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Questions of Privilege in the House: Minority Party Tools for Unity, Accountability, and Reform
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Rule IX of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives provides that questions of the privileges of the House shall be "those affecting the rights of the House collectively, its safety, dignity, and the integrity of its proceedings...." It is the thesis of this paper that, in recent years, as the House has grown more partisan, the right to raise questions of House privileges has become a more important and frequently used tool of the minority party to call attention to and check perceived abuses of the House rules and processes by the majority party. The tool has been used as a spur for action on institutional reforms. It serves as a rallying point for minority party unity. It provides a spotlight to focus media and public attention on perceived the majority party excesses. It constitutes one of the few formal means by which the minority party can hold the majority party publicly accountable for its stewardship of the institution. As the majority party delegates increasing powers to its leadership under a quasi, party governance model in the House, the more important the question of privilege tool will be for the minority party, and individual members, as a check on attempts at unbridled power. This paper explores the use of the question of privilege device over the last three decades with special emphasis on those instances having significant institutional impact.
Disclosure: As a staff member for House Rules Committee members John B. Anderson, Trent Lott, Lynn Martin, and Gerald B.H. Solomon between 1969 and 1997, the author was involved in developing several of the question of privilege strategies and resolutions described in this paper.
A little before 3:30 p.m. on Monday, December 8, 2003, House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.) rose at the Democratic Leadership table in the Chamber of the U.S. House of
Representatives. AMr. Speaker,@ she announced, A I rise to a question of privilege of the House
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| | Authors: Wolfensberger, Don. |
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Rule IX of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives provides that questions of the
privileges of the House shall be "those affecting the rights of the House collectively, its safety,
dignity, and the integrity of its proceedings...." It is the thesis of this paper that, in recent years,
as the House has grown more partisan, the right to raise questions of House privileges has
become a more important and frequently used tool of the minority party to call attention to and
check perceived abuses of the House rules and processes by the majority party. The tool has been
used as a spur for action on institutional reforms. It serves as a rallying point for minority party
unity. It provides a spotlight to focus media and public attention on perceived the majority party
excesses. It constitutes one of the few formal means by which the minority party can hold the
majority party publicly accountable for its stewardship of the institution. As the majority party
delegates increasing powers to its leadership under a quasi, party governance model in the House,
the more important the question of privilege tool will be for the minority party, and individual
members, as a check on attempts at unbridled power. This paper explores the use of the question
of privilege device over the last three decades with special emphasis on those instances having
significant institutional impact.
Disclosure: As a staff member for House Rules Committee members John B. Anderson, Trent
Lott, Lynn Martin, and Gerald B.H. Solomon between 1969 and 1997, the author was involved in
developing several of the question of privilege strategies and resolutions described in this paper.
A little before 3:30 p.m. on Monday, December 8, 2003, House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.) rose at the Democratic Leadership table in the Chamber of the U.S. House of
Representatives. AMr. Speaker,@ she announced, A I rise to a question of privilege of the House
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