    [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 404-409]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                    Rule III

    Voting
        the members, delegates, and resident commissioner of puerto rico

    671. Personal interest.

      1.  Every Member shall be present
    within the Hall of the House during its sittings, unless excused or
    necessarily prevented, and shall vote on each question put, unless
    having a direct personal or pecuniary interest in the event of such
    question.

      When the House recodified its rules, it consolidated former rule VIII,
    rule XII, and clause 6(h) of rule X under rule III, except that viable
    provisions of former clause 2 of rule VIII were transferred to current
    clause 3 of rule XX. This clause was adopted initially in 1789, with
    amendment in 1890 (V, 5941). A gender-based reference was eliminated in
    the 111th Congress (sec. 2(l), H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 2009, p. 7). Before
    the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this clause was
    found in former clause 1 of rule VIII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. 47).

      Leaves of absence are presented pending the motion to adjourn (IV,
    3151), and are usually granted by unanimous consent, but sometimes are
    opposed or even refused (II, 1142-1145). Application for leave of
    absence is properly presented by filing with the Clerk the printed form
    to be secured at the desk rather than by oral request from the floor
    (VI, 199). Whether or not they are privileged is a matter of doubt (II,
    1146, 1147). Excuses for absence, as distinguished from leaves of
    absence, may be granted by less than a quorum (IV, 3000-3002). The
    statutes provide that deductions may be made from the salaries of
    Members who are absent without sufficient excuse (II, 1149, 1150); and
    although this law has been enforced (IV, 3011, footnote; VI, 30, 198),
    its general application is not practical under modern conditions. Form
    of resolution for the arrest of Members absent without leave (VI, 686).

    [[Page 405]]

    idea that there is no authority in the House to deprive a Member of the
    right to vote (V, 5937, 5952, 5959, 5966, 5967; VIII, 3072). In one or
    two early instances the Speaker decided that because of personal
    interest, a Member should not vote (V, 5955, 5958); but on all other
    occasions and in the later practice the Speaker has held that the Member
    and not the Chair should determine this question (V, 5950, 5951; VIII,
    3071; Speaker Albert, Dec. 2, 1975, p. 38135; Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 1,
    1979, p. 3748; July 30, 1996, p. 19952; July 16, 2009, pp. 18125,
    18126), and the Speaker has denied the Speaker's own power to deprive a
    Member of the constitutional right to vote (V, 5956; Speaker Albert,
    Dec. 2, 1975, p. 38135; Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 1, 1979, p. 3748).

    Sec. 672. Control of a Member's own vote.

      It  has been found
    impracticable to enforce the provision requiring every Member to vote
    (V, 5942-5948), and such question, even if entertained, may not
    interrupt a pending record vote (V, 5947). The weight of authority also
    favors the

      The House has at times excused Members from voting in cases of
    personal interest (III, 2294; V, 5962; Aug. 2, 1949, pp. 10591, 10592;
    Oct. 20, 1951, p. 13746; July 21, 1954, p. 11262; July 28, 1955, p.
    11930; July 12, 1956, p. 12566).

    Sec. 673. Nature of disqualifying personal interest.

      It  is a
    principle of ``immemorial observance'' that a Member should withdraw
    when a question concerning that Member arises (V, 5949); but it has been
    held that the disqualifying interest must be such as affects the Member
    directly (V, 5954, 5955, 5963), and not as one of a class (V, 5952;
    VIII, 3071, 3072; Speaker Bankhead, May 31, 1939, p. 6359; Speaker
    Albert, Dec. 2, 1975, p. 38135). In a case in which question affected
    the titles of several Members to their seats, each refrained from voting
    in his own case, but did vote on the identical cases of his associates
    (V, 5957, 5958). A Member should not vote on direct questions affecting
    that Member, but has sometimes voted on incidental questions (V, 5960,
    5961).

    Sec. 674. Voting.

      2.  (a) A Member may not authorize any
    other person to cast the vote of such Member or record the presence of
    such Member in the House or the Committee of the Whole House on the
    state of the Union.

      (b) No other person may cast a Member's vote or record a Member's
    presence in the House or the Committee of the Whole House on the state
    of the Union.

    [[Page 406]]

    Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113). Even before the addition of this
    clause, however, ``ghost voting'' was considered unethical (VII, 1014;
    Dec. 18, 1987, p. 36274).
      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    clause was found in former clause 3 of rule VIII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6,
    1999, p. 47). Gender-based references were eliminated in the 111th
    Congress (sec. 2(l), H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 2009, p. 7). The Committee on
    Standards of Official Conduct (now Ethics) recommended this addition to
    the rules in its May 15, 1980, report on voting anomalies that had
    occurred in the House (H. Rept. 96-991), and the House adopted the rule
    in the 97th Congress (H.

