When the hour for the vote arrives ("one hour after the Senate meets on the following calendar day but one"), the Chair lays before the Senate the motion by directing the Clerk to report the same; immediately after which the Chair directs the Clerk to call the roll to ascertain the presence of a quorum, and after a quorum is established, the Chair directs the Clerk to call the roll on the question: "Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the pending motion shall be brought to a close?" 114 One day of actual session must intervene between the presentation of a cloture motion and a vote thereon." 115 If on the day following the presentation of the cloture motion the Senate remained in session beyond midnight and was in session 1 hour thereafter, the motion would be laid before the Senate 1 hour after the Senate convened at its next meeting and after a quorum was established, the vote would be taken thereon.116 A cloture motion presented on a Friday, when there is a legislative session of the Senate on Saturday and Sunday, will be laid before the Senate 1 hour after the Senate meets on the latter day." A motion filed on Monday would be laid before the Senate 1 hour after its meets on Wednesday.118 A cloture motion presented on a Saturday will be taken up on the following Tuesday if the Senate is in session on Monday; a motion presented on a Wednesday will be voted on on the following Friday, if the Senate is in session on Thursday and Friday, 1 hour after the meeting of the Senate.120 A cloture motion filed shortly after midnight will be voted on the second calendar day thereafter that the Senate is in session.121 119 Days on which the Senate is not in session are not counted nor is Sunday construed to be a legislative day and is not considered as a day unless the Senate meets on a Sunday to transact legislative business.122 A Sunday session for the 114 Sept. 15, 1970, 91-2, Record, p. 32357; Sept. 25, 1970, 91-2, Record, pp. 33990, 34033, 34034; see also Sept. 8, 1964, 88-2, Record, p. 21663; June 8, 1964, 88-2, Record, p. 12922; June 9, 1964, 88-2, Record, pp. 13098–100. 115 See Sept. 8, 1964, 88-2, Record, p. 21663. 116 117 See June 9, 1964, 88-2, Record, pp. 13098–100. Mar. 1, 1929, 70–2, Journal, p. 254, Record, pp. 4851, 4852. 118 See June 8, 1964, 88-2, Record, p. 12922. 11 Feb. 12, 1927, 69-2, Journal, p. 170, Record, p. 3573; see also Aug. 11, 1962, 87-1, Record, pp. 16182–83. 120 See May 9, 1962, 87-2, Record, p. 8060. 11 June 29, 1945, 79–1, Record, pp. 6927–28. 122 Rule XXII, as amended Mar. 17, 1949; Feb. 12, 1927, 69-2, Journal, p. 170, Record, p. 3573. purpose of delivering eulogies on deceased Senators is not regarded as a day in computing the time for a vote on a cloture motion on a bill.123 If the validity of a cloture motion is challenged and decisions or appeals have not been disposed of, presumptively, a vote on the cloture motion must await disposition of such questions even if debate is continued beyond the second day after presentation of the motion.124 A bill upon which a cloture motion had that day been presented will be displaced by agreement of the Senate to a motion to proceed to the consideration of another bill,125 but the cloture motion will be laid before the Senate for action thereon at the time prescribed by the rule, and the vote at such hour would not be to close debate on the then pending business, but upon the bill which had been displaced and upon which the cloture motion was presented." 126 A motion to proceed to the consideration of a bill upon which a cloture motion is presented, which is then temporarily laid aside by unanimous consent for the consideration of a general appropriation bill, will, after a negative vote on the cloture motion, be held to be again laid aside and the appropriation bill regarded as the pending business; but a call for the regular order would bring the motion to consider the said bill before the Senate again. Vote Required: 127 A two-thirds vote is required to invoke cloture and this is true even at the beginning of a new Congress when the Senate is trying to amend its rules. 128 The Senate in 1971, by a vote of 55 yeas to 37 nays, held that a two-thirds vote was required to invoke cloture, even though the Senate under the Constitution has a right to make its own rules at the beginning of each new Congress, or at any other time by a majority vote.129 In response to parliamentary inquiries, on September 18, 1961, the Chair held that he could not rule, if a vote on a cloture motion were less than two-thirds but more than a majority, that the motion had been adopted, but that a 123 Feb. 26, 1927, 69-2, Record, p. 4903. 124 See Mar. 10, 1949, 81-1, Record, p. 2172. 125 See Feb. 26, 1927, 69-2, Record, p. 4901. 128 See Feb. 24, 1927, 69-2, Record, pp. 4661-62. 127 July 10, 1950, 81-2, Record, pp. 9982, 10003. 128 Mar. 9, 1971, 92-1, Record, pp. 5485-87; see also the proceedings of the Senate for Jan. 3, 1969 through Jan. 29, 1969, 91-1; Jan. 15, 1963, 88-1, Record, p. 1792; Feb. 7, 1963, 88-1, Record, pp. 2057, 2058. ruling by the Chair was subject to appeal if the appeal were taken before the transaction of other business.130 Withdrawal of Motions: 131 Cloture motions have been withdrawn by unanimous consent, or left unacted upon because a unanimous consent agreement for a vote on final disposition of the proposal was subsequently entered into or the measure was passed, the cloture motion thereupon becoming nugatory." Yielding: 132 See "Debate," pp. 213-214; "Debate and Yielding,” p. 214. COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES Appointments to special committees and commissions have been made by the President of the Senate or the President pro tempore during recesses or adjournment, pursuant to an order of the Senate. See "Special or Select Committees," pp. 262–263. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE The Senate, on May 16, 1930, amended its rule so as to provide for the abolishment of proceedings in the Committee of the Whole with respect to bills and joint resolutions.13 130 121 Sept. 18, 1961, 87-1, Record, pp. 20018-20. Aug. 30, 1917, 65–1, Journal, p. 233, Record, pp. 6462–64; Mar. 12, 1925, 69Special Session, Record, p. 185; June 27, 1946, 79-2, Record, pp. 7672, 7871; Feb. 15, 1933, 72–2, Journal, p. 206; June 25, 1930, 71-2, Journal, p. 504, Record. p. 11693; July 10, 1917, 65-1, Journal, p. 184, Record, p. 4899. 