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1 1 (December 02, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcst0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I Congressional Res arch Servie Eight Mechanisms to Enact Procedural Change in the U.S. Senate Updated December 2, 2020 The Senate's unique procedural rules have long been a source of interest both inside and outside of Congress. While some hold the view that Senate rules operate well, others have advocated an examination of Senate procedures with an eye toward changing them. This Insight highlights eight parliamentary mechanisms that might be used to implement procedural change in the Senate and links to additional reading material on the subject. The work of the U.S. Senate is regulated not just by its 44 standing rules but by multiple, sometimes overlapping, procedural authorities. At any given time, unanimous consent agreements, standing orders, statute, precedent, and provisions of the U.S. Constitution may also regulate the Senate as it processes its legislative and executive business. It is perhaps natural for those seeking changes to Senate procedures to think in terms of amending Senate rules, but directly amending the standing rules of the Senate is only one way to affect chamber procedures. Because some Senate actions are, or may be, controlled by multiple authorities, it is sometimes possible to achieve the same procedural outcome using more than one parliamentary mechanism. While each mechanism may achieve identical ends, each may also have procedural advantages and disadvantages that make it a more or less desirable path for action in a given instance. Here are eight such mechanisms: 1. Amend the standing rules. Because the Senate is a continuing body, its standing rules remain in force from Congress to Congress unless changed. Amotion to proceed to consider a resolution (S.Res.) reported by a committee directly amending the Senate's standing rules is always debatable and requires one day's written notice. If a unanimous consent request for the immediate consideration of a resolution amending the standing rules is objected to, the resolution goes over, under the rule and is placed in a parliamentary status from which it is difficult to retrieve. Although agreeing to a rules change resolution requires only a majority vote, invoking cloture on such a resolution (which is fully debatable and subject to amendment) requires a vote of two-thirds of Senators present and voting, with a quorum present-67 if all Senators vote. It appears the same cloture threshold would likely apply to the motion to proceed to such a resolution. Direct amendments to the standing rules are also occasionally made by statute. 2. Create or amend a standing order. The Senate sometimes instead establishes chamber procedures by standing order. Standing orders have the same force as standing rules but are not codified in the rules. The Senate Manual lists major standing orders now in force. Standing orders continue in effect until changed, unless the order specifies otherwise. They are frequently established by resolution but can also be ordered by unanimous consent. Amotion to proceed to consider a reported resolution establishing a standing CRS NSIGHT Prepared for Membersand Co--mmi- - --oe Cong ress-----------------------------------

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