House Removes Gag on Senate Talk

WASHINGTON — It has been one of the mainstays of congressional decorum since the early days of the republic: House members could not criticize the Senate or its members, by name, during floor debate.

But Tuesday, the muzzle came off.

On the first day of the 109th Congress, the Republican-led House revised its rules to allow lawmakers to finally say their piece about senators -- a change seen by some as further eroding comity on Capitol Hill.

"The distance between 'Crossfire' and the House floor is shrinking all the time," said University of Pennsylvania political scientist Don Kettl, referring to the contentious CNN talk show.

The prohibition on criticizing the Senate dates to the Jeffersonian era, and was designed to promote good relations between the two chambers.

But in recent years, GOP House members have become especially frustrated that bills they have passed on several major issues have died in the Senate. Now, they hope to use the well of the House to put pressure on the Senate to act.

The change was supported by a group of conservative Republicans who wrote in a memo that although the old rule stemmed from the "commendable goal of establishing courtesy and respect between the two chambers

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), who proposed the change, said it was only fair since there was no comparable gag rule for senators.

He also said it made no sense to him that he could criticize a senator on television talk shows but not on the House floor. And he noted that the rule prohibited him and his colleagues from saying nice things about senators, such as offering a "Happy Birthday" resolution.

The change was part of a package of rules drafted by the House's GOP majority and approved by the chamber Tuesday on a party-line vote of 220 to 195.

Though the overall package generated controversy because of a provision that critics said would weaken ethics rules, the change to allow criticism of the Senate was "guaranteed to draw applause from my colleagues," said Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), chairman of the House Rules Committee.

Over the years, House members occasionally sought to get around the rule, which prohibited "characterizations of Senate action or inaction, references to individual members of the Senate or quotations from Senate proceedings."