    Delegates and the Resident Commissioner
      In the 116th and 117th Congresses the House permitted Members to vote
    by proxy on behalf of other Members during a designated public health
    emergency. A Member authorizing another Member to serve as their proxy
    had to inform the Clerk by signed letter, and such authorization was
    revoked upon a subsequent letter of revocation or when an authorizing
    Member voted in person (sec. 1(a), H. Res. 965, May 15, 2020, p. _; sec.
    3(s), H. Res. 8, Jan. 4, 2021, p. _). The Chair did not look behind such
    signed letter (Feb. 26, 2021, p. _). A Member was not permitted to serve
    as a proxy for more than 10 Members concurrently (sec. 2(a), H. Res.
    965, May 15, 2020, p. _). During the 117th Congress, this authority was
    extended to votes taken in the Committee of the Whole and to Delegates
    and the Resident Commissioner voting therein (sec. 3, H. Res. 1230, July
    19, 2022, p. _).

    675. Committee service.

      3.  (a) In a Committee of the Whole
    House on the State of the Union, each Delegate and the Resident
    Commissioner shall possess the same powers and privileges as Members of
    the House. Each Delegate and the Resident Commissioner shall be elected
    to serve on standing committees in the same manner as Members and shall
    possess in such committees the same powers and privileges as the other
    members of the committee.

    [[Page 407]]

    the Whole House on the state of the Union. The latter power was subject
    to former clause 2(d) of rule XXIII (later changed to clause 6(h) of
    rule XVIII) (providing for immediate reconsideration in the House of
    questions resolved in the Committee of the Whole by a margin within
    which the votes of Delegates and the Resident Commissioner were
    decisive; see Sec. 985, infra). The changes effected to this rule in the
    103d Congress were revoked in the 104th Congress (sec. 212, H. Res. 6,
    Jan. 4, 1995, p. 462), reinstated in the 110th Congress (H. Res. 78,
    Precedents (Smith), ch. 7, Sec. 2.17), revoked in the 112th Congress
    (sec. 2(e)(4), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p. 80), and reinstated in the
    116th Congress (sec. 102(b)(1), H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 2019, p. _). In the
    116th Congress, clause 6 of rule XVIII was amended to codify a previous
    interpretation of this rule that Delegates and the Resident Commissioner
    are counted for purposes of establishing a quorum in the Committee of
    the Whole (see Sec. Sec. 982, 1A983a, and 1A984, infra; Feb. 8, 2007, p.
    3550).
      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    provision was found in former rule XII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. 47).
    The first form of paragraph (a) was adopted in 1871, and it was
    perfected by amendments in 1876, 1880, 1887, and 1892 (II, 1297).
    Reference to the Resident Commissioner was first found in 1904 (II,
    1306). Paragraph (a) was again amended on January 2, 1947 (Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946), August 2, 1949 (p. 10618), February 2, 1951
    (p. 883), January 22, 1971 (H. Res. 5, 92d Cong., p. 144), January 3,
    1973 (H. Res. 6, 93d Cong., p. 26), January 3, 1991 (H. Res. 5, 102d
    Cong., p. 39), and January 5, 2011 (H. Res. 5, 112th Cong., p. 81)
    (technical correction). Paragraph (a) was completely revised in the 103d
    Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. 49) to provide that each of the
    Delegates and the Resident Commissioner be elected to committees of the
    House on the same bases, vote in any committees on which they serve, and
    vote on questions arising in the Committee of

      The constitutionality of granting to Delegates the right to vote in
    the Committee of the Whole under this rule, as circumscribed by former
    clause 2(d) of rule XXIII (later changed to clause 6(h) of rule XVIII),
    was upheld based on the premise that immediate ``revote'' where votes
    cast by Delegates had been decisive rendered their votes merely symbolic
    and not an investment of true legislative power. Michel v. Anderson, 14
    F.3d 623 (D.C. Cir. 1994).