12 Mar. 1, 1929, 70-2, Record, p. 4885; Mar. 1, 1929, 70-2, Journal, pp. 254, 256, Record, pp. 4851, 4885; June 29, 1945, 79-1, Journal, p. 292, Record, p. 6927; Mar. 12, 1925, 69-Special Session of the Senate, Record, p. 156. 133 May 16, 1930, 71–2, Journal, p. 357, Record, p. 9056; see also Mar. 8, 1930, 71-2, Journal, p. 191, Record, p. 4996. COMMITTEES All Senate committees are creatures of the Senate, and their powers, duties, and responsibilities are determined by the Senate. The committees of the Senate fall into one of the following classes: standing committees, select committees, and special committees. Of course, there are also joint committees made up of Members of both Houses. The memberships of the standing committees of the Senate are appointed at the beginning of each Congress and any vacancy which occurs therein during that Congress is filled from time to time. "The said committees shall continue and have the power to act until their successors are appointed." With some exceptions, for example, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, the jurisdiction over all proposed legislation is divided among the various standing committees, and Rule XXV defines the jurisdiction of each. The jurisdiction of each, however, has been spelled out in more detail by the precedents and practices of the Senate, and the lines of demarcation of the jurisdictions of the committees have thus been more precisely established. To put it positively, every bill and resolution introduced in the Senate and every bill and resolution passed by the House and messaged to the Senate, every communication from the President and the administration to the Senate, including reports and proposals for legislation, and every petition and memorial from State legislatures and territorial legislative bodies, and every petition and memorial from the public at large, unless otherwise ordered by the Senate, is referred to one of the standing committees of the Senate, or in some special cases to a committee in one of the other categories (special, select, or joint committee) which has been given specific jurisdiction by the Senate over certain matters. The reference of legislative proposals, messages, communications, petitions, or memorials to these committees is made on the basis of the predominance of the subject matter of the particular proposal to be referred, and through the use of omnibus legislative proposals, or communications of any type, much incidental matter gets referred to committees that would not otherwise go to them. In the case of comprehensive legislative proposals or other communications which cut across the lines of the jurisdictions of two or more committees, it is not uncommon in current Senate practices to get unanimous consent that such propositions be referred jointly to two or more committees, or to a said committee, and if and when reported by that committee, that it be referred to another committee, and then another. The disposition of proposed legislation under this situation depends upon the kind of consent asked for and granted by the Senate. Legislative proposals referred to a standing committee remain actively pending before that committee until the end of the said Congress in which the reference was made, or until the committee is discharged therefrom or they are reported by the committee to the Senate. 224 Standing committees of the Senate are authorized to make studies preparatory to legislation and to report proposed legislation. To carry out these objectives, they are provided with funds for staffs and other essential expenditures, and all of the standing committees have been granted subpena power; special and select committees are usually given such power in their resolution of creation. The functions and duties of select and special committees are more or less indistinguishable. These committees, as a common practice, are created to make studies or to conduct investigations, with a charge to report their findings back to the Senate. Seldom does the Senate give such a committee legislative jurisdiction, and they do not otherwise have legislative jurisdiction. Whether such committees are labeled as special or select depends for all practical purposes on whether or not the resolution of creation designates them as such. Their operations and characteristics, in both categories, are usually indistinguishable. Their scope of authority, duties, functions, and responsibilities vary according to the provisions of the respective resolution of creation, but such variations are not necessarily determined on the basis that they are special or select. Rule XXV [Standing Committees-Memberships and Regulations Thereon and Meetings] 1. The following standing committees shall be appointed at the commencement of each Congress, with leave to report by bill or otherwise: (a) COMMITTEE ON AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES ** (b) COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY (c) COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS (d) COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES * * (e) COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS ** (f) COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE ***. (g) COMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA * * (h) COMMITTEE ON FINANCE ***. ** (i) COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ** (k) COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS (1) COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY * * *. (m) COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE * * (n) COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE ** (0) COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS * * * (p) COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION (q) COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS **: 2. Except as otherwise provided by paragraph 6 of this rule, each of the following standing committees shall consist of the number of Senators set forth in the following table on the line on which the name of that committee appears: |