Once again, I had better be able to back up this statement so here goes.
The procedure known as the Hastert Rule is actually not a rule of the United States House of Representatives, but it has been practiced by all the Republican Speakers of the House since Representative Newt Gingrich. I don’t know how the procedure gets its name from Speaker Hastert, but it does. The Hastert Rule essentially says the Speaker won’t bring any bill to the floor of the House for consideration unless a majority of the majority party supports the bill. Let’s not forget that the Speaker is chosen from the majority party so that means that only a majority of the Speaker’s political party can get a bill to the floor of the House of Representatives for consideration.
The United States Constitution provides for the House and Senate adoption of rules of order for their respective bodies in Section 5(2) where it states; “Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.” With that in mind, we should also remember that the provisions of any rule of order would still need to be consistent with the provisions contained in the Constitution itself.
Section 5(1) states; “Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide.”
A simple word search of the United States Constitution will demonstrate that it is void of any recognition of political parties in terms of the governmental process it establishes. In fact, there is only one reference to political parties and that is part of a note relating to the Twelfth Amendment.
Therefore, with these three irrefutable facts before us, we must conclude that any rule of order or informal practice which might be used by the Speaker of the House for determining whether or not a bill is allowed on the floor as part of the conduct of business would be unconstitutional if it contained measures which were more restrictive than the Constitution itself and the Constitution only requires a simple majority of the membership to conduct business. Finally, we must also conclude that with our Constitution as the source of defining what is and what is not part of our governmental processes, it is clear that the Hastert Rule is unconstitutional and therefore un-American.
Speaker Boehner needs to let the majority of the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, decide what bills will be introduced on the floor for consideration. All this un-American behavior from the Tea Party members will then be put in its proper place.
As voters we must demand that our elected Representatives and Senators conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the provisions of our United States Constitution. To allow anything less is to allow un-American activities into our legislative processes.
The Sausage Grinder is Broken – will you help to fix it?
Comment here or send an email: abrokensausagegrinder@comcast.net
More via Facebook: A Broken Sausage Grinder
More via Twitter: Hank Thomas
Watch on YouTube: A Broken Sausage Grinder