From the “Slaughter Solution” to “Supermax” — The Rule for Debating the Health Care bill
March 21, 2010
To: Interested Parties
From: Ranking Republican David Dreier
Subject: From the “Slaughter Solution” to “Supermax” — The Rule for Debating the Health Care bill
While the Democratic leadership has abandoned the “Slaughter Solution” of “deem and enact” for their health care plan, they weren’t content to allow debate to continue according to the Rules of the House. Rather, they expanded their use of the “lock-down” procedures that have become commonplace in rules under the Democratic Majority to even further limit the Minority’s ability to participate in the process. While both parties have used many of these tools individually in the past, we have never before seen them used in tandem. Thus, the Majority has graduated from merely “locking-down” debate in the House to the procedural equivalent of a “Supermax” prison.
The Basics
There are two items that the House must dispose of in order to pass health care reform: (1) the Senate amendments to H.R. 3590 (referred to as the “Senate bill”) and (2) H.R. 4872 (the reconciliation “sidecar”). After the outcry of the American people successfully derailed the “Slaughter Solution,” the rule does provide an up-or-down vote on the Senate bill.
The rule provides for the following general steps to passage of both health care bills:
- Under the rules of the House, the rule is subject to debate and vote on any points of order that could lie against the rule, such as the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act point of order (debatable for 20 minutes on a question of consideration);
- Debate and vote on the rule for consideration of the bills;
- Debate the “topic” of the two bills for 2 hours, equally divided;
- Vote on the motion to adopt the Senate bill without debate (if passed, the Senate bill is cleared for the President and will be enacted);
- If the Senate bill passes, the majority will call up the reconciliation bill without debate;
- Debate for 10 minutes and vote on a Republican motion to recommit the reconciliation bill;
- Vote on the motion to adopt the reconciliation bill.
At the conclusion of that process (assuming that the Democratic majority prevails), House action on the Senate bill will be complete, clearing that legislation for the President. Upon the President’s signature,
the Senate bill will be the law of the land. However, the reconciliation bill is still subject to Senate consideration including the Byrd Rule (or other) points of order and the Senate’s normal amendment process for reconciliation bills. It is almost certain that the House will need to vote on the reconciliation bill again.
The “Supermax” Provisions
As I mentioned, the Majority wants nothing to derail their plans to deliver the Senate bill to the President. Like a rogues’ gallery of procedural provisions, the Majority has assembled virtually every conceivable mechanism for restricting the actions of the Minority from the time the rule is adopted until the House passes the reconciliation bill. The rule denies—
- The guaranteed 40 minutes of debate that arises when the previous question is ordered on a bill without debate;
- The question of consideration on either the Senate bill or the reconciliation bill;
- The ability to have the motion to recommit, or any other motion, read in full;
- The ability of any Member (including the Minority Leader) to notice or get consideration of a resolution outlining something affecting the safety, dignity, and integrity of the proceedings of the House; and,
- The ability of a Member to make any motion other than the 3 motions specifically outlined in the rule, such as a motion to reconsider a vote.
However, it is important to note that the language of the rule states that “the Chair may decline to entertain” the motions and questions described above. That means that the Chair may also entertain those same motions if made by a Member of the Majority party. So the Majority is giving itself the ability to use all of the procedural options available under the rules, while at the same time denying those same tools to the Minority.
Finally, as if those advantages weren’t enough (particularly when combined with their 75 seat majority), the Democratic Majority also grants itself unlimited “time-out” authority to assess and deal with anything unexpected. That means the House could be in the middle of debate, about to vote, or virtually anywhere along the process and the Majority could simply call a time out for anywhere from a few minutes to several hours to break arms or cut deals.
While the Majority finally listened to the American People and abandoned the “Slaughter Solution,” they still managed to hit a new low by restricting the rights of the Minority so completely they have advanced to a new class of “lock-down” rules: the “Supermax” rule.
If you have any questions regarding how this rule operates, please contact the Rules Committee Republican staff at (202) 225-9191.