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Originally Posted by DGTess
Perhaps because it's not permitted under the Constitution?
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This is a debatable point. The Constitution clearly gives the House the authority to make its own rules.
And there is the whole "no taxation without representation" argument -- granted, not a constitutional argument, but certainly an argument woven into the woof and warp of Independence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AGDee
Is it expressly prohibited in the Constitution?
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It's not addressed in the Constitution at all, because the Constitution doesn't contemplate congressional delegates from DC or other territories. Clearly, delegates cannot be voting members of the House of Representatives, as that is limited to the representatives of the states.
The compromise that has been struck so as to give residents (taxpayers) of DC and the territories some voice in Congress is to allow, by House Rules, delegates (not representatives) to vote in committee and have voice on the floor of the House. What is at issue in this particular instance is when the House is acting as a Committee of the Whole.