Amendments in the Senate: Types and Forms Page: 1 of 2
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Order Code 98-614 GOV
Updated May 19, 2003
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Amendments in the Senate: Types and Forms
James V. Saturno
Specialist on the Congress
Government and Finance Division
Distinctions Among Amendments
The amending process is central to the consideration of legislation by the Senate, and
the rules, practices, and precedents that underlie this process frequently depend on
distinguishing among amendments based on their type and form. Simply put, not all
amendments are equal in a procedural sense. When an amendment to a measure is offered
in the Senate, and while the amendment is pending, it is normally in order for other
amendments to be offered dealing with the same portion of the measure. The relative
precedence of an amendment determines whether it can be offered while another
amendment is pending, and, if it can, that it be voted on first. Amending opportunities
available in the Senate depend on what amendments have already been offered, and
several different "amendment trees" can develop depending on circumstances.
Precedence depends on the relationship between the degree, form, and scope of the
pending amendments and the ones to be offered. Distinguishing among the types and
forms of amendments therefore has implications for what alternatives the Senate may
choose among, and how many amendments may be pending at one time. For more detail
on these implications, see CRS Report 98-853, The Amending Process in the Senate. For
more information on legislative process, see
[http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml].
Degrees of Amendments
A fundamental aspect of the amending process in the Senate is that it is limited to
two degrees. Generally amendments may be offered to the measure under consideration
(first-degree), and to amendments to the measure (second-degree). Second-degree
amendments have precedence over first-degree amendments. That means not only that
second-degree amendments are offered while a first-degree amendment is pending, but
also that they must be disposed of before the Senate can vote on the first-degree
amendment, as it may have been amended. Senate rules do not allow third-degree
amendments.
Forms of Amendments
Amendments may also be distinguished by whether they are posed in the form of:
(1) a motion to strike out some existing text from a measure (or from a first-degree
amendment); (2) a motion solely to insert some new text into a measure (or into a first-
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Saturno, James V. Amendments in the Senate: Types and Forms, report, May 19, 2003; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc821126/m1/1/: accessed April 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.