Rules Committee

The Committee on Rules, or more commonly, the Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for the rules under which bills will be presented to the House of Representatives, unlike other committees, which often deal with a specific area of policy. The committee is often considered one of the most powerful committees as it influences the introduction and process of legislation through the House. Thus it has garnered the nickname the "traffic cop of Congress.

The Committee on Rules is amongst the oldest standing committees in the House, having been first formally constituted on April 2, 1789. The Committee is commonly known as “The Speaker’s Committee” because it is the mechanism that the Speaker uses to maintain control of the House Floor, and was chaired by the Speaker until 1910.

The House of Representatives is home to the powerful House Rules Committee. This Committee is a standing committee whose job it is to prioritise the bills. It is often said to be the ‘traffic cop’ of the House. When the bills are reported out of committee, it is up to the House Rules Committee to decide among all the bills submitted which ones will make it to the floor and when. In addition to this it can set the rules on the debate and vote ahead. It can attach time limits to the debate and can attach rules on the bill as to whether the bill can have amendments added during the Second Reading. As a result, it is a powerful committee to be on in Congress. It is made up on 13 members, 9 of which are from the Majority party and 4 from the Minority Party.