Floor privileges of the United States Senate
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The Standing Rules of the Senate are the
parliamentary procedure Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense ...
s adopted by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
that govern its procedure. The Senate's power to establish rules derives from Article One, Section5 of the United States Constitution: "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings..." There are currently forty-five rules, with the latest revision adopted on January 24, 2013. The most recent addition of a new rule occurred in 2006, when The Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 introduced a 44th rule on earmarks. The stricter rules are often waived by
unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...
.


Outline of rules


Quorum

The Constitution provides that a majority of the Senate constitutes a quorum to do business. Under the rules and customs of the Senate, a quorum is always assumed to be present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. Any senator may request a quorum call by "suggesting the absence of a quorum"; a clerk then calls the roll of the Senate and notes which members are present. In practice, senators almost always request quorum calls not to establish the presence of a quorum, but to temporarily delay proceedings without having to adjourn the session. Such a delay may serve one of many purposes; often, it allows Senate leaders to negotiate compromises off the floor or to allow senators time to come to the Senate floor to make speeches without having to constantly be present in the chamber while waiting for the opportunity. Once the need for a delay has ended, any senator may request
unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...
to rescind the quorum call.


Debate

The Senate is presided over by the Presiding Officer, either the President of the Senate (the
Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
) or more often the President pro tempore (in special cases the Chief Justice presides). During debates, senators may speak only if called upon by the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer is, however, required to recognize the first senator who rises to speak. Thus, the Presiding Officer has little control over the course of debate. Customarily, the
majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.
and minority leader are accorded priority during debates, even if another senator rises first. All speeches must be addressed to the Presiding Officer, using the words "Mr. President" or "Madam President". Only the Presiding Officer may be directly addressed in speeches; other members must be referred to in the third person. In most cases, senators refer to each other not by name, but by state, using forms such as "the senior senator from Virginia" or "the junior senator from California". There are very few restrictions on the content of speeches, and there is no requirement that speeches be germane to the matter before the Senate. The Senate Rules provide that no senator may make more than two speeches on a motion or bill on the same legislative day (a legislative day begins when the Senate convenes and ends when it adjourns; hence, it does not necessarily coincide with the calendar day). The length of these speeches is not limited by the rules; thus, in most cases, senators may speak for as long as they please. Often, the Senate adopts unanimous consent agreements imposing time limits. In other cases (for example, for the budget process), limits are imposed by statute. In general, however, the right to unlimited debate is preserved.


Filibuster

The filibuster is an obstructionary tactic used to defeat bills and motions by prolonging debate indefinitely. A filibuster may entail, but does not actually require, long speeches, dilatory motions, and an extensive series of proposed amendments. The longest filibuster speech in the history of the Senate was delivered by Strom Thurmond, who spoke for over twenty-four hours in an unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The Senate may end a filibuster by invoking
cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ' ...
. In most cases, cloture requires the support of three-fifths of the Senate. Cloture is invoked very rarely, particularly because bipartisan support is usually necessary to obtain the required supermajority. If the Senate does invoke cloture, debate does not end immediately; instead, further debate is limited to thirty additional hours unless increased by another three-fifths vote.


Closed session

On occasion, the Senate may go into what is called a secret or closed session. During a closed session, the chamber doors are closed and the galleries are completely cleared of anyone not sworn to secrecy, not instructed in the rules of the closed session, or not essential to the session. Closed sessions are rare and are usually held only under certain circumstances in which the Senate is discussing sensitive subject matter, such as information critical to national security, private communications from the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, or discussions of Senate deliberations during
impeachment trials An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment, but differ as to when in the impeachment process trials take place and how ...
. Any Senator has the right to call a closed session as long as the motion is seconded.


Voting

When debate concludes, the motion in question is put to a vote. In many cases, the Senate votes by
voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...
; the presiding officer puts the question, and Members respond either "Aye!" (in favor of the motion) or "No!" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote. Any senator, however, may challenge the presiding officer's assessment and request a
recorded vote Deliberative assemblies – bodies that use parliamentary procedure to arrive at decisions – use several methods of voting on motions (formal proposal by members of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action). The regular me ...
. The request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth of the senators present. In practice, however, senators second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy. When a recorded vote is held, the clerk calls the roll of the Senate in
alphabetical order Alphabetical order is a system whereby character strings are placed in order based on the position of the characters in the conventional ordering of an alphabet. It is one of the methods of collation. In mathematics, a lexicographical order is t ...
; each senator responds when their name is called. Senators who miss the roll call may still cast a vote as long as the recorded vote remains open. The vote is closed at the discretion of the presiding officer but must remain open for a minimum of fifteen minutes. If the vote is tied, the Vice President, if present, is entitled to a
casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...
. If the Vice President is not present, however, the motion is resolved in the negative.


