While House rule XIV defines the daily order of business, privileged questions are legislative items that the House deems important enough that the House will set aside its normal business when they are brought up for consideration. The House considers certain business privileged due to its importance under the Constitution or because federal law or House rules confer this status upon it.
To say an item of business is privileged may make it seem rare, particularly complicated, or otherwise special. On the contrary, the privileged status of certain business directly or indirectly determines what the House does each day. Reports by the Rules Committee on the order of business—i.e. special rules—and the motion to suspend the rules and pass a piece of legislation are both privileged by House rules. In these cases, privilege is a tool that the House leadership uses to schedule legislation, thereby providing predictability in the body’s proceedings.
While privilege regularly facilitates the ordinary flow of the House’s business, many privileged questions are, in fact, infrequent. Furthermore, privileged business can occasionally alter the House majority’s agenda and the schedule leadership has announced. For instance, a rank-and-file Member may make a discharge motion or raise a question of the privileges of the House. Both of these are privileged business that consume floor time for debate and votes. However, depending on the situation, the House rules may still promote a degree of predictability by conferring a privileged status only when certain conditions are met. For instance, in multiple cases, House rules require that a Member provide notice that they intend to bring the matter before the House. Such notice requirements stipulate that the business is privileged only at a time determined by the Speaker within two legislative days of the announcement. Even when privileged questions alter the House’s planned agenda, the Majority Leader’s Office and the Majority and Minority Whip Offices will communicate with Member offices about changes to the schedule and votes.
For more on privileged business, see House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House, Chapter 36, “Order of Business; Privileged Business.”