The Newly Democratic House Changes Their Rules

Last week the new Democratic House majority passed a number of rule changes aimed at the less scrupulous aspects of the previous Republican regime. The most significant is probably the "pay/go" provision that requires new spending to be offset with increases in revenue or equal reductions in spending, but also included were several new ethics measures. However, most of the ethics reforms are fairly superficial and do not deal with the revolving door or campaign contributions. For those we'll have to wait until later in the session (or potentially much, much longer). The new Democratic majority in the Senate, which is moving through the slower committee process, is expected to deliver their changes next week.

The new House rules are as follows:

House Rule changes:

• Rule X - Organization of committees: Several committee names were altered. The Committee on Education and the Workforce became the Committee on Education and Labor, the Committee on International Relations became the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Resources became the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on Government Reform became the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Science became the Committee on Science and Technology.
• Rule XI - Procedures of committees and unfinished business: Annual ethics training is now required for members, delegates, and employees of the House and will be conducted by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
• Rule XX - Voting and quorum calls: The Speaker of the House is now prohibited from holding votes open beyond the 20 minute limit for the express purpose of changing the outcome of the vote (a dig at former Speaker Dennis Hastert's holding the 2003 vote on the Medicare Modernization Act for nearly three hours).
• Rule XXI- Restrictions on certain bills: New so-called "pay/go" provisions state that all spending increases must be offset by spending reductions or revenue increases. The rule change also institutes restrictions on earmarking by mandating that no bill can be considered that is not presented with a list of earmarks, limited tax benefits, and limited tariff benefits attached and included in the Congressional Record. This applies to all bills coming from committee, conference committee, joint committee, or bills that forgo the committee process.

New House rules:

• Rule XXII - House and Senate relations: This new rule bans the practice of changing a conference report after it has been agreed upon and signed by conferees, a not-uncommon tactic used by the House Republican leadership in previous congresses.
• Rule XXIII - Code of Official Conduct: This new rule aims to end the "K Street Project" by prohibiting members from threatening to retaliate against firms that hire employees who do not have similar partisan affiliations, prohibiting members from using funds (official, personal, or campaign) to pay for the use of privately-owned airplanes and requiring members to disclose all earmark requests and confirm that neither they nor their spouses have a financial stake in those requests.
• Rule XXV - Limitations on outside earned income and acceptance of gifts: This new rule bans lawmakers from receiving gifts or travel reimbursements from lobbyists and foreign agents.