Committees

Tasks in the Senate are divided among sixteen standing committees, four
select committees Select or SELECT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Select'' (album), an album by Kim Wilde * ''Select'' (magazine), a British music magazine * ''MTV Select'', a television program * ''Select Live'', New Zealand's C4 music program ...
, four joint committees, and occasionally temporary committees. Senate rules establish the policy jurisdictions of each committee; for example, the
Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...
deals with all matters relating to foreign policy. Committees act, in effect, as "little legislatures", monitoring ongoing governmental operations, identifying issues suitable for legislative review, gathering and evaluating information, and recommending courses of action to their parent body in matters relating to their jurisdiction. Senate rules give committees significant gatekeeping authority over legislation that falls under their jurisdiction, with proposed bills submitted to the relevant committee, which can hold hearings, "mark up" bills, consolidate bills into a "clean bill", or ignore the bill altogether (there exist some workarounds for Senators to circumvent committees, but in general Senators work through the committee system). The size of each standing committee is established by Senate rules. The makeup of committees are established through inter-
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...
negotiations before each new Congress, with the percentage of a party's representation within the Senate determining the percentage of seats it will have on each committee.


Reconciliation

Legislation affecting spending, revenues, and the federal debt limit is governed under a special rules process called "Reconciliation" that prohibits filibusters by limiting debate to twenty hours. Congress can pass up to three reconciliation bills per year, with each bill addressing one of the topics of reconciliation (revenue, spending, or the debt limit). However, if Congress passes a reconciliation bill affecting more than one of those topics, it cannot pass another reconciliation bill later in the year affecting one of the topics addressed by the previous reconciliation bill. In practice, reconciliation bills have usually been passed once per year at most. Reconciliation cannot be used to enact or rescind
discretionary spending In American public finance, discretionary spending is government spending implemented through an appropriations bill. This spending is an optional part of fiscal policy, in contrast to social programs for which funding is mandatory and determine ...
(which is controlled through the annual appropriations process) or adjust
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
spending, and is limited by the Byrd Rule, which allows senators to block provisions that are "extraneous" to spending, revenues, or the debt limit. Reconciliation was created by the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (, , ) is a United States federal law that governs the role of the Congress in the United States budget process. The Congressional budget process Titles I through IX of the law are also ...
, and significantly altered with the introduction of the Byrd Rule in 1985 (amended in 1990). Originally infrequently used (it did not see first use until 1980).


Rules by number

There are currently forty-four Standing Rules of the Senate: #SR Rule I: Appointment of a Senator to the Chair #SR Rule II: Presentation of Credentials and Questions of Privilege #SR Rule III: Oaths #SR Rule IV: Commencement of Daily Sessions #SR Rule V: Suspension and Amendment of the Rules #SR Rule VI: Quorum – Absent Senators May Be Sent For #SR Rule VII: Morning Business #SR Rule VIII: Order of Business #SR Rule IX: Messages #SR Rule X: Special Orders #SR Rule XI: Papers – Withdrawal, Printing, Reading of, and Reference #SR Rule XII: Voting Procedure #SR Rule XIII: Reconsideration #SR Rule XIV: Joint Resolutions, and Preambles Thereto #SR Rule XV: Amendments and Resolutions #SR Rule XVI: Appropriations and Amendments to General Appropriation Bills #SR Rule XVII: Reference to Committees; Motions to Discharge; Reports of Committees; and Hearings Available #SR Rule XVIII: Business Continued from Session to Session # SR Rule XIX: Debate #SR Rule XX: Questions for Order #SR Rule XXI: Session with Closed Doors #SR Rule XXII: Precedence of Motions #SR Rule XXIII: Privilege of the Floor #SR Rule XXIV: Appointments of Committee #SR Rule XXV: Standing Committees #SR Rule XXVI: Committee Procedure #SR Rule XXVII: Committee Staff #SR Rule XXVIII: Conference Committees; Reports; Open Meetings #SR Rule XXIX: Executive Sessions #SR Rule XXX: Executive Session – Proceedings on Treaties #SR Rule XXXI: Executive Session – Proceedings on Nominations #SR Rule XXXII: The President Furnished with Copies of Record Executive Sessions #SR Rule XXXIII: Senate Chamber – Senate Wing of the Capitol #SR Rule XXXIV: Public Financial Disclosure #SR Rule XXXV: Gifts #SR Rule XXXVI: Outside Earned Income #SR Rule XXXVII: Conflict of Interest #SR Rule XXXVIII: Prohibition of Unofficial Office Accounts #SR Rule XXXIX: Foreign Travel #SR Rule XL:
Franking Privilege Franking comprises all devices, markings, or combinations thereof ("franks") applied to mails of any class which qualifies them to be postally serviced. Types of franks include uncanceled and precanceled postage stamps (both adhesive and printed o ...
and Radio and Television Studios #SR Rule XLI: Political Fund Activity; Definitions #SR Rule XLII: Employment Practices #SR Rule XLIII: Representation by Members #SR Rule XLIV: Congressionally Directed Spending and Related Items The latest change was the introduction in 2006 of a 44th rule on earmarks, by the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act.


References


External links


Official text, Standing Rules of the Senate

Standing Rules of the Senate
One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, November 4, 2013 (PDF format) {{United States Congress Parliamentary procedure United States Senate