    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 119th Congress]
    [119th Congress]
    [House Document 118-187]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 409-417]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                     Rule IV

    Use and admittance
                              the hall of the house

    677. Use of the Hall of the House.

      1. The Hall  of the House
    shall be used only for the legislative business of the House and for
    caucus and conference meetings of its Members, except when the House
    agrees to take part in any ceremonies to be observed therein.

      When the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, it
    consolidated former rules XXXI, XXXII, and XXXIII under rule IV, and
    clause 1 was found in former rule XXXI (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. 47).
    Rules relating to the use of the Hall were adopted as early as 1804. The
    present form of this clause dates from 1880 (V, 7270). It was renumbered
    January 3, 1953 (p. 24). A technical amendment to this clause, in
    conjunction with one to clause 2(b), was effected in the 112th Congress
    (sec. 2(f), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p. 80). The Speaker has announced
    standards for use of the Chamber when the House is not in session
    (Speaker Pelosi, Jan. 6, 2009, p. 25; Speaker Boehner, Jan. 5, 2011,
    106; Speaker Boehner, Jan. 3, 2013, p. 47; Speaker Boehner, Jan. 6,
    2015, p. 63; Speaker Ryan, Jan. 3, 2017, p. 66; Speaker Pelosi, Jan. 3,
    2019, p. _; Speaker Pelosi, Jan. 4, 2021, p. _; Speaker McCarthy, Jan.
    9, 2023, p. _; Speaker Johnson, Jan. 3, 2025, p. _).

    Sec. 678. Persons and officials admitted to the floor
    during sessions of the House.

      2.  (a) Only the following persons shall be
    admitted to the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto:

    [[Page 410]]

    missioner, and the Resident Commissioner-elect.
          (1) Members of Congress, Members-elect, Delegates, Delegates-
    elect, the Resident Com

          (2) Contestants in election cases during the pendency of their
    cases on the floor.

          (3) The President and Vice President of the United States and
    their private secretaries.

          (4) Justices of the Supreme Court.

          (5) Elected officers and minority employees nominated as elected
    officers of the House.

          (6) The Parliamentarian.

          (7) Staff of committees when business from their committee is
    under consideration, and staff of the respective party leaderships when
    so assigned with the approval of the Speaker.

          (8) Not more than one person from the staff of a Member, Delegate,
    or Resident Commissioner when that Member, Delegate, or Resident
    Commissioner has an amendment under consideration (subject to clause 5).

          (9) The Architect of the Capitol.

          (10) The Librarian of Congress and the assistant in charge of the
    Law Library.

          (11) The Secretary and Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate.

          (12) Heads of departments.

          (13) Foreign ministers.

          (14) Governors of States.

    [[Page 411]]

          (15) Former Members, Delegates, and Resident Commissioners; former
    Parliamentarians of the House; and former elected officers and minority
    employees nominated as elected officers of the House (subject to clause
    4).

          (16) One attorney to accompany a Member, Delegate, or Resident
    Commissioner who is the respondent in an investigation undertaken by the
    Committee on Ethics when a recommendation of that committee is under
    consideration in the House.

          (17) Such persons as have, by name, received the thanks of
    Congress.

      (b) The Speaker may not entertain a unanimous consent request or a
    motion to suspend this clause or clauses 1, 3, 4, or 5.

    [[Page 412]]

