Evening star., 1950-01-15
Drive 10 CUT Spending
May Be Factor in Fight
Over Rules Powers
By J. A. O'Leory

for economy may prove an impor-
tant factor in the fight to restore
the power of the House Rules
Committee to determine when
legislation should go to the House
floor for a vote.
Republicans and conservative
Democrats, opposed to new spend
ing programs in the face of an
estimated deficit of at least S.
000,000O00, could increase their
chances Of holding up bills calling
for new authorizations by sup
porting the current drive for a
change in rules.
1t may be two weeks or longer
before the rules issue is fought
out on the House floor, and it is
too early for reliable indications
Of the outcome. Meantime, the
question is likely to become one of
the most debated topics on Cap
itol Hill, because of the effect it
may have on the Truman Fair
Deal program and on the work of
the entire session.
Resolution Reported Out.
In surprise 9-to-2 vote, the
Rules Committee reported out Fri
day resolution, seeking repeal of
the procedure put through by ad-
ministration leaders a year ago.
This was the rule under which
the committee can be by-passed
whenever it delays action on a
bill for more than 81 days.
The 21-day rule makes it pos
sible for the chairman of any
committee to arise in the House
on the second or fourth Monday
Of any month and move to call up
any bill his committee has ap-
proved, even though the Rules
Committee has not cleared it for
floor debate.
Although the move to get rid of
this shortcut came while the
Rules Committee was still con-
sidering the Fair Employment
Practice bill, Southern opposition
to the civil rights program is be-
lieved to be only one of several
factors involved in the rules fight.
House May Get Bill.
In fact, the House may get
chance to consider the FEPC bill
before rules revision can be taken
up.
Chairman SABBATH of the Rules
Committee and an administration
supporter could wait three days
before reporting out the rules
change, which he opposed Friday.
After it is reported it could be
delayed for seven legislative days.
That would prevent it's considera-
ton until after January %. which
is the next discharge Monday"
under the 21-day rule.
On January % Chairman Lesin-
ski of the Labor and Education
Committee could seek recognition
to call up the FEPC bill, because
1t has been approved by his COM
mittee. There are several other
bills in the same position, how
ever, and II three or four COM
mittee chairmen all attempt to
get their bills up on January %,
Speaker Rayburn. would have to
decide which was entitled to rec
ognition.
Meanwhile, there was specula-
ton at the Capitol yesterday over
the possibility that the Rules
Committee itself might grant a
rule for the FEPC bill before
January %. The real test on
FEPC as we'll as the other civil
rights measures will come later on
In the Senate, where unlimited
debate has made it possible to
block them in the past. Senate
administration leaders plan to call
up FEPC this session and seek
test of the new i-filibuster rule,
under which debate can be curbed
If 81 Senators vote to do so.
Money Bills Discussed.
Entirely aside from civil rights,
there are many bills under dis
cussion on Capitol Hill that would
call for large authorizations, over
and above the pending budget.
In an election year, with the
Government already in the red,
many members of Congress would
not find it easy to decide how to
vote on these bills. This situa-
ton is expected to help the drive
to get rid of the 21-day discharge
rule.
When the 21-day rule was
adopted on January 8, 1949, ad-
ministration forces were just back