/  About the Committee on Rules - History and Processes

About the Committee on Rules - History and Processes

The Committee

The Committee on Rules is amongst the oldest standing committees in the House, having been first formally constituted on April 2, 1789. The Committee is commonly known as “The Speaker’s Committee” because it is the mechanism that the Speaker uses to maintain control of the House Floor, and was chaired by the Speaker until 1910. Because of the vast power wielded by the Rules Committee, its ratio has traditionally been weighted in favor of the majority party, and has been in its “2 to 1 1” (9 majority and 4 minority members) configuration since the late 1970s.

The Rules Committee has two broad categories of jurisdiction: special orders for the consideration of legislation (known as “special rules” or “rules”) and original jurisdiction matters. A special rule provides the terms and conditions of debate on a measure or matter, consideration of which constitutes the bulk of the work of the Rules Committee. The Committee also considers original jurisdiction measures, which commonly represent changes to the standing rules of the House, or measures that contain special rules, such as the expedited procedures in trade legislation.

The Committee has the authority to do virtually anything during the course of consideration of a measure, including deeming it passed. The Committee can also include a self- executed amendment which could rewrite just parts of a bill, or the entire measure. In essence, so long as a majority of the House is willing to vote for a special rule, there is little that the Rules Committee cannot do.

Chairman Pete Sessions

Pete Sessions (R-TX) has served in the House of Representatives since 1997 and as chairman of the House Rules Committee since 2013 (113th and 114th Congress).

Sessions grew up in Waco, Texas and after graduating from Southwestern University went on to work in the private sector for 16 years. Throughout his time in Congress, Sessions has worked to pursue market-based reforms to help the government operate more efficiently.

As an Eagle Scout, Sessions stays active within the Boy Scouts of America community and is the recipient of the National Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. Sessions is the parent of a child with Down syndrome and is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities. Congressman Sessions resides in Dallas, Texas and continues to be active in his community where he is an Adopt-A-Shoreline Team Leader in the effort to maintain White Rock Lake in Dallas and an Advisor to the President of Special Olympics Texas.

Rules Committee Members

  • Pete Sessions
    (R-TX)

    Congressman Sessions has served in the House of Representatives since 1997 and has been the Chairman of Rules since 2013

  • Tom Cole
    (R-OK)

    Congressman Cole serves as the Vice-Chairman for the Rules Committee as well as a Deputy Whip for the Republican Conference

  • Rob Woodall
    (R-GA)

    Congressman Woodall serves as the Chairman of the House Rules Committee Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process

  • Michael Burgess
    (R-TX)

    Congressman Burgess serves as the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health

  • Doug Collins

    (R-GA)

    Congressman Collins serves as the Chairman of the House Rules Committee Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House

  • Bradley Byrne
    (R-AL)

    Congressman Byrne serves on the House Armed Services Committee, Education and the Worksforce Committee, as well as the Rules Commitee 

  • Dan Newhouse
    (R-WA)

    Congressman Newhouse serves on multiple Appropriations Committee Subcommittees as well as on Rules

  • Ken Buck
    (R-CO)

    Congressman Buck serves on the House Judiciary Committee and House Rules Committee 

  • Liz Cheney
    (R-WY)

    Congresswoman Cheney serves on the Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House as well as the House Armed Services Committee and Natural Resources Committee.

  • Minority Members

  • James McGovern
    (D-MA)

    Congressman McGovern serves as the Ranking Member and on the House Rules Committee Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House  

  • Alcee Hastings
    (D-FL)

    Congressman Hastings serves as the Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process

  • Jared Polis
    (D-CO)

    Congressman Polis serves on the House Rules Committee Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process 

  • Norma Torres
    (D-CA)

    Congresswoman Torres represents the 35th District of California and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committe and Natural Resources Committee as well as the Rules Committee. 

Special Rule Process

The process for reporting a special rule is a mixture of House rules, committee rules, and long-established practice.

  1. The committee of jurisdiction sends a letter requesting a hearing by the Rules Committee. The letter usually includes a request that a hearing be scheduled, a stipulation of the type of special rule desired, the amount of debate time needed, and any waivers of House rules necessary for consideration of the bill.
  2. Rules Committee holds a hearing where the witnesses are the Members of the House who sit on the committee of jurisdiction or want to offer amendments.
  3. Rules Committee marks up a special rule. The Rules Committee, in consultation with the majority leadership and the substantive committee chairmen, determines the type of rule to be granted, including the amount of general debate, the amendment process, and waivers to be granted, if any.
  4. The special rule is reported and filed. Special rules must be filed from the floor while the House is in session.
  5. The special rule is considered and debated in the House. After a one-day layover, special rules may be considered on the House floor at any time. A two-thirds vote is necessary to consider a special rule on the same day that it is reported. The rule is debated under the hour rule. Special rules reported by the Rules Committee are debated under a House rule that permits Members specifically recognized by the Chair to hold the floor for no more than one hour. The hour is managed by the majority party member of the Rules Committee calling up the rule, not the committee that reported the underlying bill. Out of custom, one-half the time is yielded to a minority member of the Rules Committee. At the end of debate, the previous question is put to a vote in order to cut off further debate, prevent the offering of additional amendments to the rule, and bring the special rule to an immediate vote.

Special Rule Types

Rules are traditionally referred to along a spectrum, where on one end they are open and the other they are closed. While there is wide variation in the middle, there are certain standard kinds of rules.

Open Rules—permit the offering of any amendment that otherwise complies with House rules, and allows debate under the 5-minute rule.

Modified-Open Rules—operate much like an open rule, but have some restriction on the “universe” of amendments, either through a pre-printing requirement or an overall time limit on consideration of amendments.

