Number: 98-970
Title: Pairing in Congressional Voting: The House
Authors: Christopher M. Davis, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: Under Rule XX, clause 3, the practice of "pairing" involves - under certain procedural circumstances - a Member who is absent during a vote on the House floor arranging with a Member on the opposite side of a specific question who is present during a vote to announce that the Member who is present is forming a "pair" with the absent Member, thus allowing the absent Member to have recorded how he would have voted had he been present. This particular type of pair, where one Member is absent and the other present for the vote, is referred to as a "live pair," although the term no longer appears in the House Rules. Charles W. Johnson, the House Parliamentarian Emeritus, has stated, "Although rarely used, the announcement of live pairs, which involves an agreement between one Member who is present and voting and another on the opposite side of the question, who is absent, is still permitted under Rule XX, clause 3." (See House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House [Washington: GPO, 2003], p. 926.)
Pages: 2
Date: February 2, 2007