Rules drafted by the new Democratic majority would reinstitute PAYGO budget rules, update the 'Gephardt Rule' on debt limit, and repeal the dynamic scoring requirement.

On February 3, by a vote of 234-197, the House passed H. Res. 6, the first title of a package of rules changes drafted by the new Democratic leadership. Three Democrats voted against the package: Ro Khanna (CA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Tulsi Gabbard (HI). Three Republicans supported it: Tom Reed (NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) and John Katko (NY).

Attached with this alert is the legislative text of H. Res. 6, the rules package, as well as PDFs of a section-by-section staff summary of the rules (14 pages) and "Restoring Congress for the People," a 14-page document promoting the rules changes prepared by House Democrats.

Democratic leaders said the changes reflected their intention to make the legislative process more transparent and diverse, with stronger ethics standards. The package includes dozens of provisions requested by members of the Democratic Caucus and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. The majority of the rules changes were contained in H. Res. 6, but a second title establishing a select committee on modernizing Congress came to the floor on January 4. A third title of the package, authorizing the House's general counsel to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, will come to the floor the week of January 7.

Restoring PAYGO. The new rules would restore a "pay-as-you-go" provision that requires budget offsets for legislation that increases the deficit. Such offsets could be in the form of spending cuts or tax increases. House Democratic leaders noted that a law already on the books requires newly enacted legislation affecting mandatory spending or revenues (excluding emergency bills) to be offset, a process in which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) tracks legislation on PAYGO scorecards and the President can order sequestration cuts if the overall budget impact is greater than zero. The PAYGO rule that Democrats operated under from 2007–2010 was repealed by the Republican majority in 2011, replaced with a "CutGo" rule that required offsets for bills that increased the deficit but prohibited tax increases.

Debt limit. The rules package brings back an updated version of the old "Gephardt Rule" allowing the automatic adoption of a debt limit suspension if the House adopts a budget resolution. According to the staff summary, the rule "provides that when the House adopts a budget resolution, a separate joint resolution suspending the federal debt limit through September 30 of the budget year is deemed to have passed the House by the same vote and is engrossed separately and sent to the Senate." House Republicans had abandoned the previous Gephardt Rule in the 1990s.

Other changes. Among other new rules, the package would:

• Require bills to be posted for a full 72 hours before a House vote. Some Democrats contended that Republicans had abused their own three-day rule by interpreting the time-frames for "days" narrowly.
• Require that any bill brought to the floor under a rule must be reported out of committee with at least one hearing held on it. The rule would not take effect until March 1.
• Repeal Republicans' rules that required dynamic scoring of bills, macroeconomic analyses for major legislation and term limits for committee chairs.
• Establish select committees on the climate crisis and on modernizing Congress. The climate panel would aim to coordinate action by committees of jurisdiction on a "Green New Deal" package of bills, CQ Roll Call reported.
• Create a consensus calendar for legislation, allowing sponsors of stalled bipartisan bills that have at least 290 cosponsors to request the bills be placed on the consensus calendar. The House would be required to vote on at least one measure from the calendar each week the chamber is in session.
• Change the "motion to vacate," a maneuver used to oust the Speaker, so that it can only be brought to the floor if offered at the direction of a party caucus or conference. Such a tactic was used against former Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). That change would require a majority of Democrats to move to oust Rep. Pelosi as Speaker.
• Restore certain voting rights for delegates and the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, similar to rights Democrats granted such members the last time they were in the majority.
• Establish a new House Office of Diversity and Inclusion, aimed at developing a diverse workforce, and an Office of the Whistleblower Ombudsman, to develop best practices for House offices to receive reports from whistleblowers.

Changes to ethics rules. Among many other provisions, these would:

• Bar members and staff from serving on corporate boards, starting January 1, 2010. The provision is thought to have been prompted by insider trading charges brought against Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY), who was a board member of Innate Immunotherapeutics.
• Require members indicted for certain felonies to resign from leadership and committee assignments until they are acquitted or the charges are dropped.
• Expand lawmakers' personal liability for paying settlements for their own wrongdoing. House members would have to pay out-of-pocket for any sexual harassment or discrimination settlements.

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ATTACHMENT

Restoring Congress

H. Res, 6 - Rules Package

H. Res, 6 - Section-by-section