100-Hour Plan

The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The 100-Hour Plan was a United States Democratic Party political strategy detailing the actions the party pursued upon assuming leadership of the 110th Congress on January 4, 2007. The strategy was announced before the 2006 midterm elections. Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged that her party would continue to pursue these goals upon her assumption of leadership.[1][2] The 100-hour time period refers to business hours and not actual time, and has alternately been termed "100 legislative hours"; Pelosi's spokesman Brendan Daly defined the starting point this way: "It's when the House convenes, after the one-minutes and before the special orders."[3]

This period began on the Tuesday (January 9, 2007) after the swearing-in ceremony on January 4. After it passes the House, most legislation still has to pass the Senate and receive the President's signature (or override his veto) to become law. The elements of the first day's proposals are House rules and therefore do not require any action from the Senate or President.

By January 18, 2007, 87 business hours after the swearing-in, the House of Representatives had passed every one of the plan's measures in the form that they had been submitted to Congress.[4]

These measures included all of those promised, with the exception of part of one of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.[5]

  1. ^ Espa, David (October 6, 2006). "Pelosi Says She Would Drain GOP 'Swamp'". The Associated Press. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
  2. ^ Talev, Margaret (December 29, 2006). "Democratic majority to focus on 3-pronged plan". McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  3. ^ York, Byron (December 1, 2006). "What Will Pelosi Really Do In the First 100 Hours?". National Review. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2007.
  4. ^ Kasie Hunt (January 19, 2007). "House Democrats Beat 100-Hour Clock". Associated Press. Retrieved March 9, 2007.
  5. ^ Weisman, Jonathan. "Democrats Reject Key 9/11 Panel Suggestion." The Washington Post, November 30, 2006; p. A07.