News Analysis Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) advanced President Joe Biden’s unprecedented $3.5 trillion spending blueprint on Aug. 24, but only after resorting to a parliamentary maneuver of doubtful constitutionality. Known alternatively as the “self-executing rule” and “deem and pass,” the maneuver has been used only occasionally by majorities of both parties since 1933. But debate still rages among legal scholars over its constitutionality. Under the maneuver, a representative’s vote for one measure by the House is “deemed” to also apply in a specified manner to an entirely separate measure. In the voting on Aug. 24, Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) brought forward a resolution that set the rules for floor consideration of a $550 billion infrastructure bill and H.R. 4, the John L. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that essentially federalizes election laws and procedures. The resolution specifies that the House will vote on …
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