House Rules and Precedents Affecting Committee Markup Procedures Page: 2 of 5
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House as in Committee of the Whole
Over time, markup procedures in standing committees of the House of
Representatives have come to generally conform to practices the House follows when it
conducts business on the floor under a rarely-used set of procedures called consideration
by the "House as in Committee of the Whole." It is important to note that consideration
by the "House as in Committee of the Whole" is not the same as the more common
practice of the House "resolving itself into the Committee of the Whole House" but is,
instead, a more infrequently used hybrid set of procedures that combines elements of both
procedures used in the House and procedures used the Committee of the Whole. It is not
a practice that is defined in the House Rules.
The House parliamentarian provides guidance when he notes in the commentary
accompanying Section XXX of Jefferson's Manual that "[t]he procedures applicable in
the House as in the Committee of the Whole generally apply to proceedings in committees
of the House of Representatives." He also points out several exceptions to this general
statement, some of which are discussed below.
It should be emphasized that the rules of the House do not explicitly direct House
committees to follow the procedures applicable in the "House as in Committee of the
Whole"; this nearly universal practice has simply evolved over time. It is generally left
to each committee to enforce or disregard its procedures governing debate and
amendment during markup sessions.
On the Floor
There is a distinctive set of procedures that the House follows when it considers a
measure on the floor in the House as in Committee of the Whole. These procedures are
not spelled out in the House's standing rules; they are a matter of precedent and the House
does not use them very often.
There are four circumstances in which the House may consider measures in the
House as in Committee of the Whole. First, when the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform calls up a bill on one of the days specially set aside for measures
concerning the District of Columbia, the House may agree by unanimous consent to
consider that bill in the House as in Committee of the Whole. Second, the House
sometimes has agreed, by unanimous consent, to consider an appropriations or rescission
measure in this way. Third, private bills are to be considered in the House as in
Committee of the Whole. Fourth, this set of procedures is to be used for considering
measures that are on the Union Calendar (or would be placed on the Union Calendar if
reported from committee) and that are brought to the floor by unanimous consent. In the
last two cases, however, these bills usually are passed without any formal debate, so the
procedures, while technically in force, are rarely actually invoked.
As its name suggests, the procedures applicable in the House as in Committee of the
Whole combine elements of the procedures that apply in the House and those followed
in Committee of the Whole. When a bill is considered in the House as in Committee of
the Whole, the Speaker continues to preside. A quorum is 218 members, as opposed to
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Davis, Christopher M. House Rules and Precedents Affecting Committee Markup Procedures, report, November 26, 2008; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820924/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.