Breaking unwritten rules of Congress now the norm

+ different forms of secession from the union; China's Xi in Moscow US Edition - Today's top story: In Congress, breaking unwritten rules that encouraged civility and enabled things to get done is becoming the new normal [View in browser]( US Edition | 23 March 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( When Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy ordered an investigation into the Manhattan district attorney’s ongoing criminal probe of former President Donald Trump, he broke with the body’s long-standing norms. After all, federal lawmakers typically don’t try to assert oversight of county-level investigations of American citizens. But, as Sarah Burns, a scholar of the legislative branch at Rochester Institute of Technology, writes this week, [McCarthy’s order was just one in a litany of norm-breaking moves affecting how the House of Representatives operates](. House Republican members’ forcing 15 ballots before the body elected McCarthy speaker of the House at the beginning of this legislative session was another. “The norms of governance in the House provide stability and clarity regarding what type of behavior is and is not allowed among members. But when those norms are broken, a series of devolving consequences can follow,” Burns writes. Whatever is motivating the behavior and decisions of House members, Americans are watching. Lorna Grisby Senior Politics & Society Editor Speaker Kevin McCarthy at a news conference on Capitol Hill. Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images [In Congress, breaking unwritten rules that encouraged civility and enabled things to get done is becoming the new normal]( Sarah Burns, Rochester Institute of Technology The House of Representatives is breaking norms and establishing a new way for the body to do business. 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