Procedural Distinctions between the House and the Committee of the Whole

Procedural Distinctions between the House
and the Committee of the Whole
Judy Schneider
Specialist on the Congress
Government and Finance Division
The Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, generally referred to
as the Committee of the Whole, is a parliamentary device provided for under House rules
to allow the House to operate as a committee on which every Member of the House
serves. Through this practice, dating to colonial and English antecedents, the House is
able to realize a procedural benefit from having established two somewhat different sets
of rules to govern consideration of various types of measures. Measures placed on the
Union Calendar must be considered in the Committee of the Whole before the House
officially completes action on them, although the committee may also be used to consider
other major bills as well.
Some of the chief distinctions between consideration in the House operating as the
House and consideration in Committee of the Whole are shown in the table presented
below. See [http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml] for more information
on legislative process.
In most cases, the House resolves into the Committee of the Whole under authority
granted to the Speaker in a special rule in accordance with House Rule XVIII, clause 2(b).
Rule XVIII, clause 2 (a) also provides that for certain privileged measures, such as general
appropriation bills, the majority floor manager may move that the House resolve into
Committee of the Whole to consider the measure. The Committee of the Whole is used
to facilitate consideration of legislation because its procedural differences may be used
to permit more members to offer amendments and participate in the debate on a measure
than is normally possible when a measure is considered in the House under the hour rule.
When the Committee of the Whole finishes its consideration of a measure, it rises and
reports back to the House, recommending that the bill be passed by the House with
whatever amendments the committee has approved. For more on the Committee of the
Whole, see CRS Report RS20147, Committee of the Whole: An Introduction.



Table 1. Procedural Distinctions between the House and
Committee of the Whole
HouseCommittee of the Whole
Established by the ConstitutionEstablished anew by the House for
consideration of each specific measure
Mace raisedMace lowered
Presided over by the Speaker of thePresided over by a chairman of the
HouseCommittee of the Whole (appointed by
the Speaker)
Operates under the one-hour rule with noTypically operates under the terms of a
separate procedure for consideration ofspecial rule with amendments considered
amendmentsunder the five-minute rule
Quorum established under theQuorum established by House rules as
Constitution as a majority of Members100 Members
(218 with no vacancies)
1/5 of the Members present (44 with a25 Members considered a sufficient
minimum quorum) considered a sufficientsecond to trigger a recorded vote
second to trigger a recorded vote
Motion for the previous question is inMotion for the previous question is not in
orderorder, although a motion to limit or end
debate may be offered
Motion to recommit is in orderMotion to recommit is not in order
Motion to reconsider is in orderMotion to reconsider is not in order
Routine business of the House is in orderRoutine business of the House is not in
order