Bills Introduced – 10-6-23

Yesterday, with the House meeting in pro forma session, there were 29 bills introduced. Two of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 5893 - Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. Rogers, Harold [Rep.-R-KY-5]

HR 5894 - Making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. Aderholt, Robert B. [Rep.-R-AL-4]

There was some question if members of the House could introduce legislation without a Speaker. That has apparently been resolved. Obviously (now), bills can be introduced. Apparently though, the bills introduced cannot be referred to committees for consideration.

As a side note, there are now 25 bills listed as having been introduced on October 3^rd in the House that were not listed on the morning of October 4^th. This includes the now infamous H Res 757, Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant. The engrossed text of that resolution is now available. It is amazing that a single line of text, without preamble, justification, or explication, could so disrupt the operation of the Congress of the United States.

House Passes H Res 757 – Office of Speaker Vacant

Today, the House took up Rep Gaetz’ (R,FL) motion to vacate the Office of the Speaker of the House, H Res 757. The House passed the resolution by a vote of 216 to 210 [link added, 5:44 pm EDT]. Rep McCarthy (R,CA) is no longer Speaker of the House. In accordance with House Rules, Rep McHenry (R,NC) is now the Speaker Pro Tempore. House is currently in recess subject to the call of the Chair to allow the two caucuses a chance to meet to consider ‘the way forward’.

Earlier a motion was made to table H Res 757. That motion failed by a vote of 208 to 218.

We are almost certainly in for a remake of the vote for Speaker in January. I suspect that McCarthy’s and that of Rep Jeffries (D,NC) will be among the names nominated for Speaker.

Needless to say, there will be no further consideration of HR 4394, the EWR spending bill. Before the House considered H Res 757, the House took up H Res 756, the rule for the consideration of HR 4394. That rule passed by a nearly party-line vote of 218 to 208 with Rep Rogers (R,AL) voting Nay.