Motion (parliamentary procedure)

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised recognizes seven subsidiary motions. Ranked lowest to highest in order of precedence, they are the motions to:

1. Postpone indefinitely—to end consideration of the main motion for the balance of that session, without a direct vote on the main motion.
2. Amend—to change the main motion. (May also be applied to certain other motions).
3. Commit or Refer—to send the main motion and any pending subsidiary motions to a committee for consideration.
4. Postpone to a certain time (or Postpone Definitely, or Postpone) -- to delay consideration of the main motion and any pending subsidiary motions.
5. Limit or extend limits of debate—to change limitations on number or length of speeches from those previously adopted.
6. Previous Question—to close debate, preclude any further amendments and vote immediately. (May apply to any motion or pending series of motions.)
7. Lay on the Table—to suspend consideration of the main motion and any pending subsidiary motions to allow for immediate consideration of more urgent business.

• The motion to Postpone Indefinitely is omitted. The motion to Table (or Postpone Temporarily) is used instead.
• The motion for the Previous Question is instead called the motion to Close Debate.TSC, p. 235

According to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, the privileged motions are, in order of precedence:

1. Fix the time to which to adjourn, if another question is pending.
2. Adjourn, but not if qualified or if adjournment would dissolve the assembly.
3. Take a recess, if another question is pending.
4. Raise a question of privilege
5. Call for orders of the day

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised lists the following incidental motions: appeal the decision of the chair, consideration by paragraph or seriatim, division of a question, division of the assembly, motions relating to nominations, motions relating to methods of voting and the polls, objection to the consideration of a question, point of order, request to be excused from a duty, suspend the rules, and the requests and inquiries (parliamentary inquiry, request for information, request for permission to withdraw or modify a motion, request to read papers, and request for any other privilege). Most incidental motions are undebatable.

Unlike the privileged and subsidiary motions, incidental motions have no order of precedence among themselves. They take precedence over any pending question out of which they arise. Some incidental motions are only legitimately incidental at certain times or under certain conditions. For instance, the objection to the consideration of a question can only be raised before there has been any debate.

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised groups four motions under the classification name of "Motions that bring a question again before the assembly", because by their adoption or by their introduction, they serve the function described by the name of the class: Take from the table, Rescind or amend something previously adopted, Discharge a committee, and Reconsider. Except for the motion to Reconsider, these motions are main motions and can only be made when no business is pending.

The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure classifies five "bring back" motions under the classification of main motions but lists them under the title of "Restorative Main Motions": Amend a previous action, Ratify, Reconsider, Rescind, and Resume Consideration. This book treats the motion to rescind and the motion to amend something previously adopted as two distinct motion forms under the "Restorative Main Motions" title. Also, the motion to discharge a committee is not used in this book because it allows a motion previously referred to committee to be withdrawn from the committee by the assembly. The motion to ratify is also included in this group.

Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure uses the term, "restoratory", for a group of six motions that restored or brought a question back before the assembly: Expunge, Ratify, Rescind, Reconsider, Reconsider and Enter, and Take from the table. These "restoratory" motions are quasi-main motions that restore the status quo of a question; that is, they bring a question back to its original status—as it was prior to the last vote on it.

Another parliamentary maneuver, which has been used in the United States Senate, is the so-called "nuclear option" in which a majority sidesteps the two-thirds vote requirement to suspend the rules by raising a point of order in favor of their favored interpretation of the rules, followed by an appeal in which the interpretation is then imposed by a majority vote.

For instance, a motion to refer (commit) a resolution to a committee is dilatory if its object would be defeated by the delay in taking action. A motion to appeal the ruling of the chair is dilatory if there cannot possibly be two reasonable opinions about the ruling. Likewise, a motion for a division of the assembly is dilatory if the results of the voice vote are already clear to any reasonable person. The repetitive use of privileged motions can also be dilatory, such as repeatedly moving to adjourn when it has been voted down and nothing indicates that the assembly wants to end the meeting.

A presiding officer has a duty to protect the assembly from the abuse of parliamentary processes for dilatory purposes. The chair can rule the motions out of order or refuse to recognize the member, but the maker of the motion should be given the benefit of the doubt.

