What these Freedom Caucus conservatives plan to do on House Rules Committee
Cami Mondeaux
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As part of his concessions to secure the House speakership, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) agreed to place three far-right conservatives on the chamber’s powerful Rules Committee — giving them power over how legislation can reach the House floor for a vote.
To secure the speaker’s gavel, McCarthy agreed to name three members of the House Freedom Caucus to the Rules Committee, according to the Hill. As a result, McCarthy named Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Ralph Norman (R-SC), as well as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who is not a member of the caucus but frequently votes with them.
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Now, the trio is planning to enforce a more “open” House when it comes to introducing and voting on legislation.
“We just need to make sure that we’re applying the rules, the germaneness rules, the, you know, single-subject rules, and then figure out how that’s all gonna get down to the floor under the right rules,” Roy told the outlet. “Is it going to be a structured rule, an open rule?”
Lawmakers got their first experience of what this “open process” would look like on Friday when the House voted on the Strategic Production Response Act, which seeks to limit the president’s ability to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Members submitted more than 140 amendments thanks to the revival of the lower chamber’s modified open rule, which allows any lawmaker to propose an amendment before the legislation is introduced on the floor.
The open rule hasn’t been used by House lawmakers since May 2016. However, the method was revived after several conservative Republicans pushed for a more open legislative process in the lead-up to the House leadership elections in early January. The open rule was approved by the House Rules Committee, which has control over how each piece of legislation is introduced or voted on.
Roy and Norman said they plan to use their new positions on the committee to ensure the House does not forgo process agreements by passing single-subject bills or releasing bill language just hours ahead of a final vote.
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“We will not accept, as an example, with the omnibus 4,155 pages long, getting it the night before,” Norman said, according to the Hill. “A lot of things [get] proposed as urgent that are not urgent. It’s kind of like beauty’s in the eyes of the beholder.”
The House Rules Committee is set to be composed of nine Republicans and four Democrats, giving the GOP outsize influence over the panel. However, Roy, Norman, and Massie could use that to their advantage by standing together as an independent faction to negotiate their own rules at the expense of their Republican counterparts.