The House of Representatives narrowly passed a 55-page rules package that governs its operations for the 118th Congress and establishes the GOP majority’s priorities.
The proposal passed by a vote of 211-205 on Monday night.
18 lawmakers did not vote on the package.
The package is the result of negotiations between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the 20 Republicans who withheld support for the California Republican until they were able to obtain several concessions.
According to CBS News, some of the concessions McCarthy made were included in the rules package.
The rules package at the heart of McCarthy's quest to become speaker does include some of the concessions he made. Here is what is included in it, and some of the promises McCarthy made in handshake-agreements that aren't in the package:
Motion to vacate
Perhaps the most significant concession McCarthy made in the rules package involves the motion to vacate the chair, a procedural tool used to remove the speaker.
The House rules under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi required a majority vote by a party caucus or conference in order for a motion to vacate to be brought up for a vote, and McCarthy initially lowered the threshold to force a vote down to five members.
But in his effort to appease his conservative detractors, McCarthy eventually agreed to restore the ability of a single member from either party to force a vote to oust the speaker.
Select subcommittee to investigate the "weaponization of the federal government"
The rules package calls for the House to take up a resolution establishing a "select subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal government."
The panel would be part of the House Judiciary Committee, which is expected to be led by GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican who was a chief negotiator for the conservatives, told Fox News on Friday that McCarthy agreed to give the subcommittee "the kind of budget and the kind of staffing — we said as least as much — as the Jan. 6 committee."
"We got more resources, more specificity, more power to go after this recalcitrant Biden administration," Roy said.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise confirmed on Twitter that the House will take up the measure to establish the select subcommittee this week.
Reinstating the "Holman Rule"
The Republicans' rules package calls for the "Holman Rule" to be put back in place. First adopted in 1876, the measure allows amendments to appropriations bills to slash the salaries of or fire specific federal employees, or cut specific programs.
72-hour rule
This provision requires bill text to be released at least 72 hours before a vote on the House floor, giving lawmakers time to read the legislation.
Enforcement of the rule would come after many Republicans decried the circumstances surrounding the $1.7 trillion government spending package, which was voted on by Congress shortly after the text of the mammoth legislation was released.
The rules package also requires the House to hold votes on a series of bills to advance the GOP's agenda.
The measures include:
- Rescind $72 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service that was approved by Congress last year in the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats' health care, tax and climate package.
- Prohibit sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China
- Bar taxpayer-funded abortions
As WeLoveTrump reported, the House is expected to vote on Monday to defund the 87,000 IRS agents included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Twitter users commented on the narrow passage of the rules package:
🚨BREAKING🚨House Rules package negotiated by the Patriot 20 has PASSED!
This is now the People’s House for the first time in decades
HISTORIC
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) January 10, 2023
Congratulations to @SpeakerMcCarthy and the Republicans who were able to unify and pass the best house rules package in history.
Now begins the difficult battle to force long-absent accountability on Biden's administration and to halt his destructive policies.
— Joe Kent for WA-3 (@joekent16jan19) January 10, 2023
https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1612609083525468161
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