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VII. The Spirit and the Letter of the Rules
A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall adhere to the spirit and the letter of the Rules of the House and to the rules of duly constituted committees thereof. [House Rule 23, clause 2.]
House Rule 23, clause 2, provides that Members, officers, and employees shall adhere to the spirit and the letter of House and committee rules. The Select Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the 90th Congress recommended this provision in part to emphasize “the importance of the precedents of decorum and consideration that have evolved in the House over the years.”[83]
[83] H. Rep. 1176, supra note 64, at 17.
Beyond this genteel goal, however, the drafters did assume that the rule would provide a basis for congressional discipline. As summarized by Chairman Price:
This standard was drafted also in general terms rather than attempting to deal more specifically with such things as unfair and dilatory legislative tactics. It did not appear practicable to the committee to attempt to regulate these areas more closely. This standard should provide the House the means to deal with infractions that rise to trouble it without burdening it with defining specific charges that would be difficult to state with precision.[84]
[84] 114 Cong. Rec. 8778 (Apr. 3, 1968); see also 114 Cong. Rec. 8799 (statement of Representative Teague, member of the House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, 90th Cong.).
The practical effect of Clause 2 of the Code has been to provide a device for construing other provisions of the Code and House rules. It has been interpreted to mean that Members, officers, and employees may not do indirectly what they would be barred from doing directly. Individuals should thus read House rules broadly. The Select Committee on Ethics of the 95th Congress cited this provision to show that a narrow technical reading of a House rule should not overcome its “spirit” and the intent of the House in adopting that and other rules of conduct.[85]
[85] See House Select Comm. on Ethics, Advisory Opinion No. 4, included as an appendix to H. Rep. 95-1837, supra note 29, at 61, and in the appendices of this Manual.
In addition to using Clause 2 as an aid to interpreting other House rules, this Committee cited its violation in recommending expulsion for two Members convicted in separate cases of bribery in the 96th and 97th Congresses, one Member convicted of accepting illegal gratuities in the 100th Congress,[86] and one Member convicted during the 107th Congress of conspiring to violate the bribery statute (18 U.S.C. § 201), accepting gratuities, obstructing justice, conspiring to defraud the United States, filing false federal income tax returns, and racketeering.[87]
[86] H. Rep. 96-1387, supra note 62, at 5; H. Rep. 97-110, supra note 71, at 16 n.8; H. Rep. 100-506, supra note 72, at 7.
[87] H. Rep. 107-594, supra note 63.
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