Prodded by some House Democrats, in late November she agreed to establish a more open process for working on legislation and to allow more votes on amendments supported by both parties. Historically, amendment votes have been critical to legislation, allowing in a variety of ideas. They are one way for lawmakers to change a bill’s contents after it goes through committee, or when it skips that step entirely. They are often used on spending bills to get lawmakers on record on important issues and to build consensus solutions. In response, House majority party leaders have clamped down on amendments to shield their members from those electorally risky votes.

Source: New York Times January 02, 2019 10:00 UTC