House guidelines for presidential put-downs

House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has released a helpful, updated primer for members regarding their conduct on the floor and in committees.

[Just to clarify: Even though I clearly wrote that it was the committee "primer' -- and not the rules themselves -- that were updated, I've gotten a bunch of emails from readers who think Slaughter and Co. actually revised the underlying regs. Not so. The document produced was merely a new guide of existing rules.]

Especially useful: The section on how to properly insult the executive branch in the in the chamber.

"Disgrace" and "nitwits" -- okay.

"Liar" or "sexual misconduct" -- ixnay.

Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could: • refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”

• refer to the President as “using legislative or judicial pork.”

• refer to a Presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”

• refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.” Likewise, it has been held that a member could not: • call the president a “liar.”

• call the president a “hypocrite.”

• describe the president’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”

• charge that the president has been “intellectually dishonest.”

• refer to the president as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”

• refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the president’s part.”



h/t Marty Kady, who is neither a nitwit nor a liar.

Full text after the jump.

>> Continue reading House guidelines for Presidential put-downs

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Rules Committee Approved “Decorum” Guidelines for House

Washington, DC – The House Rules Committee today provided a summary of approved guidelines for all members to follow during floor debate. The Rules are approved by the entire House and are posted on the committee website. They can be found here:

Decorum in the House and in Committees

Under clause 1(a)(1) of Rule XI, the rules of the House are the rules of its committees as far as applicable. Consequently, Members should comport themselves with the rules of decorum and debate in the House and in Committees specifically with regard to references to the president of the United States as stated in Section 370 of the House Rules and Manual.

As stated in Cannon’s Precedents, on January 27, 1909, the House adopted a report in response to improper references in debate to the president. That report read in part as follows:

“It is... the duty of the House to require its Members in speech or debate to preserve that proper restraint which will permit the House to conduct its business in an orderly manner and without unnecessarily and unduly exciting animosity among its Members or antagonism from those other branches of the Government with which the House is correlated.”

As a guide for debate, it is permissible in debate to challenge the president on matters of policy. The difference is one between political criticism and personally offensive criticism. For example, a Member may assert in debate that an incumbent president is not worthy of re-election, but in doing so should not allude to personal misconduct. By extension, a Member may assert in debate that the House should conduct an inquiry, or that a president should not remain in office.

Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:

• refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”

• refer to the president as “using legislative or judicial pork.”

• refer to a presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”

• refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.”

Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:

• call the president a “liar.”

• call the president a “hypocrite.”

• describe the president’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”

• charge that the president has been “intellectually dishonest.”

• refer to the president as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”

• refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the president’s part.”

However, the Senate rules on decorum and debate do not prohibit personal references to the President. Senate Rule XIX governing decorum and debate is applied only to fellow senators and “does not extend to the president, the vice president, or administration officials and a senator cannot be called to order under rule XIX for comments or remarks about them...” (Senate Procedure, p. 741). The Senate rules also provide that Jefferson’s Manual is not part of the Senate rules (Ibid, p.754).

By contrast, the rules of the House specifically provide that Jefferson’s Manual does govern the proceedings of the House where applicable (Clause 1 of Rule XXVIII). Section 370 of Jefferson’s Manual states that the rule in Parliament prohibiting members from “speak{ing} irreverently or seditiously against the King” has been interpreted to prohibit personal references against the president. In addition, speakers of the House have consistently reiterated, and the House has voted, to support the proposition that it is not in order in debate to engage in personalities toward the president. The chair enforces this rule of decorum on his own initiative.

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Glenn Thrush is senior staff writer at Politico Magazine.