A beginner’s guide to the Senate’s rules

Author

James Wallner

Former Resident Senior Fellow, Governance

INTRODUCTION

The overall structure of Senate procedure is derived from five primary sources: The Constitution; the Standing Rules of the Senate; statutory rules passed by Congress and signed into law by the president; standing orders; and informal precedents. It is the interaction of each of these component parts that forms the procedural architecture under which the decisionmaking process unfolds within the institution.