House members are already brainstorming how to write a rulebook for the 119th Congress that avoids the historic levels of dysfunction they’ve seen since 2023.
The last two years were marked by the first-ever speaker ouster and an often gridlocked House floor. Whatever party takes the House majority in January will get to propose changes to the rules — and even minor edits, like changing the notorious one-man motion to vacate threshold, could help determine how the next Congress does its job.
Bloomberg Government asked some House retirees what they’d want to change about the rules before they go. GOP Rules Chairman Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said cynically the chamber “is perfect just the way it is,” but most of the House’s old bulls had a long wish list of changes.
From reworking the legislative calendar to encouraging bipartisanship, here’s what they had to say:
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