    of the Territories (sec. 102(d), H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 2019, p. _).
    Paragraph (a)(14) was further amended in the 117th Congress to extend
    such privileges to the Mayor of the District of Columbia (sec. 2(d)(1),
    H. Res. 8, Jan. 4, 2021, p. _), but language extending such privileges
    to the Mayor and to the Governors of Territories was repealed in the
    118th Congress (sec. 2(p), H. Res. 5, Jan. 9, 2023, p. _).
      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    provision was found in former clause 1 of rule XXXII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6,
    1999, p. 47). It was subjected to many changes from 1802 until 1880 (V,
    7283; VIII, 3634) and was renumbered in the 83d Congress (Jan. 3, 1953,
    p. 24). The rule was amended in the 92d Congress to include the Delegate
    from the District of Columbia among those having the privilege of the
    floor (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144), and later in that Congress was
    revised to grant all Delegates the privilege (H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13,
    1972, pp. 36021-23). The latter revision was necessary because of the
    enactment of Public Law 92-271, which created the positions of Delegate
    from Guam and Delegate from the Virgin Islands. Officers and elected
    employees, both present and former, were given floor privileges by the
    adoption of this same resolution (H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 1972, p. 36013)
    but had in fact, by custom, been permitted on the floor before this
    change. This clause was substantially amended in the 94th Congress (H.
    Res. 1435, Oct. 1, 1976, pp. 35175-80) and was amended by the Ethics
    Reform Act of 1989 to permit floor privileges for one attorney for a
    Member-respondent during consideration of a disciplinary resolution
    (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989). Clause 2(a)(7) was amended in the 108th
    Congress to extend floor privileges to party leadership staff when so
    assigned with the approval of the Speaker (sec. 2(d), H. Res. 5, Jan. 7,
    2003, p. 7). This amendment codified current practice, including the
    Speaker's ultimate control over such assignments. In the 112th Congress,
    paragraph (a)(16) was amended to reflect a change in committee name and
    paragraph (b) was amended to clarify the breadth of the restriction on
    suspending various prohibitions of rule IV, which had been
    unintentionally narrowed by recodification in the 106th Congress (secs.
    2(e)(8), 2(f)(2), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p. 80). In the 116th
    Congress, paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) were amended to clarify that
    Delegates-elect and the Resident Commissioner-elect, as well as
    contestants in election cases for Delegate or the Resident Commissioner,
    have floor privileges, and paragraph (a)(14) was amended to extend such
    privileges to Governors

      The portion of this clause that permits clerks of committees access to
    the floor during the consideration of business from their committees has
    been interpreted by the Speaker to allow four professional staff members
    and one clerk on the floor at one time (Speaker Albert, June 8, 1972, p.
    20318; Speaker O'Neill, Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 5.5). The
    Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, section 503(3) (84 Stat. 1140,
    1202; 2 U.S.C. 281b(3)), also allows two staff members of the
    Legislative Counsel access to the floor to assist the committee.

      The portion of the clause forbidding the Speaker to entertain requests
    for suspension of certain clauses applies also to the chair of the
    Committee of the Whole (V, 7285) but the House may grant specific access
    by resolution (e.g., Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 1.7) and has
    likewise governed admittance for a specified joint meeting by resolution
    (Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 5.2). ``Heads of departments'' means
    members of the President's Cabinet, and not subordinate executive
    officers, and ``foreign ministers'' means ministers from foreign
    governments only.

    [[Page 413]]

      An alleged violation of the rule relating to admission to the floor
    presents a question of privilege (III, 2624, 2625; VI, 579), but not a
    higher question of privilege than an election case (III, 2626). In one
    case in which a former Member was abusing the privilege, he was excluded
    by direction of the Speaker (V, 7288), but in another case the Speaker
    declared it a matter for the House and not the Chair to consider (V,
    7286). In one case an alleged abuse was inquired into by a select
    committee (V, 7287). See Sec. 680, infra, for the rule constraining
    conduct of former Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner,
    officers, and staff while on the floor. The Speaker announced an
    intention to strictly enforce the rule to prevent a proliferation of
    committee and other staff on the floor (Aug. 22, 1974, p. 30027;
    Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 5.6; Precedents (Wickham), ch. 6,
    Sec. 15.8). The Speaker announced that committee staff would be required
    to display staff badges on the floor in exchange for identification
    cards before admission to the floor (Speaker O'Neill, Precedents
    (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 5.8; Jan. 5, 1993, p. 105). It is not in order to
    refer to persons on the floor of the House as guests of the House, such
    as Members' children (Apr. 28, 1994, p. 8783; Dec. 19, 1995, p. 37575;
    Jan. 22, 1996, p. 682; Apr. 30, 1998, p. 7320; June 17, 2004, p. 12847;
    Aug. 1, 2011, p. 12698) or other children (May 18, 1995, p. 13490; Oct.
    7, 1999, p. 24425; Apr. 25, 2013, pp. 5952, 5953; Apr. 21, 2016, p.
    4913; Apr. 26, 2018, p. _).

    Sec. 679. Admission to the floor when the House is not
    sitting.

