The House of Representatives Rules & Procedures

Rules & Committee Work House organized into small groups known as committees –Committees do most of the work Reps. Specialize in a few issues important to their constituents (people in the districts they represent) Party affiliation is important –Procedures organized by affiliation –Republicans on the right, Democrats on the left

House Leadership 1.Organize and unify party members 2.Schedule work of the House 3.Ensure that lawmakers are present for key votes 4.Distribute and collect information 5.Keep House in touch with the President 6.Influence lawmakers to support the policies of their political parties

Speaker of the House Speaker of the House: presiding officer and most powerful leader –Caucus: closed meeting of the majority party chooses the speaker Appoints members of committees Schedules bills Refers bills Follows the VP in line for the presidency

Floor Leaders Majority Leader: speaker’s top assistant –Elected by the majority party Whips: assistant floor leaders –Majority Whip: watch how majority party members intend to vote Minority Leader and minority whips –No power over scheduling work in the house Eric Cantor Kevin McCarthy

Lawmaking in the House All laws start as Bills Once the bill is introduced, Speaker sends it to a committee for review/debate If it survives the committee process, it is placed on one of the 5 House calendars **Both houses must sign the Bill and the President must sign it in order for it to become law

House Rules Committee Serve as the “traffic officer” in the House, helping to direct the flow of majority legislation Most powerful committee: Move bills ahead, hold them back or stop them –Bills that reach the floor for debate are done so by “rule” or special order

Quorum Minimum number of members who must be present to permit a legislative body to take office action Regular session: 218 members Committee as a Whole : 100 members –Debate/amend legislation –Cannot pass the bill