We got our first glimpse this week of how Paul Ryan intends to run the House as our new Speaker. This will get a little process-heavy, but bear with me.
For every bill that Congress considers, there is a rule governing the debate and the amendment process for that legislation. Traditionally, the Speaker of the House uses that rule to control which amendments will be allowed and which won’t. The idea is to exert the Speaker’s influence over the final version of the legislation and to prevent members of Congress from having to take awkward votes. Paul Ryan, to his credit, promised colleagues that he was going to open up the process… and open it, he did.
The major legislation of the week was a 6-year highway construction and maintenance bill worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The process was wide open and members of Congress took advantage. Hundreds of amendments were considered. We stayed up voting till midnight to work through them all. It was impressive to see such a spectacle because I haven’t really seen it during my five years here. The House traditionally allows unlimited amendments to spending bills, but that’s about it.
Ryan has been given the benefit of the doubt early because of his reputation as a leader and consensus builder. What he does from here is up to him. So far, I like what I’ve seen.
U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent represents The Villages in Congress.