Rules

 Rules of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction

(adopted via voice vote)

Rule I—In General

            1. The provisions of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25) governing the proceedings of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction are hereby incorporated by reference and nothing herein shall be construed as superseding any provision of that Act.

            2. The rules of the Senate and the House of Representatives, to the extent that they are applicable to committees, including rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate and clause 2 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 112th Congress, and do not conflict with the applicable provisions of the Budget Control Act, shall govern the proceedings of the Joint Select Committee.

            3. If a measure or matter is publicly available in electronic form on the website maintained by the Joint Select Committee, it shall be considered to have been available to members of the Joint Select Committee for purposes of these rules.

            4. In each case where authority is granted to the Co-Chairs of the Joint Select Committee, such authority may only be exercised jointly by the Co-Chairs.

RULE II—MEETINGS and Hearings

Meetings

            1. The Joint Select Committee shall regularly meet for the transaction of business at times and dates determined jointly by the Co-Chairs.

            2. (a) The Co-Chairs shall provide an agenda to the Joint Select Committee members not less than 48 hours in advance of any such meeting.

                 (b) The Co-Chairs shall make the text of any measure or matter described in a meeting agenda available to the members of the Joint Select Committee not less than 24 hours in advance of any such meeting, except that no vote on such measure or matter shall occur in violation of section 401(b)(5)(D) of the Budget Control Act of 2011.

Hearings

            3. (a) Consistent with section 401(b)(5)(F)(ii)(I) of the Budget Control Act of 2011, the Co-Chairs shall make a public announcement of the date, place, time, and subject matter of any hearing not less than seven days in advance of such hearing, unless the Co-Chairs jointly determine that there is good cause to begin such hearing at an earlier date.

            (b) Each witness appearing before the Joint Select Committee shall file a written statement of testimony at least two calendar days before the appearance of the witness.

            (c) The Co-Chairs shall each control up to 15 minutes each for the opening statements of Members of the Joint Committee at each hearing.

Voting and Quorums

            4. Seven members of the Joint Select Committee shall constitute a quorum for purposes of voting, meeting, and holding hearings.

            5. The Co-Chairs shall conduct a record vote on any motion, amendment, measure, or matter upon the request of any member of the Joint Select Committee.

            6. The Co-Chairs may jointly agree to set a series of votes on any amendment or agreeing to a measure or matter, or postpone a requested record vote on such amendment, measure or matter, to occur at a time certain.  Reasonable notice shall be given to members prior to resuming proceedings on any postponed question.

            7. The Joint Committee may not vote on any final report, final recommendations, or a final bill unless the Congressional Budget Office estimates are available for consideration by all members of the Joint Committee at least 48 hours prior to the vote.

            8. No proxy voting shall be allowed on behalf of the members of the Joint Select Committee.

Rule III—Staffing and records

Staff

            1. The staff of the Joint Select Committee shall be appointed as provided in sections 401(b)(4)(c)(ii) and 401(c) of the Budget Control Act of 2011.

Records

            2. The Joint Select Committee shall maintain a complete record of all committee action, including—

            (a) in the case of a hearing or meeting transcript, a substantially verbatim account of remarks actually made during the proceedings, subject only to technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections authorized by the person making the remarks involved; and

            (b) the result of each record vote taken by the Joint Select Committee, including a description of the amendment, motion, order, or other proposition, the name of each member voting for and voting against such amendment, motion, order, or other proposition, and the names of the members of the Joint Select Committee present but not voting.

3.  Upon the termination of the Joint Select Committee, the records of the Joint Select Committee shall be treated as Senate records under S. Res. 474, 96th Congress as directed by the Secretary of the Senate. 

Rule IV—Content of Report

            In the report required under section 401(b)(3)(B)(i) of the Budget Control Act of 2011, the Joint Select Committee shall include—

            (a) with respect to each record vote on a motion to report the Joint Select Committee’s recommendations or accompanying legislative language, and on any amendment offered to the recommendations or language, the total number of votes cast for and against, and the names of members voting for and against;

            (b) an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office of the budgetary effects of the legislation (in the same manner as the estimate required by section 401(b)(5)(D)(ii) of the Budget Control Act of 2011); and

            (c) a statement on the deficit reduction achieved by the legislation over the period of fiscal years 2012 to 2021 (in the manner as required by section 401(b)(3)(B)(i)(II) of the Budget Control Act of 2011); and

            (d) a statement by the Joint Select Committee on the possible effects of the legislation on economic growth, employment, and United States competitiveness, if practicable; and

            (e) the text of any statute or part thereof that is proposed to be repealed and a comparative print of any part of the legislative language proposing to amend a statute and of the statute or part thereof proposed to be amended, showing by appropriate typographical devices the omissions and insertions proposed.

Rule V—Public Access and Transparency

            1. (a) The Joint Select Committee shall establish and maintain a publicly available website, and shall make its publications available in electronic form thereon. Such publications will include final Committee transcripts and hearing materials as available.

            (b) Not later than 24 hours after the adoption of any amendment to the report or legislative language, the Co-Chairs shall make the text of each such amendment publicly available in electronic form on the Joint Select Committee’s website.

            (c) Not later than 48 hours after a record vote is completed, the information described in clause 2(b) of rule III shall be made publicly available in electronic form on the Joint Select Committee’s website.

            2. Each hearing and meeting of the Joint Select Committee shall be open to the public and the media unless the Joint Select Committee, in open session and a quorum being present, determines by majority vote that such hearing or meeting shall be held in closed session.  No vote on the recommendations, report or legislative language of the Joint Select Committee, or amendment thereto, may be taken in closed session.

            3. To the maximum extent practicable, the Joint Select Committee shall—

            (a) provide audio and video coverage of each hearing or meeting for the transaction of business in a manner that allows the public to easily listen to and view the proceedings; and

            (b) maintain the recordings of such coverage in a manner that is easily accessible to the public.