Rep. Barry Moore: Rules package will make Congress more responsive to the American people

Washington, D.C. — Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) released the following statement after the House adopted its rules package for the 118^th Congress. In July 2022, the House Freedom Caucus first released a memo outlining rules changes they sought to make the 118th Congress more responsive to the American people. Many of these proposals and more were adopted yesterday.

“In recent years, the power of the House’s Leadership has grown to almost authoritarian levels, and the work product and reputation of the House have suffered as a result,” said Moore. “With the success of negotiations led by the House Freedom Caucus to reform House rules, the House working environment will be more more collaborative and Members will have more tools to legislate effectively. I look forward to serving in a Congress that is more responsive to our constituents’ needs as our Constitutional framers intended.”

118th Congress Rules Package:

Over the last four years, Democrats’ mismanagement of the House brought unprecedented changes to House Rules and damaged the institution through near total abandonment of regular order in the legislative process. This rules package restores and bolsters transparency, empowers all Members, ensures fiscal responsibility, and equips House Republicans with the tools necessary to hold the Biden Administration accountable.

1. Requires the text of legislation to be made available at least 72 hours prior to a vote in the House.
2. Ensures that bills coming to the Floor follow new single-subject and germaneness rules and protocols to protect Members from voting on bloated legislative vehicles. 
3. Ends proxy voting in the House and remote proceedings in committees.
4. Restores the Motion to Vacate to allow any member to offer a privileged resolution declaring the Office of Speaker vacant, going back to the original process that was altered by Democrats in the 116^th Congress.
5. Replaces the current PAYGO requirements with CUTGO provisions that prohibit legislation from coming to the floor that has the net effect of increasing mandatory spending within a five- or ten-year budget window without equal or greater offsets.
6. Restores fiscal accountability by eliminating the Gephardt Rule that allowed for an automatic suspension of the debt ceiling upon adoption of a budget resolution.
7. Restores the Holman Rule that adds another layer of accountability for the federal bureaucracy by allowing amendments that reduce the salary of specific federal employees or programs.
8. Requires a three-fifths majority vote in the House on any legislation that increases tax rates.
9. Establishes a Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
10. Establishes a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. 
11. Modifies the directive of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to focus its work on covid origins, the federal government’s role in gain-of-function research, and other consequential matters related to the pandemic.
12. Ensures there are no prohibitions against using gender-specific language such as “father” or “mother” on the House floor or in committee. 
13. Provides for the consideration of several single subject rule bills, allowing the House Rules Committee time to organize.

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