In my mind, any bipartisan legislation that can command a majority of both the Republican and Democratic caucuses ought to be able to advance while SpongeBob … Er… Patrick is the temporary Speaker.
Now, is there a way to codify that in the House Rules?
But one thing that should be codified into House rules:
Nobody can introduce a motion to vacate without also putting forth a nominee to replace them. The house would then be voting to either keep the existing speaker or install a new one. (I would assume that members of the opposing party would just vote “present”). This way, the house is never without a speaker.
And they aren’t allowed to leave the chamber until they have a new speaker.
Also, if they don’t pass a budget on time, then enact last year’s budget plus 3%, and require that any budget changes cannot take effect until next budget.
In my mind, any bipartisan legislation that can command a majority of both the Republican and Democratic caucuses ought to be able to advance while SpongeBob … Er… Patrick is the temporary Speaker.
Now, is there a way to codify that in the House Rules?
Probably not.
But one thing that should be codified into House rules:
Nobody can introduce a motion to vacate without also putting forth a nominee to replace them. The house would then be voting to either keep the existing speaker or install a new one. (I would assume that members of the opposing party would just vote “present”). This way, the house is never without a speaker.
And they aren’t allowed to leave the chamber until they have a new speaker.
Also, if they don’t pass a budget on time, then enact last year’s budget plus 3%, and require that any budget changes cannot take effect until next budget.
Ah yes, the Bismarck solution.