A Special Rule, is a simple resolution reported by the House Rules Committee to permit the imminent consideration of legislative measures under the conditions provided for in the rule governing debate, the application of regular points of order, and the offering of amendments to the bill for which the rule was drawn.
Without these special rules, the House had almost exclusively, for almost one hundred since its inception taken bills up in the order in which they had been reported by legislative committees and placed on the various House Calendars. Before that, bells had to be considered in the order of their placement on the calendars. What this also did was to place in the House Leadership a considerable amount of power over the scheduling of legislation according to the political priorities of the Leadership.
Critics have complained that for the last 25 years, special rules have restricted the right of Members to offer floor amendments to bills. This makes work in legislative committees even more important for determining legislative priorities and outcomes.