GOP Peeved at Pelosi's New House Rules

Package limits minority party power, repeals committee term limits
By Gabriel Winant,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 6, 2009 12:50 PM CST
GOP Peeved at Pelosi's New House Rules
President-elect Barack Obama meets with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. in her office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Nancy Pelosi is kicking off the 111th Congress with a rule change, and Republicans are not pleased, reports the Hill. The move institutes new restrictions on motions to "recommit," squashing a tactic that allowed the outnumbered GOP to delay bills to stymie Democrats. “This is not the kind of openness and transparency that President-elect Obama promised,” GOP leaders wrote in response.

While she’s at it, Pelosi is also removing the 6-year term-limit for committee chairmen from the House rules. A feature since the Republicans took the House in 1994, this rule got an unexpected—and temporary—lease on life when Pelosi kept it on the books after the Democrats’ 2006 win.
(More Nancy Pelosi stories.)

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