      3. (a)  Except as provided in paragraph (b), all persons not entitled
    to the privilege of the floor during the session shall be excluded at
    all times from the Hall of the House and the cloakrooms.

      (b) Until 15 minutes of the hour of the meeting of the House, persons
    employed in its service, accredited members of the press entitled to
    admission to the press gallery, and other persons on request of a
    Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner by card or in writing, may be
    admitted to the Hall of the House.

      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    provision was found in former clause 2 of rule XXXII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6,
    1999, p. 47). It was adopted initially in 1902 (V, 7346).

    Sec. 680. Former Members and officers.

      4.  (a) A former
    Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner; a former Parliamentarian of
    the House; or a former elected officer of the House or former minority
    employee nominated as an elected officer of the House shall not be
    entitled to the privilege of admission to the Hall of the House and
    rooms leading thereto if such individual--

          (1) is a registered lobbyist or agent of a foreign principal as
    those terms are defined in clause 5 of rule XXV;

          (2) has any direct personal or pecuniary interest in any
    legislative measure pending before the House or reported by a committee;

    [[Page 414]]

    feat, or amendment of any legislative proposal; or
          (3) is in the employ of or represents any party or organization
    for the purpose of influencing, directly or indirectly, the passage, de

          (4) has been convicted by a court of record for the commission of
    a crime in relation to that individual's election to, or service to, the
    House.

      (b) The Speaker may promulgate regulations to carry out this rule
    including regulations that exempt ceremonial or educational functions
    from the restrictions of this clause.

      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    provision was found in former clause 3 of rule XXXII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6,
    1999, p. 47). It was adopted during the 94th Congress (H. Res. 1435,
    Oct. 1, 1976, pp. 35175-80) to: (1) consolidate in one place and to
    clarify the restrictions on admittance to the floor of former Members,
    officers, and employees; (2) add the restriction now found in paragraph
    (a)(3); and (3) give the Speaker the power to promulgate regulations to
    enforce the rule. During the 109th Congress, the clause was amended to:
    (1) add paragraph (a)(1) to establish plainer proscriptions with respect
    to registered lobbyists, agents of foreign principals, and persons with
    similar representational roles; and (2) specify particular exercises of
    regulatory authority by the Speaker (Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4,
    Sec. 6.7). The 111th Congress clarified the authority of the Speaker
    over the entire rule and not merely the exemptions specified in
    paragraph (b), and eliminated a gender-based reference (secs. 2(l),
    2(m), H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 2009, pp. 7, 9). During the 117th Congress,
    paragraph (a)(4) expanded the proscription on the privileges of the
    floor to include individuals convicted for crimes related to that
    individual's election or service to the House (sec. 2(d)(2), H. Res. 8,
    Jan. 4, 2021, p. _). Pursuant to the authority granted by this clause,
    Speakers have issued regulations from time to time (Speaker O'Neill,
    Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 6.2; Speaker Foley, June 9, 1994, p.
    12387; Speaker Gingrich, May 24, 1995, p. 14300; Speaker Gingrich, Aug.
    1, 1996, p. 21031; Speaker Hastert, Feb. 1, 2006, p. 644; Speaker
    Pelosi, Jan. 5, 2007, p. 273).

      The Speaker has emphasized that this clause applies not only to the
    floor but also to ``rooms leading thereto,'' and has construed the
    latter phrase to include, for example, the Speaker's Lobby and the
    cloakrooms (Speaker Rayburn, Oct. 2, 1945, p. 9251; Speaker Gingrich,
    May 24, 1995, p. 14300; Aug. 1, 1996, p. 21031) and the Rayburn Room
    (Feb. 1, 2006, p. 541).

    [[Page 415]]

    tion before the Congress (Speaker Rayburn, Oct. 2, 1945, p. 9251). A
    former Member has not been entitled to the privileges of the floor under
    this clause if (1) having a direct personal or pecuniary interest in
    legislation under consideration in the House or reported by any
    committee, or (2) representing any party or organization for the purpose
    of influencing the disposition of legislation pending before the House,
    reported by any committee or under consideration in any committee or
    subcommittee (Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 6.3). The essence of the
    rule has been the former Member's status as one with a personal or
    pecuniary interest and not whether the former Member may have a present
    intent to lobby (Speaker Foley, Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 6.4).
    Even before the adoption of a more categorical form of the rule during
    the 109th Congress, intent to lobby was assumed if a former Member was
    employed or retained as a lobbyist to influence legislative measures as
    described in (2) above (Aug. 1, 1996, p. 21031).
      Even before the addition of what is now paragraph (a)(3), the Speaker
    advised that former Members did not have the privilege of the floor if
    they were in the employ of an organization that was interested in
    legisla

