Motion to recommit: House GOP supe up a jalopy

by: skeptic06

Sat Oct 27, 2007 at 18:24

I pointed to the MTR as a useful tool for an aggressive minority, but without expecting that the 110th GOP would make such strikingly successful use of it.

The bare numbers are impressive enough: in the seven months running up to the August recess, there were roll call votes on 45 MTRs, of which 31 failed and 14 passed.

By contrast, over the whole 109th, there were 51 RCVs on MTRs, none of which passed.

A table on p36 covering the 83rd to 107th Congresses shows that the highest number of successful MTRs in any one Congress was 11 in the 90th.

We have three recent examples of the MTR in operation, which I analysed in the pieces linked:

First, the Betrayus ad condemnation in the MTR to H J Res 52 - the vote on which split the Dems 146-79 in favor, while managing not to force a single GOP vote to go astray.

Second, the Cantor MTR on the FISA bill HR 3773 (the one that namechecked bin Laden). That was so hot, Pelosi preferred to pull the bill rather than let it go to a vote! 

Third, the Hulsfhof MTR to HR 3056 abolishing the estate tax in one line of text. Even such transparent bullshit (you know what I mean!) drew ten Dems to the Dark Side.

Fertile ground for both the House GOP and students of Congress, so it seems!

[Further thoughts]

It was back in May that the Dem leadership (apparently) got really huffy about the success the GOP were having with MTRs.

  In anticipation of an alleged planned change in the rules affecting (eliminating) the MTR, the GOP caused a day of procedural mayhem on the House floor.

Apparently, the threat to the MTR went away - I certainly can't remember seeing anything on the subject at all recently.

Whether the Dem leadership were actually planning to change the MTR rules, I've no idea, and no inclination to research it either.

As you'll see from the paper linked above, one of Gingrich's rule changes in 1995 was to introduce a rule guaranteeing an MTR for each bill. And it's been standard practice for special rules to provide for this.

But - the rule for at least one of the 100 Hours bills provided for no MTR. No change in the rules (as alleged by the GOP) was actually necessary!

(Special rules also routinely waive points of order - so there would be no way the GOP could question why the Gingrich rule had been sidestepped.)

Now, the Speaker controls Rules; and thereby could have eliminated the MTR, which has caused her so much trouble.

Why hasn't she? Fear of the boot on the other foot when the GOP control the House again? (Does she expect still to be a rep when that day dawns?!) Fear of regular hi-jinks on the floor, as happened in May? A mixture of institutional conservatism and culture of caution?