A Closer Look At House Rules Changes For 116th Congress Since I've been bashing the House of Representatives for their seeming lack of rules, I thought I'd better give fair and detailed review to Rule Changes during the 116th Congress. Source: https://rules.house.gov/rules-and-resources/rules-house-representatives Section-by-Section Analysis of H. Res. 6 (116th Congress). [Alert! Links to pdf!] Here's what I found interesting: " Designating Committee on Oversight and Reform. Subsection (f) changes the name of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Oversight Over the Executive Office of the President. Subsection (k) clarifies the Committee on Oversight and Reform’s existing special oversight authority over all operations of government. Oversight and Reform Committee Depositions. Subsection (l) removes the requirement that Members be present during counsel-led depositions, returning to the standard of the 111th Congress. Banning Sexual Relationships Between Members and Committee Staff. Subsection (gg) extends the prohibition on sexual relationships between members (including Delegates and the Resident Commissioner) and their employees to include members who serve on a committee on which a staffer works, even if that staffer is not his or her direct employee. Service of Indicted Members in Leadership and on Committees. Subsection (hh) adds to the Code of Official Conduct the standard that a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who has been indicted or formally charged with criminal conduct for a felony offense punishable by at least two years in prison should resign from any committee on which he or she serves, and step aside from any party caucus or conference leadership position the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner holds, until he or she is acquitted or the charges are dismissed or reduced below the previously described threshold. Section 103. Separate Orders. Deposition Authority. Subsection (a) provides the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and each standing committee of the 116th Congress (except for the Committee on Rules) the authority to order the taking of a deposition by a member or counsel of such committee. Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner may participate in all such depositions, but their presence is not required. Depositions taken under this authority are subject to regulations issued by the chair of the Committee on Rules and printed in the Congressional Record. Empaneling Investigative Subcommittee of the Committee on Ethics. Subsection (k) reinstates House Resolution 451 from the 110th Congress, directing the Committee on Ethics to empanel an investigative subcommittee or issue a report within 30 days of the date a Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner is indicted or criminal charges are filed. The subsection updates any references in House Resolution 451 to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to be references to the Committee on Ethics. Section 104. Committees, Commissions, and House Offices. Office of the Whistleblower Ombudsman. Subsection (e) establishes an Office of the Whistleblower Ombudsman and authorizes the Speaker, in consultation with the chairs and ranking minority members of the Committees on House Administration and Oversight and Reform, to appoint a Whistleblower Ombudsman. The subsection also instructs the Whistleblower Ombudsman, under the direction of the Committee on House Administration and in consultation with other committees at the request of their chairs, to develop best practices for whistleblower intake for House offices and provide trainings to House offices on how to safely receive information from whistleblowers. " I've got lots of questions & thoughts (suspicions?) about these, but I'll wait to give y'all a chance to consider without my influence (other than my selections of interest).