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Points of Order, Rulings, and Appeals in the House of Representatives
prior rulings on similar questions. Generally, the correctness of rulings is not in doubt. Second,
most members of the majority party can be expected to support a ruling made by that party's
elected leader or another Member whom the Speaker has designated to preside.
Points of order are to be distinguished from parliamentary inquiries. Parliamentary inquiries are
questions that Members pose to the Speaker about the current parliamentary situation. The
Speaker's replies to these inquiries are explanatory; they are not rulings, so they are not subject to
appeal.10 Further, some decisions of the chair are not subject to appeal. For example, no Member
can challenge the way in which the Speaker exercises his or her discretionary power of
recognition, nor can a Member appeal the Speaker's ruling that a proposed motion is not in order
because it is dilatory."
For additional information, see House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures
of the House, by Charles W. Johnson, John V Sullivan, and Thomas J. Wickham Jr. (Washington:
GPO, 2017), chapter 2 ("Amendments"), chapter 3 ("Appeals"), chapter 37 ("Points of Order;
Parliamentary Inquiries"), and chapter 50 ("Rules and Precedents of the House"). It is also
available electronically at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-115/content-
detail.html.
Author Contact Information
Valerie Heitshusen
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process
vheitshusen@crs.loc.gov, 7-8635
Acknowledgments
The original version of this report was written by Stanley Bach, formerly a senior specialist in the
Legislative Process at CRS. The listed author has revised and updated this report and is available to
respond to inquiries on the subject.
10 House Practice, ch. 3, 3.
" See House Practice, ch. 3,
3, for other examples of chair decisions not subject to appeal.
Congressional Research Service
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