Structured Rules—specify that only certain amendments may be considered and specify the time for debate.

Closed Rules—effectively eliminate the opportunity to consider amendments, other than those reported by the committee reporting the bill.

Chairman of the Standing House Committee on Rules

(1849-1850; 1880 to present)

The House established a standing Committee on Rules by resolution on December 27, 1849, at the opening of the 31st Congress (1849-1851). It was terminated as a standing committee in the second session of that Congress, when the House reverted to its longtime practice of appointing a temporary select committee on rules at the opening of each Congress. On March 2, 1880, during the 46th Congress, the Committee on Rules was again re-established as a standing committee, and that status was continued under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946.

  • Twenty-seven individuals have chaired the standing Committee on Rules; the very first chairman was David Kaufman of Texas.
  • The longest-serving chairman was Howard Smith of Virginia who chaired the committee from 1955 to 1967.
  • More Members from New York (5) have chaired the committee than any other state: Bertrand Snell, John O’Conner, James Delaney, Gerald Solomon, and Louise Slaughter. Slaughter is the only woman to have chaired the committee.
  • Seven Speakers of the House chaired the committee from 1880 until 1910 when House Rules were modified after the Cannon Revolt to remove the Speaker from the chairmanship: Samuel Randall of Pennsylvania, J. Warren Keifer of Ohio, John Carlisle of Kentucky, Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine, Charles Crisp of Georgia, David Henderson of Iowa, and Joseph Cannon of Illinois.[1]
CONGRESS (YEARS)NAMEPARTYSTATE
31st (1849–50)David KaufmanDEMTX
46th (1880–81)Samuel RandallDEMPA
47th (1881–83)J. Warren KeiferREPOH
48th–50th (1883–89)John CarlisleDEMKY
51st (1889–91)Thomas Brackett ReedREPME
52nd–53rd (1891–95)Charles CrispDEMGA
54th–55th (1895–99)Thomas Brackett ReedREPME
56th–57th (1899–1903)David HendersonREPIA
58th–61st (1903–10)Joseph CannonREPIL
61st (1910–11)John DalzellREPPA
62nd–64th (1911–17)Robert HenryDEMTX
65th (1917–19)Edward PouDEMNC
66th–67th (1919–23)Philip CampbellREPKS
68th–71st (1923–31)Bertrand SnellREPNY
72nd–73rd (1931–35)Edward PouDEMNC
74th–75th (1935–39)John O'ConnerDEMNY
76th–79th (1939–47)Adolph SabathDEMIL
80th (1947–49)Leo AllenREPIL
81st–82nd (1949–51)Adolph SabathDEM IL
83rd (1953–55)Leo AllenREPIL
84th–89th (1955–67)Howard SmithDEMVA
90th–92nd (1967–73)William ColmerDEMMS
93rd–94th (1973–77)Ray MaddenDEMIN
95th (1977–79)James DelaneyDEMNY
96th–97th (1979–83)Richard Bolling DEMMO
98th–101st (1983–89)Claude PepperDEMFL
101st–103rd (1989–95)J. Joseph MoakleyDEMMA
104th–105th (1995–99)Gerald SolomonREPNY
106th–109th (1999–2007)David DreierREPCA
110th–111th (2007–09)Louise SlaughterDEMNY
112th (2011–13)David DreierREPCA
113th–114th (2013–18)Pete SessionsREPTX

Hearing Room Committee Chair Portraits

  • Louise Slaughter

    (D-NY)

    Entering Congress in 1987, Louise Slaughter is the first woman to represent Western New York, and in 2007, became the first female chair of the Rules Committee. Slaughter was chairwoman of the Committee from 2007 to 2011 (110th-111th Congresses) and has also served as Ranking Member while in the minority party. Congresswoman Slaughter has an interest in addressing science and health-related issues as she has a background in microbiology and public health. 

  • John "Joe" Moakley
    (D-MA)

    Congressman Moakley serves as chairman of the House Rules Committee from 1989 to 1995 (101st-103rd Congresses). Moakley opposed the legislative veto and was vindicated when the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional in 1983

  • Claude Pepper
    (D-FL)

    Congressman Pepper served as chairman of the House Rules Committee from 1983 until his death in 1989 (98th-101st Congresses). Pepper was first elected to the United States Senate in 1936, and is one of very few individuals to subsequently serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Shortly before his death, George H.W. Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

  • Gerald Solomon
    (R-NY)

    Congressman Solomon was chairman of the House Rules Committee from 1995 to 1999 (104th-105th Congresses). As a retired Marine, Solomon fought for veterans’ benefits throughout his time in Congress. Solomon was well-known for the “Solomon Amendment,” which amended the United States Code to allow for federal grants to be denied to institutions of higher education if they prohibit ROTC or military recruitment on campus.

  • Ray Madden
    (D-IN)

    Congressman Madden was 80 years old when he became chairman of the House Rules Committee in 1973 (93rd Congress), and served until he lost reelection four years later during the 94th Congress. Prior to being elected to Congress, he served as a judge in Omaha, Nebraska but resigned to serve in the Navy during the First World War. 

  • Richard Bolling
    (D-MO)

    Congressman Bolling served as chairman of the House Rules Committee from 1979 to 1983 (96th-97th Congresses). Bolling cited his role in helping pass the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction as the accomplishment that gave him most pride.

  • Philip Campbell
    (R-KS)

    Congressman Campbell served as chairman of the House Rules Committee from 1919 to 1923 (66th-67th Congresses). Campbell was born in Canada but moved to Kansas with his parents as a child. During his time in Congress, Campbell spoke out against Jim Crow laws.