      The Office of Delegate was established by ordinance of the Continental
    Congress and confirmed by a law of Congress (I, 400, 421). The nature of
    the office has been the subject of much discussion (I, 400, 403, 473);
    and except as provided by law (I, 431, 526) the qualifications of the
    Delegate also have been a matter of discussion (I, 421, 423, 469, 470,
    473). A territory or district must be organized by law before the House
    will admit a Delegate (I, 405, 407, 411, 412). The Office of Delegate
    from the District of Columbia was established by Public Law 91-405 (84
    Stat. 845). The Offices of Delegate from the Territories of Guam and the
    Virgin Islands were established by Public Law 92-271 (86 Stat. 118). The
    Office of Delegate from American Samoa was established by Public Law 95-
    556 (92 Stat. 2078) and was first filled by the general Federal election
    of 1980. The Office of Delegate from the Commonwealth of the Northern
    Mariana Islands was established by Public Law 110-229 (122 Stat. 868).
    The Office of Resident Commissioner was established (with a four-year
    term) by the Act of March 2, 1917 (39 Stat. 963; 48 U.S.C. 891). The Act
    of May 17, 1932, changed the name of Porto Rico to Puerto Rico (48
    U.S.C. 731a).

    [[Page 408]]

      Under an earlier practice, Delegates did not vote in committee (VI,
    243); but this had not always been so (II, 1301). The Resident
    Commissioner, who under the rules of the 91st and earlier Congresses,
    was designated as an additional member of the Committees on Agriculture,
    Armed Services, and Interior and Insular Affairs, is now elected to
    committees in the same fashion as are other Members.

      The law provides that on the floor of the House a Delegate may debate
    (II, 1290), and may in debate call a Member to order (II, 1295), may
    make any motion that a Member may make except the motion to reconsider
    (II, 1291, 1292), and may make a point of order (VI, 240). A Delegate
    has even moved an impeachment (II, 1303). However, a resolution offered
    from the floor to permit the Delegate of the District of Columbia to
    vote on the articles of impeachment against the President was held not
    to constitute a question of the privileges of the House under rule IX
    (Precedents (Smith), ch. 7, Sec. 2.6). A Delegate may be appointed a
    teller (II, 1302); but the law forbids a Delegate to vote (II, 1290). A
    Delegate has been recognized to object to the consideration of a bill
    (VI, 241), to a unanimous-consent request to concur in a Senate
    amendment (Precedents (Smith), ch. 7, Sec. 2.4), and has made reports
    for committees (July 1, 1958, p. 12870). A discharge petition may not be
    signed by a Delegate or the Resident Commissioner, even by unanimous
    consent (Precedents (Smith), ch. 7, Sec. 2.7) because the phrase in
    clause 2 of rule XV ``a majority of the total membership of the House''
    is construed to mean 218 Members (Speaker Byrns, Apr. 15, 1936, p.
    5509), not including Delegates or the Resident Commissioner. The rights
    and prerogatives of Delegates in parliamentary matters are not limited
    to legislation affecting their own territory (VI, 240).

      At the organization of the House, the Delegates and Resident
    Commissioner are sworn (I, 400, 401); but the Clerk does not put them on
    the roll (I, 61, 62; Precedents (Smith), ch. 7, Sec. 2.5). A Delegate
    (Jan. 9, 2019, p. _) and the Resident Commissioner (Jan. 10, 2023, p. _)
    have been sworn after opening day of a Congress.

      A Delegate resigns in a communication addressed to the Speaker (II,
    1304). A Delegate may be arrested and censured for disorderly conduct
    (II, 1305), but there has been disagreement as to whether expulsion is
    by a majority or two-thirds vote (I, 469).

      The privileges of the floor with the right to debate were extended to
    Resident Commissioners in the 60th Congress (VI, 244). Before the
    independence of the Philippines it was represented in the House by a
    Resident Commissioner (Deschler, ch. 7, Sec. 3.3).

    Sec. 676. Appointment to select, joint, and conference
    committees.

        (b) The Delegates and the Resident Commissioner may be
    appointed to any select committee, joint committee, or conference
    committee.

    [[Page 409]]

    to authorize their appointment to any conference (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5,
    1993, p. 49), and in the 116th Congress to authorize their appointment
    to any joint committee (sec. 102(c), H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 2019, p._).
      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, paragraph
    (b) was found in former clause 6(h) of rule X (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999,
    p. 47). Paragraph (b), effective January 3, 1975, initially authorized
    the appointment of Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to certain
    conferences (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). Paragraph
    (b) was amended in the 96th Congress to authorize their appointment to
    select committees (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16), in the 103d
    Congress

     end segment .005  deg. segment .006 -- rule IV
    through rule IX  deg.

      Before the adoption and refinement of this paragraph, a Delegate or
    the Resident Commissioner could not be appointed to a conference
    committee (Precedents (Smith), ch. 7, Sec. 2.9; July 20, 1973, p.
    25201); and they could be appointed to a select committee only with the
    permission of the House (Precedents (Smith), ch. 7, Sec. 2.10).