Michael L. Koempel
Senior Specialist in American National Government
Christina Wu
Research Associate
When a Senator introduces a bill or joint resolution, or a House-passed bill or joint resolution is received in the Senate from the House, the measure is often referred to committee, pursuant to provisions of Senate Rules XIV, XVII, and XXV. The Senate may, however, use provisions of Senate Rule XIV to bypass potential referral of a bill or joint resolution to a Senate committee, and have the measure placed directly on the Senate Calendar of Business.
Although placing a bill or joint resolution directly on the calendar does not guarantee that the full Senate will ever consider it, the measure is available for floor consideration and certain procedural steps, such as committee reporting or discharging a committee from a bill’s consideration, and procedural requirements, such as the two-day availability of a committee report, may be obviated.
Senate rules contain procedures for processing concurrent and simple resolutions, which are not covered in this report. A Senator may also offer a germane, relevant, or nongermane amendment to a measure pending on the Senate floor, in addition to or instead of introducing a bill or joint resolution. Amendments are also not covered in this report.
This report will not be updated in the 113th Congress unless Senate procedures change. For a fuller examination of using the Rule XIV procedure and other ways by which the Senate may bypass committees, see CRS Report RS22299, Bypassing Senate Committees: Rule XIV and Unanimous Consent, by Michael L. Koempel and Christina Wu.
Date of Report: November 6, 2013
Number of Pages: 6
Order Number: RS22309
Price: $19.95
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