Number: 98-710
Title: "Self-Executing" Rules Reported by the House Committee on Rules
Authors: Walter J. Oleszek, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: House Rule X assigns the Committee on Rules jurisdiction over the "order of business of the House." The panel's most noteworthy responsibility is to issue order of business resolutions, usually called "rules," "special rules," or, less commonly, "special orders." Chamber adoption of these rules accomplishes two main objectives: it permits the House to take up measures that typically lack a convenient right-of-way to the floor, and it defines the procedural conditions. One of the new types of rules is called a "self-executing" rule; it embodies a "two-for-one" procedure. This means that when the House adopts a rule it also simultaneously agrees to dispose of a separate matter, which is specified in the rule itself.
Pages: 2
Date: May 19, 2008