The House’s 21-day rule briefly checked the Rules Committee’s veto power

Evidence

Some have advocated that the Rules Committee be given even more power, sothat its responsibility for the work of the House would be clear. Others have insisted that the Committee should be limited to its role of traffic cop. In 1949, the House enacted a so-called 21-day rule whereby the chairman of a committee that had favorably reported a bill could call it up for House floor debate if the Rules Committee had failed to act favorably on it within 21 days. This rule was successfully invoked eight times in the 81st Congress and its very existence must have influenced the Rules Committee. In 1951, however, the 21-day rule was repealed. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 4204

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Limited legislative sessions crippled planning and shifted lawmaking initiative to executives — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 4174; A Senate filibuster threat spares House lawmakers from addressing gun policy

Broader Connections

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