Adopting the Rules of the House of Representatives for the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, and for other…

This resolution adopts the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 116th Congress. The resolution adopts the rules of the 115th Congress with amendments that include

• allowing Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to vote in the Committee of the Whole;
• revising annual ethics training requirements;
• providing mandatory anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies for House offices;
• prohibiting Members, officers, and employees of the House from serving as an officer or director of a public company;
• requiring Members to pay for any discrimination settlements against them;
• requiring indicted Members to step down from any committee and leadership positions until disposition of the criminal case;
• reinstating certain provisions of Pay-As-You-Go rules;
• providing for automatic suspension of the debt limit if the House adopts a budget resolution (Gephardt rule);
• requiring committee hearings and markups on bills and joint resolutions before floor consideration;
• revising the rule prohibiting a floor vote on a measure before the third day text is available to require text to be available for 72 hours before a floor vote;
• excluding measures addressing the War Powers Resolution from "motions to table";
• renaming, establishing, or reauthorizing specified congressional committees, commissions, and offices;
• creating a Consensus Calendar, which provides an alternative path to a floor vote for measures with 290 or more cosponsors;
• permitting religious headwear in the Hall of the House;
• authorizing the Speaker to intervene in litigation involving the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act;
• directing the Office of General Counsel to explore legal options for responding to certain rulemaking by the Department of Agriculture regarding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents;
• prohibiting nondisclosure agreements from requiring notice or approval for employees to communicate with certain offices or entities, including the Committee on Ethics and the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights; and
• requiring each House office to prominently display a statement of the rights and protections provided to House employees.

The resolution also bans (1) discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and (2) sexual relationships between Members and committee staff.

For more detailed information, see Congressional Research Service Report R45787, House Rules Changes Affecting Floor Proceedings in the 116th Congress (2019-2020), Congressional Research Service Report R45731, House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 116th Congress (2019-2020), and Congressional Research Service Report R45552, Changes to House Rules Affecting the Congressional Budget Process Included in H.Res. 6 (116th Congress).

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov