GOP rules package won’t allow delegates to vote on House floor

The draft House GOP rules package for the new Congress would not allow delegates to vote on the House floor despite a push from the District of Columbia’s non-voting representative.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) has been waging a campaign for weeks to allow delegates to vote on the floor in certain circumstances. House Democratic majorities in the past have allowed delegates who are normally not allowed to cast floor votes to participate in roll calls on amendments when the House is in a state known as the Committee of the Whole.

{mosads}Norton said in a statement that she will force a vote Tuesday on the issue when the House considers the rules package.

“With this motion, we formally begin the protest that will be necessary to salvage what D.C. has won in the past as we move toward full equality,” Norton said.

The draft package would also require so-called “dynamic scoring” of legislation deemed to have a significant economic impact. Such a scoring method focuses on the macroeconomic effects of a bill, which Republicans say would be a more comprehensive review of cost estimates. Democrats, though, dismiss it as too speculative.

In addition, the measure would authorize continuing the lawsuit against President Obama regarding his use of executive power that the House approved last year. The Select Benghazi Committee to investigate the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate would also be allowed to continue its proceedings in the new Congress.

House Republicans will ratify the draft package and debate any amendments in a conference meeting Monday at 5:30 p.m. The full House will vote on the measure Tuesday afternoon.