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One of the first orders of business when the 113th Congress convenes later today will be for the House of Representatives to adopt rules that will govern its procedures over the next two years. And despite her efforts over the past week, it appears Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) will not be getting her vote restored in the Committee of the Whole.
Norton said last week that she had sent Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) a letter making her case for why the District’s otherwise-non-voting delegate should at least have a say in the Committee of the Whole, which encompasses the entirety of the House and votes on procedural measures, though not final legislation. Judging by the text of the proposed rules, it appears the letter did not work.
As one more effort, Norton plans to introduce a motion during the rules debate today that would restore D.C.’s place in the Committee of the Whole. But given that the new House will still be majority Republican, Norton’s amendment is unlikely to be adopted. Still, a Norton staffer called it the “procedural best hope,” even though its odds are grim.
“Taking from our residents a vote we have exercised in the past, with the sanction of the federal courts, is unique in our history and would dismay the American people,” she said in a news release yesterday. “Withdrawing a constitutional vote deserves a fight and a fight is what it will get.”
Norton was a member of the committee from 1993 through 2010, but after a Republican sweep in the 2010 midterm elections, one of the first decisions of the 112th Congress was to strip Norton of that privilege.
Even though getting the vote back in the Committee of the Whole is a long—if not impossible—shot today, Norton is not wholly displeased with the 113th Congress so far. She applauded a decision by House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to move D.C.-specific legislation out from under a subcommittee and directly under the purview of the full committee, of which she is a member. “It cuts one step out of the process,” the Norton staffer said.
There still might be a glimmer of hope for Norton and other non-voting House delegates to get their Committee of the Whole votes restored. A Norton spokesman said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) might be crafting separate legislation on the matter.
