after a successful petition under this clause 
placed on the calendar a motion to discharge the Committee on Rules from 
further consideration of a resolution to require publication of the 
names of Members who had signed pending discharge petitions, the clause 
was so amended (H. Res. 134, Sept. 28, 1993, p. ----). In the 104th 
Congress the clause was once again amended to ensure the periodic 
publication of such names (sec. 219, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). 
Before the 103d Congress signatures on a motion to discharge a committee 
were not made public until the requisite number had signed the motion 
(VII, 1008; Apr. 12, 1934, p. 6489).

  The phrase ``a majority of the total membership of the House'' was 
construed to mean 218 Members (Speaker Byrns, Apr. 15, 1936, p. 5509). 
The word ``days'' has been construed to mean ``legislative days'' 
(Speaker Bankhead, Dec. 10, 1937, p. 1300). The rule does not authorize 
signature of discharge motions by proxy (VII, 1014).

  The rule does not apply to a bill that has been reported by a 
committee during the interval between the placing of a motion to 
discharge on the calendar and the day when such motion is called up for 
action in the House (Apr. 23, 1934, p. 7156). The Committee on Rules may 
not be discharged from further consideration of a resolution providing 
for an investigating committee (Apr. 23, 1934, p. 7161).


[[Page 719]]
Jan. 16, 1950, p. 436). The seven days that the motion must be on the 
calendar before it may be called up begins to run as of the day the 
motion is placed on the calendar (Dec. 14, 1937, p. 1517). A discharge 
petition in the 102d Congress received the requisite number of 
signatures on the same day it was filed (May 20, 1992, p. ----), and 
subsequently by unanimous consent the House dispensed with the motion to 
discharge and agreed to consider the object of the petition (a special 
order of business resolution) on a date certain under the same terms as 
if discharged by motion (June 4, 1992, p. ----). In the 103d Congress a 
discharge petition also received the requisite number of signatures on 
the same day it was filed (Feb. 24, 1994, p. ----).
  The death or resignation of a Member who has signed a motion does not 
invalidate his signature (May 31, 1934, p. 10159). It may be withdrawn 
by his successor (Dec. 7, 1943, p. 10388; Jan. 17, 1946, p. 96; Mar. 5, 
1946, p. 1968; July 30, 1946, pp. 10464, 10491; Mar. 2, 1948, pp. 1993, 
2001; 

  The right to close twenty minute debate on a motion to discharge a 
Committee is reserved to the proponents of the motion (VII, 1010a); and 
the chairman of the committee being discharged, if opposed to the 
motion, has been recognized to control the ten minutes in opposition 
(Aug. 10, 1970, p. 27999).

  Where a measure not requiring consideration in the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union is brought before the House by a 
successful motion to discharge, the Member moving its consideration is 
recognized in the House under the hour rule (Aug. 10, 1970, p. 28004).




  The point of order provided in clause 5(a) of rule XXI does not apply 
to an appropriation in a bill taken away from a committee by the motion 
to discharge (VII, 1019a).