      A former Member must observe the rules of proper decorum while on the
    floor, and the Chair may direct the Sergeant-at-Arms to assist the Chair
    in maintaining such decorum (Sept. 17, 1997, pp. 19026, 19027). A former
    Member may not manifest approval or disapproval of the proceedings
    (VIII, 3635). In the 105th Congress the House adopted a resolution
    offered as a question of the privileges of the House alleging indecorous
    behavior of a former Member and instructing the Sergeant-at-Arms to ban
    the former Member from the floor, and rooms leading thereto, until the
    resolution of a contested election to which he was party (H. Res. 233,
    Sept. 18, 1997, p. 19340).

    [[Page 416]]

    from the Hall of the House and rooms leading thereto by the Speaker.

    Sec. 681. Members' staff.

      5. A person  from the staff of a
    Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may be admitted to the Hall
    of the House or rooms leading thereto under clause 2 only upon prior
    notice to the Speaker. Such persons, and persons from the staff of
    committees admitted under clause 2, may not engage in efforts in the
    Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto to influence Members with
    regard to the legislation being amended. Such persons are admitted only
    to advise the Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or committee
    responsible for their admission. A person who violates this clause may
    be excluded during the session

    Gallery
      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    provision was found in former clause 4 of rule XXXII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6,
    1999, p. 47). This clause was added initially in the 95th Congress (H.
    Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70) to extend the privilege of the floor to
    one person from the staff of a Member having an amendment under
    consideration (but not of a measure's sponsor), and was amended in the
    115th Congress to remove a requirement that personal and committee staff
    remain at the committee tables (sec. 2(i), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2017, p.
    37). The Speaker promulgated regulations for the implementation of this
    clause in the 95th Congress (January 26, 1977, p. 2333), which should be
    read in light of the amendment made in the 115th Congress. In the 97th
    Congress the Speaker announced that personal staff of Members did not
    have the privilege of the floor (Precedents (Smith), ch. 7, Sec. 6.9).
    Staff permitted on the floor under this clause are not permitted to
    distribute literature or otherwise attempt to influence Members in their
    votes (Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4, Sec. 5.9; Sept. 27, 1995, p. 26567)
    and may not applaud during debate (Precedents (Wickham), ch. 4,
    Sec. 5.10).

    682. The various galleries and admission
    thereto.

      6. (a)  The Speaker shall set aside a portion of the west gallery for
    the use of the President, the members of the Cabinet, justices of the
    Supreme Court, foreign ministers and suites, and the members of their
    respective families. The Speaker shall set aside another portion of the
    same gallery for the accommodation of persons to be admitted on the
    cards of Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner.

    [[Page 417]]

    their visitors. No other person shall be admitted to this section.

      (b) The Speaker shall set aside the southerly half of the east gallery
    for the use of the families of Members of Congress. The Speaker shall
    control one bench. On the request of a Member, Delegate, Resident
    Commissioner, or Senator, the Speaker shall issue a card of admission to
    the family of such individual, which may include

      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    provision was found in former rule XXXIII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p.
    47). It was adopted initially in 1880 (V, 7302) and renumbered January
    3, 1953 (p. 24). A gender-based reference was eliminated in the 111th
    Congress (sec. 2(l), H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 2009, p. 7).

    Prohibition on campaign contributions
      On special occasions the House sometimes makes a special rule for
    admission to the galleries (V, 7303), as on the occasion of the
    electoral count (III, 1961), of an address by the President, and of
    public funerals.

    683. Prohibition on distribution of campaign
    contributions.

      7. A  Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or
    employee of the House, or any other person entitled to admission to the
    Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto by this rule, may not
    knowingly distribute a political campaign contribution in the Hall of
    the House or rooms leading thereto.

      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    provision was found in former clause 5 of rule XXXII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6,
    1999, p. 47). It was adopted initially in the 105th Congress (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 7, 1997, p. 121).