Rule XV of the Standing Rules of the United States Senate

Standing Rules of the United States Senate

The Standing Rules of the Senate are the rules of order adopted by the United States Senate that govern its procedure. The Senate's power to establish rules derives from Article One, Section 5 of the United States Constitution: "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings..."There are...

, established by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is responsible for the rules of the United States Senate, with administration of congressional buildings, and with credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, including responsibility for dealing with contested elections.The committee...

, governs amendments and motions

Motion (democracy)

A motion is a formal step to introduce a matter for consideration by a group. It is a common concept in the procedure of trade unions, students' unions, corporations, and other deliberative assemblies...

 in the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

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Amendments with instruction

Paragraph 1(a) states an amendment and any instruction accompanying a motion to recommit

Commit (motion)

The motion to commit , in parliamentary procedure, is used to refer another motion—usually a main motion -- to a committee.-Explanation and Use:...

 shall be reduced to writing and read. Identical copies shall be provided by the Senator offering the amendment or instruction to the desks of the Senate Majority Leader and the Senate Minority Leader

Party leaders of the United States Senate

The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders are two United States Senators who are elected by the party conferences that hold the majority and the minority respectively. These leaders serve as the chief Senate spokespeople for their parties and manage and schedule the legislative and executive...

 before being debate

Debate

Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...

d.

Motion reduced to writing

Paragraph 1(b) states a motion shall be reduced to writing, if desired by the Presiding Officer

Presiding Officer of the United States Senate

The Presiding Officer is the person who presides over the United States Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents...

 or by any Senator, and shall be read before being debated.

Withdrawal and modification

Paragraph 2 states any motion, amendment, or resolution may be withdrawn or modified by the mover at any time before a decision, amendment, or ordering of the yeas and nays, except a motion to reconsider, which shall not be withdrawn without leave.

Division

Paragraph 3 states if the question in debate contains several propositions

Motion (democracy)

A motion is a formal step to introduce a matter for consideration by a group. It is a common concept in the procedure of trade unions, students' unions, corporations, and other deliberative assemblies...

, any Senator may have that divided. The exception would be a motion to strike

Motion to strike (United States Congress)

A motion to strike is an amendment which seeks to delete language from a bill proposed in either the House of Representatives or Senate of the United States Congress, or to delete language from an earlier amendment....

 and insert. This shall not be divided, but the rejection of a motion to strike out and insert one proposition shall not prevent a motion to strike out and insert a different proposition. Also, it will not prevent a motion to strike out or should the rejection of a motion to strike out prevent a motion to strike out and insert. Pending a motion to strike out and insert, the part to be stricken out and the part to be inserted shall each be regarded for the purpose of amendment as a question, and motions to amend the part to be stricken out shall have precedence

Precedence

Precedence may refer to:* Message precedence of military communications traffic* Order of precedence, the ceremonial hierarchy within a nation or state* Order of operations, in mathematics and computer programming...

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Tabling an Amendment

Paragraph 4 states when an amendment proposed to any pending measure is laid on the table, it shall not carry with it, or prejudice, such measure.

Committee jurisdiction

Paragraph 5 states it shall not be in order to consider any proposed committee amendment (other than a technical, clerical, or conforming amendment) which contains any significant matter not within the jurisdiction of the committee proposing such amendment.