On Ordering the Previous Question
U.S. House, House Rules, 119th Congress
A vote to end debate and vote immediately on the question in front of the House — usually the “rule” that sets how a bill will be debated.
- A Yea meant:
- End debate now and vote on the question as it stands.
- A Nay meant:
- Keep it open — which, if the Nays won, would let an opponent propose changing the rule.
Moving the previous question cuts off debate and amendment and brings the House to a direct vote on the pending question (House Rule XIX, clause 1). It is most often moved on a special rule: a resolution from the Rules Committee setting how long a bill will be debated and which amendments, if any, may be offered.
If the House refused to order the previous question, a Member of the minority party could offer an amendment to the special rule — for example, one allowing an additional amendment to the underlying bill (CRS R48316).
In practice, the Congressional Research Service reports that the previous question on a rule “is seldom defeated, and is usually decided along party lines,” and that it has not been defeated since 1988.
The vote that usually follows is on adopting the rule itself: “On Agreeing to the Resolution”.
Sources
- Rules of the House, 119th Congress, Rule XIX
- CRS R48316, Ordering the Previous Question on a Special Rule in the House (Dec. 19, 2024)
Checked against these sources on 2026-10-12.