HRES-6 : Still Just a Bill

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; and
• authorizing the Speaker to intervene in litigation involving the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

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