As House conservatives cope with Mike Johnson putting a government funding bill on the floor that the majority of Republicans will oppose, the speaker seemed intent on satisfying his right flank in at least one way: procedurally.
This Congress — under both Johnson and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy — Republicans have pressed their leaders to advance legislation under “regular order.” Basically, from how much time members get to read legislation to which amendments get a vote, there’s an accepted process for passing bills in Congress. And one of those key steps in “regular order” is adopting a rule.
The rule sets up floor debate and dictates which amendments get a vote on the floor. And the Rules Committee — once colloquially known as “the Speaker’s Committee” — advances the rule to the floor. The majority then adopts the rule, and then the bill comes to the floor for consideration and a vote.