Ryan reminds lawmakers to be on time for votes

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) reminded House members on Friday to be on time for votes and wear appropriate business attire while on the floor. 

Like his predecessor, former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Ryan occasionally issues reminders for lawmakers to adhere to House rules and decorum.

“Following these basic standards of practice will foster an atmosphere of mutual and institutional respect,” Ryan said while addressing members on the House floor.

“In other words, follow the rules.”

{mosads}House rules establish a 15-minute period for the first vote in a series, though it often takes closer to 20 or 30 minutes for all 435 lawmakers to make it across the street from their offices to the floor.

Lawmakers are also expected to wear standard business attire on the House floor. But many lawmakers will frequently show up in jeans on days they are flying in or out of Washington. 

Some House members have even been spotted going to the House floor in gym clothes.

“Members should wear appropriate business attire during all sittings of the House, however brief their appearance on the floor may be,” Ryan said.

Lawmakers cheered when Ryan brought up the subject of timeliness. 

“The chair wishes to stress efforts to reduce voting times,” Ryan said. “As a point of courtesy to your colleagues, voting within the allotted time would help with the maintenance of this institution.”

Ryan previously lectured members last year on timeliness, which had long been unenforced. When lawmakers ignored Ryan’s warning, he abruptly closed a vote on an Iran sanctions bill after the time elapsed.

The House later re-did the vote to allow the tardy lawmakers to participate.

Ryan also stressed that members should not take photos or record video on the House floor, address remarks to the presiding officer and refrain from walking in the well of the chamber when someone is speaking.

The House adopted new rules in January that impose steep fines on lawmakers who take photos or video on the chamber floor in response to Democrats’ sit-in on the floor last year to call for action on gun control.

Lawmakers who take pictures on the House floor are now subject to a $500 fine and $2,500 for subsequent offenses.