• Challenging the speaker. The new rules allow any member of the House to raise a motion to “vacate the chair,” or remove the speaker. That would lead to a full House vote. This procedural tactic has only been used — meaning formally moved and voted on —once in U.S. history, in 1910.

• Income tax increases require a three-fifths vote of the House. That would mean that 261 House members, versus the usual 218, would have to support any tax increase for it to pass.  
• Allow amendments that cut spending in general. During spending debates, House Republicans are allowing amendments that cut spending to be considered as a large group.
• Limit short-term spending. Any appropriations items that do not have a separate authorization (meaning they have not been specifically authorized by Congress) must not be increased.
• Limit long-term spending. The rules are set up to prevent any bill estimated to spend more than $2.5 billion in any four consecutive fiscal years in a coming decade.
• “Cut as you go.” A block on increases in mandatory spending. Mandatory spending essentially means long-term federal programs that have their own funding formulas in law. They are not funded by Congress every year. Take Social Security as one very large example. Republicans’ rules block any bill that raises spending in mandatory programs in a long-term way. They are requiring accompanying spending cuts for any increase.

• Calculate the effect on inflation. Bills that have a significant effect on the economy at large must be evaluated for how much they could affect inflation. 

• Faster voting. The House is speeding up its voting. Now, any vote after the initial one can be as short as two minutes, instead of the previous minimum of five minutes. (The presiding officer can still make it longer if they choose.) Why does this matter? Those who ardently pushed to reshape the rules are hoping for a House that has more floor debate and takes many more votes. The idea is that more members will get the chance to propose amendments — potentially an avalanche of them — to legislation. All of those votes take time. Shortening the length of each means there could be room for more debate or more amendments. In addition, this moves in the opposite direction of COVID-related policies which, at various points, allowed for extra time for voting. 
• More time to read the bills. Bills are not to come for a vote until at least 72 hours after members have had the chance to see them. Do note: This rule has existed in the past, but members of Congress could simply override it with a two-thirds vote. They retain that option still.
• You must be present to vote. The rules package eliminates proxy voting, which was put in place in the House at the start of the pandemic.
• Bills must come with a statement of a single purpose. Though this rule does not say a bill must *have* a single purpose. Only that it come with such a statement.

• New subcommittee on COVID. A newly established subcommittee on the coronavirus will have two years to file a report on the origins of the disease and how the government handled the pandemic, including decisions to close schools.
• Ethics changes. Major changes are coming to the bipartisan Office of Congressional Ethics, which is an independent body that reviews ethics complaints and sends findings to the House. In general, the rules make it harder for this group to operate. Republicans have imposed term limits, which will have the effect of removing all but one Democrat from the board. And the new rules significantly limit the group’s ability to hire staff — to within the first 30 days of Congress. Separately, a new bipartisan task force will spring out of these rules, one directed to review House Ethics rules.  
• New names. These names flip back and forth depending on which party is in power. With Republicans in charge, the Committee on Oversight and Reform will now be the Committee on Oversight and Accountability. The Committee on Education and Labor will now be the Committee on Education and Workforce.

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