HRES5-119

What This Bill Does

This resolution is the House rules package for the 119th Congress. It adopts the House rules from the 118th Congress, subject to amendments and separate orders. It changes rule IX so a resolution causing a vacancy in the Office of Speaker is not privileged unless offered by a majority-party Member with eight majority-party cosponsors. It permits committees to adopt electronic voting rules under regulations submitted by the Rules Committee and House Administration Committee chairs. It renames the Committee on Oversight and Accountability as the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, renames the Committee on Education and the Workforce as the Committee on Education and Workforce, removes Office of Diversity and Inclusion references, and treats Office of Congressional Ethics references as Office of Congressional Conduct references. It also creates Article V memorial public-availability procedures, preserves spending-reduction-account rules for appropriations bills, continues the China select committee and House Democracy Partnership, updates the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and gives special floor procedures to early bills on Title IX athletics, immigration detention and removability, sanctuary jurisdictions, fleeing federal officers, abortion-survivor care, International Criminal Court sanctions, Taiwan tax rules, and related priorities.

Who Benefits and How

House majority leadership benefits because the motion-to-vacate threshold makes a privileged Speaker-removal effort harder without majority-party support. Committee chairs benefit because electronic voting authority can make committee markups and meetings easier to administer if their committees adopt rules under the required regulations. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Committee on Education and Workforce benefit from official name changes that align House rules with majority organizational choices. The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party benefits from continued investigative jurisdiction through 2026 focused on economic, technological, security, and ideological threats. The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission benefits from clarified access to committee resources and separate staffing support. Supporters of the early priority bills benefit because section 5 gives those bills immediate protected consideration with points of order waived.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Members outside the majority party, and majority Members without eight majority cosponsors, bear a burden because they cannot use the privileged motion-to-vacate procedure. House committees that use electronic voting must comply with regulations printed in the Congressional Record by the Rules and House Administration chairs. House administrative offices must implement office and committee renamings, update references, and support Article V memorial publication. Appropriations drafters must include spending-reduction accounts in general appropriation bills. Members seeking open amendment procedures on early priority bills bear procedural limits because section 5 waives points of order and orders the previous question to final passage.

Key Provisions

• Adopts the 118th Congress House rules as the 119th Congress rules with amendments and separate orders.
• Limits privileged Speaker-vacancy resolutions to majority-party Members with eight majority-party cosponsors.
• Authorizes committees to adopt electronic voting under Rules Committee and House Administration regulations.
• Renames the Oversight and Education committees and updates Office of Congressional Conduct references.
• Requires spending-reduction-account procedures in general appropriation bills.
• Continues the China select committee, House Democracy Partnership, and Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission with updated terms.
• Provides special floor procedures for early priority bills including Title IX athletics, immigration, sanctuary jurisdictions, abortion-survivor care, ICC sanctions, and Taiwan tax rules.