Availability of Legislative Measures in the House of Representatives (The “Three-Day Rule”)

Elizabeth Rybicki
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process

House rules govern the length of time legislative measures must be available to Members before being considered on the floor. For measures reported from committee, the committee report must have been available for three calendar days, excluding weekends and legal holidays unless the House is in session on such days. Conference reports must also have been available for three calendar days, and special rules for considering measures for one legislative day. Bills and joint resolutions that have not been reported by committee, and therefore are not accompanied by a written report, also may not be considered on the House floor unless the measure has been available for at least three calendar days, again excluding weekends and legal holidays unless the House is in session on such days. Under new procedures agreed to in the 112th Congress, committee reports, unreported bills and joint resolutions, conference reports and joint explanatory statements can be considered available under these rules if they are publicly available in electronic form on a website designated by the Committee on House Administration for this purpose, http://docs.house.gov.

The House has several means by which it can choose to waive these availability requirements and call up, debate, and vote on a measure in a single calendar day, even if the text of the measure was not made available prior to consideration. These include (1) adopting a special rule that waives the three-day requirement; (2) adopting a special rule that waives the one-day requirement for another special rule; and (3) convening a second legislative day on the same calendar day. Waiving availability requirements allows the House to act quickly when necessary, such as near the end of a session. Sometimes Members oppose waiving availability requirements.


Date of Report: January 20, 2012
Number of Pages: 8
Order Number: RS22015
Price: $19.95

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