In legislative bodies, dilatory motions can take the form of demanding and votes at every opportunity. Another dilatory tactic is for members to not answer when their name is called during the quorum roll call. The problem of dilatory tactics in such bodies dates back to the beginnings of parliamentary procedure in England and the United States. Jefferson's Manual, for instance, only requires the Speaker to direct a bill to be read upon the desire of any member "if the request is really for information and not for delay."Jefferson, Manual, §32 In the US Senate, there are no formal rules against dilatory tactics except under cloture. Between 1831 and 1900, dilatory votes to adjourn composed more than 10 percent of all Senate votes, and successfully delayed recognition of Louisiana's Reconstruction government until 1868. According to Sarah Binder, in the 46th United States Congress, motions to adjourn consumed 23 percent of all floor votes. Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed famously took countermeasures against dilatory tactics, such as ruling dilatory motions out of order, and was sustained by the house. Some legislatures impose quotas on dilatory motions. For instance, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly imposes a maximum of one motion to hoist, one motion to refer to a committee, and one reasoned amendment per reading. The Rules of the U.S. Congress as revised in 1911 declare that no dilatory motion shall be entertained by the Speaker.

The term "dilatory motion" does not always refer to an ill-intentioned motion. In Canada, "dilatory" motions refer to those "designed to dispose of the original question before the House either for the time being or permanently," and includes, for instance, motions to proceed to the orders of the day; postpone definitely; adjourn; and so on. Jeremy Bentham held that such types of dilatory motions are useful, stating, "Precipitation may arise from two causes: from ignorance, when a judgment is formed without the collection of all the information required—from passion, when there is not the necessary calm for considering the question in all its aspects."

The underlying principle behind the non-renewal of a motion dates back to at least April 2, 1607, when the House of Commons adopted a rule "That a question being once made, and carried in the affirmative or negative, cannot be questioned again, but must stand as a judgement of the House". Over the past 400 years, various rules have evolved by precedent to allow and manage renewal of motions under specific circumstances.

Renewal of motions is closely tied to the parliamentary concept of "session". Sessions in ordinary societies usually consist of one meeting, but legislative sessions can continue for months or years. A motion that has been rejected (voted down) in one session, cannot be easily brought up again in that session, but can be renewed in following sessions as a new motion. Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised provides exceptions to non-renewal through the motions to Reconsider, Rescind, or Amend Something Previously Adopted.

In the British House of Commons, a motion or an amendment which is the same, in substance, as a question which has been decided during a session may not be renewed again in that same session. Such substantive motions can be renewed in succeeding sessions as new motions. Reversals of earlier decisions can be done by Repeal of a Standing Order, Annulment, or Rescission. The repeal of a standing order is normally made as part of an order creating a new standard order. An annulment is used to declare proceedings to be null and void because of some form of irregularity in procedure. Renewals in the form of a rescission of a resolution made in earlier sessions is not prohibited by the practice of the House of Commons, but is seldom done. Technically it is regarded as a new question: the form being to read the previous resolution of the House and to move that it be rescinded. This power of rescission has been used sparingly and then only in the case of substantive motions. The reasons why open rescission is so rare is that the House instinctively realizes that parliamentary government requires the majority to abide by a decision regularly come to, however unexpected, and that it is unfair to resort to methods, whether direct or indirect, to reverse such a decision. Essentially this is a safeguard for the rights of the minority. Parliamentary Practice, pp. 360-364

Motions belonging to the first category are mostly ones which deal with procedural points, such as cloture, to invoke the previous question, to adjourn consideration of a matter before the House, or to sit in private.

Motions belonging to the first category constitute the large majority of motions considered by the House. If a Member intends to move one, he must first notify the Chair of the motion's text. Thereafter, if the Government (which is in charge of parliamentary business) decides to allow debate on that motion to be held, and to set a day on which such debate will be held, the motion's text will appear on that day's Order Paper, next to the name of the Member who intends to move it. At the beginning of the sitting, the Presiding Officer shall call on the Member whose name is the first to appear on the Order Paper to move his or her motion. This is often done by saying "I beg to move", followed by the entire text of the motion, or more simply by saying "I beg to move the motion which stands in my name on the Order Paper". After debate on that motion has ended (and the motion itself has either been put up to a vote or withdrawn), the Presiding Officer shall call upon the Member whose name is the second to appear on the Order Paper, and the process is repeated until either all motions on the Order Paper have been debated or the sitting has been adjourned.

Motions which have not yet been granted by the Government a day on which to be debated are called early day motions.

Similar rules apply in most Commonwealth Parliaments.

In the House, motions are voted on during the weekly voting period of the plenary debate, usually after the hour of question time on Tuesday. Before the voting period starts, the concerned member of the Cabinet may utter their judgement on every submitted motion, according to the table below

Motions are, like proposed laws, usually voted on by party, though any member may request a roll call vote. If a motion is accepted, the Cabinet is not required to take it on, though they usually do. Motions are very common in both Houses, as the House of Representatives alone submits and votes on several thousands of motion a year.

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• Bill (law)
• List of motions
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• Resolution (law)
• Yes–no question