John Boehner sets humble tone as he claims House gavel
With the pomp and circumstance behind him, newly-minted House Speaker John Boehner wasted no time in rolling up his sleeves and getting down to the business of governing -- and the first order of business for the 112th Congress was setting the ground rules.
New House Majority Leader Eric Cantor introduced a rules package that covers scheduling (how many days worked, when votes can and cannot occur), the terms and conditions for debating bills (all bills will cite their constitutional authority and be posted online for 72 hours before a vote) and allows electronic devices, such as BlackBerries and iPads on the floor of the lower chamber.
Finally, and perhaps most controversially, Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, will have the authority to set the top line budget numbers for the year -- a change from the previous process, which went through the Budget Committee.
The package passed 240-191.
One of the first acts of the Republican-controlled House was to take away the floor voting rights of six delegates representing areas such as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.
Read more:
No comments:
Post a Comment