U.S. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, used his time on the floor this week to address House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and what he called “something I find particularly annoying.”
McGovern said: “Perhaps the only noteworthy thing the Republican majority achieved last Congress was shattering their own record for most closed Congress ever.”
He added: “And to be clear, they made history for running the most closed anti-debate Congress we’ve ever seen.”
According to the Congressman, in total, House Republicans issued 115 totally closed rules, “meaning 115 times where the House could not debate a single amendment on the House floor.”
Republicans have racked up over 50 closed rules in 5 months, which means >90% of the measures brought to the floor blocked consideration of any amendments. Over 800 amendments blocked in total!
— House Rules Democrats (@RulesDemocrats) June 10, 2025
RM McGovern: "They are running this House like a wannabe authoritarian dictatorship." pic.twitter.com/pDWZ5E1GDr
McGovern said House Republicans are on track to break that record this year. “As of last night, they’ve racked up over 50 closed rules in just five months. More than 90 percent of the bills they bring up — no amendments, no discussion, no democracy.”
MAGA supporters are responding with comments like “what goes around comes again,” suggesting that the Democrats acted similarly when they held the majority.
As former staff director of the House Rules Committee Don Wolfensberger (a Republican) wrote in 2022, “In fact, even before Republicans relinquished control of the House in 2018, they were producing no open amendment rules and closed rules rose to 56 percent of the total. Not to be outdone, Democrats have produced no open rules at all over their last three years in the majority (1919-2021), and their closed rule percentages have risen to 65 percent.”
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