Ryan Moves To Block Surprise Amendments After Gay Rights Flap

In this photo taken June 9, 2015, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., answers questions during an interview with The Associated Press in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington. First, give pr... In this photo taken June 9, 2015, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., answers questions during an interview with The Associated Press in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington. First, give presidents the power to strike trade deals. Then overturn President Barack Obama’s health care law, overhaul the tax code and reform welfare. And someday? Figure out whether to run for president. Call it the New Ryan Plan, a map not just to big changes in the nation’s fiscal policy, but to Paul Ryan’s future. It points the ninth-term congressman and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee away from the presidential campaign trail and into the thicket of policy that he says will set the country on better financial footing. The path likely emerges at a familiar decision point _ whether to run for president _ somewhere down the road. Ryan, 45, says he might decide to take that step, someday. (AP Photo/Molly Riley) MORE LESS

May 24, 2016 1:36 p.m.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Paul Ryan is taking steps to bring greater order to the House floor after a Democrat-authored gay rights amendment caused chaos last week.

Ryan told House Republicans Tuesday that in the future, such amendments will have to be printed ahead of time. Current rules can allow amendments to be written and voted on in real time when spending bills are up for debate.

It’s a procedural change that could allow the GOP majority to better manage politically problematic votes.

“You don’t like to have surprises,” said Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., as he exited the closed-door GOP meeting where Ryan announced the planned change. “If you want to play tricks and games that’s fine. If you’re interested in doing legislation you ought to have thought it through.”

Last week Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney offered a gay rights amendment that was about to pass, before seven Republicans changed their votes under pressure from House GOP leaders, and the amendment failed.

Outraged Democrats chanted “Shame! Shame!” as Republicans switched their votes. GOP lawmakers and aides said Maloney’s amendment caught them by surprise and they had to take quick action against it in order to salvage the underlying legislation, a spending bill to pay for popular veterans and military construction projects.

But the result was a messy scene the GOP wants to avoid repeating. A similar scenario flaired last year on an amendment related to the Confederate flag, and Democrats had already made clear that they would be bringing Maloney’s amendment back up on other spending bills.

A Ryan aide said that the pre-printing requirement was being discussed but had not yet been finalized.

The issue has emerged as a test for Ryan, who has committed himself to more openness and inclusion in how the House operates. One result of an open process can be tough votes and Ryan has committed himself to confronting those head-on. In calling for amendments to be printed in advance he appears to be trying to strike a balance between openness and chaos.

“If we’re going to have open rules in appropriations, which we have, which is regular order, people are going to have to take tough votes. And I think people are acknowledging this,” Ryan said last week.

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ERICA WERNER

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