In the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
, filling the tree is a procedure by which the
majority leader
In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body. can prevent
amendments An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
to a piece of
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...
from being voted on. This is done by filling all possible opportunities for amendments by amendments of the leader's choosing. It is not a new tactic, but saw a significant increase in usage under
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...
.
[
]
Procedure
The Senate majority leader has a traditional right to be recognized first for the purposes of offering amendments on legislation. The term itself is a colloquial name for the diagram used to show the priority given to amendments to a bill. The trunk of the tree represents the bill, while the branches reflect the corresponding
amendments An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
.
Majority leaders fill the tree to introduce first- and second-degree amendments that block other senators from offering further amendments because the Senate cannot move on to another amendment without unanimous consent or overcoming a filibuster on the motion to put the other amendment before the body. Depending on the particular
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
, one of four trees may be used: the first tree has room for three amendments, the second and third trees have room for five amendments, and the fourth tree has room for 11 (or 12 in rare instances) amendments. To fill the tree, none of the slots may be left available.
Consequences
The majority leader must assess the risk in deciding to fill the tree. Some senators will reject a bill if they feel they have not been given an adequate opportunity to offer amendments. For example, Senator
Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Co ...
voted against the
2010 Defense Authorization Bill although she largely supported the substance of the bill, citing the filling of the amendment tree by Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...
.
[Ilona-Nickels, ''Ask An Expert: Filling the Tree'', September 23, 2010,]
, October 19, 2010 Reid used this tactic during the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (, nicknamed the Cromnibus) is an omnibus spending bill that packages several appropriation bills together in one larger bill. The 113th United States Congress failed to pass any of the twelve regular ...
Senate floor debate, preventing amendments that would have removed the provisions that rolled back Section 716 (derivatives guarantees by the FDIC) of the
Dodd-Frank legislation.
See also
*
Amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...
*
Filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
*
Veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
References
External links
*
*
* {{cite web, url=http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/specter-makes-proposal-to-stop-filling-the-tree-2007-02-08.html , archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202203838/http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/specter-makes-proposal-to-stop-filling-the-tree-2007-02-08.html, archivedate= December 2, 2008, title= Specter makes proposal to stop 'filling the tree' , first=Elana , last=Schor, work= The Hill
Political terminology of the United States
United States Senate